IMO, Bowflex is only good for changing training stimulus, which can be good when reaching a plateau. Other than that, it’s a lot better to lift free weights.
If you want some stuff to train with at home, spend your $$$ on a good bench, rack, and some weights. You can get some decent stuff for the same amount of money that you would waste on a Bowflex.
My best friend has a basement full of of good equipment, but not too long ago, his live-in girlfriend got it into her head that she “just had to have” a Bowflex. No amount of logical discussion would persuade her otherwise. (She has a REAL impulse-buying issue.) Anyway…the darn thing gets ordered (their top of the line model), and she is just about to piss herself waiting for it.
Later, when it does not show up on the day that the delivery was promised, she calls and screams at the poor sales people and then the delivery outfit. Then, on the day that it does arrive, my buddy has to take off work, and get it put together right then and there.
Now fast forward…the contraption gets used for about two weeks…then gathers dust for about eight more…then some sucker is found to buy it…and now the girlfriend is back in the basement with my buddy…training with the equipment that he had all along. Of course…I am adding insult to injury, by reminding her of these facts. (HA!)
If you just have to have one…look in the classified ad’s or go somewhere like Play It Again Sports, and see if they have a used one, and minimize the damage. However…while you are there, look at the REAL equipment (benches, racks, etc.), and compare what you could get for the same amount of $$$.
[quote]BigDaddyT wrote:
<<< With the Bowflex, I reached a certain point and then plateaued. >>>[/quote]
This will be THE defining issue here. If you are totally untrained, eat decent and hit a bowflex hard, working your way through the rods you WILL make progress. It’s resistance your body isn’t used to and it will respond.
The trouble is it won’t be too long before you’re yawning your way through 20 rep workouts because you’ve outgrown it. If you don’t want any more then fine, but if you catch the “bug” which you hopefully will and want more the thing will be collecting dust.
I live in an apartment too, and I bench and deadlift here. (I stand on a sheet of plywood on top of 2 layers of carpet when I deadlift). I’ve done this for 20 years and in that whole time, I don’t think I’ve ever dropped a weight.
I also belong to a gym, and I do other stuff there.
Forget the Bowflex. Find a gym or buy some weights.
I think some posters are missing the point. Of course the guy can make some gains using the bowflex if he’s untrained…it provides resistance and his muscles will get bigger and stronger. Some exercise is better than no exercise.
The problem is clear though when you consider this guy might train with weights long term. I think it’s important to start out learning how to move your body through free space, and developing lifting technique and coordination, early on in the training process. I think Pavel once wrote that it was best to learn to do more technically rigorous free weight lifts before you’d actually built enough strength to hurt yourself.
The fact that he will develop a little strength on the bowflex (which really won’t transfer to anything) and probably start ingraining shitty motor patterns is not a good thing. The fact that he may get a little hypertrophy out of it really isn’t enough to warrant using this goofy machine.
Strength is a skill and you learn it by lifting real weight.
But if you’re just a ‘fitness enthusiast’ and never plan on lifting anything very heavy, most likely none of this matters. Thank about what your long-term goals are, or what they might become.
Best
If you do decide to use the bowflex only, I am curious what types of results you would attain. Fact of the matter is that the buff men using the bowflex in the infomercials are just fitness models and almost surely used free weights to put on their quality muscle mass.
Good luck with whatever you do, but I’d definitely suggest trying out a gym. As a newbie, I found the other people there to be really nice as long as you respected gym etiquette and showed a desire to improve.
I think everyone agrees he should do his MAIN workout with weights, either in a gym, or buy some for the home.
Whether or not the bow flex stays, it is only going to stay as a supplemental device.
Money is not a problem.
Apparently, space is not a problem either.
Weights are not very noisy if you are careful enough. You don’t drop them. if you get rubber ones, they are damn near silent. If you can’t afford a full set of rubber, you can alternate rubber/metal plates and it is quiet too. Rubber mats on the floor help, if you can’t afford gym quality tiles, get two doormats. Heck, they can be made of straw.
But really, don’t take our word for it, go to a gym for a month, go 3x a week, follow a basic program and see what happens. Squat, bench, row, overhead press. Just do 1 warmup set of each, and 1 set with a weight for about 8-10 reps. SEE WHAT HAPPENS. In week 2 you will be much stronger than week 1. You will be hooked. Write down everything you do. You don’t need the perfect gym, setup or routine as soon as you start.
