Hello! I am a personal trainor in a Wellness Center for a large hospital. We have 6 of the Arc Trainers. I love these machines because it allows you to use the formation and motion of RUNNING, however it gives you the resistance of a step machine. SO you've essentially got two machines in one. If you are new to the machine, I'd recommend that you simply get on the machine and choose QUICK START, get started and then change the level and resistance to your personal ability. If you'd eventually like to try one of the machine's programs, just press that program and it will choose the levels and resistance for you. Good luck! :