Bowflex Tips

Reviews on Bowflex Elite Bowflex Is the REAL DEAL I am 30 years old, I have lifted weights for many years. At 170lbs (lean and mean) I could bench press 315lbs. With that being said, now...

Reviews on Bowflex Elite My Second Bowflex I needed to replace my original Bowflex and spied this Elite at a Santa Rosa Ca. CostCo. Compared to my original, this one looked much eas...

This is a review of the Bowflex Elite after one year of use. Many of the online reviews out there were helpful in my decision to purchase the Bowflex, but most were early impressions written by people who had just begun using it. I decided to wait a while and write a long-term report. I purchased the “Elite Pro” from Costco, which appears to be the same except that it comes with a 100 pound rod upgrade for a total of 410 pounds resistance.

By assembling the machine myself, I was able to appreciate the build quality is. All parts of the frame are constructed in a thick gauge of steel, with good welds, and covered with a durable coat of paint. The fasteners were very high quality and are topped with locking nuts. All rolling parts, including the sliding bench and cable pulleys, move smoothly and quietly. My only complaint is the plastic casing that houses the actual carbon fiber rods. This casing fits into a still frame, and is held down by 3 course-thread screws. Over time, these screws can loosen. Eventually the plastic casing can shift a bit in its housing if I’m using a lot of resistance (I can hear a pop when this happens). I have had to tighten the screws three or four times over the last year.

The quality is not commercial grade, but equipment in a commercial gym can see hours of use from many people day after day. I believe the quality of the Bowflex is at the top of the range of home gym equipment. That’s not to say it’s the best, but there’s definitely a lot of cheap junk out there and Bowflex is way above most of that stuff.

Between my wife and I, the machine has been used 4-5 times a week over the past year. The pulleys & cables still feel smooth. The bench upholstery looks great and has not torn (despite many accidental scrapes and scuffs). The foam grips on the bars and handles have not torn or even worn noticeably. No maintenance has been required, but I have kept a small amount of grease on the metal-on-metal interface of the pulley anchors.

I am able to do a great range of exercises because of the different angles from which resistance can be applied: from the floor, from the lat tower above, and from the front (narrow and wide pulley positions).

The versatility of the machine allowed me to modify a few exercises—mainly because my lower back had been bothering me. When I did standing shoulder shrugs and bicep curls with the cable running through the floor pulley below, it sometimes bothered my back because the load is supported by the spine. I started doing these exercises lying flat on the bench, with the cables running horizontally to the chest bar. The exercises still feel great and effective in this position, and it feels much better on the back.

The biggest complaint that I heard about the Bowflex was the fact that the resistance is non-linear. Many people feel that the constant resistance provided by free weights makes them superior for resistance training. It is true that the Bowflex power rod resistance is non-linear. The rods are basically springs—which means that resistance increases linearly with displacement. I did some measurements to verify this, and found that indeed, the rods have very linear spring behavior. The rods only reach the equivalent weight resistance (they are marked with a pound rating) when they are fully bent.

This spring resistance makes some exercises inferior to their free weight counterparts. The exercises that I feel are most adversely affected are pulling movements like lat pulldowns and rows. They feel easy at the start and most difficult at the end. There are some things I do to help minimize the effect. For example: when doing rows, I start the movement with my upper body farther back, so that it starts with some pre-load on the rods. Halfway through the exercise, I slide closer (sitting on the sliding seat), which lets the rods relax somewhat, and then pull the bar the rest of the way in.

In general, the rods’ spring resistance is a non-issue and even an advantage in some cases. This was quite a surprise to me, and is worth clarifying. While it is true that free weights have a constant resistance (the force of their weight never changes), the resistance in the muscle being worked is not constant. Arm and leg joints rotate—they don’t translate in a straight line. The result is a non-linear resistance on the muscle even when lifting a “constant” free weight load.

There are some exercises that aren’t adversely affected by the spring movement, such as those with a short travel. These include ab crunches, calf presses, shoulder shrugs, etc. Since the rods don’t move much, their resistance is essentially constant.

The nonlinear resistance can be effectively compensated for in some exercises. For example, in the chest press I start with arms wide and pressing like in a bench press. As the movement progresses and the resistance increases, I bring the arms closer in, almost like a pec fly toward the end. This gives my arms a better mechanical advantage to handle the increasing load. To me, the resistance in the chest feels more constant than with a bench press. In a barbell bench press, the movement is always hardest coming right off the chest. Once you get past that, it’s much easier because the tension force in the chest muscles decreases as the bar is pushed up.

The barbell squat is another free-weight exercise that has a very nonlinear resistance in the muscles that are worked. Once you get your legs past the start of the movement, it’s relatively easy from there; the resistance in the quads decreases as the movement progresses. A squat (or leg press) on the Bowflex is a different story. The resistance in the quads feels constant throughout the full range of movement, because as the legs straighten out (and get a better mechanical advantage), the resistance of the rods increases to match. I like the feel of this exercise better on the Bowflex. That statement would be considered heresy by some free weight proponents, but I really believe that.

Another advantage of the power rods is that they are smooth and quiet. This doesn’t impact the quality of the exercises, and it is a very nice feature. I was always slightly annoyed by the clanking of plates on a weight stack. You can’t cheat the weight up like you can with some free weight exercises, because you can’t build up inertia like you can with the mass of weights. The range of motion of the power rods might be restrictive for some people. At 5 feet 9 it is fine for me—and there is movement to spare—but it might be a problem for tall people.

The nonlinear, spring resistance of the power rods is a legitimate criticism of the Bowflex. But it is not nearly as serious a problem as some make it out to be. Other criticisms of the power rod resistance seem to have no merit. Flexing rods may look strange, but they get the job done. The bottom line is that your muscles don’t know the difference between weight force and rod bending force.

Changing the setup for different exercises takes a little time. A worst-case setup would involve switching the bench seat position, hooking a different cable on the power-rod cable, changing bar attachments, and changing power rods. I don’t mind changing the resistance often during a workout. It isn’t as easy as changing the pin in a machine’s weight stack, but it’s pretty easy to do—just bend the desired rods down and hook them on the end of the cable. It’s certainly quicker & easier than changing plates on a barbell. I took a look at the exercises I regularly do, and then developed a routine that minimizes the setup change time. By interlacing exercises that use the same setup but work different muscles, I don’t have to change the machine’s setup as often.

I am continually impressed that I can get such a good workout, doing so many exercises, on a machine that can fold up into such a small space. The compact size of the Bowflex is one of its biggest strengths. It folds into a small area, and it does so quickly and easily (on a hard floor at least). The machine has been great, and has held up without any problems.

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