Review: The Bowflex Home Gym

Sometimes it’s hard to balance having a busy work schedule with going to the gym regularly. However, you can incorporate exercises and workout sessions into your routine with a home gym. In our unbiased Bowflex review, you’ll find out which supplies you need to set up a fully-equipped home gym at affordable prices, all to fit your convenience.

If you’re trying to build resistance or grow muscles, there are some tools you’ll need that are most commonly found in a gym. For instance, Bowflex offers the Power Rod technology, SpiralFlex technology, and accessories. Bowflex is a well-established company that is renowned in the sports industry. It is also famous by famous artists and celebrities. This review will tell you all you need about Bowflex technology and its best seller products. You’ll learn what to expect from the brand and what actual customers think. Keep reading for more!

About Bowflex

Bowflex was first introduced in 1986 as a home workout concept following the jazz + exercise trend in the 1980s. The company takes a futuristic approach to exercise by providing a more cost-effective model to gym memberships. It was founded by Dosho Tessema Shifferawe to develop high-tech training machines.

Over the years, Bowflex has become a major commercial network, and it was taken over by Nautilus Inc in 2002. It offers a large selection of fitness equipment to assist you in achieving your goals. Their products are designed to deliver a full workout set to both amateur and professional fitness enthusiasts right from the comfort of your home.

On the website, the brand expressly states, “We try our best to practice what we preach, and like you, we all have varying degrees of success. That’s why we focus on creating machines that get you results as quickly and efficiently as possible, so you can get on with your day and live a healthier, happier, and better life,”

The brand has gotten several award recognitions in pursuit of its goals. For instance, The Elliptical Reviews Best Buy Award in 2020. The brand also educates its customers on the proper techniques and dietary requirements to reach their fitness goals on the blog. It is undoubtedly a leading man in the home fitness business.

The company’s headquarters is based in the United States. It supplies products to customers directly and through third-party channels. It is often featured in media outlets such as Healthline, Men’s health, and NBC News. Overall, the brand offers customers a well-built structure where they can do all their gym routines right from the comfort of their homes.

Pros

• Offers over 70 different workout routines on one machine.
• Resistance extends to 95kg (210 pounds) and an upgrade is available for up to 185 kg (410 pounds) of resistance.
• It provides a digital fitness platform on some of their models
• Comes with an LCD Screen where you can watch videos and take on-demand training classes
• Some equipment come with a mobile app that offers interaction with other platforms
• Financing option with payment by installments
• Fitness tips and healthy diet recipes are regularly featured on the side blog

Cons

• High cost compared to other brands
• Chest-focused exercises are limited
• Not as effective for professional weightlifters

Bowflex Products Review

The brand offers a broad category of fitness products and accessories for workout enthusiasts right from the comfort of your home. It introduced the Bowflex home gym, a comprehensive machine built with high-end technology. Bowflex also supplies ellipticals, treadmills, dumbbells, lifts, amongst others, to help you develop your core muscles and keep in shape.

It is also cost-effective since you can save money on a regular gym membership by creating your own gym. In addition, they offer machines with the same resistance and capacity as the ones you’ll find in any standard gym. In this section, we’ll examine some of Bowflex’s bestseller and trending products to show you what to expect from the brand.

Bowflex Treadclimber

The Bowflex Treadclimber is simply one of a kind, and this product features a range of high-grade specs. It has an in-built workout program that offers 5 different routines: Just Walk, Calorie Goal, Time Goal, Distance Goal, and Interval. In addition, Bowflex’s custom Treadclimber has been redesigned to work like a treadmill, a stepper, and an elliptical.

Another benefit of the Treadclimber is that it produces quicker results in lesser time. It is easy for anyone to use, providing a vigorous cardio session that is gentle on your knees and burns up to 2.5 times the calories of a treadmill at the same speed. With the Bowflex Treadclimber, you have a healthy way to exercise without straining your muscles.

It helps you burn calories, and you can adjust the settings to your fitness level. Suppose you also need motivation and encouragement while working out. In that case, you can set goals and achieve them with the Treadclimber app, which is specially built for the equipment.

It offers personalized coaching, tracking, and motivation to reach your fitness goals. The tread climber also has an integrated Bluetooth device that connects with other apps and fitness kits. The complete list of specs is included on the product page, and this equipment is one of Bowflex’s bestseller products.

It is suitable for professional and amateur fitness enthusiasts and people with health conditions. This Treadclimber costs $1,999 on the brand’s website; however, it is currently out of stock, and the brand has not stated when they’re releasing a new batch.

