Customer Reviews

Stamina Band Flex Gym

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

 

 

The BandFlex comes in two large boxes, each around 70 pounds. I was surprised that UPS delivered them, since I got a note from Amazon indicating that Eagle Freight was handling the shipping. (BTW, this is one of those times when Amazon Prime pays for itself, since shipping is free under Prime, but pretty costly without it.) One box contains the long arms and beams, and the other contains the base and other smaller parts. There are many bolts that are of very similar (but not identical) lengths, and sorting them out and keeping track of them during assembly is time-consuming.

Two cresent wrenches are required to bolt the gym together, along with a Phillips-head screwdriver. I would suggest using a tape measure or ruler to sort out the bolts. The assembly diagrams and instructions in the owner's manual are adequate, but could be clearer. Overall, assembly took me about 3 hours. The only really tricky part was attaching the bungie cords--and the pulleys that they ride over--to the gym. The 3 cords (on each side) need to be stretched a little while you thread a single bolt through all 3 pulleys and keep the cords from slipping out or the pulleys from moving out of alignment or the bolt from missing the hole it mounts to. One pulley set that was pre-assembled at the factory was over-tightened and needed to be loosened a bit, which was easy to do. When done, the gym is very solid and sturdy.

I suspect that it is actually a standard "stack" weight gym that has been modified to use bungie cords instead of a weight stack, which is fine by me, since it probably is part of the reason it has such a low price compared to the competition. Plus it keeps the overall weight of the gym down to around 140 pounds or so, which means that I can put it on the second floor of my apartment without worrying about overstressing the loft's floorboards.

The gym has several attachments and allows many exercises, including unexpected ones like rowing (complete with rolling seat). Since the cords increase in resistance as you stretch them, they give plenty of "weight" at the end--perhaps much more than the 10/25/35 pounds suggested in the manual. On the other hand, they give less resistance at the start of an exercise. Overall, I find the exercises to be challenging, and I'm still a ways from using all 3 cords at once. Plus, there isn't too much "transforming" needed to ready the gym for the next exercise type.

As another reviewer suggested, cutting off the safety clips on the bands makes changes in resistance much easier (but has caused the cords to spontaneously unclip on me a couple of times, so proceed with caution). Adding carabiners between the cord hooks and the cable rings *might* be a workable alternative to cutting the clips.

However, changes to resistance for all of the exercises that use the "lower" pulley/cable set are hard to do, as you need to duck under the bench and attach/detach the pre-tensioned bands onto a very small metal ring. The pulldown bar uses this same cable, so it has the same issue.

The gym really does fold up into a surprisingly small footprint, and has rollers on the back to aid in positioning. But it is definitely a full-sized gym when unfolded, so it needs a bit of space.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the gym. My biggest complaint is that, when starting exercises that use the bench at an incline (like fly or bench presses), it is very difficult to reach waaaay down and behind you to grab the cord handles, as they're on the floor by the base of the gym. I've found that hooking the handle cords through the training belt and then draping the belt over the bench helps--at least the reach isn't so bad, but it still isn't ideal. Some sort of velcro or hook on the back-top of the bench where the handles could hang until needed would help a lot.

Other than that, I think the gym is sturdy, is very usable, and is a definite bargain for the price.

The Stamina is definitely not a Bowflex, but then I can't afford a Bowflex. I really like the sliding seat for doing rowing type exercises. The Stamina wasn't too hard to assemble, but there were some quality issues with the parts that I had to correct to get everything to fit together. My main complaint is the difficulty in changing the resistance bands. Much of this was taken care by cutting off the plastic safety clips -- they really aren't needed. There were also quality issues with the length of the ropes not being even, which I had to correct by knoting one. However, overall I'm pleased with the value.

I purchased this on sale, so that made this an extra good value. And, Amazon ships this FAST-- it took about 3 or 4 days to receive.

It's very easy to put together. I wanted to do this before my husband came home, so I had to add rubber mat flooring AND put this together, which I was able to do. The only part I needed help with was stretching the gray resistance band and getting the pulley and bolt in, since it was difficult to hold on to the band to lessen resistance and screw the bolt in at the same time.

It really was pretty easy and the instructions were surprisingly well-written. You must measure the bolts since they are close in size.

The machine is great for the price. The only thing that makes this a difficult machine to use is how the resistance is altered. That part is very poorly designed and I keep meaning to go to the hardware store to find an alternative hook or clip to use. The way the leg attachment cables need to be changed is enough to make you want to choose some other exercise over leg extensions! However, if I find some clips similar to what the bowflex uses on its resistance machines (they are built totally differently-- but I like their clips/hooks), I think changing the resistance will be much more pleasant and definitely easier.

