Considering purchasing home equipment. Is the bowflex worth the money, or should I just buy more ammo and beer. I realize no equipment is worth the money if you don't use it.

Most expensive clothes rack you will ever buy.

If you are gonna use it, yes.

from what I heard here it's good for maintaining the muscle but not so good at building it

People say spending over a grand on excercise equipment motivates you to use it.  I just picked up a cheap free weight set that I use everyday instead.
You might want to join a gym instead...

had bowflex. sold it to someone who wanted the brand name.

Overpriced for what it is. You can get a weider advantage / weider max for around $300-400 at local fitness stores - hell, even at walmart / walgreens.

The weider is actually more solid than the bowflex. On the bowflex, I had cables strip their jacket, plastic handles break, bench boards break, and the machine "pop up" when I was doing tricep pressdowns due to a design flaw. (Bowflex later issued a recall notice for that). Nothing has broken on the weider and it gets used more often and harder than the bowflex was.

On another thread I compared bowflex to bose - it's all about the image of quality and innovation in order to charge max $$$ to the consumer. But the fact is there are other companies out there offereing better equipment with better features for less.

Bow type machines are nice in that you can do almost everything on one machine, and you can vary the angle of exertion for different muscle groups. For example, You can do bench presses, pec flies, and incline bench presses all without changing positions - which makes working out much faster.

Also, the max weight isn't there immediatelyat the very start of the lift like it is for free weight / stack weight machines - which has helped me  prevent the injuries I always used to get to my shoulder / elbow when I was using free weights.

But I haven't found any bow machine that is good at two major things: Squats and shoulder shrugs. They all suck at that.

If you have the space, spend $400 on a weider advantage and then spend $600 on a cage and $200 on an olympic bar / weights so you can do proper squats and shoulder shrugs.

Edited to add the link to a story about TWO bowflex recalls:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/29/health/main596623.shtml

I've used a Bowflex Extreme several times. This is what I've found;
1. Never buy a new Bowflex, or any exercise equiptment that is new and at retail. Depreciation is a bitch! Go to clarkhoward.com for a second opinion on this.
2. There are many many people who buy these things new, use them a few times, and then like the previous poster stated, turn them into expensive clothes racks, only to practically give them away to get the space back.
3. The cables tend to be an aggravation for exercises like the benchpress. They will lay against your forearms as you are extending your arms. There's adjustments to spread the pulleys, but they don't have enough range for some peoples shoulder width, etc.
4. Stamped sheet metal, nuff said.
5. Even with extra power rods, some exercises are too easy.
6. Fine for toning = rep work, not so good for serious strength training.
7. Plastic pulley adjustment knobs are easy to shear off of the metal screw adjustments they are cast around.
8. $1,800.00 could buy a damn nice firearm. ( I should've made this one #1!)

Quoted: I've used a Bowflex Extreme several times. This is what I've found; 1. Never buy a new Bowflex, or any exercise equiptment that is new and at retail. Depreciation is a bitch! Go to clarkhoward.com for a second opinion on this. Good advice if you really want a bowflex. However when I sold mine I still got a pretty penny for it because people like the bowflex name 3. The cables tend to be an aggravation for exercises like the benchpress. They will lay against your forearms as you are extending your arms. There's adjustments to spread the pulleys, but they don't have enough range for some peoples shoulder width, etc. I had bowflex right before they added the adjustable pulleys. On bowlfex this was a problem - on the weider it doesn't bother me. 4. Stamped sheet metal, nuff said. Yep, and they charge alot for it 5. Even with extra power rods, some exercises are too easy. Especially leg presses and the dreaded squats. 6. Fine for toning = rep work, not so good for serious strength training. depends on where you're starting from and where you're going, but I'd agree for the bowlfex. Again, the weider machine wins here because it seems more geared to people who want to work out instead of those who just want a bowflex machine. 7. Plastic pulley adjustment knobs are easy to shear off of the metal screw adjustments they are cast around. Must have been on the machine after mine, but they do use inferior quality parts for the amount they charge.

No, Chuck Norris uses the Total Gym.

Quoted: No, Chuck Norris uses the Total Gym.

$1600 shit......

Buy a used bowflex, dont take the hit of a new one.

Quoted: Quoted: No, Chuck Norris uses the Total Gym. $1600 shit......

It wouldn't be worth $1600 even if it came with crazy christie brinkley.

Save the money and get more ammo, a new gun, another dog......

Personally I think you could get better results with pushups.

Join the local YMCA, the money you save can be used for another firearm.
Just watch out for the brokeback guys.
When I played football I would work with weights everyother day.
Most of the Y's have upgraded to late tech. equipment. Better buy for the money.
I talked to my Doc. and the PT. folks what I can and can't do, due trama related back injuries. The folks a the Y put me the right direction.

Granted I'm not trying to build muscle mass, just keep up what I have, but I'm getting by pretty good without expensive equipment. Push ups, pull ups, chin ups, ab crunches, back bridges and handstand push ups can be a helluva workout if you do it right. I even do my squats with bodyweight only (that's because I have bad knees and don't want to stress them more than I have to). Plus I work the heavy bag for 15-20 minutes intensively which is a pure asskicker. I can barely lift my arms after that

Oh, yeah the most expensive piece of equipment in all of this is the punch bag which was like $70.

I got the one from Costco.  It has great reviews.
I use it alot, especially in the winter preparing for another cycling and mountain biking season.
Like others have said, they may not be the best for body building, but they are great for overall fitness and you don't need a spotter like free weights.

