Bowflex Home Gym Series

Not worth buying. After reading reviews for this machine, I thought it would be a good, inexpensive alternative to a weight machine but imediately after getting it all put together I found out otherwise. This is a resistance machine, it tells you that. But when it says 50lbs (which is the highest it can go) it really means more like 25. This is NOT a muscle building machine by any means. I would suggest you'd be better off with a $10 resistance band. Very disappointed I spent so much for so little. But it would be a pain in the @$$ to take apart and send back...so now I'm stuck with it.Overall I think it's a decent machine if you are looking for light rehab training. The majority of the resistance bars are useless for me. Seat is a little wobbly (I'm 200lbs). Otherwise, steer clear. You can get better results from a workout video and your own body weight workouts.

First off let me say that I, Alicia's husband, is writing this review. I have been an avid workout dude for 36 years. Started with free weights and continued to progress into a massive individual at 6' 2" 250lbs. When I turned 35 I decided to go a different route and bought a Bowflex Power Pro XTLU model. I had all the rods and accessories, even the squat station. The machine build was just o.k. The workouts were great, and I got stronger and cut, but for some reason I wanted to get bigger again. I dumped the bowflex and went back to dumbells etc., got ripped and then started to realize I had to spend a lot of time maintaining the mass. One day when working out I almost tore my rotator cuff, Realizing at 52, married for 20 years, and not have anything to prove to anyone, I sold that equipment and bought the Bowflex Blaze. Wow, what 20 years can do to perfect a product. This thing is a tank. High quality and way more bang for your buck than the extreme se 2. Blows away my Power Pro XTLU by a long shot. Bowflex advertises 60 + exercises when really there is over 80. They advertise the extreme se 2 as 70 + to get you to pay 500 more and truly not get the same variety of exercises. It is a marketing ploy. In addition, the no pulley weight change system on the extreme se 2 is ok, but having to hook a couple cables up is no big deal to me, and now that they are integrated in the Blaze it is much easier. The Power Pro XTLU was exhausting. The Blaze is the better deal. I almost bought the extreme se 2 and I am glad I did not ( of course the wife helped with that decision...haha) Look, if you want to stay in shape, build some muscle and tone the body this gym can do it. I know some might say I sold out, but at the end of the day it's not how much you can lift but how ya look! You will not be disappointed. Delivery was excellent and I paid Amazon to build it. Would do it all over again.Fast Forward: Working out on it since Friday 09/08/17. Bomb! Works so much better than the Power Pro XTLU ever did. Sturdy and does not make a peep. Exercises create a great stretch. Love it. So glad we bought the Blaze. I bought the upgraded power rods specifically through Bowflex due to the low ratings and horror stories from the folks that bought them from Amazon. Sorry Amazon, just have to be real.Update: Its been over 3 weeks. I am having great gains. If you exercise as it says to at bowflex with breathing, reps, etc. you will get results. I have added the ez curl bar, tricep rope, and abdominal pad. Every workout I have done has had me sore the next day. This is not a beginner or intermediate machine. It is a machine for advanced to beginner. The exercises it shows are just the basics. There is a lot you can do with the lower pulleys. If you look at the exercises on the Bowflex Ultimate and Ultimate 2 you can see some more exercises that one can do such as barbell military press,reverse pull downs, reverse tricep push downs, deadlifts, stiff legged dead lifts, barbell curls (use squat straps or chain with ez curl bar) etc. You can really get over 80+ exercises that are just like the gym. I truly have not regretted my purchase. It is so nice to have a great workout with all the safety so I can reach my goals without injury.

I'll start off saying I love this gym. I'm 30 years old, work from home, watch my kid and have a bit of a busy schedule. Convenience of having this at home and not having to drive to the gym is why I made this purchase. I am very impressed with the resistance this comes with stock and is expandable for 2 more power rods.The setup does look daunting when you get it out of the box. Was very easy to put together just time consuming. In all took 3 hours to set up. I used a socket wrench and hex bit for the setup so it made it easier then the stock tools this came with. Seemed to make the setup easier.The excerises are great for upper body. Does great for Chest, back, arms, shoulders, and abs. Legs are a bit lacking but nothing you can't do on your own to help.First time going through exercises takes a little more time because there are certain ways to do the excerises and figuring out what resistance weight to go with. First time through you should definitely write down the resistance weight you had for each excercise so next time it's easy to get your workout set up and get done efficiently.I spent $800 on this gym and its worth every single penny. I strongly recommend for someone that want to get into or back into shape without breaking the bank.Seller did a fantastic job of getting this to me earlier then expected. Had no issues in missing parts or broken parts. I've had for 2 months now and has already made a huge difference in my overall health and body physic. Hope this review helps.

