A stepper machine is a great bit of gym equipment to give you a full cardio workout, along with toning your legs and butt! Though your local gym will have a high-end step machine, you can get cheap steppers for your home that provide a decent work out. Portable step machines can also be used at your office/desk or taken away with you if needed.
Stepper Machine FAQs
Most frequent questions and answers
How many calories do steppers burn?
This will depend on your weight and effort. You can easily burn 500 calories in an hour though.
Are stepper machines expensive?
No, you can get simple step machines for under $50 and they are effective!
Are the portable steppers quiet enough for the office?
Yes, if they become noisy some wd40 will help
Absolutely, they work the glutes pretty hard.
Top Step Machines for Home Use
Contents
Sunny Health & Fitness Mini Stepper with Resistance Bands
- TRACK YOUR FITNESS: LCD monitor measures the steps, time, total and calories, making your exercise more reasonable and effective
- TOTAL BODY: Equipped with removable training bands, this high-quality stepper tightens over 20 different core muscles and using low-impact aerobic exercise to help tone your chest, back, and shoulders
- HYDRAULIC DRIVE SYSTEM: Built with a hydraulic drive system, this workout machine provides a smooth stepping motion
- HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT: Height adjustment knob adjusts the step motion height, for either short bursts or long steps
- WIDE NON-SLIP PEDALS: Large textured foot plates ensure a solid non-slip footing. Height range will decrease with each counter-clockwise turn
We have talked about Sunny Health and fitness in previous posts, every product they have seems to dominate Amazon with the best reviews, sales and product rankings. Their mini stepper is no exception, it is the top seller on Amazon and amazing value at under $100.
The mini stepper works by using a hydraulic system so you have nothing to plug in. This also makes it highly portable if you want to take it anywhere. They say the combination of the 2 exercises can work 20 different muscle groups in go. The stepper also has resistance bands which you can use in conjunction with the stepping motion, working arms and legs at the same time. This makes a killer work out if you push it. The steps can also be adjusted to make them harder, longer steps will be harder work.
The stepper has a small display screen which will show you the time, total steps done and calories burnt. This mini stepper also has decent sized foot pedals, even fitting our editor’s size 11 feet.
This product at date of writing has 1062 reviews on Amazon, 79% giving it 4 or 5 stars. Sunny Health & Fitness also respond well to any questions asked, with 188 answered questions. If you are unsure about anything relating to this mini step machine, it has likely been asked before so scroll though the questions.
“Best compact, portable step machine on a budget”
Jamie
Fitness Junkie
Stamina In-Motion Elliptical Trainer
- PORTABLE, QUIET AND EFFICIENT CARDIO: This mini strider is compact and lightweight, making it easy to use and transport to any home or office space. It's quiet and unintrusive, too. The minimal space required is 23.5 x 17 inches
- ADJUSTABLE TENSION WITH MONITOR: Vary the intensity of your workout by turning the adjustable dial while you stride. See your stats while exercising with the display monitor.
- MULTIPLE MOVEMENT OPTIONS: Depending on your needs and abilities, the In Motion E1000 Compact Strider can be used sitting or standing. Pedal forward or reverse to target different muscles.
- THREE COLOR CHOICES: Customize your exercise machine by choosing one of three vibrant color options. The In Motion E1000 Compact Strider comes in green, orange and silver.
- GREAT FOR GAMERS: Get an effective workout while gaming - passive, low-attention exercise promotes leg movement and improved circulation in a non-distracting way while playing video games
Stamina call this portable stepper an ‘elliptical trainer’ which is a bit over the top. For me, elliptical machines are more full on cross trainers with step and pull motions using upright handles.
Saying that, it is still an awesome little step machine and highly portable if you want to take it to the office. Yes, I do use one of these and actually doing some steps while typing this post! I have this step machine under my standup desk and I am not even a millennial! This portable stepper can also be used sitting down when you are watching TV or at your desk.
The Stamina In-Motion stepper has a good range of different tensions depending on your physical capability. Resistance is easily changed manually with a dial. It even has a mini-monitor giving you steps per minute, total strides, time and calories burnt during your workout.
This portable step machine weighs only 24lb, but feels really stable when used. It can be easily stored in a cupboard requiring only 24×17 inches.
This product requires minimal assembly on delivery.
Bowflex TreadClimber TC100
- Combines the motions of a treadmill, a stepper, and an elliptical for an easy, low-impact workout with high-impact results - and all you do is walk
- Just walk and Burn up to two and half times the calories of a treadmill at the same speed*
- 4 Electronic Functions: Speed, Distance, Time and Calories
- Speed range of .5 - 4 mph
- Heart-Rate Monitor with integrated contact grips
Bowflex is a top brand in the fitness industry known for high quality products from adjustable dumbbells through to full on commercial cardio machines. Bowflex is owned by Nautilus Inc who also own Modern Movement and Schwinn, who specialize in bikes.
The Bowflex Treadclimber is a 3-1 machine, as it also can be used as a treadmill as the belts move, you just lower both steps flat and adjust the setting on the display.
This stepper is discontinued by Blowflex, but you can still find in stockists of Bowflex gear.
StairMaster SM3 StepMill
- Smaller but just as tough as the commercial version sold into health clubs
- Climbing stairs is one of the most efficient and effective cardio and strength workouts
- Step range of 26 to 162 steps per minute
- 10 total workout programs, including fat burner, calorie burner, intervals and more
- Easy-to-read large backlit LCD display; Polar-compatible heart rate monitoring
The Stair master is more of a commercial stepper and something you would likely find in your local gym. It runs using real steps that move, so there is no way of cheating on the intensity like standard step machines.
The speed goes from 26-162 steps per minute if you want to HIT workouts with it. The machine has a large LCD screen which displays all the data you need from speed, calories burnt and a heart monitor.
Best Stepper Machine Workout
If you want to really have a decent work out with your step machine, I would recommend doing a HIITs routine. HIIT stands for high intensity interval training.
Start off by doing 30 seconds fast and have a 1-2 minute rest. Once you get fitter you should be aiming to max out for 30 seconds then have a 1 minute rest. With most HIIT exercies, if you are going as fast as you possibly can, 20 seconds should be your maximum. This also applies to cycling, running squats etc.
Jamie is a running addict and gym junkie. He trains 7 days per week and is currently doing an MA in nutrition and sports science