Bowflex Sport Home Gym [Discontinued]

As a new owner of the Sport model, I''m incredibly impressed with both the quality of the machine itself and the quality of the workouts. Nothing replaces free-weights, but you can workout at home without the need for a safety spotter. Good for folks that can maintain their motivation to workout at home. Just a couple of small caveats:

See one assembled before taking one home. These are not small machines they take up a lot of room. You need room for the rod tower, bench, and leg extension. You also need room to the side for the rods to bend out without obstruction. This machine does not have a small footprint make sure you have room. The bench and leg extension do fold up for storage, but this isn''t something your going to wheel away and store in the closet. It''s big!

Second (for the Sport Model at least) remember these words: "Some assembly required!" It comes in four boxes and it took me about three hours to assemble, with a couple of mistakes here and there. It comes with a couple of allen wrenches, but you''re going to need a wrench and a screwdriver for this one. Just consider the assembly your first workout on this machine.

Third, the manual that comes with this model is apparently a stripped down version of what comes with the higher priced models. This manual didn''t have any recommended workout programs or the Body Leaness Program (with diet) just assembly instructions and pictures of the individual exercises. If you need help (like I did) putting together a full workout, full manuals are available on-line to download.

This model also does not come with the wall posters that other models do. These posters are handy to hang on the wall either to remind yourself of the next exercise you want or to remind you of how to set up the machine for your next set. These posters are avaialbe on E-bay, and nice to have rather than flipping to a page in the manual to see what to do next.

With these caveats, these are awsome machines at a smoking price. The Sport Model costs about half (or less) than the other models and there doesn''t seem to be any restiction on the exercises you can do. Lat Tower and Leg Extension for $800. An Awesome Buy!

(This review is of the nearly identical Conquest Model)

Over the last 2 years, I have been member of 4 different gyms. I traveled a lot overseas during that time, so I juggled the memberships quite a bit and ended up paying way more than I wanted. My usual trips to the gym took 2-4 hours including travel time, I''m a pretty motivated person, but after a while, it is just becomes too difficult to get myself in the gym because of the time and money involved.

After coming back from a recent 1 year trip overseas, I''ve decided to look into home gyms to save both money and time. After extensive research, I ended up purchase the Conquest here on Amazon. Some other machines I looked at were the Platinum Crossbow, Total Gym, Bandflex. After comparing all the machines and going to the local sporting store to try out the Bowflex, I had no doubt that Bowflex is well worth the money.

Other machines might be cheaper, smaller and easier to assemble. But I found that the Bowflex quality is difficult to match.

Setup:

I put together the machine in about 2 hours. All you need is a couple of screw drivers, the everything else needed is in the package. The instructions were easy to follow and makes logical sense. However, my Bowflex, like many others, arrived missing a few parts. In my case it was just a few washers and a couple of screws, nothing critical, but such problems seemed common from what I''ve read.

Operation:

If you have not used a Bowflex yet, you are in for a treat. The Power Rods provide very smooth resistance and wonderful range of motion. The resistance builds as you flex the power rods, very easy on the joints at the beginning of the motion, yet still provides enough to break down your muscles toward the end of the motion. The DVD provides instruction for basic exercises (about 15), and the manual covers over 60 different exercises. A lot of them are simply variations of another exercise, but I found myself creating new ways to exercise that is not covered in the included material. The weight and type of exercises were easy to change, and will not interfere with your workout. I found this to be a very good time saver vs waiting for machines at the gym.

Size:

No matter how many times you have seen the Bowflex on TV, you won''t realize how big the machine truly is until you have put it together. The conquest is easily 7ft tall, and takes a huge amount of space in my living room. It has wheels, but you will not be able to fit it through most doors, so think long and hard before you decide which room you will place it.

Value:

I ordered here on Amazon because of the awesome discounted price they had, evident by the fact the machine sold out 2 days after I placed my order. But after using the machine for a week, I can honestly say I would gladly pay full price for the machine. Like any other piece of exercise equipment, if you make good use of it, and it is worth every penny. I noticed that this machine is nearly identical to the more expensive Sport model.

Summary:

This is the best item I have purchased in 2006, over the years I always ignored the Bowflex TV ads and considered it a fad. But the Conquest proved its worth a dozen times over the last week; for once a machine that works better than advertised.

Pros: solid construction, long warranty, exercise variety, smooth motion, easy operation, great long term value.

Cons: Setup time, size, missing parts

Neutral: Decent resale value.

Buy Bowflex Sport Home Gym [Discontinued] Now

Overall, I''d rank the Bowflex Sport as a five star machine. The composite power rods are quite good at providing solid resistance, and the machine has a great variety of features found only on the more expensive Bowflex machines, including a lat tower, leg attachement (with an additional seat) and a squat station.

My one peeve is on another reviewers comments about the ease of assembly and I''m guessing she doesn''t have this specific machine. I doubt that she has a Bowflex Sport model, becuase this comes delivered as a case of peices with a whole lot of screws, nuts, bolts, cables to attach it all together. There is no way possible you''re going to be up and running within 15 minutes of getting this. Putting this thing together was so tedious, I actually had to take a break in the middle of assembly to run out for coffee. The manual lists 30 different parts that make up the physical unit, almost 20 different types of nuts and bolts, and 11 "accessories" that need to be added after the main unit is put together. This is NOT a 15 minute project!

That said, I''m not deducting anything for the time-consuming assembly, mainly because I like the unit so much. Be forwarned, it''s a great machine for weight training, just slot out a half a day or so for assembly!

Read Best Reviews of Bowflex Sport Home Gym [Discontinued] Here

I really love my Bowflex. After years of working out at the gym, I found myself avoiding it because of the hassle of getting there. I had no idea a piece of equipment you could have in your home would be every bit as heavy-duty and good quality as gym equipment, but the Bowflex is. Although the initial workout started with a lot of assembly, it wasn''t hard to figure out, and I began using the Bowflex immediately. I add new exercises all the time for variety, which can keep a potential slacker motivated. The instructional dvd is very useful and easy to understand. The action is amazingly smooth, way smoother than I thought possible. I thought it would be a hassle to change the pulleys for different exercises, but it is very easy and does not interfere with the workout. It does take up some floor space, and you can''t fold it up and put it under the bed, but none of the portable or inexpensive equipment I have bough has ever been anywhere near as good as the bowflex.

Want Bowflex Sport Home Gym [Discontinued] Discount?

I like my new Bowflex. Like the others it took me about 2 hours to assemble and the instructions were very clear until the last couple of steps. I like the versatility of the machine. If you are working out with a partner you can quickly change resistance and the cables around to do the different exercises. With two people you can switch from lat pull downs to leg extension with a resistance change in 1 minute or less. I think that is pretty good for a home machine that can do this much. But I can''t get full range of motion on all the exercises so that knocks off one star.

My issue with the Sport is the leg curl attachment. The manual does not show you how to configure the machine to do this exercise. I called the support line and they emailed me a file that shows you how to do it on another model (Xtreme). You cannot configure the Sport to support your torso while doing leg curls.

There is a separate seat (not shown in the Amazon pictures) that attaches to the leg extension/leg curl attachment that allows you to do the leg exercises. On the Xtreme (current model) and Power Pro (old model) the bench reconfigures to provide support for your torso. The Sport''s bench does not. According to Bowflex''s telephone support you are supposed to prop yourself up on your elbows while doing this exercise (the first person I talked to said that you couldn''t do leg curls with the Sport model). This is a great way to pull your lower back out of alignment.

In the end, I decided to use a bag full of shop towels to support my midsection while doing this exercise. Having to use the bag of towels knocks off another star leaving 3.