So many things you can do on your own to get the same results, not to mention the many gym memberships you can buy for the price of one bowflex.

Quoted: If you are gonna use it, yes.

+1

My guess is that if you're already into working out, you can answer the question yourself. If you're asking, thinking that buying it will convince you to work out more, the answer is no.

On another thread I compared bowflex to bose

Very good comparison.

If you have the space, spend $400 on a weider advantage and then spend $600 on a cage and $200 on an olympic bar / weights

You don't even have to spend nearly that much.  I spent $300 on a new power rack and $109 for a set of 300# of Olympic weights both from Dick's Sporting Goods.  You can do squats, font squats, deadlifts, bench press, mil press, and curls among many other exercise.  It's everything you need.z

Quoted: So many things you can do on your own to get the same results, not to mention the many gym memberships you can buy for the price of one bowflex.

I never liked the thought of waiting for machines or going after some jerk who doesn't wipe down the machines when they're done.

Plus I save about 30+ minutes a day in commute time + gas money by avoiding the gym.

probably a gadzillion used bowflexes for sale, check craigslist, I wouldnt buy a bowflex new

Only if it were the "Blowflex" model, that came with a gymnast hooker included.

Quoted: push ups sit ups pull ups chin ups These can do wonders.

Yep, that and 9 miles of running a week.

I laugh my ass off whenever I hear the guy on the bowflex commerical say "...when I'm out slammin' it with twenty somethings"  

what exactly is he 'slamming'???

Quoted: what exactly is he 'slamming'???

That's what I'm wondering.  I think he's trying to be cool or something, but it just sounds ghey.

no

Quoted: what exactly is he 'slamming'???

He's a former volleyball champion who is now like 41 years old or something.  So he's like "when I'm out slamming it with 20 somethings".  When I heard it I was like WTF is this guy talking about.  He spins it like he was some out-of-shape over-the-hill dude and suddenly the Bowflex delivered him from the seditary lifestyle resembling that of a former child star.

ghey

Okay everyone let's sum this up!  My lovely bride (of almost thirty years) and I are reaching our late forties, and time is a valuable commodity in our lives!  I have to attend work every day at the Ford Motor Co. for 12 hours, (BTW, I despise the UAW and the worthless non-working pieces of sh*t that they protect, that I have to work with everyday, and yes I am a member too!)  I also raise a herd of black angus cattle.  The wife usually watches 3-5 grandchildren every day.  There is not a lot of time to spend on extracurricular activities such as going to the gym.  BTW we have a fitness center at the plant that is very good, or so I'm told, but when my day is done I'm heading outta Dodge ASAP!  I have a gun safe full of very expensive clothes hangers that are neglected as it is, although if I were at the gym and approached by a backdoor cowboy I would get some use out of them!  The only interest I have in slapping it with 20 something's is slapping another 20 or 30 rounder into one of the AR's and let er rip!  Due to various injuries over the years in shoulders,knees,arms,etc. it would be very difficult to do the push-up, pull-up, types of things without a lot of aggravation and frustration.  It seems that as you become older you become more aware of your mortality and begin to consider what you can do to fend off the highest cost of living, which is dying!  So!!! Thanks for your input on the Bowflex, it seems that the best course of action will be to go get a 40 and fire one up or chop one out and see what tomorrow brings!

     I have had one for 5 years. Yes, they did have a recall on them after I had mine for about 3 years. Their solution to the problem was to send (at no charge) a heavy duty refitting kit that took care of all the problems brought about with the recall. Customer sevice is excellent!!!

     Yes, it was expensive 5 years ago. $1200 But being able to workout at any time of the day without having to fight traffic and deal with waiting on people. Is worth it IMHO. My workouts only last for 30 minutes but I do them quickly. You are not going to get huge but you will get bigger and toned up.

     I do have a set of free weight dumbells to blow my arms up. But the bowflex is enough for everything else.

The best is a Gym membership and a buddy to go with you.
Bowflex is pretty cool, but limited at the same time even with the extra resistance package. There are far more equipment at the gym than you can ever get out of the BF. Also working out at home is tough since your at the same place where you encounter your daily distractions(TV, chores, phone...) to began with.

If you have the discipline to use it 20-3- minutes everyday or two, then  a regular exercise routine will do it for you.  If you don't have that discipline, I heard they make a good clothes rack.

I read about some class action lawsuits that led to some safety recalls. The power bars broke and hit some people. That was the first thing I thought about when they came out. Nautilus makes good stuff, but the Bowflex doesn't count. Right about the time I heard about the recalls and lawsuits, Bowflex started selling the adjustable freeweights where you dial in the weight. I thought it was strange since they dog free weights in the other Bowflex commercials.

I have one definately worth the money. It is not that great for building muscle. You build some but not like you would with free weights. It will definately cut you like a rock. How ever as with anything in this category will you use it. If you will use it this is the thing to get, either the bowflex or the total gym. Out of most of the stuff (infomercials) on TV these two actually do what that claim there product does. Mine is almost 5 years old and still works just as good today as it did the day the UPS guy dropped it off at my house.

Once my older brother had one of these bow things. I am not sure what kind it was, Im sure it wasnt bowflex. He snapped about 3 until we got to scared. Those things can do some damage when they go whipping about uncontrollably.

Free weights are the only way to go. They worked for Tookie and still do for every jail bird that hits the bench regularly.