Bowflex?

I am getting ready to buy a home exercise system. I live about an hour from the nearest full service gym, and working out at home makes a lot of sense to me. Any ideas about Bowflex? Is it really all it is cracked up to be? I' ve talked to a few people who have one and they say good things about it.

Thanks

When I was in high school and didn' t have access to a good full sized gym nor did we have room anywhere for free weights.. I had a Soloflex.

Can' t tell you how much it helped. I got so interested in working out that now I do have access to a full gym and it' s because of my initial interest in fitness.

I think that if I had a choice.. I' d take a gym.

But given your circumstances.. you might be more likely to workout at home then do a 1 hr commute each way every day to the gym.

Bowflex is good. It certainly is better then not working out.. or quitting your gym because you can' t take the drive.

Marc C. David - NGA CPT
Author of NoBull Bodybuilding
www.nobullbodybuilding.com

I was wondering about the bowflex also- It seems as though it has some of the benefits of machines (You can' t drop the weights on your foot, you don' t really need a spotter to use it) and some of the benefits of free weights (It seems like you still get to use all the stabilizer muscles) However, since I can' t seem to find anywhere that you can actually try one out, I can' t say for sure- Weider came out with a similar machine called the crossbow, which I did get to check out at the local sports authority, and I wasn' t too impressed- It seemed very poorly made to me, and the resistance didn' t feel that great either. Has anyone actually used the Bowflex?

You could do more with a squat rack, an adjustable bench and a good set of weights then you could with a gym full of machines. You could build a nice little home center for less than a bowflex.

Well here is a thread I felt I had to comment on.

Bowflex hmmm where do I begin..ok bout' 3 years ago I was FAT I mean 5' 9 250 FAT. I had a live in girlfriend and everynight consisted of good (but really BAD) eating and about 6 beers. It got to the point where I had ballooned and was too ashamed to even go to the gym (it really sucks to be the most out of shape person in the gym).

So like everyone else I was constantly bombarded by the BF commercials. Little research here and there.....bought one. I began using it 5 das a week couple with jumping jacks and jump roping and zenadrine (whole other thread) and better eating habits. I lost a considerable amount of weight and really toned up, esp. in my chest area (lost the B*tch t*tties), also got rid of the girlfriend, which helped.

Within one year I had transformed myself and I truly owe it to the Bowflex. I highly recommend it for anyone living in an apt. where you can' t exactly hoist loud heavy weights.

Now for the Devils Advo part: I finianced mine...not smart, when all was said and done it cost me about $1500.00 but helped me get in great shape, was it worth it? For me yes. Another thing, I found that pretty quickly I was using the maximum amount of weight (I think 250lbs) on just about all exercises so you might want to purchase the additional weight. I still have my flex but never touch it anymore I go U of M and they have a state of the art gym where I go 4 days a week, I' m 5' 10 170 with a visible 6 pack and I owe alot of it the Bowflex.

Highly Recommend It.

If you were going to spend money on a Bowflex take that money and buy yourself a good bench with a few attachments and some free weights.