Bowflex Tips

Reviews on Bowflex Ultimate BOWFLEX ULTIMATE - The Ultimate Bowflex - The One For You? Bowflex is probably the most widely used home gym system available on the market. You see ads for them all over, especially on late night TV...

Reviews on Bowflex Ultimate 2 Interesting reviews…not what I expected I've been working out since I was 13. I am now 35. I studied many manuals and routines; i.e. Arnold Schwarzenneger weight lifting manual, ...

PART 1: MOTIVATION FOR CHANGE

OK, so we all get flabby and lazy as we get older, right? Me, I used to be a competitive swimmer and bike rider, but now I’m 37 years old and have an affinity for the couch and TV. I’ve gone from a 32 inch waist to a 38, and at some point in the recent past I decided that it was time to take control of my body and get in shape for both myself and my significant other.

PART 2: THE OPTIONS

So, I asked myself, what are the options for getting back in shape? Basically you have two options: Option numero uno: you can go to the gym. The good thing about going to the gym is that they have beaucoup machines, usually a pool, women in tight outfits, and knowledgable staff that will drill-sergeant you into shape. The down side is that you have to drive to the gym, change and shower with a bunch of strangers, I already went through basic training and I don’t need some punk half my age screaming in my face, and it’s expensive, usually between $50 and $100 a month. Option 2: Some kind of weight machine or freeweights. To me freewights are not an option because they are loud, a major PITA to move around, and dangerous without a spotter. Weight machines, on the other hand, usually do not require a spotter, are relatively easy to set up and move, and are generally about the same price as a quality set of free weights and benches. I decided that a weight machine was the way to go.

PART 3: WHICH MACHINE?

Now I knew I wanted a machine, so I studiously set forth gathering information on a myriad of machines on the market. There are many options, but they all fit into 2 basic categories: “Steel Lifters” and “Band Stretchers”. Steel lifters are those machines that you see in the gym where you put pins in a metal bar and lift/pull/push metal weights on a “circuit”-type machine. Usually these machines have 3-4 stations and work quite well. The downside? They’re expensive, they still have those pesky weights attached, which make them very very heavy and difficult to maneuver, and they’re not cheap. A gym-class steel-lifter can set you back $3000-$5000 or more. “Band-Stretchers” are machines that use some kind of flexible resistance, like power-rods or power-bands, and generally do not have any weights to lift or finagle with. There are a bunch of them, but the most popular are the Bowflex and Crossbow lines. So I had a decision to make. After some research I decided that I wanted a band-stretcher type machine. I then narrowed my choices down to Bowflex or Crossbow, because these two were the highest rated on many sites, including Epinions. Bowflex Ultimate was more expensive (over twice as much), but seemed to be constructed much more robustly than the Crossbow, and offered more exercises. I live by the motto “you get what you pay for”, and after some thought I decided that the extra cost for the Bowflex Ultimate would be justified considering that I plan on using the machine until it turns to dust, or I do. So my decision was made. Bowflex Ultimate had won the race.

PART 4: ORDERING AND RECEIVING

Ordering was easy enough. I logged on to Bowflex.com and placed my order. Ba-da-bing, I was done. About 6 weeks later I had a knock on my door and a sweaty, exhausted UPS guy was standing there with 4 hefty boxes. He wasn’t pleased when I told him to take them to the garage. Hey, that’s what he gets paid for. I gave him a tip: “Stay away from crack”. LOL.

PART 5: ASSEMBLY

Assembly was easy as pie. The Bowflex Ultimate was packed neatly into the four aforementioned boxes, and each piece has it’s own foam-lined cubby-hole, the bolts and attachment hardware was snugly shrink-wrapped and labelled, and the instructions were clear and concise. I had the whole thing assembled in less than two hours.

PART 6: FIT, FINISH, AND ACCESSORIES

As I stood back and admired the fruits of my labor, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the sturdiness and quality of construction of the Ultimate. It was a beautiful sight indeed. The whole thing is constructed from thick-guage steel, and once it’s assembled, you can’t budge the thing. Solid as a rock. The sliver-grey powder coating looks great, although they could have sprayed another coating on since it seems to scratch easily, but that is a small gripe indeed. There are a myriad of attachments included, such as a full-length curl, press bar, waist-belt, short curl bar, hand grips etc. All are made of high-quality steel, and are appropriately padded and adjustable. Very nice. There’s also a video included that shows the proper form for each of the 90+ exercises, and a spiral-bound book that also shows each exercise, and has some workout logs and diagrams in the back.

PART 7: THE EXERCISES

Now, I’m no newbie to working out. As I said before I was a competitive swimmer for many years, and did a lot of weight training at that time. I had always used free-wights or steel-lifters, never a band-strecther, but having seen the promo materials, I had an idea of what to expect. The Bowflex Ultimate offers 90+ exercises, targeting every conceivable muscle in the human body. No, I haven’t tried them all, but I have tried a good portion of them. The main difference I found in working out on the Bowflex was that the resisitance moves much more smoothly than freeweights or steel machines, and that the resisitance on the “return” stroke was also working my muscles. For example: On a free-weight bench or steel machine, you only work your muscles on the “up” stroke, there is no resistance on the “return” stroke. With the Bowflex, there is resistance on both, and I think that you really get a better workout because of that. One other difference I noticed is that you learn to control your muscles more effectively because on most exercises, your arms and legs are “free”, and not confined or “locked” into a specific position. For example, when doing a bench-press on the bowflex (using the hand grips), you do not have your hands on a bar, you have them on two separate hand grips. When you do the press the first few times, your arms will want to shake and move because there is nothing that is holding them in place (with freeweights or a machine, you’re grabbing onto a bar and your arms have no place to move). After a while, you eliminate this shaking and movement by controlling your muscles and balance. I really think this little quirk develops muscle control a great deal. All in all, I am very satisfied with the exercises that I have done, and feel tired and worked out, but never sore, after a good Bowflex Ultimate workout.

PART 7: THE RESULTS

I’m extremely happy with the results I’ve seen so far. It’s only been about 8 weeks, and I’ve only used the machine for 2-3 workouts per week, but already I’ve lost 15+ pounds, and a couple of inces off my waistline. My body looks and feels firmer, trimmer, and stronger. I feel better about myself. I am going to ramp up my workouts and see how much more I can do.

PART 8: THE LECTURE

I cannot stress this enough: you will only get as much out of this machine as you put into it. If you spend all this money and only use it once a week or once every two weeks and don’t see any meaningful results for a long time, that’s your fault. If you work out 4-5 times a week for 2 hours per session, you will lose weight and look good. It’s all about willpower. It’s about fighting the urge to sit on the couch, turn on SpongeBob Squarepants and eat those 6 donuts. It’s about wanting to be fit, and willing to work for it. If you’re not going to use it, go spend your $2300 on something else taht you’ll enjoy. $2300 is a lot of money to spend on something that’s just going to sit there.

SUMMARY:

Some people say that the Bowflex Ultimate, and indeed the entire Bowflex line is overpriced. I don’t think that’s the case. Bowflex makes a quality line of products that can produce exactly the results that they advertise. If you want to get a $500 machine, go ahead, but you’ll just end up junking it after a couple of months and buying something quality that will last you, like the Bowflex. I truly believe that you do get what you pay for, and the Bowflex Ultimate has borne that theory out in my mind. I think the Bowflex ultimate is better than freeweights or steel-lifters, and is a great machine for getting in shape and body-building.

I am not affiliated with the Bowflex company in any way. I am simply a satisfied customer.

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