Hello all,
I would like to tell anyone who is deciding between these three peices of equipment my personal expirecne with each, which one I stuck with and why.
First of I was in the military for 8 years and always had access to a full gym with plenty of equipment. They had all the freeweights you would ever need. They also had hammer strength eqiupment, and the standard cable machine where you have the option of up to 150lbs on each side with the pull up bar in the middle. I am 5'8", 180 lbs and have been lifting since high school.
Now that I am out of the military I have no gym access and started with the bowflex. This machine is ok if you don't care about getting a full rep or constant resistance throught the rep. Quality of the machine was good, but the quality of the exercise was not. I felt like I was getting half workouts due to the fact that each rep starts at 0lbs(as with anything else), but the difference is when you start lifting. With the bowflex the farther into the rep you go, the more weight you are lifting. This really bothers me as I like to get the same resistance throughout. The range of motion with the boxflex was horrible.
The Crossbow had the same problems as the bowflex with worse quality to add to the list.
The nordictrack 360 was a little different. Right away I realized the machine was not smooth. I would put 10 or 20lbs on and the weight would not return. I would have to feed the cable back in the machine with my other hand. This was a very easy fix. The problem causing this is the stiff cable supplied with the machine not the friction created. I went to Lowes and bought a new cable (they sell cable with the plastic covering by the foot and it is 10 times more flexable) for $8 (approx 24') and the problem was completely eliminated. Now I put 10lbs on and the 360 is as smooth as with 100lbs. Next thing is this machine gives the greatest range of motion between the three peices of equipment (NO COMPARISON). I did encounter the problem of not enough weight (example: I do dumbbell presses with 100lb dumbbells, the machine supplies plenty of weight for this. Few upper body exercises & leg exercises need more weight). To fix this I added a bar under the first plate that sticks out on both sides with enough room to add as much weight as I want (by changing the cable I was able to get a stronger cable with more flexability). However, by adding the bolt you can no longer use the bottom weight but that does not matter as you can add as much weight as desired. Quality of exercises on this machine is fantastic. Quality of build is the same as the bowflex. I encountered no problems assembling this machine. I noticed some people stated they had to grind the seat bracket, I did not.
Overall
Bowflex = C
Crossbow = D
Nordictrack 360 = A
I would like to tell anyone who is deciding between these three peices of equipment my personal expirecne with each, which one I stuck with and why.
First of I was in the military for 8 years and always had access to a full gym with plenty of equipment. They had all the freeweights you would ever need. They also had hammer strength eqiupment, and the standard cable machine where you have the option of up to 150lbs on each side with the pull up bar in the middle. I am 5'8", 180 lbs and have been lifting since high school.
Now that I am out of the military I have no gym access and started with the bowflex. This machine is ok if you don't care about getting a full rep or constant resistance throught the rep. Quality of the machine was good, but the quality of the exercise was not. I felt like I was getting half workouts due to the fact that each rep starts at 0lbs(as with anything else), but the difference is when you start lifting. With the bowflex the farther into the rep you go, the more weight you are lifting. This really bothers me as I like to get the same resistance throughout. The range of motion with the boxflex was horrible.
The Crossbow had the same problems as the bowflex with worse quality to add to the list.
The nordictrack 360 was a little different. Right away I realized the machine was not smooth. I would put 10 or 20lbs on and the weight would not return. I would have to feed the cable back in the machine with my other hand. This was a very easy fix. The problem causing this is the stiff cable supplied with the machine not the friction created. I went to Lowes and bought a new cable (they sell cable with the plastic covering by the foot and it is 10 times more flexable) for $8 (approx 24') and the problem was completely eliminated. Now I put 10lbs on and the 360 is as smooth as with 100lbs. Next thing is this machine gives the greatest range of motion between the three peices of equipment (NO COMPARISON). I did encounter the problem of not enough weight (example: I do dumbbell presses with 100lb dumbbells, the machine supplies plenty of weight for this. Few upper body exercises & leg exercises need more weight). To fix this I added a bar under the first plate that sticks out on both sides with enough room to add as much weight as I want (by changing the cable I was able to get a stronger cable with more flexability). However, by adding the bolt you can no longer use the bottom weight but that does not matter as you can add as much weight as desired. Quality of exercises on this machine is fantastic. Quality of build is the same as the bowflex. I encountered no problems assembling this machine. I noticed some people stated they had to grind the seat bracket, I did not.
Overall
Bowflex = C
Crossbow = D
Nordictrack 360 = A