Norm Markowitz wanted to lose some weight 15 years ago, so he picked two activities that he really loved – running and pick-up basketball. He threw himself into both sports, adopted a more healthful diet, and was rewarded with a 50 pound weight loss.
Norm continued to run and play basketball, but his knees suffered from the impact. He began to endure meniscus injuries, and soon the cartilage in his knees wore away, leaving bone-on-bone contact. Still, Norm continued his active lifestyle, even though it was often a “grin-and-bear-it” experience.
The pain continued though, and Norm was forced to give up running, although he just couldn’t quite kick the basketball habit, as painful as it was. He took up riding an indoor elliptical machine, but it was not the same as running outside. He distinctly recalls a day in June 2011, saying, “I remember that day like yesterday. It was beautiful and sunny, and I was riding my elliptical machine indoors. I was thinking ‘if only there was a way I can bring this thing outside!’”
As luck would have it, soon after he saw a commercial for ElliptiGO. He sought it out and bought an 8C. “I was able to ride without any pain in my knees,” Norm said. “It was actually more painful to walk than to go on my bike.”
The die-hard basketball player loved his ElliptiGO bike so much that he even shared, “I’d now give up basketball before giving up my ElliptiGO bike. My wife was shocked when I told her this!”
Norm decided to get both knees replaced in December and May 2017, after putting it off for more than a decade. He credits ElliptiGO for helping him prolong the surgery for that long, and for helping him recover. He was back on the bike a week after his surgeries.
“The ElliptiGO bike is such a stress reliever. It doesn’t feel like exercise,” he said. “I can’t imagine life without it.”