Bowflex Conquest Home Gym [Discontinued] Overview
This Bowflex home gym utilizes the same Power Rod Resistance as the top-of-the-line Bowflex models with 210 pounds of Bowflex Rod Technology resistance
Customer Review
The Bowflex Body Plan
By Ellington Darden, PhD
(Rodale Inc., © 2004)
And Bowflex Conquest
reviews
After purchasing both the Bowflex Conquest unit and The Bowflex Body Plan, it became obvious that one could not be reviewed without the other. Although cross-references will be made in each review, I will do my best to keep the reviews separate.
Preface. If you are considering purchasing exercise programs or equipment (such as p90X, the Total Gym, Vigro Fit, treadmills, bar bells, elliptical machines, etc.), as did I, please consider your goals. My wife, who suffers arthritis in her hands and decreasing bone density, wanted something that would help her in both categories. I believe everyone understands that stronger muscles increase bone density which helps persons with arthritis. For myself, I wanted an alternative exercise to a nightly cardio, stretch and limited resistance workout on my Nautilus NordicTrack CX 1055 (which is a very good and useful elliptical machine); as one who is trying to be liberated from impaired glucose tolerance (pre diabetic), it is necessary for me to exercise a minimum of 30-60 minutes a day. The information I was reading about resistance or strength training suggested that my cardio workout could be reduced if I increased my muscle mass (which continues to "work" the physiology of my system, even when I am resting). In addition, I wanted stronger lower back muscles (my family has an unwanted tradition of pain in that part of our bodies).
With these factors in mind, I ordered the literature and free DVD from Bowflex. The testimonials and information were very encouraging, but I was unwilling to spend a bunch of money on a Bowflex. Besides, the size of the units created space problems, because we had no room for a piece of equipment as large as a Bowflex.
Book Review: The Bowflex Body Plan.. One weekend while I was visiting a used bookstore in Texas, I stumbled onto Ellington Darden's book, The Bowflex Body program. After flipping through the pages, I decided it was worth a try, so I bought it. This turned out to be a pivotal event.
Darden has been a body builder and body trainer for over 40 years. He holds a PhD, likes to investigate things and learn about new disciplines. He has also written lots of books on body building. He is a pretty good writer, which helps us readers.
One of the surprises in the book relates to his knowledge of nutrition: he has taken post-graduate courses in the topic, and studied the principles of Understanding Nutrition (a thick, heavy, lengthy book, used in colleges and universities). As I read more in his book, it was obvious that Darden knew more about nutrition than most, and although he is not at the level of Marion Nestle or Eleanor Noss Whitney, nor does his program touch on "hot" topics such as carbohydrate reduction diets or mineral additives, his weight loss and body building programs take into account some fundamentals of nutrition.
In short, Darden appeared to be a learned man, who was willing to admit he was wrong. In the book, he points out erroneous perspectives he had formulated (including taking the wrong or unnecessary dietary supplements, over exercising, etc.), and explains why his beliefs were out of kilter.
The book has lots of materials, ranging from the science of dieting (for example, diets won't work without exercise - although this fact ought to be obvious, Darden explains why one doesn't work without the other), to specific dieting programs, to the science of strength training programs (frequency of exercises, meaning, no less than 20 minutes nor more than 30 per session, no more than 3 sessions a week so your muscles can recover and rebuild, no less than 8 repetitions nor more than 12 per session, using short pauses between exercises - i.e., circuit training, etc.). He concludes with the observation that all exercise regimens (stretching, cardio and resistance) can be accomplished by using a Bowflex machine.
Although the principles of strength training are Bowflex oriented in this book, they could be adapted to any resistance training program and produce the same results. Even if you do not own or purchase a Bowflex, you can use the principles.
Much of the book is devoted to helping people lose weight, which was not one of my objectives. Apparently people want to lose weight when they buy exercise equipment. If one factors in Michael Pollen's observation in The Omnivore's Dilemma, that a third of our population is overweight, and according to Darden, between ages 30 and 50, we lose 15 pounds of muscle mass, the handwriting on the wall is obvious: we cannot expect to have healthy bodies if we do not eat properly and exercise.
The book contains so many Bowflex exercise routines, that over the course of time, I will have no problem adapting what I now do with my Bowflex unit, and adding other exercises for specific needs. As an aid to a novice, there are dozens of photographs of how exercises are to be done (including some which do not require a Bowflex unit).
