Shrugs (Specifically Bowflex)

M

MR MUSCLE

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hello. just started the bowflex in january and don't really know what to expect yet (5 weeks). THe main thing I notice and have read about is the lack of muscle soreness/tightness after a workout. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing but I guess I'll find out eventually. I do one set of 8-12 reps for each of the 10 excercises I currently do.

The one excercise I have a question about right now is the shrug. It seems as if I can lift an almost unlimited amount with my shoulders with the shrugging motion (almost 220 on the rods right off the bat) for an almost unlimited amount of reps. The problem is actually getting set with the rods as they weight is so heavy it pulls my feet out of position! Basically my question is whether weight and reps are important for the shrug exercise as much as with other exercises. The other night I lessened the resistance to about 160 and was able to feel more 'burn' in my neck muscle.

I also seem to have a similar problem with the abdominal crunch (another short motion exercise) where I think maybe I'm loading up with too much weight and doing the excerise wrong??
 
First of all, the bowflex is not all that great. Go to dumbbells. Second of all, are you doing at all ANY middle trapz/lower trapz exercise? You will get upper trapz tightness if you don't. Upper trapz tightness is usually caused by weak and inactive lower trapz. I think Shrugs will give you rounded/hunched shoulders. I don't think you want that. Wall Slides work your upper trapz and range of motion. Have you tried Wall Slides before? It requires only a wall (no weight at all needed).
 
xswtsalvationx0 said:
First of all, the bowflex is not all that great. Go to dumbbells. Second of all, are you doing at all ANY middle trapz/lower trapz exercise? You will get upper trapz tightness if you don't. Upper trapz tightness is usually caused by weak and inactive lower trapz. I think Shrugs will give you rounded/hunched shoulders. I don't think you want that. Wall Slides work your upper trapz and range of motion. Have you tried Wall Slides before? It requires only a wall (no weight at all needed).
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The Bowflex is fine. You can get in great shape with one. I will NEVER forget the time that I was at a summer pool party shooting the breeze with a bunch of folks and my sister in law asked me what gym I went to since I looked 'incredible' (her words not mine). I told her I didn't go to the gym, I just used my Bowflex. Then this 20 year old punk/wannabe muscle-head said "The Bowflex is junk, the only way to get REAL muscles is to use free weights at the gym." This kid's very hot girlfriend looked me up and down and then looked her boyfriend in the eyes and said "Hun, maybe YOU should get a Bowflex" ;)

That was a good day.....
 
SXIPro said:
The Bowflex is fine. You can get in great shape with one. I will NEVER forget the time that I was at a summer pool party shooting the breeze with a bunch of folks and my sister in law asked me what gym I went to since I looked 'incredible' (her words not mine). I told her I didn't go to the gym, I just used my Bowflex. Then this 20 year old punk/wannabe muscle-head said "The Bowflex is junk, the only way to get REAL muscles is to use free weights at the gym." This kid's very hot girlfriend looked me up and down and then looked her boyfriend in the eyes and said "Hun, maybe YOU should get a Bowflex" ;)

That was a good day.....
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Don't take it as an insult, but the bowflex is limiting. You will get much better results with free weights. The "incredible" body she saw was probably mostly due to lack of body fat, not large muscles. With any exercise you do, you will make gains right off the bat because you're working out muscles that were previously underworked. But quickly you will hit a plateau and cease to gain more muscle. Almost all the exercises the bowflex allows you to do are isolations, and those won't get you far without compound movements. If you can't do a squat and deadlift (among others), you need to be going to a gym. Again, not trying to insult at all, just trying to give helpful advice.

With that said, if you're able to do "unlimited" crunches and shrugs with up to 220 lbs, there's something wrong. Check these videos out:
 
I wasn't taking it as an insult. Most people who condemn the bowflex have never tried one for any length of time. As far as the low body fat versus muscular size....umm no.

I worked out for years at the gym in the free weight room. I can honestly say that I got bigger working out on the Bowflex, than I ever had a the gym.

The model I have has the squat attachment as well, so I can do squats, flat bench with barbell, military press, bent over rows, dead lifts, etc. Along with all the standard more 'dumbell like' lifts that the machine provides.

The only limit I have found on the Bowflex is the 410 lb max. This limits my leg presses, but to compensate, I do single leg presses after I have warmed up with a few sets using both legs.

I am not trying to be argumentative, just throwing it out there that you can put on lean muscle mass, not just 'get ripped' using a Bowflex.

It's all good, as long as we are all working out trying to better ourselves.
 
Bowflex sucks; use free weights. Powercleans, barbell or dumbbells shrugs will do good for your traps.

End of discussion :mad:
 
:yelrotflmao: Whatever....resistance is resistance. Doesn't matter if you are 'pumping iron' or lifting dead cats. Train hard, increase your resistance, eat properly and rest well. Believe what you want. I've done both and had the same closed mind as you do about the bowflex initially. I've gotten real good results with the Bowflex in a lot less time (both per session and over the course of months) than working the iron.

To each his own.
 