Bowflex Max Trainer M5

Another quality product in the brand’s catalog is the Bowflex Max Trainer M5 which doubles as a stair-stepper and an elliptical machine. It is one of the most appealing home machines that the company offers a practical workout session. Bowflex Max Trainer provides a full-body workout that tones quads, calves, shins, and butts while increasing cardio endurance.

The machine has a control panel to choose from 7 other workout routines that you prefer. It boasts of a 14-minute workout routine that burns 2.5 times more calories when compared to an elliptical and 1.5 times more than a treadmill. The point of the machine is to offer a low-intensity impact workout with high health and cardio impacts.

It also comes with a cup holder to place your drink for quick refreshments in between sessions.

Bowflex Max Trainer M5 comes with an integrated Bluetooth system. You can set up the machine with the mobile app available on Android and iOS systems.

You can also sync your workouts to other mobile apps like Apple Health and other fitness apps on your smartphone. For an easy and convenient workout session right at home, you can get the Bowflex max Trainer M5 for $1,600.

Bowflex Revolution Home Gym

The Bowflex Revolution Home Gym encourages you to perform more than 100 workout routines in about 400 variations. Overall, the weight of the equipment is 335 pounds, and it supports a user capacity of 300 lb. It is built with the Power Rod technology, which provides resistance rather than gravity which rises progressively as the user exercises.

This technique prevents excessive pressure on a person’s joint at the start of the session. Bowflex guarantees quick results with their home gym machine if you exercise for 20 minutes a day, 3 times per week. Its entire folded footprint is 4 ft 7 in length by 3 ft 2 in width, so it’s best suited for a workout space of 10 ft (height) x 7 ft (width). Other features in the machine include:

• A leg press station
• Moving freedom arms with 10 positions and 170-degree adjustments
• It also has a vertical bench press for different exercises and variations
• And, SpiralFlex plates that offer linear resistance similar to a gym weight stack.

This equipment comes with a 10-year parts warranty and a 90-day labor warranty. You can get a one-time charge of the home gym for $2,899 and finance it for $162 per month. In addition, you can request an in-home assembly and purchase a machine mat for extra charges to save stress.

Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE

Less expensive than the Revolution home gym, the Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE is one of Bowflex’s limited multi-gyms. It was first introduced in 2008, and it features different toolkits for an intense bodybuilding workout session. In addition, it features resistance rods that extend to a maximum of 210 lbs.

It is modeled on the power rod technology, which offers flexible poles to attach pulley rods to build resistance. The device also features a fixed back-pad, but it comes with an adjustable seat to fit your build. You can also remove the seat and leg extensions to create more exercise room.

The machine’s dimensions are 53 x 49 x 83.25 inches which is space-efficient.

It is perfect for an intense workout focusing on building strength and bodywork. It encourages compound exercises like squats and deadlifts. However, the Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE may not be comprehensive enough for a professional fitness builder.

And the old model requires you to manually change the resistance, attachments, and positions of parts of the machine, which interrupts your workout pace. Nevertheless, with a 30 minutes workout on the Xtreme 2 SE at least twice a week, you’ll be able to meet your workout goals. This product is currently in stock on the Bowflex website, and it costs $1,499.

Bowflex Treadmiller Climber TC 5000

The Bowflex Treadmiller Climber TC 5000 is a unique exercise machine that allows users to climb and work on an incline or elliptical training. It is one of the brand’s well-loved inclines, and it will enable users to burn more calories and build a better body without having to run. In addition, this top incline helps you achieve better results compared to the traditional treadmill.

It features different workout programs that can easily adjust to 12 intensity levels. The upgrades in this Treadclimber design include a quick-start feature throughout the mobile app, a visual elevation tracker, and a wireless chest strap. The structure is compact with a 46 x 30 footprint, perfect for small living space. And it features wheels which makes it easy to move around.

Bowflex Max Trainer M8

The brand has discontinued this product, and the Max Trainer M9 is now top of the Bowflex store line. However, a short while ago, it was the most sought-after option, and it’s currently the best equipment for shoppers with a lower budget. The Bowflex Max Trainer M8 aims to provide a practical but low-impact workout that helps you burn more calories and better muscle toning.

The Max Trainer M8 features 20 levels of resistance with an extensive range of difficulty to sustain amateur to advanced fitness enthusiasts. The brand also includes a Bowflex JRNY App that offers another level of challenge and motivation as you work out. With an AI platform that assesses your workout routine to adjust your difficulty levels, you’ll meet your personal goals.

