Best Bowflex Home Gym Exercises
Bowflex Home Gyms are great for people who want to gain muscle and strength or to lose weight at home. They have a small footprint and easy to store which makes it ideal for home use.
Most models use Power Rod technology and many exercises you can do in a local gym can be done with a Bowflex home gym, but the feel of the exercises are different than the plate loaded machines.
We must say that Bowflex home gyms are great for increase or maintain muscular size, but you will get the most benefit when you add some basic free weight exercises to your workout routine.
Powerlifters and bodybuilders can’t get the necessary resistance training by using a Bowflex Home Gym alone, because most models provide resistance up to 300 lbs. This weight is not enough for some of the body parts of serious athletes.
So what are the best exercises you can do on the Bowflex?
The following exercises are the ones we think you can perform using Bowflex home gyms most efficiently. These exercises, when done properly, with proper nutrition, will help you to get the results you want.
The chest press and chest fly can be done very effectively with the Bowflex home gyms. These two exercises are great chest builders. With the Bowflex, you can perform these exercises safely and with correct form.
Seated row and lat pulldown are great exercises for the upper back and these two are also easy to do with Bowflex home gyms.
For arms, biceps curl, triceps extensions, and triceps pushdowns are very effective exercises and the way these exercises feel very similar to the standard cable tower counterparts.
To target your shoulder muscles, seated shoulder press, lateral raise, and rear deltoid row are the exercises we like.
Lower body exercises are where we think the Bowflex is not enough for most people. It won’t hit your leg muscles hard enough, so if you want some intense leg workout buy a barbell and some plates. On the other hand, if your goal is toning your legs it is great, especially the leg extension.
For abs, the seated crunches will work your upper and lower abdominal muscles and the twisting crunch will target your obliques.
Remember, there is a reason why fitness professionals still use free weights because in general, they are better than machines for building muscle. So if possible we recommend you to include some free weight exercises to your routine.
As with any workout plans, the key to success is increasing the resistance progressively and the consistency of your workouts. With a Bowflex home gym, it is not different, if you work out 3-5 times per week, increase the resistance week by week and eat the right foods you will reach your fitness goals.