My opinion. I used to work in a sports store and we carried several different versions of the bowflex. It wasn't all smooth like they were showing on tv, it was pretty jerky and resistance would kick in at odd times. Anything you do consistently, you'll see results with. Something like the bowflex will keep your form solid because it's a machine with a limited range of motion, where as dumbells and barbells you have to work more of the stabilizing muscles. For some reason I don't think the resistance is true on the bowflex. When I was about 170 lbs a couple years ago, I put 220 lbs on the lat bar and pulled it all the way down with ease. All of the bows fully bent and it didn't even come close to lifting me up. I was the fitness manager so I checked to make sure we had all of the bows and that they were the right weight, and they were. Who knows, just be consistent and you'll see results.
 
Adumb, just wondering which models you trie at the store. I know at Dick's Sporting Goods they carry the 'consumer versions' like the Blaze and the Sport, that go for about 1/2 the price of the more professional models. These aren't nearly as well built as the real ones, and may have shown the jerky motion. (I tried a Sport yesterday, while my wife was testing ellipticals).

Sort of like snowboard manufacturers, they sell their top of the line stuff at real ski stores, and then the much lower quality, higher quantity produced junk at Sports Authority and Dicks.

I know mine is not jerky. The Bowflex certainly does involve stabilizer muscles, much more than other machines, and more than barbells. It is more on the lines of dumbells.
 
We carried both of those and got better ones in overtime. When I quit they were carrying the bowflex extreme, which was about a $1000 or $1500 model at the time, I can't remember. But no matter which model it was, it was still jerky. The difference in the bowflex extreme was that the pulleys were metal and had less friction in them then the crappy models that had plastic pulleys with TONS of friction. So, instead of extremely jerk, it was slightly less jerky.
 
SXIPro said:
:yelrotflmao: Whatever....resistance is resistance. Doesn't matter if you are 'pumping iron' or lifting dead cats. Train hard, increase your resistance, eat properly and rest well. Believe what you want. I've done both and had the same closed mind as you do about the bowflex initially. I've gotten real good results with the Bowflex in a lot less time (both per session and over the course of months) than working the iron.

To each his own.
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True; resistance is resistance but Free Weights are still better. A guy who does the Squat/Deadlift/Bench Press will reach his goals faster then a guy on a bowflex. And don't call me close-minded either.
 
jmanjman47 said:
True; resistance is resistance but Free Weights are still better. A guy who does the Squat/Deadlift/Bench Press will reach his goals faster then a guy on a bowflex. And don't call me close-minded either.
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Sorry, I'll call anyone close-minded that simply responds with a xxxxx sucks, End of Discussion, as you did.

Your post was just the typical response given from a close-minded individual.

And again, you can do squats, DLs, and bench presses on a Bowflex.
 
SXIPro said:
Sorry, I'll call anyone close-minded that simply responds with a xxxxx sucks, End of Discussion, as you did.

Your post was just the typical response given from a close-minded individual.

And again, you can do squats, DLs, and bench presses on a Bowflex.
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People shouldn't even bother wasting there time with the bowflex. The money is not even worth it. Why waste money on a product that "Guarntees results in 6 weeks"?

The Original poster is better off getting a gym membership and doing some REAL exercises instead of wasting his time with the machine. The Bowflex cannot help you add muscle compared to what free weights can do for you. Also stabilizing muscles work better with weights also. Go tell an athlete or bodybuilder to go use a bowflex. A person seriously striving for there goals will go for free weights.

Free Weights are always harder to lift than machine lifts, because you are using your muscles to balance the weight and hold it in the correct position. With a machine, the machine holds the weight in position for you. You'll notice you can't do as much total weight with dumbbell bench presses as you can with barbell bench presses for the same reason, more "balancing". But this is also why you get more results out of freeweights.

A good combination of free weights and machines will do wanders; but for a begginner free weights are the answer and machines should never be the meat of someones training.
 
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Again, a Bowflex is more comparable to dumbells, than to a regular 'machine' (like the old universal gyms, or other plate loading machines). A Bowflex is not linear. It is cables and pulleys, and you bench using single separate hand grips, not a bar. You DO use stabilizer muscles.

It is funny, everything you post about the Bowflex is incorrect, and every 'benefit' you post about free weights are the exact benefits you get from a Bowflex.

And yes, if you follow the workout plan, you will see results in 6 weeks. You won't go from a 99 lb weakling to Arnold, but you will see gains in muscle and a reduction in bodyfat.

Where is that dead horse so I can beat it again? :rolleyes:
 
Have you all ever noticed how stabilizer muscles play a MUCH MUCH bigger role in pushing exercises than pulling? When you are pushing, your arms and your legs shake (bench and squats respectively)...but when you do pullups, lat pulldowns, etc...it's like your whole core acts as your main stabilizer.

That though would lead me to say that machines would be better for pulling movements vs pushing...not saying that I will be replacing my pullups anytime soon though...haha.
 
xtonymarsx said:
Have you all ever noticed how stabilizer muscles play a MUCH MUCH bigger role in pushing exercises than pulling? When you are pushing, your arms and your legs shake (bench and squats respectively)...but when you do pullups, lat pulldowns, etc...it's like your whole core acts as your main stabilizer.

That though would lead me to say that machines would be better for pulling movements vs pushing...not saying that I will be replacing my pullups anytime soon though...haha.
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Yeah, I use the Lat-pulldown to work my back; but thats it. You are far better off Deadlifting free weight (pulling exercise) then deadlifting on a bowflex. Whatever you can squat/bench press/deadlift on a Bowflex you will NOT be able to do as much using free weights and you will not progress as fast either
 
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