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I bought one 3 years ago and started using it for real about a bit over 2 years ago.
It's a great machine for helping to build your confidence and making you feel (and look) fit. You can work on it, it doesn't hurt or feel like you're gonna rip your arms out of their sockets. For a guy like me, who is a very hard gainer, it was an absolutely necessary step towards gaining some muscle weight. Had I tried hitting the gym right off the bat again, I would certainly have wimped out within a couple months and then wasted hundreds of $ on membership fees for a year or two.
Because you can hit the Bowflex anytime you want and you can easily keep track of your progress, it really gets you into the routine of working out, and you can feel the improvement.
Now, however, I do almost all my exermacizing at the gym. If I can't make a day to the gym and somehow the family situation allows it, I will still use the Bowflex and some other stuff I've got, and it's great because it can pretty much simulate an entire gym.
So basically I'm glad I'm going to the gym now instead of using the Bowflex every day because I see more progress this way, but I know I would never be hitting the gym regularly if it weren't for my Bowflex experience.
I will also say in a probably sexist way that the Bowflex will probably be good enough for most women and the kind of muscle development they want to see.
If you have any questions, let me know. I have a Bowflex Ultimate, and I bought a squat set for another machine so I could use the squat bar and the chains. Using chains rather than those adjustable straps is essential or you'll be spending all your time adjusting instead of lifting. All told I think I spent $2,250 (which is a significant amount of $ for us) and I don't regret it one bit.
david
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