Customer Reviews

Bowflex Ultimate XTLU Home Gym [Discontinued]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Though once this piece of excercise equipment is built, it's everything the advertisements, from print to infomercial, declare. However, somewhere, I swear, I read it takes only 45 minutes to put together and just taking the parts from the 5 large boxes took well over an hour. Further, the actual installation took over two days; and I'd like to think my buddy and myself are pretty good at these things. However, as I said, once put together, this is one solid, helpful piece of excercise equipment. One more thing, be sure you have the space for it once assembled. It really is a large piece of equipment, both vertically and horizontally. Good Luck!

I'm a small person, not a bodybuilder and hated free weights. However, I realized as I got older that I really needed to do some type of strength training. I'd been thinking about a Bowflex and after looking at the literature, decided I wanted an Ultimate. I purchased a used one and don't recommend that route since the seller lost some of the parts and delivered a damaged machine (long story). I was able to order the missing pieces from Bowflex, but it took forever to get them. Once I was able to use the machine, I absolutely loved it. It's especially good for me since I'm usually alone when I work out and was concerned about injury with free weights or other types of exercise/weight machines. Additionally, due to a neurological problem, I had little extensor function in one hand. Using the Bowflex, I've been able to rebuild some of the muscle tone and would highly recommend this for anyone who needs physical therapy requiring weights. I use this faithfully every day, alternating between arm exercises and shoulder exercises. It's a pleasure to use and not at all tedious. I think I probably could have done with one model under this since I never use the leg equipment. Nevertheless, I'd recommend buying this item new from the manufacturer. It's pricey, but well worth the money.

The Bowflex is one of the most amazing machines I have ever used. With its range of exercises and a little creativity on your part, you can do just about any exercise you want to do. I completely recommend this if you don't have the time to go to the gym or if you just really enjoy working out at home.

One disclaimer, don't think you can get the same results you can get from free weights. If you are an avid free-weight lifter, you can get your kicks out of maxing the leg press and perhaps even maxing the bench. The PowerRods have a tension that is proportional to the amount of bend you give them. Thus, if you do an exercise with 100 pounds of resistance, but only move the power rods through their first half of bend, you aren't getting 100 pounds of resistance. Also, when you extend the arms of the pulleys to do the wide grip bench, you decrease the amount of bend in the rods to the point where, even if you bend them all the way, you aren't getting full resistance.

Don't get me wrong, I love this thing; I've had mine for the past 2 years and it is amazing. I work out twice a day for about 45 minutes to an hour each session, only because I don't have the time to make it to the gym. Get this if you are very serious about workout out at home and don't have a lot of space to fit other equipment. Make sure you have a positive attitude going into the lifting programs. Experiment with ideas on different exercise movements. More than anything, this piece of equipment is a blast to use, have fun with it!

OK, I'm not THAT old (51) but I was starting to feel that way. One day I woke up and realized I was 25 pounds overweight. Add to that my rising blood pressure and poor lung capacity and you get the average guy in his 50's. As I wathched the Bowflex infomercial I just said to my wife "I've had it!" I went out and got one that weekend.
Well, with the help of Bowflex and the accompanying diet info I lost the 25 pounds and have kept it off for almost 2 years now. In addition, I got into good enough shape that last year my wife and I bought bicycles for Christmas and have had a great time riding on weekends.
My blood pressure dropped and I can easily wear 34 waist pants again! I have had to buy new clothes but it's $ well spent.
Take my word for it, dieting alone will not do it. Get a Bowflex, follow the diet plan, and use the machine... You WILL succeed!
Oh, one more thing. Be warned. As the pounds drop off, be prepared for lots of comments. Some folks will be complimentary but other nay-sayers will try to drag you down by saying things like you're losing too much weight. It sure is nice to be complimented at my age.
Good luck!!!

I have been using a Bowflex for years. I am a huge fan. Although I rip the Xtreme2 in my review of it, I love the Ultimate. The workout is as good and maybe even better than the gym.
I'm a big guy and fairly strong. The Bowflex gives me a great workout and even challenges me. I honestly think its a better workout than the gym because with this, I can go very heavy and not worry about having a spotter or dropping the weight on me. You can apply all bodybuilding techniques, including pyramiding, drop sets, rest pause sets, low reps, high reps, heavy duty, etc. Additionally, changing the weight and cables is quick and easy, making the transition from one exercise to another quick, so you can keep your heart rate elevated.

I have put on alot of mass since getting my new Ultimate not too long ago. Those who say you can't go heavy or can't get a gym-type of workout must not be doing it right.

This equipment can and, if properly applied,will give you a kick a_ _ workout.

First lets square away a few things. If you are training heavy and going for muscle bulk, it is my opinion and experience that you will get substantially better results from free weights. I used my bowflex for several years, and it is a wonderful machine. However, I recently joined a gym and engage in a high intensity weight lifting program. I would say that under those cirmcumstances, with a bowflex, you get about 65% of the results of freeweights and maybe %70 the results of weight loaded machines.

Next, the negative comments made by competing companies are all bunk. For example, they often claim that bowflex does not give you the full range of motion. This is completely wrong; the infomertials that make these claims show the bowflex being improperly used. I have read two massive books on bodybuilding and many other articles. I absolutely know how to properly do excercises and the bowflex will give you the full range on any of the 90+ exercises shown in the bowflex manual.

Another commercial shows the machine hooked up to a weight measuring device. It is true that there is less resistance when the rod is only slightly bent, but this doesn't matter because the rods are already partially flexed in the starting position for each exercise.

