I’d respect the opinions of dopesters who have experience with the Soloflex machine. They’re available for a song, used. Anything seriously wrong with it from a design or mechanical standpoint? Easy to switch to different body parts to train? Rubber bands long-lasting/hard to find?
Thanx in advance for any remarks
Well, you might consider this the verdict of both the former users and those who have researched the topic before you. Bottom line: why do they cost so much more “new, sight unseen” than “used, with the opportunity for viewing or trial at pick-up”? Some brands cost 50% of retail in like-new condition at the local used exercise equipment shops; others have prices more proportional to condition. I consider this a reflection on longterm user satisfaction.
If end of a lift requires more force than the beginning, you’re not going to see as much real-world strength carryover as you might like.
And how can you brag if you work out with a Soloflex?
“I bench pressed 270 pounds yesterday.”
“Oh yeah? I put up 300! How much can you bench?”
“Four rubber bands! Really thick ones!”
ALL exercise equipment is available for a song used. It’s because people stupidly realise exercise = work and that’s not the “magic bullet” they’re looking for. If you’re serious about weight training you can actually get a brand new set of weights for around $40 (I did, at Oshman’s sporting goods, on sale…I think they’re a national chain) and check out some books from the library and websites. (Even exercise BOOKS are available for a song used – at your local thrift store. I got “Body for Life” for $2 while it was still on the bestseller charts for around $25.) If you stick with some sort of resistance training you’ll probably be pleased with the results. I find it more rewarding than randomly jumping around to music, which was the fitness norm for ages. That’s opinion, of course, but the brunt of this post is fact.
I’m just gonna move this to IMHO, because it’s not a factual question.
Lynn
I owned and used one for many years. In fact, I regret having to sell mine. They work really well for some lifts, like bench press, but poorly for others like the dead lift. They are also more useful for moderate resistance w/ a higher number of reps than they are for Mike Mentzer-style workouts. If you can get one cheap, with all the attachments, I say do it. The rubber bands will last a good long while depending on how much you use them (they do wear out) and whether you store them properly between workouts.
It’s sort of catch-22 for all these types of machines.
If you don’t exercise, getting one means you now don’t exercise, but you have a big piece of equipment. It won’t make you exercise.
If you already exercise with weights, you probably realize that you don’t want a machine because weights are effective.
If you exercise aerobically and you want to pepper in some weight training, you probably know alot already and realize a machine isn’t the right thing for you.
Soloflex, Bowflex and all the others are sold to people who don’t exercise. They are bought by people who don’t exercise and they take up residence with people who don’t exercise. They are re-sold by people who don’t exercise to other people who don’t exercise.
First: commit yourself to exercise. Are you doing situps/crunches/stretching/pushups/light curls/knee bends etc etc and are dedicated but need some resistance? If so, then you might be a candidate for a machine.
But answer honestly.
I’d recommend joining a gym first so you could get into the habit. I know several people who’ve bought treadmills, exercise bikes and weights for hundreds of dollars and never touch them cause they have nothing motivating them to move from the couch to the bike. I on the other hand spend $30/month and force myself to go to the gym 4-5 times a week. Once I’m there I have no excuses to stop me. Good luck.
You could try Dynamic Tension. It uses no apparatus at all. Charles Atlas was ahead of his time in many ways. Does it work? Yes, but only if you do; which is exactly the same as for any type of exercise.
(Um,…gee, has there been established any reason to assume I would answer otherwise?) I appreciate the time that went into composing the above, and you make some valid points. Many or most exercise machines end up as clothes racks later.
In fact, I saw the Nordic Track informercial a few times, called the number and bought it. It arrived on Aug. 9, 1993 (I remember the date because of seeing daily on my progress chart.) I had decided in advance that after dropping $430, I would become a person who exercised. I didn’t exercise before. I had no love of it. But if I was going to, I wanted this machine so as to make every minute spent exercising count, and cross-country skiing gives maximum calorie burn in minimum time. I said ‘what the hey’ and used it 45 minutes a day while watching TV or listening to music, every day, for five months. I missed maybe two days. It wasn’t convenient, but fortunately most important things in life aren’t based on convenience anyway. Five months later, I weighed 40 pounds less. I then went to 30 min. every other day for the next nine years. Your experience is probably similar, so you know where I’m coming from. I had to sell it last year after I was in a car accident and hurt my knee. I next treated my Total Gym the same way, after seeing it on an infomercial several times and studying it in a store. It’s as awesome as Christy Brinkley’s smile, but I need more resistance than 25% of my body weight.
One might also note in the same vein as your remarks that gym memberships are sold to people who don’t go to the gym. Think about it: How else could they have full-time staff at every gym selling memberships all day, all year, with limited floor space? They know for a fact that 95% of peole who sign on the dotted line will not ever set foot in that gym again, even once. They use the time consumed by driving & waiting as an excuse not to go. They also don’t buy a home machine or weights because they already spent that money on the membership.
And yet you drive by a gym day or night, there are people in there, exercising. Likewise, people either have the discipline to use their Soloflex to exercise, or they don’t have the discipline. Your post doesn’t clarify which was true in your case.
From the OP: “…the opinions of dopesters who have experience with the Soloflex machine.”
Soloflex: it sucks. Buy weights.
Re: buy weights. Only if the original poster has somebody to spot for each and every workout. Free weights with enough resistance to be worthwhile are also an extremely bad idea with no spotter. One of the overwhelming advantages I found in the Soloflex was that I could weightlift alone and at my own convenience. Even at a gym, one normally needs to pester somebody else for a spot on lifts like the benchpress or the squat.
I just wrote a novel and erased it because it comes down to this…
Don’t get one of these machines. I have one. Bought it used for my parents so they wouldn’t waste money on their gym memberships they hardly used. Guess what? Now they don’t exercise at all. I got it used, in mint condition, for $150. I can’t GIVE that thing away.
Phillster is right. If you are familiar with exercise, you’ll hate this machine or anything like it. I use free weights and some machines. I will tell you, that this machine is NOT correct in form or balance. The resistance and fixed motion of the machine do not match the human strength curve or axis of motion.
These machines suck. You can’t get a decent workout on them or anything. They are just expensive and take up space. They look neat. I’ll give them that. But seriously, I would not recommend working out on one. The impact to your joints is minimized, but the mechanics of each exercise is incorrect and I think harmful.
I think Soloflex would have been sued out of existence for breaking people who used the machine… if anyone ever actually used it.
I take that back. The cat uses it to sleep on.
I wonder what kind of shape hyjyljyj is in 12 years later…
He’s a rubber band guy
and hyjyljyj is the sound he makes when he’s walkin’ on by…
… all the girls sigh.
I bought a used one at a tag sale for $200 with all the accessories. So right away the value of the purchase is high. I’ve been using it on and off for 20 years. (It’s currently getting a lot of use). So here is the dope.
[ul]
[li]Is it as good as a full gym with free weights: Hell no[/li][li]Is variable resistance a plus: doubt it[/li][li]Is variable resistance a draw back: nope[/li][li]There are a large number of exercises that can be done on a Soloflex, and no, I don’t do them all. But there is a still a lot of capability in a small footprint. [/li][li]Because it doesn’t use weight, it can be put in nearly any room on any floor in a home.[/li][li]It is useless for body building[/li][li]It is great for general strength and fitness.[/li][/ul]
The important thing is that you need to understand what you want. If you want the social environment of a gym, join one. If you want the convenience of working out at home, go SoloFlex (or equivalent) If you can buy one used… jump at it. Then use it.
Brand new poster has bumped three old threads, in his only posts so far, to tout this product. What are the odds?