I’ve been going to an actual gym for years now. My wife decided she wanted to workout as well, but wanted to do it at home. I figured the Bowflex would be enough for her and maybe I could even use it. I even bought the 100lb upgrade rods. This thing is terrible and that’s an understatement. There is no resistance at all for me or my wife until about halfway through the movement of the exercise. The pulley system also isn’t very smooth. The weight is also very misleading. If you’re using a 50lb rod, it’s likely only giving you 30lbs of resistance. In all actuality, this is the equivalent to working out with resistance bands. This is one of the worst purchases I’ve made. Save your money and get a home gym that uses actual weight stacks and not resistance rods. It’s a joke.

Very good home machine. Let's get something out of the way now. This is not supposed to be like free weights. That said, it's a great little machine if you upgrade to the 410lbs. I am a fairly big guy, and can deadlift and squat over 500lbs. Is this true weight, of course not. It's tension resistance from bending a material. It is going to be progressive. This works out in a home gyms favor, as it is lightest at the weakest part of a movement. Eliminating the need for a spotter or anything of the sort. I can lift by myself, and I can push myself.Are you going to be maxing out your movements, no.... Don't think you will be, plain and simple. 410lbs of resistance on this is probably closer to 275lbs. A lot of it depends on the range of motion you get, the more the rod bends, the more resistance you will get.

This is a great little workout machine. It took around two hours for the both of us to put it together without any surprises. There are enough activities for us to get us by until we feel like trekking to the gym for a complete workout. There's 2 plastic holder things that tend to come off easily. Nothing a dab of glue won't fix. The sticky tape doesn't seem to adhere very well in our cold basement. It's no big deal though. The one that comes off is the one that you tie the top bar cable to, to hide them behind the machine when you're using the bottom set of pulleys. I would still purchase this unit again and have been recommending it.

If I could give this a review in the negative numbers, I would!! The only reason I purchased this machine was so that I could use the rowing function and my husband could use it for weight training. The machine is useless and a waste of money! It is sitting in a it basement and not being used at all! The rowing function is useless because there is no support/straps for your legs and the bar is too high to put your feet on. The weight function is no better. Don’t waste your money on this machine!

The steel frame on this system is so solid and heavy. It took my 3.5 hours to assemble alone but a second pair of hands for heavier pieces would have been helpful, especially as there are many smaller bolts needing to be aligned into holes with finesse. Note that the screws, bolts, washers etc are heat sealed onto a laminated card that is well labelled, but there are no spare parts if you lose a bolt, nut or washer. Once fully assembled the system is mighty strong and well designed. The last step is the unwrapping of the pulleys/cables and I would not undo them until the very end as loose cables with get caught up in the frame assembly process. My only disappointment was the late delivery and lack of proper tracking by the new courier service used.

Bought for the whole family which includes my wife and me in our late 40s, and our son who is 13. It's bigger than we expected, but fits and works in a 7' x 5' area. Rugged construction. Assembly took some effort, but the instructions are good. After a couple workouts getting used to the setup and cable changes for each exercise. Also trying to get used to the rod selections for each ex, as I'm not sure the weight represented for each rod is really accurate. However, I get a good workout, the movements are smooth. I supervise my son and set up each exercise for him, but I think he will have it figured out for himself soon enough.

I'm not the best person to be reviewing a product like this...or maybe I am? I don't go to the gym and i hate weight benches and free weight. This is the first workout equipment I actually like using. It's not cheap and you have to manually move the cables around each time you need to do another workout, but it certainly works the muscles. Not sure it would be enough for serious weight lifters but for people like me just trying to tone up and live a little longer, should be fine