The JRNY features include live and pre-recorded classes with real-time coaching. It also provides a curated playlist and integrates with devices such as Netflix, Hulu, and Prime video to provide additional entertainment. You can monitor your heart rate and read about your stats and progress with the LED screen on the trainer.

Bowflex Reviews From Customers

Building your personal home gym is very expensive, and if you’re spending so much money, then you have to be sure you’re getting your money’s worth. From the customer reviews, we found that Bowflex has a lot of praise from buyers who love their products. It has an average of 4.5/5 stars from over 3,000 customers reviews on individual products.

The Xtreme 2 SE home gym has 4.6/5 reviews from 1,707 customer ratings. Many customers found the equipment convenient, versatile, and effective. One user comment said,

“I am a man in his late seventies. I have lost 45 pounds in the last year. As part of my weight loss and maintenance plan, I worked out 3 times each week on the Bowflex classic. I have now switched to the Extreme 2S. It is more challenging, easier to use, and has more targeted exercises.”

Customer engagement

The brand also has a lot of customer engagement outside the website. For example, the Bowflex home gym set has 4.⅗ stars from 135 global ratings on Amazon. Many customers appreciated the resistance and commented that it allows them to get a full-body workout without causing any major muscle strains.

However, we also found negative reviews on Trustpilot, which scored Bowflex 2.2 stars from 34 customer reviews. Most of the negative complaints or reviews are on poor customer service. One reviewer stated,

“There is no customer service. You receive automated responses. I had placed my order in November and reached out multiple times for delivery. No response. I canceled my order by emailing several times in January. Again, no response. In February, I received an email indicating that the product was out of delivery and charged my credit card! I have called them many times, and I cannot speak to anyone. I have made another purchase, and I do not want this product anymore.”

Sign Up for Bowflex

You can register for a Bowflex user account to shop conveniently and get exclusive deals and product price offers.

Where To Buy Bowflex

You can buy your Bowflex equipment directly from the website, and the brand offers retailers in various locations. It is also available on Amazon and some fitness stores.

Bowflex Shipping and Return Policy

The shipping times and costs depend on the buyer’s location, but the brand states that shipping may be delayed due to Covid. Meanwhile, US and Canada orders come with a home-assembling option but not international shipping. After your order has been shipped, you’ll receive a tracking ID to monitor the delivery.

For returns, the brand offers an 8-week period where you can return your goods if you’re unsatisfied with your purchase. The item must be returned in the original packaging without any damage. Unfortunately, Bowflex doesn’t cover the returns shipping cost, and members of the JRNY subscription do not get a refund.

Bowflex Promotions and Discounts

The brand offers free shipping on some select items products, and you can sign up for the mailings list to get frequent offers and news updates.

Contact Bowflex

• You can contact Bowflex via;
• Phone – 800-216-9028
• Email – [email protected]

Bowflex Review: Editor’s Verdict

Based on our Bowflex review and customer reviews, we have mixed feelings about whether or not it’s worth a purchase. The brand was first introduced in the 1980s as an alternative technique for fitness enthusiasts and users with health conditions. Bowflex offers a comprehensive range of exercise machines and accessories to set up your home gym.

It has thousands of positive reviews and a massive fanbase with over 61.5k followers on Instagram from the customer feedback. However, some users still have negative reviews complaining of poor customer service and high-price charges.

Compared to other brands, we score Bowflex 3.6/5 stars. And we also recommend that the brand the older models to modern age technology to provide better results.

Looking for other fitness brands to achieve your dream body? Read our reviews of Alo Moves, Athletic Greensand Bala Bangles.

Bowflex FAQ

How to use a Bowflex?

If you’re wondering how to use a Bowflex machine, you can follow the instructions on the guide manual.

How much is a Bowflex Treadclimber?

How much is a Bowflex Treadclimber compared to other brands? Bowflex offers high-end equipment at different grades and rates. You can check the website to compare prices on the series of Treadclimbers the brand provides.

How easy is it to assemble a Bowflex product?

Many people find it easy to assemble their machines using the online manual and guide. However, if you’re not feeling too confident, you can request a home-assemble team at extra charges.

Where can I use Bowflex consumer products?

Bowflex products are designed for home and personal use. They are not built for commercial or institutional settings.

Is Bowflex home gym better for women or men?

Both men and women can easily use Bowflex home gyms. It offers different fitness levels suitable for even elderly people.