The Bowflex home gym became famous for its lack of weights. In other words, the machine provided countless classic weight lifting routines without actual weights. Instead, it relied on a system of cables and tensions to provide the illusion of weight resistance, up to 220 pounds of it to be exact.
With the success of the Bowflex home gym, however, the company decided to branch out, offering other machines such as treadmills, elliptical machines and even Bowflex weights. While the company became famous for its lack of weights, it also realized that some people were not yet ready to leave their free weights behind.
However, relying on the idea of the home gym, on the company’s ability to provide an entire gym’s worth of exercises in one simple machine, Bowflex introduced the Bowflex weights. This was a complete set of free weights all in an area measuring less than six square feet.
Ingenuity Strikes Again
Most traditional free weight sets involve numerous dumbbells and barbells. For each designed pound, there is a new weight, meaning an entire set can include almost one hundred pieces. Bowflex weights, however, offer this same breadth of weights in one simple product. The dumbbells and barbells rely on weight plates that fit together in a pattern like puzzle pieces. The use dials a knob, and the weight is configured.
While this makes the weights themselves a little bulky, it makes the entire system clean and sleek. All of the pieces fit into a specially-designed tray that doubles as the system’s core. The bars fit into the tray with the weights, and after the desired weight is dialed, the user simply lifts up and the barbell or dumbbell is now heavier or lighter. Bowflex weights, especially dumbbells, can even be lifted at uneven weights to challenge specific muscle groups.
The Bowflex weights are nice to look at as well. They are made from sturdy materials, and the design is very ergonomic and comfortable. Most people do not have a room in their house entirely dedicated to fitness, and with normal free weights, one would have to. But the Bowflex weights can fit easily into any room in the house, without drawing much attention. However, there are a few drawbacks to the Bowflex weights.
The free weights only go up to 50 pounds, or 100 pounds total for both sides, meaning bodybuilders will find these weights useless. This is a similar problem to the Bowflex home gym which maxes out at 220 pounds. However, for average fitness gurus, these weights are perfect, and that is who they are marketed to. While they are expensive, they are no more expensive than any other set of weights, and once again, the Bowflex weights take up far less space, making them far more attractive and worth the money in the long run.
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