Their home gyms don’t come cheap, but they’re still very popular among exercise enthusiasts. The different models offered by Bowflex will satisfy a wide range of consumers, from experienced personal fitness trainers to beginners.
That being said, if you’re thinking about whether or not to buy a Bowflex home gym you might want to consider these general guidelines that will help ensure that you make the right choice, so you don’t throw your hard earned money away on something you will never need or use.
As with any other home gym equipment, you have to know what your goals are before making the purchase. Other factors to consider relate to cost, maintenance, how much room it occupies and several other things that relate to subjective and individual reasons.
Exercising = determination
Although the popular Bowflex is an efficient muscle builder and fat burner, you can’t accomplish any of these without the proper mental attitude. So, before you spend your money on a Bowflex, make sure you are up for the challenge it will present. Here are a few questions you should find answers for before purchasing gym equipment:
Will I be using this exercise machine 6 months from now?
If I create my fitness program, will I be able to stick to it?
Is it better to purchase a Bowflex home gym or should I go to a gym instead?
Where to use your Bowflex
Even though the machine itself takes little room, you still need to free up some considerable space in order to exercise properly. Make sure that you install your Bowflex in an area that doesn’t require you to move furniture around when you are exercising. Try to use the exercise machine in an area where your family members don’t need to have constant access and provide you with distractions. Reserve a set period of time for exercising with your Bowflex – do not take calls or let outside distractions come in the way.
Beginners Using Bowflex
With an entry-level Bowflex Class Home Gym offering over 30 exercises, you can rest assured that every major muscle group from your body can get proper training. The Bowflex Power Rod technology offers smooth resistance and creates the feel of free weights. Even though there are fewer power rods with the Classic home gym it’s significantly cheaper then some of the other Bowflex exercise machines.
Bowflex vs. Free Weights
The Bowflex Classic Home Gym power rod technology offers up to 210 lbs. of resistance. With the power rods the supporting muscle groups are not heavily targeted since you are working along a two-dimensional plane. Instead the Bowflex does a good job if really isolating muscle groups.
Free weights require you to recruit supporting muscle groups in order to stabilize during your lifts, facilitating compound exercises as opposed to isolation exercises.
Do you really need to target the stabilizing muscles to gain muscle mass?
Absolutely. In order to maximize muscle gains, you want to stimulate as many muscle fibers as possible, and cables and machines do not do this to the same extent as free weights.
If your goal is to gain weight and build muscle mass, you simply can’t beat doing the big compound movements using free weights. The gravity-based resistance provides a more balanced resistance through the entire exercise motion.
Is the Bowflex worthless?
Absolutely not. I’ve had a Bowflex in the past and found it to provide a decent workout. But I would use it to complement my free weights routine. I think Bowflex is especially useful to beginners who want to gain strength so they can build a solid foundation before starting a heavier weights routine designed for bulking up.
Cost
In order to have a good free-weight setup, you will need a barbell, adjustable bench, dumbbell handles as well as plates. If you were to buy everything brand new, 210-lbs. free weights would set you back around $300-400, less if you bought used equipment. Compare that to The Bowflex Classic Home Gym, which at the time of this article costs $649.
In Conclusion
As you can see there are pros and cons with the Bowflex home gym. If the main goal is gaining muscle quickly, then you should use free weights for the majority of your training.
With that being said, on the negative side, free weights require that you have a spotter for most exercises, and it’s more difficult changing the weights on the barbell or dumbbells.
If you are mostly using your Bowflex to gain a few pounds of solid lean muscle mass and get in a general good shape, than the standard model should be more than enough.
If you want to pack on more then just a few pounds, you will be required to lift heavy weight, and in my opinion your best choice is free weights. But with no spotter the Bowflex gym is still a very good option, especially for strength training routines
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