I am looking for an exercise machine that performs the same thing as
the ROM machine for $5,000 or less.  We have tested the ROM Machine at
www.fastexercise.com and it seems to work. The ROM Machine gives you a
full body workout in 4 minutes a day and include both aerobic and
strength training. I am looking for a machine that can do the same in
5 minutes a day that EFFECTIVELY does the same for the whole body.  I
know there are a lot of machines that claim to do the same so I would
like one with some studies or something substantial showing its
effectiveness. It also needs to be easy to use with no part changes
throughout the exerices.  Remember I am looking for a ROM Machine
level of quality with a price less than $5,000.  The ROM Machine is
almost $15,000 and they have a several month waiting list.
Note: Most cross trainers don't have significant strength training for
the upper body like the ROM Machine.

only close thing I could think of is total gym...BUT...after reviewing
the media, I must say ROM is not a very good machine for lay person...
First, taking your joints to the end ROM in certain exercises like
chest press could damage the joint capsule..
The rowing action on this machine seems to put a lot of stress on
lower back and someone with underlying degenerative pathology that has
not been diagnosed may develope back pain...
It might be a good 4 minutes worth of cardio work out...
But if you are into general muscle building or have other special
needs..this machine won't do...
It looks like a good warm up machine at best...

Three points:
Why should a thing like the ROM cost $ 15,000?!
Aeerobic training describes something entirely different from what one
does on a training device.
Four minutes/day training is better than nothing, but anyone with a
little sports background  - let alone professional athletes and
doctors -  knows that this won't make you fit.

But Stan is looking for something else, a device for a third of the
price that gives the same results in 5 minutes.
Actually, that should be easy, considering that the results on the ROM
are not so great.
Or is the question just subtle advertisement ...?

I assure you the question is not subtle advertisement, I have
absolutely no relation with the company that makes the machine. My
brother owns his own company and can afford the machine, but I don't
quite have $15,000 to pay for one so I was trying to find a cheaper
alternative. We didn't believe the machine could give you a decent
workout in 4 minutes but he had one of his employees stop by the
company in CA while attending a trade show near there and he tried it
out and got what he considered to be an hour worth of working out. 
His back was hurting the next day though. He is about 50 years old, I
am 32. I realize these 4-5 minutes a day may not keep you totally fit
but I have 5 young kids and work a lot so my time is so limited and I
figure this will at least help the most if I only have 5 minutes a
day. I may have to settle for 2 different machines to find something
that works as well for under $5,000 .  I could try an elliptical
machine and a rowing machine, but I would need a rowing machine that
has resistance in both directions to work the triceps, biceps, chest
and back.

I kept searching because no one has posted an answer yet, the closest
alternative I have found is this machine:
http://www.iconfitness.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=979&prrfnbr=746858&cgrfnbr=10672

It would probably take the workout up to 15 minutes a day though.
Does anybody else know of anything better?

man..what's with your time thing..you honestly don't have 30 min to
put in in a day?  You need to reevaluate your lifestyle...
There are not miracle machines...
You even pointed out that 50 yo guy developed a back pain...
How did i know this machine will cause back pain? 
It's design is asking for it...
I think simple thing as built in harness to keep lumbar to the back of
the chair would prevent a lot of injury...but the manufacturer didn't
think of that did they?  they didn't have well being of users in
mind...

Now, you are on the right track...eliptical machine will work both
front and back of your thigh and it'll really give you good work
out...
as far as upper body work out goes...your posture is extremely important...
you can't be moving around and do proper upper body workout without
some kind of injury...

There are no short cuts for good workout...
You try that and that's how most athletes or body builders get injured...
Frankly, if you are so lazy that you are not willing to workout more
than 5 min...you won't be using any machine no matter how effective
they are..might as well spend the money on toys for your 5 kids...

There is no comparable machine at this time at any price.  Though ROM
is hideously expensive, it does work.

My wife and I purchased one 11 weeks ago (after a rental trial).
Results: my blood pressure down > 10 points, lost 10 pounds, greatly
increased muscle mass and stamina.  I do not get paid to say this (ROM
costs >
$15k with shipping! Ouch!!), but it has worked for me and my
significantly less athletic wife.

The ACLs in both my knees are damaged or destroyed, my r. shoulder has
had multiple dislocations and his 'tricky', and my lower and mid back
have been injured in the past.  24 months ago, I had a major stroke,
and am now 50 years old.  So I desperately needed the exercise for
general health, and needed to strenghten my leg/back/trunk muscles to
support my various injuries and minor stroke related weaknesses.

My Knees, shoulder, and back are much improved, as is the minor
weakness due to stroke.

You do have to use the machine almost every day, and should push
yourself to exhaustion when doing so; but it only takes 4 takes
minutes, and this makes it relatively easy to do.  And you get the
exercise 'buzz' (high?) of a strenuous workout.

If you do not believe you can get a workout in 4 minutes, read the
literature on the ROM page, or get the DVD.  If you claim a 4 minute
workout is not effective, and have not examined this information, then
you are not aware of what recent medical studies have shown.  Examine
the info, you will be surprised.  I know it sounds totally nuts, but
some crazy ideas are true (examples: Genereal Relativity and Quantum
Strangeness).

I recommend examining the principals behind high intensity training
before making a judgment or sweeping statements saying it cannot work.

PS: If $15K can help keep me from having another stroke, I'll gladly pay the money.

Please forgive me if this is inappropriate as a comment here.  The
Google account guidelines indicate these forums are not for promoting
commercial sales, however I do have experience with the ROM and I have
a ROM for sale.  I can?t come close to your $5K budget, but if you
decide to go for it, I will save you some money.

