BowFlex OnLine
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I’ll admit it, I couldn’t resist all the hype. Every time a Bowflex Home Gym commercial came on the tube I was glued.

Do you want strong abs?, they’d ask.

Of course! I’d answer.

Do you want to lose weight?, they’d reply.

Yes! I’d yell back.

Do you want to look and feel better in your 40’s than you ever did in your 20’s?

Yes, Yes, Yes!

I was falling hard for all the advertising and I just had to have one of those miracle machines.

But as with so many things, sometimes the hype is just that -- hype without much substance behind it.

So I logged onto their website and started looking …

(By the way, you can click on the blue link above -- or any link in this story, to go right to the page I'm referring to so you can see exactly what I'm talking about for yourself.)

Choosing one of the many Bowflex gym models was difficult. The array of choices available was mind boggling.

There was the Bowflex Ultimate 2 and 2E, designed to offer an awesome upper body workout.

Then there was the Bowflex Ultimate, which is touted as being their most effective machine.

The Bowflex Extreme looked good, and it was more compact than the others, a plus for someone who lives in an apartment like me.

And, of course, I couldn’t resist checking out the much lower-priced Blaze, which offered an impressive 60 exercises for the price, and was touted as being a great basic machine for a beginner.

You can check out the entire Bowflex catalog right here (click on the link to go there.)

As I searched the Bowlfex catalogue for just the perfect machine to make all my fitness dreams come true I asked myself, did I want an upper body workout; a lower body workout; a full body workout; a good cardio workout or just toning and strengthening?

Heck, I wanted it all!

That’s when I saw The Bowflex Revolution (click on the link to check this thing out!)

It was the granddaddy of all workout machines offering all the strength equipment of a full gym in one compact machine.

There were over 100 exercises to help tone, strengthen and shrink me! (Click here to see the exercises you can do with this monster!)

With the Bowflex Revolution I could work my upper body, lower body, core and abs and even have a good cardio workout – all in the privacy of my own cramped living room.

I especially liked the fact that it came with so many exercise variations that I could work out every day without getting bored of doing the same old stuff day in and day out.

As far as I could tell, the system was compete with a preacher curl attachment, 5-position foot harness, hard grips, leg press plates, instructional manual and even a DVD workout machine to get me started.

Nothing extra to buy was a definite plus. And, much to my surprise it fit in a regular sized room (no need for high ceilings required by some of the other machines I’d considered).

The only thing I was disappointed about was the inability to install an ab back pad, squat harness and lat tower. But, hey, it had everything else, so I decided to splurge and get the best.

Now, you should know that the Revolution is a bit pricey.

But here's what I did to get around that.

My gym membership is around $50 per month.

Right now, Bowflex is offering a special deal (click on the link to see the details) where you can get the Revolution for no money down and just $42 a month -- which is cheaper than my gym membership!

So now I can work out at home and not have to worry about when the gym is open, or if the machines I want to use are going to be available when I get there.

So, has the Bowflex Revoluton lived up to all the hype?

Basically, the answer is a resounding yes. Like any exercise machine, it does have it’s downside, like the fact that if I let it sit alone day after day without ever getting on the thing, it really doesn’t do much for me, but I guess you could say that that’s more my fault than the machine's.

Seriously though, the only real negative to the Revolution that I have found is the fact that it isn’t really designed for very tall people. If you’re over may 6' 5", it might feel a little cramped, and while it does offer an unbelievable array of exercise variations to choose from, like most people, I usually stick with the basics: bench, leg extensions, curls, etc.

Still, the others are there for me to use if and when I ever decide to venture out of my comfort zone. Since the Bowflex Revolution does work off resistance, it may not be as specific a workout as you could get from free weights, or a machine with a fixed bar, but so far it sure does seem to be getting the job done.

I look and feel better with every workout and even my friends are noticing a newer, leaner and stronger me. Can’t wait to hit the beach and show off my new Bowflex Revolution body!

Tags:  bowflex home gym models designed machine body workout fitness