Members of the Jewish Community Center got a big gift this holiday season – new cardio equipment.
Coming on the heels of the locker room upgrade, the new equipment is a much-needed improvement allowing the JCC to jump to the top of the list of local gyms in fitness technology.
There are 24 new machines by Precor, including two AMTs (adaptive motion trainers), two recumbent bikes, 10 treadmills and 10 elliptical machines. All of them will have computers on board in which users can log in, watch TV, check Facebook and Twitter (and check in at the JCC!) and upload their workouts to their smartphones with the fitness tracking app, Preva. The machines will have workout videos to follow and let members know about upcoming classes and events at the JCC.
“This is the newest cardio equipment on the market,” said Ron Peacock, JCC fitness director. “No other gym in Louisville has this quantity of state-of-the-art fitness equipment.”
The AMT is a cross between an elliptical machine and a stair-stepper, except that you control the stride yourself. The machine allows you to climb, run or stride like a gazelle.
According to the Precor brochure, “users can go from short stride to long stride, walking to running, climbing to lunging, allowing them to target different muscle groups. Pushing and pulling the moving handlebars will engage the upper body, resulting in a total body workout.”
All the Precor equipment will allow users to read in English, French, Dutch, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese or Chinese.
The ellipticals use CrossRamp technology allowing the user to adjust the machine to his or her own fitness level between 13 and 40 degrees of incline with moving upper-body handlebars. The treadmills adjust from a -3 percent to 15 percent incline, and go up to 16 mph.