Dude, let me say this first. I have been a bodybuilder since I was 13 years old … over 30 years ago. I inherited the love of bodybuilding from my dad who was a bodybuilder in the 40s. So I think I have “some” experience. Some of these freakin’ posts are horsehit.
I’ve worked out in hard core gyms in the 70’s, yeah male only, sweating wall, drop the freakin’ barbells and make noise gyms! I’ve also worked out in university gyms with every freakin’ machine invented by anyone and everyone who thinks they can make you bigger faster.
I’ve had dumbells, barbells, olympic plates, standard plates, a universal, and yes a Bowflex in my home at one point or another in my life.
The g-ddamned important thing is to use it! Whatever the hell you have USE it! The guys who are recommending to you to sell it, go to a gym, etc. bullshit, etc. are not you. We are supposed to be here to help one another.
So with that said.
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A gym is the best place to build hardcore. Psychologically and physically you will grow the most in a gym. Me and the guy I grew up with lifting used to go to the gym and we were maniacs. We would push one another like there was no tomorrow! And then we’d go eat like horses, eating whole cheesecakes for chasers! Nuff said.
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Resistance is resistance. With the excercises on a Bowflex or a universal, or dumbells, it is resistance. Your body grows when recuperating from the stimuli placed on it by RESISTANCE! Now the Bowflex is different in the way the resistance works. But so is anything else. Example: curl a dumbell. What resistance is there on your bicep when your arm is pointing straight up as compared to when the arm is at a 45 degree angle? Yes, it is way different. Same with the Bowflex or universal, etc.
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Some excercises on the Bowflex need to be worked at to get the best of the movement because of the weight “curve” of the rod. Do a squat with the Bowflex while standing on the steel base. Sure it doesn’t feel like 300 pounds. But now stand on a box, so the bows bend all the way down when you are standing straight up and hell, there is no difference between a barbell and the bowflex. In contrast, do curls with 60 pounds each on the Bowflex. You will find there is no difference than when you would do 60 pound curls on a universal or with dumbells.
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Experiment continuously. Using the Bowflex for 1 week then selling it because someone recommended to sell it isn’t experimentation. It’s stupidity. Use the Bowflex and see what happens. Then try the same routine for the same period of time with free weights and see what happens. Then go at it again with machines and see.
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It’s great to be able to workout at 1 in the morning (or whatever) on a universal, or dumbells, or a Bowflex, because the gym is closed! Some days you can’t get to the gym. The Bowflex will be your backup.
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Lastly, for anyone who reads this post looking at getting a Bowflex because you can’t join a gym, or the space in the house is small, or etc. etc. etc. It is a fantastic piece of equipment! USE it and I assure you will not regret it. But if you still have the itch to use only steel! and need or want to workout at home, then I would recommend going with a Powertec Leverage Gym. The layout and design is very very similar to a Bowflex but you use Olympic plates for the resistance instead of the bows.
Well, good luck to you Bail3yz!!
Remember, just freakin’ do it!
Paddy
[quote]bail3yz wrote:
say I got a gym membership… would the bowflex be good enough to use on days i cant make it to the gym??
I realize equitywise it wouldnt be a good idea, but ignore the price, since it is already paid for and I dont really mind that I may have wasted money on it :).
[/quote]
Bro, you came in and asked advice about the bowflex. They told you what to do, you know what to do. Stop fighting it. You made a mistake buying the bowflex, don’t make it worse by trying to rationalize it. Join a gym, buy a barbell and dumb bells for days you “can’t make it to the gym”, you can probably get them pretty cheap from a play it again sports or a second hand store.
Machines are an incredibly long way off from getting even close to free weights. I know this is a sweeping generalization, but take it from the posters here, save your self some time and money and follow their advice.
Also I have a feeling you’d benefit from the leg press since you’re 6’4 and lanky, they don’t have that on bowflex. But they should at most gyms.
Bail, you did NOT make a mistake buying the Bowflex. And on days you can’t make it to the gym (if you go that route) nothing will beat the Bowflex at home. Nothing. Trust me you did not make a mistake. But that is up to you to decide not someone else.
If you want an un-biased opinion from someone who actually took one of the damn things and used it check out this pdf:
exercisecertification.com/articles/products/bowflex.pdf
And don’t think to yourself, oh that guy doing the review doesn’t look like Arnold. When you look like this guy then you will know you should go to a gym. But if you really want to look like Arnold, like I said before, do it dammit, join the gym.