The machine enables you to do very many exercises. The leg curls are great, the preacher/machine curl attachment is wonderful. You can even do leg presses on this machine, believe it or not, but only to 130 pounds. Still, that's great for me! The lat bar gets a lot of use and that's easy to adjust. All the resistance for the upper body is much easier to adjust than the leg attachment exercises. Still, they aren't as easy as pulling a clip and reinserting it.

Another benefit here is the bench itself. It's adjustable to many positions (no decline),and when the upper part is removed, you can use the machine as an rowing machine. And, I've tried many rowing machines, this one is very smooth and almost fun to use.

All in all, this is a great value, but not as user friendly as it should be. My husband and I love it since we now don't have to wait for eachother for equipment when we do similar workouts and are working on a timer, since we already have other equipment. So, we have an extra bench now, and extra upper and lower pulley station now, and it makes working out together much more fun!

This is a nice piece of equipment for the price. I was looking for under $300 a collapsable workout center. That is exactly what I got. It works for what I wanted and it allows me to have a great workout. The only con I see is that the bands don't give enough resistance. For a starter gym it is great, but if someone is moving from the gym to home workout it might not be enough resistance. To purchase replacement bands you have to go through Stamina, but each band is around $10 or less so that isn't too bad. I also had to modify some of the workouts that were described in the book to make them more efficient.

I saw a Boflex ad a while back and it interested me. I was not interested in the Boflex price, however. I think this Stamina model is a great replacement at the low price. I had it assembled and ready for use in just over three hours.

Pros: The Stamina Band Flex gives me a great workout. The instruction booklet which explains how to do a varitey of exercises is helpful. The price is excellent. Also the item shipped to me in less than a week.

Cons: The product could have been packaged better. One metal beam was bent and I had to pound it back with a hammar. Also the base piece which rests on the floor was damaged so that the edges of the black mat stick up. I will have to glue those down. The assembly instructions, though fairly straight forward, are very vague about distinguishing the sizes of the many bolts. Some of the bolts are very close in size.

This is a wonderful gym. It is similar to the boflex but without the HIGH pricetag. Delivery was very fast. I am very satisfied!!

This is a cheap universal gym but it fits in the narrow space I had available. Everything about it is cheap and cheaply made. It uses bungy cords but they stretch with age and will need to be replaced after only about a year and a half. It's not a bowflex but takes up less room.

To give a little background, I am only 5'1 but physically strong. I had been out of the gym for about 2.5 months when I decided to purchase this machine a little over a year ago. So although not necessarily in shape, I wasn't terribly out of shape either.
On the plus side, the machine folded up easily with the use of only 1 pin as advertised. A great feet considering this is not the smallest of equipment. But a word of caution if you have lower than average ceilings, cause this machine stands pretty tall. It's assembly also went fairly quick qiven the amount of parts.
However, on the minus side of things, my biggest complaint lies within the flex bands themselves. You can hardly move them!! Although the machine does come equipped to perform a variety of exercises (I think it claimed to do 70+ or so), I found the bands to be so tight that I could barely budge them! I pulled and pried and even went so far as to ask some of my family members to help me 'break them in' but still nothing. They just didn't seem to wanna move. I also found it hard to adjust the leg curl to fit my shorter frame thus leading me to use improper form when trying to do this exercise. I finally just got so tired of trying that I just began using it as an extra place to hang my clothes!

Overall, I won't necessarily say this is a bad machine (because the band's tightness at least suggests that it's made to last I guess...), but I definitely wouldn't recommend it for a complete beginner or someone petite female like myself (at least not without a thorough breaking in first). However, for a male or someone physically fit, I could see this as being a really great machine.

Stamina Band Flex Gym

Pros: Nice Sturdy Gym Heavy Work Out And The Price Is Amazing Like $269 In Total Shipping Was Free Even Though It Said Will Be Shipped In 9-15 Days Got Here In 4 Days.

Cons: Takes Hours And Hours To Assemble Took Me Around 4 Hours But Finially Finished It

First off I rated this equipment with 1 star because Amazon wouldn't allow me to give it anything less. Save your money!!! I purchased the Stamina Band Flex after reading a review that it was easy to put together. I was under the impression it was comparable to its more expensive competitors. When I read the instructions for putting this unit together I immediately wanted to return it, but was unable to do so without major shipping penalities. My friends husband was kind enough to put it together for me. He worked non-stop, with a complete set of tools, and it took him over 6 hours to finish. One of the verticle supports was bent and had to hammered out so it would piece together. Once the unit was assembled the pullies were stiff and jerky. When I attempted to fold the unit up to bring it into my house, I found the holes that lock the unit in the upright position didn't line up. Folding it inhalf for storage was impossible. Infuriated I took the bench off of the verticle support and tossed it in my garage. To disassemble and return this beast would hardly be worth the battle. Deciding to buy the Stamina Band Flex was the worst decision I've made in years. I'll be lucky if I can give this away.