Comparing this work to others I have read on the topics of exercise, strength training, cardio and stretching, I learned more about all of those subjects in less time than all of the other materials and resources. His dietary program, however, is not what as healthy as it might be (but his purpose is to formulate a diet that can lead to weight loss of up to 60 pounds in 6 weeks - not to detoxify a system).
If I had not purchased this book, we would not have purchased a Bowflex. I don't think any novice Bowflex user should purchase a Bowflex without first reading this book.
Bowflex Conquest Review. By the time I finished the book, I was pretty excited about the Bowflex equipment. The units I had seen at Sears and some sporting goods stores were so large that I was discouraged, because we only had one room where we could keep the equipment, and the unit had to be moved to the middle of the room to be used. The one positive thing we learned as we visited these stores was that the units had wheels, and it appeared the units could be moved into a corner in a folded position (there are a couple of Bowflex units that don't have wheels and can't be moved, but I wasn't interested in those; one of them did not have a rowing bench and the other was out of our budget constraints).
I called the Bowflex toll free number on several occasions, and learned quite a bit of information about the difference in the units (they could not tell me anything about the Conquest, however, since it is not available through the direct telephone purchase program). The folded footprint size of the direct purchase units deterred me from considering but one or two, both of which were more expensive than the Conquest unit (which is sold through Amazon.com).
After moving some furniture around, we determined we could squeeze the Conquest into a corner space, and hopefully, the unit would be easy to move to the middle of the room (it was). Since it weighs close to 200 pounds and is close to 7' high, I had some reservations, which were misplaced, by ordering it sight unseen.
So we bought the Conquest, because of its relatively small footprint and its price. It arrived in 4 boxes (most of the boxes weighed about 70 pounds), and fortunately, the instructions were pretty easy to follow. It took about 3 hours to assemble (one hour was spent trying to find an adapter for my electric drill; the Allen wrenches furnished with unit took too much time to use, in my opinion). Once we got it together, we rolled it into the corner, and spent the rest of the evening reading the manual and watching the DVD that came with the product. The DVD instructed us on proper body positioning during the exercises, how to adjust the power rods, and was a very useful training aid.
The manual contains lots of information on the exercises which are designed for this unit, has many photographs, some anatomy diagrams relating to the muscle system, and has a diet and exercise program (all of which are written by Ellington Darden). Using the manual, plus information gleaned from The Bowflex Body Plan, we embarked on the 6 week program.
Since weight loss was not one of my primary objectives, I did not drink a gallon of cold water every day, or follow the prescribed diet. My wife followed some of these recommendations, however, and lost a couple of pounds.
At the end of 6 weeks, we had each lost about 4 pounds of body fat (which is fairly close to normal, according to Darden); my overall weight was about the same. In that time period I gained an inch in size in each arm, and my abs were visibly improved (they were in pretty good shape when I began the program, but the difference is very apparent).
The drawbacks to the Conquest relate to features which are not available on this unit: the lower pulley bar has only one setting (the more expensive units have more), which means, some of the exercises from The Bowflex Body Plan are not entirely adaptable to the Conquest. In addition, there are other pieces of available equipment (as separate purchases, in most instances) that cannot be used on the Conquest (e.g., ones that are to be used for certain leg exercises). For our purposes, however, I have no regrets.
The basic six week program is designed to increase the number of exercises performed over the six week time period. By week 7 we had increased the number of exercises to 12. We always warm up by rowing, and are able to finish all 12 exercises within the allotted 30 minute time period. About every 2 weeks we increase the weight resistance, and the sessions have proven to be more difficult and more strenuous. However, the results are rewarding.
I was surprised to learn that my wife's carpal tunnel pains had abated over the course of time, and that we both decreased our body fat. Since muscles weigh more than fat, I regret that I did not follow the diet. I wanted my weight to stay about the same, but after week 6, it has inched its way upward, because of the weight of my "new" muscles. Presently, I am using some of the dietary techniques with moderate success, so as to return to what I regard as normal weight.
One of the Bowflex salesmen I visited on the phone with mentioned that his grandmother had been using a unit similar to ours for many years. This was a comforting thought, because I know we need look no further for a unit with more features. The Conquest meets our needs and is accomplishing our objectives.
We are very pleased with our Bowflex.
Conclusion. Both the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association now recommend resistance training as part of our daily regimen, in addition to cardio exercises. I will give you the hotlink to their site shortly, but the bottom line is this: we are an obese nation, and are somewhat indolent. Exercise puts us in better physical shape, and with a proper diet, exercise can help us to stay healthy. The Bowflex program helps accomplish these goals, and should certainly be considered.
(http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home_Page&TEMPLATE=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=7764)
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