106 of 106 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better Than Expected, March 27, 2005
I have owned this bowflex for 2 weeks, and I am very, very impressed. We have owned a "gravity edge" and have worked on a "Solo Flex" before, and after seeing this bowflex, we can understand why the machine has stayed popular for so long.
First, the assembly wasn't too hard. It took me and my 13-year-old daughter about an hour and a half to put it together. I was relieved when I saw that the machine is very ruggedly built. Note that I said VERY ruggedly built. It would be hard to trash this machine without trying very hard.
Second, the machine is very easy to adjust between exercises. Adding or removing weight is a piece of cake, which is a relief after so many pinched fingers and long waits on other machines. Changing the bench position is just a tiny bit tougher to master than changing weights. There are occassions when you have to attach different pullies from the lat tower or the leg extension attachment. This takes a couple of times to get used to, and then it's no problem, either. I can change the machine from the leg extension position to the bench press position in just over 30 seconds.
Third, the program is great and very easy to understand. It focuses on using heavy weight and 1 set per exercise, and has an easy way for you to figure out which weight you should be using for each exercise. The program was explained well enough in the machine's manual, but I bought a book called "The Bowflex Body Plan" when I ordered my machine, and I'm glad I did. You don't have to have it, but it explains more about the program to help you buy into it. It also has several routines that go beyond the initial six weeks plan... for those of us that are optimistic about wanting to continue past six weeks.
I am a house parent for a girls' home. We have six girls living here with us, and all but one jumped right into our "bowflex club" with me. We all have workout logs and are doing our routines three times per week. So far we've been doing it for two weeks and nobody has dropped out. That has surprised me. The workout routine for the first two weeks takes around 15 minutes to complete, so nobody has time to get bored.
What's great in all this is that over the last two weeks, all 9 of us that are involved with the bowflex have gotten considerably stronger. Muscles are starting to show up on just about everybody, which is really keeping everyone excited. I've already had people I know ask me if I'm losing weight, most likely because my thighs have really tightened up already. We're all looking forward to how we'll progress. Since next week is our third week, we'll be adding new exercises to the routine, too.
I'm very glad I bought this machine at Amazon.com. Not only was it $200 cheaper than other places, but it got to my house in only 4 days, too. The only surprises we've had in this whole experience were good. We're very pleased.
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53 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
We love it, but..., January 6, 2007
This review is from: Bowflex Motivator 2 Home Gym [Discontinued] (Sports)
We got this for our teenage son for Christmas - we all use it and we like it. I don't find it "jerky" or difficult at all - we used to have a Body Solid Pro Smith machine, but it was too big for home use and we ended up donating it to our kids school athletic department.
The only problem with this machine is 210 lbs is not enough resistance for my husband and my son. I purchased the upgrade to 310, but there is no way we can see to attach the rods to the Motivator 2 machine... I plan to check with Bowflex, but according to the information we've found on line, the Motivator 2 seems to be the only unit unable to upgrade - I WISH they would have made that clear, it would have influenced our choice and we would have went with a different unit.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
love it!, June 29, 2006
This review is from: Bowflex Motivator 2 Home Gym [Discontinued] (Sports)
Bought to help lose *baby weight* after having my first child, I love it. Its much more affordable than the typical bowflex yet it still has every exercise I would want for a fraction of the cost. Folds up nicely, is a little bit taller than I guessed but over all a great exercise buy!
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