THE CROSSBOW by Weider

[apple]

What do you guys think of the THE CROSSBOW by Weider vs bowflex?

[Mr_America]

I have never used a bowflex, but I do have The Crossbow. I love it, it is easy to change resistance, it is built solid and I can fold it up and store it in my 1 bedroom apartment easily. I feel that it gives me a good solid workout in the time it would take me to drive to the gym.

[Down_Under]

Sounds like one of those ads off TV

[Jaster]

Originally posted by apple
What do you guys think of the THE CROSSBOW by Weider vs bowflex?

(Ducking)
It lacks free weights!! LOL

[Hazukidojo]

Im with jaster...free weights for life!

[Spydermn]

If you are used to free weight you will hate it, if you are used to not exercising at all you might like it. I've had a Crossbow for about 3 weeks, & haven't decided yet if I'll keep it. It's been a few years since I've worked out consistently, but the best workouts I had at the local gym involved a slew of different size dumbbells, a flat bench, & a barbell.

[Mr_America]

I get a good pump with the crossbow and I feel and see results. I have free weights and not a lot of time for my workout so the crossbow suits my needs. I do see that overtime I will need to upgrade with additional resistance rods though.

[Wellsy]

Get a real Crossbow. Then you can shoot stuff and have fun while working out. Kills two birds with one stone - pardon the 'pun'

[mustang GT]

If I had a Crossbow, I would never go back to free weights.

[HookemMike]

Hey everyone,

I've been lurking here about a month. This is a great forum.

I bought a Crossbow a couple of weeks ago, and have started developing a routine. I am very pleased with the upper body workout, not so sure about the lower body workout. I add some free weights to my workout at the end, and between the two, I feel pretty good. The chest/tricep workout is great! The bicep workout is good, but the back workout is mediocre (so far). Leg extensions are good, but leg press sucks! Definitely need more weight for that. I'll post periodically on my progress/thoughts if you're interested.

Mike

[Ba-gug]

I have both free weights and a BowFlex (bought it used on eBay, so someone else took the big $$$ hit) anyway, I use both. Since I have a bad lower back I use the BowFlex for some work outs that I might strain my back if I used the free weights, but mostly use the free weights. I looked at the CrossBow and tried one out at Sears but I just didn't like the workmanship, it just seemed a bit cheap to me compared to the BowFlex, but then again it was much less expensive.

[DustinLati]

A friend of mine has one in his apartment, and I would never give up free weights for one. But then again I would never give up free weights for a cable cross machine either....its basically the same thing....though the feel you get is completely different.

The kind of workout you get is pretty hard to explain...you can get a real nice pump going...just not as good as with free weights.

[Maxima]

I actually trained under Tom Purvis one of the people who helped develop the bowflex, and the one seen on the adds.

That guy is a genius at physics and human physiology so I can testify that there is a lot of thinking behind the bow flex.

The cross trainer looks just as good and with the dual pulley design seems like a great peice of equipment.

I have tried the bowflex and it is good for upper body, but like others have said it is hard to get a good leg workout unless you can do squats and deadlifts with some serious weight which I found impossible even with the extra attachments.

However the physics behind the 'bow' resistance is a good idea, and the stabilization it forces you to do is beneficial, but it is better suited for those who aren't incredibly serious about building muscle.