Thanks Brenda! (Brenda Dygraf Air Climber Stepper)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	Brenda Dygraf Air Climber Stepper
Date:	15/04/09 (585 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see review

Disadvantages: none if you use it properly

I first saw this Air Climber stepper about a year ago on a shopping channel and really wanted one. It was late at night however and my previous experience of buying through the shopping channels has involved me ordering and them ringing me back an hour or so later and as it was so late I decided to check the website the following day. The following day they had sold out so I kept periodically searching but getting no joy until a month ago I found one on ebay.

Mine cost £29.95 with £10 p&p which is alot cheaper than they sell for direct from the shopping channels, they cost about £80 from there. The reason it was so cheap was apparently there may be slight marks on the product or the packaging but when mine arrived I could see no marks or problems.

The Air Climber is a stepper piece of equipment, it has two rubber straps that slot under the base and have handles for arm work and a calorie counter on one of the pedals. I don't use the calorie counter, I find them depressing on exercise equipment when you work hard for half and hour or so and find you only burnt about 5 calories according to the counter so I ignore them. The big difference though between this and other steppers is the bellows under the pedals, other steppers that you buy for home use have pedals that just clang down onto metal but these have air under them so there's no hard jolt at the bottom of the step.

The Air Climber is actually quite large, the pedals are almost 7 inches wide and 19 inches long and the base is 20 inches wide and 21 inches deep but surprisingly it is very light and weighs next to nothing. It is made of plastic and has a button in between the pedals at the back that you press to inflate the bellows or deflate them if you want to and this button also serves to alter resistance, there are numbers 1-5 along the top of it and the higher the number the stiffer the pedals. That's it for setting it up! Inflate the bellows, set the dial, slot the arm resistance bands under the bottom if you use them and you're good to go! My kind of equipment!

With this Air Climber you get a free DVD that shows you a bunch of well-toned, super-fit, over-enthusiastic people working out on these machines led by Brenda Dygraf of course! To watch the Air Climber in action just google "Brenda Dygraf youtube" and there are a couple of clips on there you can view.

Now I wanted mine for cardio work and to target the glutes. Many people may want to follow the exercise routine that accompanies the machine but as I'm doing long term rehabilitation exercises for hypermobile joints and a disc problem the last thing I need to be doing is twisting with the cords so I personally don't use them. They are just like resistance bands though and you pull them in various directions as you step.

The actual stepping on this Air Climber is much better than the other home steppers I've seen, the bellows really do cushion the joints (perfect for me) and make it much smoother than banging down to a metal base. I know not all steppers do that but I've encountered several that do and the ones that don't still don't have the added bonus of the air cushioning the impact so the Air Climber is great in this respect. If you're curious about the noise this will make I can tell you it's very little, it gives out a "shhhh" each time you press the pedal down which is of course the air but it's not very loud.

To get on the steps you step on one side then the other which is fine and to get off you also step off one at a time which made me wonder if the machine would tip as it is so light but it doesn't. The pedals face forwards, no lateral thigh movement which is exactly how I wanted them, I don't like the lateral thigh trainers because most people have strong lateral thighs anyway and it's idiocy to train them up further.

I would recommend anyone using this for the first time to do so in front of a mirror. Any deviations in posture or loss of control of joints will make this ineffective, likewise with all exercise equipment. Firstly check yourself face on using a mirror, make sure your knees and hips are bent a little and shoulders, knees and feet face forwards, then step and watch your pelvis. If it stays level fine but if it tilts up and down with your legs you have a weak glute medius and constantly allowing this will injure you. A handy hint from me the rehab geek to combat this is to get off the machine, stand with your feet together and tie a resistance band around your legs just above the knees. Step back onto the stepper with the feet and knees facing forwards and the resistance band will be pulled taut by the distance between the knees, maintain this tautness in the band as you step so your feet, knees and hips are aligned and the glute medius is cued up by the band.

Another necessary check is from the side, get back on the stepper and bend the hips and knees a bit and then look at your lower back. If it is neutral and has a gentle inward curve it's fine but if it arches excessively or rounds out like a C shape you need to correct the position.

As this involves stepping you can't help but hit the quads but what about getting buns of steel? If you find your glutes are being left out of the workout here's another tip from me: as you push the pedal down push the weight through your heel and not the whole foot. This targets the glute max and will even out the effort between the quads and glutes.

As for cardio this will certainly get your heart rate up. Just 20 minutes a day will leave you out of breath and with legs that feel like jelly from really working out! I can honestly say I love mine! I struggle to find ways of getting cardio workouts as there are so many things I'm not allowed to do but I can use this as long as I keep an eye on my joints to get my heart rate up, burn calories and work out key areas at the same time.

Overall I really recommend this as a piece of home exercise equipment, it's a bit bigger than the usual little steppers but will slide under most beds, it's light and easy to set up and gives you a great workout with minimal impact to the joints.

Summary: Brilliant, highly recommended