Quote:
Originally Posted by IROC
I have owned two Bowflexes over the past 8 years or so. Both my wife and I use it on a regular basis. When compared to a gym full of free weights, the free weights obviously win out, but to me the real beauty of a Bowflex is that you can do a variety of perfectly decent exercises in the comfort of your own home. You can get in an entire workout in less time that it generally takes to drive back and forth to a gym.
Is it the perfect exercise machine? No. Does it work? Yes. I recommend it.
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I agree with IROC. I've had one for a number of years and with a little bit of thought, I can fit 3 sets of 9 exercises, 15 reps each into half an hour -- and not rush. I've seen guys in the gym spend half that time setting up the weights for a single exercise. The only time that my weight has changed in the last 10 years or so that we've had them is when I've increased the resistance. The bowflex system is most likely not perfect, but it seems to work pretty well when combined into an exercise program that includes the elliptical machine that's parked next to it (45 minutes), Paletes (30 minutes), 35 mile bike rides and Aikido training.
We're on our second bowflex too, but the only reason that we changed is when we bought a second machine for the pull-down tower that my wife likes, and the leg sub-system that I wanted. I gave the rest of the 2nd system to my nephew (a budding triathlete) and he's happily using it now.
I like having the system in the house because I can just crawl out of bed in the morning before anyone else has woken up, put the last weekend's races (on tape) on the TV, and start working out. There are no excuses. No one cares what I look like or what I'm wearing while I'm working out. The dirty clothes can go straight into the laundry and I've wasted no time or gas on driving to the gym.