Bowflex Ultimate 2 Home Gym

i bought a bow flex from nautlis, because it was cheaper, WRONG thing to do , it came 3 weeks late and in 6 boxes with lots and lots of parts to put together, ( i am still putting it together and all i want to do is use it!!!!!

A little background on myself. I'm a US Navy Veteran and have used conventional barbells/dumbbells, Hammerstrength, Nautilus machines, the Nordicflex Gold, the original Bowflex, the Total Trainer DLX Chrome and Powerblocks. I have used weight machines all of my life to stay in shape. Since most of us cannot dedicate a house to a large complex gym, a home gym is a great option. Though I love my Total Trainer, its limitations are for leg exercises such as leg curls and extensions.This is the mother of all assembly nightmares. It's time consuming and painful. Everything in this gym, from the bench, the tower, the base, and attachments must be assembled. Routing of the cables is not intuitive and one must be careful when doing so. I don't personally recommend using the supplied tools. I recommend using a ratcheting wrench, ratcheting screwdriver and such. It will speed your progress by several-fold. Believe me, I hate to assemble things, and this will try the most patient person's patience.Construction is solid and heavy. That is an advantage and disadvantage. Yes, it's stable and will less likely fall apart. BUT it is a pain to move from one room to another, if necessary. This is several hundred pounds. The bench is stable but not very sturdy. The rods have a lifetime warranty for weakness. If not cared for, the rods will lose resistance.One of the biggest advantages of the system is the ability to change weight resistance very easily. Transition from one exercise to another is easier than most gyms except when it comes to doing dedicated leg exercises such as a squat, since the bench configuration changes. I keep the leg curl/extension attachment on but the use requires a riser that takes a few seconds to attach and it also requires elevation of the upper part of the bench. This bench is NOT sturdy enough to use as a conventional dumbbell weight bench since it's not stable enough for heavy weights.I was looking for a machine that allowed a quick change from one exercise to another for circuit training. For the most part this allows me to do it. If the concentration is upon major muscle groups, then the transition will be a little slower: the bench has to be removed and and the rail lifted up to allow for squats when transitioning from Chest/Back/Shoulders to Squats. The lat tower is solid and it's easy to transition from bench presses/fly to a lat pull down.The plastic base is slip resistant. Definitely a positive attribute to this machine. The footprint is large and requires a 7 foot long by 3 foot wide by 6.5 foot clearance. Low basement ceilings will be suboptimal. This does fold to reduce the floor space when it's not in use but that is not a major concern in my gym.Use of the rowing function is surprisingly smooth though there is not secured base with straps for your feet.So how does this feel when compared to conventional weights? Well, the resistance doesn't feel exactly like real weights. The initial concentric contraction is low but then exponentially increases through the range of motion. The eccentric (Negative) is good but at the point of least resistance is when your arms are at near rest. It feels more like a cable machine in the gym than conventional weight stacks. If that's ok by you, then this machine will do fine. I do find the resistance of some exercises closer to conventional than others. For example, the leg extension and leg curls feel more like a regular machine. However, doing a bench press or a lat pull down does not.As the user goes through the motions there are times when it squeaks and it will need oil or a lubricant for those periods. Otherwise, it's not a noisy machine. Why is that important? Well, if it's in a room near a sleeping area, you won't be disturbing your neighbor/roommate/loved one, like a conventional iron weight stack would do (Clanging steel is quite loud).The bench and arm rest padding are average for durability and comfort. This is not "gym quality" material. The multifunction grips for doing arm and upper body exercises are good once you get used to them. They're durable enough and will likely last a few years before requiring replacement.The power rods will required a tether or tie around them when not in use to improve long term durability. One must be very careful with resistance changes since this is essentially a spring feeling rod that can break bones or cause some serious injury to the ones who are not careful. Bear in mind that the rods flare out to the side or slightly back so you need enough clearance for space when placing this gym somewhere.Overall, the construction is solid and changing of resistance is quick. You won't become a powerlifter or professional/amateur body builder, but it will be enough to keep you looking fit and good for the beach.FINANCIAL CAVEAT: One of the biggest negatives for this type of system is the resale is very poor. You can find a used set for $300-$500 on Craig's List. Depreciation for these systems are always your biggest issues with most home gyms. Obviously the big negative is no warranty coverage, just so you know, since it only covers the ORIGINAL BUYER.I'm very pleased with the machine.

I've had my eye on this piece of equipment for a couple years and finally purchased it last month. I own other Bowflex products (the SelectTech dumbbells, stand, and bench) and I'm a fan of their quality. Shipping was quick and received the machine within a week. It did come in 7 boxes and many parts. It took me approximately 6 consecutive hours to assemble which didn't bother me so much, but I'm pretty handy with assembling things and enjoy that kind of thing. I was disappointed in the power rods. If you hookd up the 50lbs rods, the beginning of the move starts out too easy and as you complete the move the resistance increases as the power rod bends, creating inconsistance resistance throughout each move. I feel the standard gym machines provide better workouts with consistant weight resistance throughout the whole movement. The only other issue I had was with the leg attachment. The seat that mounts onto the base is not very stable. I found that when lifting your legs towards the top of the movement the seat tended to tip forward slightly disrupting your balance. Leaning back slightly prevented this.After 4 weeks, I decided to return it before the 6 week return period elapsed. Beware! You are responsible for return shipping cost ($465 I ended up paying, not including about $120 in shipping material). It took 8 packages to ship all the parts back, and good luck finding a box larger than 48" to ship 3 of the largest parts! It was very stressful and time consuming to return!!!

I've had this machine for a decade. I don't know if you can get body-builder big using this, but if it's great for keeping every part of the body in shape. The rowing machine provides a great cardio workout, and the machine is capable of supporting full body and targeted exercises. Resistance rods are different than free weights, with an incremental resistance that some people don't like. Since my focus is more on staying active, burning fat, and toning (as opposed to bulking up), I think it's the perfect integration of aerobic, strength, and cardio.Mine is in the basement, and the top is literally .000001 inch from the 7" ceiling - it's tight. It probably occupies about 5 ft of width clearance, and about 10ft of length clearance (without the leg attachment). It does fold up nicely, but I find it necessary to reinforce the bench with a bunji when it's in stored mode as the bench can fall if not clicked in properly.In short, if you're a gym rat, you might not like the confining nature of doing most of your work on one machine, nor will you like the solitude that a home gym will afford. But if you want to have the ability to do pretty much any exercise from home, this is a great choice.