Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym Fitness Reviews

You always hear how Bowflex machines are overpriced because of all of their expensive marketing. Perhaps, but the added sales volume does offset their fixed engineering costs, and this machine (PR3000) is one very-well engineered machine. It comes in one box, with all the pieces well cushioned in their allocated cubbyholes. 2 of us built it in 3 hours

 The finished product looks like it will last forever; certainly nothing cheap about the structural steel, cables, etc. My end cost (with shipping) was $899; I don’t see how Nautilus/Amazon makes money on this.

Pros: On the plus side, the machine provides a wide range of exercises that enable you to work almost all of the muscle groups. It was easy to assemble and comes with fairly clear directions. It also includes a basic workout book, although you will probably want to supplement this with additional information about working out. Properly assembled, the machine seems very solid and as long as you maintain it, it should provide a safe workout.

Cons: While the machine allows you to do a large range of exercises, it does have clear limits. For example, you can only do leg lifts with the leg exercise attachment (although you can do leg exercises using the handles). Also, it suffers the inherent limitations of a rod based machine relative to free weights. For example, the weight on the resistance rods seem rather optimistic (I suspect the weight is based on the resistance offered at maximum bend). To compare the machine with free weights, I did curls with the 50 pound rod and with a 35 pound free weight. The free weight provided far more resistance (in the form of weight). This is because the weight always weighs 35 pounds and the rod’s resistance increases as it is pulled