In the end, your physique will change dramatically no matter what you use. It is the resistance and excercises you choose not what you use. But like I said just use the damn Bowflex and stop worrying if you made a mistake and listening to all the bullshit!
What he just said. I have also done both, Bowflex and everything else, had free weights, benches, at home and at the gym and have come to this conclusion: your muscles respond to resistance, whether with weights, bands, powerrods or body weight.
Again, what Paddy said is right on: if you want results, DO THE WORK. Use your bowflex for your upper body, go to the gym and slap the guys doing curls in the squat racks out of the way and do your squats and deads. If you want to do more at the gym, fine. Work your upper body while you are there. Changing things up is always good.
Like some others said, don’t sweat about your looks/performance. Work hard, the sweat will come on its own.
My grandpa’s got a bowflex. I don’t like it. It’s got a really weird feel to it, and it really prevents you from lifting in any natural path. It just feels really akward to me. He loves it, but he refuses to touch free weights. And there’s absolutely no tension at the bottom of any lift, which I hate
What Do You Think of Bowflex?
I will think of it as dead till education make it so, then I will think of it no more. . .
Use body weights till your stronger ( gymnast do not even touch weights and look at them )
Okay, I won’t lie to you. I haven’t read through this whole thread but I got the ‘jist’ of it. Basically people are saying you should get rid of it, and I agree. However, there was one point I didn’t see mentioned yet and I think it might enlighten you to ditch the whole thing.
The resistance set up on the Bowflex is a little screwy. Think about this. When you do a dumbbell curl the hardest part of lifting that weight is in the middle of the movement. Same with a bench press, a squat, tricep extension, etc. The Bowflex uses these bars that flex to give the user resistance, HOWEVER, the hardest point in your movement is in the end of the repetition. That is because the resistance continues to grow as the bar bends. It really doesn’t match the muscle curve well.
Plus, anyone who you see at the gym who looks at you strangely because you don’t lift a ‘ton’ is the one that ends up looking stupid anyway. All ‘lifters’ who know what they’re talking about don’t act that way and only give people ‘that look’ when they see someone using a machine like it is a ride at an amusement park.
Get the gym membership. Meet people. Take advantage (considering it is a good gym) of everything else it has to offer. Just don’t end up like a sucker paying a fortune for something that really isn’t.
yeah you messed up. as you are finding out you could of used your money better. Okay with that said your goal to bulk up as everybody is saying get to a gym. don,t over think to start compound movment lifts in a 5x5. WITH PEFECT FORUM exsample… bench/BBrows,squats,deads,shugs,seated miltary press,lat pull downs. and work in power cleans. as crusher Jr. said “Take advantage (considering it is a good gym) of everything else it has to offer.” you will find help. How you might use the Bowflex.on non power days use it as a fat burn and tone. areas you my what to rip exsample… tricpes, biceps. hope this helps
[quote]Ramo wrote:
<<< Strength is a skill and you learn it by lifting real weight. >>>[/quote]
This is a great point that I guess sort of goes without saying, but should be said more. The whole world of learning how the body works under load is an acquired skill set and not limited to simply doing exercises with cosmetically flawless form. No doubt this is best accomplished by moving actual weight in resistance to gravity.
Bottom line is that the Bowflex is a fitness toy. It isn’t useless, but it ain’t weightlifting either. The other bottom line is that for about the same monthly payments, most places you can get access to much more useful equipment albeit not at home.
“You can be on your way to the best shape of your life in only 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week” - BowFlex Infomercial
What a load of horseshit!
Take the advice from these Iron Vets. Join a gym or do an all bodyweight routine then join a gym.
It’s Bow-tastic!
-S
(Bow-riffic maybe?)
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
It’s Bow-tastic!
-S
(Bow-riffic maybe?)
[/quote]
HA HA Ha ha ha…
I almost fell of my TONY LITTLE GAZELLE FREESTYLE ELITE!
PS Lou Ferrigno must be hurting for money to do that ad.
[quote]inthego wrote:
HA HA Ha ha ha…
I almost fell of my TONY LITTLE GAZELLE FREESTYLE ELITE!
PS Lou Ferrigno must be hurting for money to do that ad.[/quote]
I had a Gazelle. My fat ass bent the cross bar where the handles are (max weight capacity 250 < me)