I am about to purchase a Bowflex machine.
Anyone here have experience with them?
Any good, or all hype?
Thanks!
The motion never felt natural to me. I prefer free-weights over a Bowflex any day of the week.
I enjoy mine (it’s a Blaze). I have no illusions that the stated weights are accurate, but it’s a good workout and nicely compact.
It depends.
Are you a weightlifter? Do you have experience with weight machines or freeweights?
If no, you’ll do fine with a bowflex.
If yes, you’ll likely hate it.
The problem for people that have had weightlifting experience is that the resistence of the bows is very much non-linear. At the beginning of the motion, there is little resistance as compared to the end. The farther the bow bends, the harder it is. They claim otherwise - but it’s true.
If you are used to conventional weightlifting - get a quality machine like a Hoist. All the freedom of movement offered by freeweights with linear resistance for about the same price.
I’ve got the Hoist V2 and love it.
For the same price or less I bought an incline bench and a set of Powerblocks.
I was used to working out at the gym and always prefered free weights over machines. These were very compact.
Thank you for all of your feedback.
I haven’t done freeweights, so maybe this will work for me.
It looks like a sturdy machine, and I can see myself using it a lot.
I do have a set of dumbells, come to think of it, but they seem to lay there and mock me.
Thanks again, all of you!
No experience, but every pulley, string, rubber band, etc. contraption I have ever encountered has felt unnatural and not at all like a good workout. My cent and half: get a pair of dumbbells and be creative. You can get dumbbells, a situp bench, and a speed bag for a fraction of the cost and be certain you are using tried and true workout equipment.
If you have dumbbells that are just sitting around, how do you know the Bowflex isn’t gonna do just that?
It’s too expensive. Plus it’s a “system”, not just some weights on the ends of bars. It would never mock… It would sit and sneer smugly.
Another vote for a good bench, good floor padding, and some fancy dumbbells for a fraction of the cost. If you don’t want them to mock you and want a more snobbish sneer from them, get the nice ones that come in a rack.
Dumbbells are probably the best free weights if you are doing a solo exercise program because when you run out of steam, you can just let them fall to the sides and you don’t have a bar across your chest or neck.
Of course, you were really asking for opinions on Bowflex from people who used one, and I have never seen one up close, so I’ll just be quiet and leave now.
Agreed on all counts. I don’t mean to be a downer, but if you already have equipment that sits unused, my bet is that the Bowflex will end up the same way (expensive clothes hanger like I’ve seen). I’ve heard that exact reasoning before*, and they usually end up just not using the equipment.
I’d get a rack for your dumbbells and a bench (an incline one too, if you want to get fancy) and do exercises that way. Those are the workouts I’ve actually seriously gained real strength from; the machines are a total waste of time for me after learning that!
- Or the similar “if I’m paying every month for the gym, I’m gonna go so I don’t waste my money”… and they never go after a month.
Well, maybe my dumbells don’t actually mock me, but they are just boring.
I have used them from time to time.
And here is the other factor I guess; I like contraptions!
Plus I like the different positions and excercises the Bowflex offers.
I like how you can work on specific areas of your body with it, and how the routine workout includes several different things instead of just doing one thing over and over and over again.
I know, I asked for opinions, but I guess I had already made up my mind to get one. But it is still good to hear others opinions and experiences.
There’s nothing you can do on a Bowflex that you can’t do with dumbbells.
There are also Bowflex brand dumbbells that are “gadgety”: the SelectTech ones that have selectable weights so that you can replace that rack of, say, 10-50 lb. dumbbells with a single pair.
I’ve got a pair of these and a weight bench; those two, plus a doorway mounted chin-up bar, a mat for doing squats and push-ups and a CycleOps bicycle trainer (which allows me to use my bicycle as a stationary exercise bike) constitute a reasonably comprehensive home gym that doesn’t take up too much room, and can be put away into the corner (and the bike into the garage) when I need the basement space cleared.
It took me far longer than I would have liked to figure out all of the various pulleys and things, but I do like our Bowflex. (it’s mainly the husband’s toy - mine is the treadmill)
It will take a bit to get into a routine where you know which exercises you want to do in what order, and where all the bits go to accomplish that.
That is what I like about the model I am looking at, because it says
“No-Change cable pulley system lets you move from squats to lats to leg workouts without ever changing cables.”
What year is your Bowflex the Lady ?
Maybe they have changed the way it works?
One of my best friends had a Bowflex. It wasn’t too bad at all for days we didn’t feel like going to the gym. It’s also nice to have for those times you’re sitting around and want to get some kind of lifting in.
It was easy to find the Bowflex, but no so much the arrows for the thing. Now I’ve just got this sweet looking seige weapon without ammo. Stupid commericals.
While I agree with you in principal, I don’t think that’s entirely accurate. I can’t think of a way to work hamstrings with dumbbells, nor can I think of a way to work lats other than lawnmower pulls (aka wood sawers).
Deadlifts work both. Throw in some glute-ham raises and close-grip rows if you want assistance exercises.