These people also claim that you can't change exercises fast enough with a bowflex. I had become used to changing resistance and attachments within a week of owning my bowflex, and changes can be made very fast. If you understand the concept of 10+10=20, you won't have a problem.

The bowflex is a versatile machine and is great for circuit training. You can gain quite a bit of muscle, and although your gains won't be as good as freeweights, you get excellent tone. Is is great for losing weight and you can have an extremely low or very high intensity workout. You do not need a partner (or spot) and there is next to nill chance of injury. It is solidly constructed and I have found customer service highly responsive in getting me replacement parts under warranty when I need them.

I did find that it took awhile to put the machine toghether (3hrs), but it is not overly difficult. So all in all, if you have reasonable expectations, I think this is a very good buy.

I purchased this product just after Christmas 2007. It's now one year later, and I still use the Bowflex 3 days a week. I'm rating it 5 stars after using it for a year.

First, a look at the financial:
This Bowflex was just under $1000. In one year, that means it was $83 per month. By the end of next year, it will be $42 a month. For a two person family, gym memberships are comparable in this area.

I've had gym memberships prior to this, and I always stopped attending. The time it takes to go to the gym was not worth the gain. And I like to workout alone. Not everyone feels like that, but I do.

So financially, this was a great investment.

Regarding "20 minutes, 3 days a week" statement:
Shortly after buying the Bowflex I also bought the Bowflex body plan book (2% more on the initial cost). Even though the book repeated a lot of information from the manual, I'd highly recommend it to Bowflex owners. The real gem of the book was convincing me to stick with a 20 minute workout, 3 days a week. Before buying the book I was doing 35-40 minute workouts, but the book gave weekly schedules that try to stay at 20 minutes. This was one thing that helped me stick with the Bowflex for a year.

The other advice the book had was a "short on time" workout that I'd do when feeling either tired or crunched for time. The beauty of this was that it was a short, 4 exercise circuit: no excusing for not doing it. After doing just one or two of the exercises, I'd end up doing the entire circuit. But if you are short on time, you can do a "core workout" that hits your most important parts in under 10 minutes. This is the reason I always failed at gyms but succeed at Bowflex: 10 minutes is enough for Bowflex.

Regarding results:
Short description is yes, I've seen results. I got it when I wanted to put on muscle and didn't care about losing weight. Over the year I doubled my bench press + doubled my bicep curls, and put 2.5" on my chest in 6 months (I stopped tracking during the summer after a plateau). I had to purchase one set of weight upgrades and am about to purchase another set.

While using the machine, my weight stayed steady. Then I had a 4 week break and put on 10 pounds in Europe. Coming back, weight loss was a goal. I've followed the book (again), and have steadily lost 2 pounds a week. A little "straight talk": I used to have problems losing weight, but it became easy on a different plan (the 8 minutes in the morning one, which helped me lose 35 pounds). After losing the 35 pounds, I discovered my own method for losing weight (which is similar to the 8 minutes plan and Bowflex plan: their diet is similar but exercise is different). So although I can say the Bowflex & Body Plan did help me lose weight, I don't know if it would have worked without first knowing how to lose weight for myself. Basically, I believe each person needs to discover how to lose weight. Bowflex works for me, but I've already discovered how to lose it. I don't know if it would have worked without the discovery phase elsewhere.


You can tell by the review here that I am a Bowflex fan. This machine worked very well for me: I saw results, I don't spend a lot of time on it but stick with the commitment it needs, and it was a sound financial decision. The cons of it (the unit is TALL! Measure first!) are far outweighed by the positives.

I'm 22 year old male in horrible shape. I use to be an athlete when I was younger (gymnastics, Aikido, all-star soccer team, swim team, baseball) but found out I had a genetic defect that made parts of my bones hollow. So I quit doing anything physical (after I broke my arm for the second time schools wouldn't even let me on the playground in fear of being sued).

So for the last 8 years I've been on the computer everyday, all day. Which has lead up to a over weight (25 lbs) out of shape young man. I started having bad lower back pain, neck pain, and just plain felt weak. So I bought the BowFlex Ultimate XTLU with all the options.

I tried the diet and quit that after the first few days (a gallon of ice cold water everday? I don't think so).

I kept doing the weight training. I started out doing the 3 days a week, 20 mins a day thing (BTW it's 20 mins of actual weight lifting, and another 15+ of warming up and cooling down).

I started out bench pressing around 60lbs (stop laughing). At the end of week two I was benching around 80lbs. So I started working out five days a week. Each day concentrating on different areas, mostly my lower back and upper body with legs and other areas in between.

By week four I was benching 120lbs and maxed out for the lower back exercises (can't remember names of the exercises). I pretty much doubled all my starting numbers by the end of week four.

Then one day while doing the bench press exercise I just couldn't push it anymore. It wasn't a physical problem, it was a mental one. Which when it comes down to it is what really matters, the mental strength to continue.

I haven't used it for about six months now. It sits behind me collecting dust, but holds my jackets rather well. Along with other clothing items on hangers, a backpack, and whatever else I could hang on it. My cat runs up the bench cushion to get to the top of my dresser where she sleeps. So it still has some uses.

So does it work? Yeah, it works, as long as you have the mental strength to keep using it.

I'd give this 5 stars; but since it didn't include any storage for the accessories (either wall mount or on the unit iteself) I'm going to give it a 4. They do have a wall mount that will work that can be purchased seperately.

The construction of the unit is exceptional, adding the additional rod pack was a breeze.

Make sure you read the accessory instructions first or you will be undoing a few parts to install them.

I received my bowflex in perfect condition. I did not receive the owner's manual, but when I notified sender they quickly overnighted another one. I would definitely buy from this seller again!