I bought our ROM for my wife who has diabetes, to help her control her
blood sugar through exercise and better muscle development. After
reading the literature and studies and searching for less expensive
machines, I couldn?t find anything similar.  I came to the same
conclusion you did.  Combining an elliptical machine or a climbing
machine and a rowing machine seemed to be about the closest
alternative.  I leaned toward the ROM because of it?s time efficiency
and full muscle involvement.

By luck, it turned out that the manufacturer is located less than 15
miles from us(!), so we went over and tried it out.  I?m moderately
active and don?t consider myself to be in bad shape, but I haven?t
specifically worked out for some time, and I definitely got my butt
kicked when I tried it.  After the first 2 minutes, I felt spent, and
in the 2nd two minutes, I felt like I was able to continue only on
willpower.  My heart was pounding and I broke into a sweat immediately
when I got off.  Yes, it felt like a much longer, substantial workout.

Since then, I?ve used the ROM regularly for various periods.  In my
experience, the workout is pretty much always the same as the first. 
If you don?t hold back, and you give it an effort, right about at the
2 minute mark, you?ll get the distinct feeling that you can?t go on. 
But the flywheel adjusts the resistance as you slow, and you find that
despite the feeling you won?t be able to keep it going, you can keep
it moving .  After the 2 minute mark, it starts to feel exhausting to
the entire body, beyond the specific muscles being worked out.  They
say that?s the cardio portion and that seems to jive with the
experience.

The unit did help my wife to reduce her insulin for a while but she
couldn?t stick to it due to a bad hip.  We?ve decided to let it go so
we can put the money toward another expense.  The unit is very sturdy
and is as good as original condition.  We talk with the manufacturer
now and then and he has agreed to help us with the crating and
shipping.  If you or anyone else is interested, drop me an email at
glevasseur(at_symbol)charter.net.

Good luck.

Hi, I posted the note above and would like to let people know that the
unit has been sold.  Thank you all for the inquiries and good luck!

WOW. I've been researching the ROM and HIIT (High Intensity INterval
Training) in general adn it seems there are legitimate studies that
indicate the efficacy of the energy expenditure associated with HIIT
regardless of whether its a sprint run sprint sequence,
cardio-weightlifting or ROM machine.

ALthough I am in the process of losing weight and haven;t worked up
the nerve to use myself as a live experiment as to the effectiveness
of HIIT training by giving up my 60 minute morning workout ritual, I
have incorporated the 5 minute HIIT into a mid-day routine that allows
me to get a "few extra calories burned" in the day.

For this experience I can tell you that my fitness level has improved
exponentially and although I can calculate specifically how many
caolies I've burned in my 5 minute "mid-day blast workout", I can tell
you this: something must be happejing because I get a very prominent
hunger response - moreso taht with my morning workout.  So maybe, as
HIIT and ROM enthusiasts say, you burn only a FEW calories during the
actual workout but your total calorie expenditure over time is
significantly increased.  This seems to have some ring of truth at
least for me.

What I'd like to see is a test of calorie expenditure.  It woudl
certainly be easy enough to do in this day and age. Hook a volunteer
(Or volunteers or varying fitness levels) up to the ROM, measure
calorie expenditure BUT keep the measuring devices in place for 24
hours after the workout. I think this would be a tremendous aid to
HITT and ROM's credibility since most medical professionals feel their
claims are ridiculous.

I'd love to make a program of it (I'm an Orlando based producer) so if
anyone has access to a medical testing facility, perhaps we can get
ROM to agree to the  study/program.???

THANKS everyone for your input and experiences.

The "ROM Time Machine" is expensive for many reasons: It is very
heavily  and well built, and it sells very few units. It has  a frame
as heavy as a tractor, and the heaviest fly-wheel of any exercise
machine,  enhanced by a complex electro-magnetic unit, which is
powered by your use. Together, they create  smooth resistance and
maintain lever speed at an identical pace from rep to rep, no matter
how hard you pull. A meter shows how hard you're pulling, but your
percieved effort should be the same each time, if you give a full
effort. . It's like doing a slow squat, row and backbend all in one,
with a barbell that magically knows how much weight you can do for
each rep, and each -segment- of each rep. I follow the industry fairly
closely, and see no indication that any company is even -talking-
about a similar item, this being over ten years since the ROM was
introduced.  Nothing else comes close.

The ROM can enhance aerobic -and- strength/muscle very effectively,
because of its unusual self-adjusting resistance curve. It's hard to
believe because it's unique, but true. The range of motion is safe
because the speed is slow. Exercise injuries aren't caused by heavy
resistance, but by explosive movement. Slow controlled movements with 
full effort are more safe than fast movements with a light weight:
Compare baeball pitching and its deleterious effects with pushing a
broken-down car to the curb. Every pitcher gets hurt, but no one gets
hurt pushing cars, and no one gets hurt on the ROM Time Machine.

Hey there. I realize this post started from a long while ago but I
thought I would mention a revolutionary whole body vibration exercise
machine that is much cheaper than the ROM. It costs have the price of
a ROM and takes a total of 12 minutes a day. Also, there is little
stress to your joints as the ROM exercisers would encounter. Also, the
ROM cannot offer half of the benefits of a whole body vibration
platform. The science for whole body vibbration is backed by NASA. It
has to all do with gravity. The ROM is using gravity by manipulating
the load and therefore, strength increase occurs. The Hypergravity is
using gravity by manipulating the acceleration, which is smarter and
more efficient. Basically it is vertical acceleration of gravity, or
hypergravity. Good Luck! P.S. I think the best priced whole body
vibration platform is on ebay :)