Comments on: Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym

By: E. Ringer

E. Ringer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:52:31 +0000

I bought this machine for myself, my sons and my wife. It’s a good all around machine. Builds and tones quickly. I do however know already that I will need the upgraded resistance to 310.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: Barbara Eriksen

Barbara Eriksen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:13:56 +0000

I saw improvements in just a couple of weeks at 3 sessions/week. What I really appreciate is that the varied “bow” weights let you really evaluate how you are doing. Just following someone who demonstrates the moves doesn’t give you anything like the feed-back this Home Gym does, and I’ve had a lot of experience trying different approaches. I’m a senior citizen (female) who was a tennis whiz in my youth and I’ve always tried to keep fit.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: Bryce Larsen

Bryce Larsen — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:44:03 +0000

Bowflex is a great product because its compact design lets you perform many different exercises with one machine.
The good-
1. The price is much more reasonable then the newer models.
2. This is a solid machine and very sturdy.
3. The pully system is designed so you don't have to change cables when switching between the three grips.
4. You can upgrade the weight, however I think it should automatically come with 310 lbs.

The bad-
1. It does not have as many exercises as the newer bowflexes.
2. I wish the middle grips were on adjustable wings like the newer models, however there are multiple bolt holes so you can move them in closer or further apart.
3. 210 lbs is not enough weight if you are looking to bulk up. Bowflex rods provide increasing resistance which is good for the joints but does not provide a steady resistance throughout the rep. This means that the wight is no where near the listed resistance until you reach the maximum bend of the rods and then it is still underwight. You can easily bench almost twice the rod resistance as you can bench free wights.
4. Not directly related with this machine but I ordered the 100 lb upgrade rodes and one of the rodes is very noticably weaker then the other by about 10-20 lbs. So now when ever I us the extra rodes I have to adjust the weight by that much to balance it out. The good news is that all the rods that came with the machine were balanced. I wonder if these rodes are produced in lots with differing resistance levels and I happened to get two from different lots.

If you bench over 140 lbs then I would suggest you purchase the 100 lbs upgrade also. My max in the gym is around 200 lbs and I could easily bench 210 on this. Some people may not like the resistance feel to the rods but I do. If you workout the correct way, each rep lasting around 4 to 6 seconds, then you will feel a burn that you don't feel with traditional weights. If you are over weight don't plan on this machine magicaly burning off the fat. 20 minutes a day is not enough if you want to see real results quick. You will never get a body like the ones on the comercials working out only 20 minutes a day 3 days a week. For a nice tone body, plan on at least twice that long for three days a week, with cardio training at meadium to high intensity for at least 20-30 minutes 3 days a week, and eating only low calorie healthy food. Rating: 4 / 5

By: R. khan

R. khan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:38:37 +0000

Easy to put together using the instructions. Took me 1.5 hrs. I saw noticeable change in my physical appearence with just one week of use. The resistance bars the come with the machine are not enough. I had to to upgrade to 310 lbs. I have had the machine for 3 weeks and have not gone through all the exercises possible. Overall great product. I would recommend this to friends.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: A. RILEY

A. RILEY — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:19:05 +0000

When you read the size its around 56″ tall but to stick the top on you need around 70″ at least, I had to lay mine one the side and take the top bar off and I still put a 3 foot mark on my Ceiling( my ceiling is 60″) but after that its Quite nice, but if I move I will have to leave it, had to jump on one sided to force it to stand up since I didnt have clearence. and know tilting it back or to the front dose not work. take even more space.
Rating: 4 / 5