Bowflex Max Trainer Family Elliptical Machine Reviews

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When life gets busy with work and family, it can be hard to find the time and motivation to head out to the gym each day. If you want to keep in shape but are having trouble keeping up, you may want to consider a home gym.

Exercising at home, does not mean that you have to buy lots of expensive equipment to get the same results of the gym. We understand that for many people, space is an issue. If you are only going to have one piece of home gym equipment, the Bowflex Max Trainer is the perfect choice for your home. It is a light, compact, and one-of-a-kind machine that combines the benefits of both a stair stepper and elliptical machine into one simple workout.

The Origins of Bowflex

The Bowflex Max Trainer comes from simple and humble beginnings. Dosho Tessema Shifferaw, an Ethiopian engineering student, came to the United States at the age of 19 with only a few hundred dollars in his pocket. He supported himself as a taxi driver while attending San Francisco College. During a school project, Dosho came up with the concept of an exercise machine that was known as the Bowflex Rod Gym. Since its birth in 1986, the original Bowflex machine has transformed into one of the most-well known pieces of exercise equipment in the world. With over 3 billion dollars in sales, Bowflex bought Nautilus Corporation, Schwinn Fitness, and Stairmaster and is now Nautilus, Inc.

At one time or another, you have probably seen the TV infomercials for Bowflex Max Trainer. If you notice, most infomercials come and go, but the Max Trainer has been a mainstay. For over 30 years, Bowflex has been marketing and selling its units. How? Because Bowflex Max Trainer actually works. The Max Trainer gives people the freedom and ability to exercise without leaving the comfort of their own home. The product’s success speaks for itself, and Bowflex Max Trainer continues to be a recognizable name in the fitness industry to this day.

The Uniqueness of the Bowflex Max Trainer

Exercise bikes, treadmills and ellipticals are all good fitness machines that can produce positive results, but they don’t have anything on the Max Trainer. At first glance, the Bowflex may look like an ordinary elliptical. However, if you study the movements of an elliptical, you will notice that it mimics the natural strides of human running motion. The Bowflex has more of a smooth, vertical climbing stride. In this sense, the Bowflex Max Trainer is unique, because it works both the lower and upper body muscles simultaneously, which is something that an elliptical, treadmill, exercise bike, or any other exercise equipment can’t quite match.

Bowflex Max trainer is also unique because it stands out from the competition with its functional design. Most fitness equipment is extremely heavy. The Bowflex on the other hand is very lightweight in comparison to other exercise machines, allowing you to easily move and transport the equipment. If you’ve ever been to a gym, you probably know how loud some of the exercise equipment is. The Bowflex was designed to be extremely quiet, allowing you to exercise without bothering everyone else around you. Another area where the Bowflex really stands out is aesthetics. The Bowflex doesn’t look like your run of the mill exercise machine. It’s sleek, modern design allows you to place it almost any room in your house.

Benefits of the Bowflex Max Trainer

If you want a fitness machine that will challenge you and push you to your limits then the Bowflex Max Trainer is definitely a machine you should consider.

Here are the top 5 benefits of the Bowflex Max Trainer:

• Low Impact – Bowflex Max Trainer is the perfect exercise machine for anyone who has bad knees, joints, or is just plain out of shape. Over the years, running can put major stress on your joints causing severe damage, but this unit is designed to have zero impact on your joints, for a stress-free workout.
• Total Body Workout – Bowflex Max Trainer not only works your lower body muscles, but it also works the muscles in your upper body as well.
• Time Efficient – Bowflex has designed the infamous 14-minute workout to get you maximum calorie-burning results, without having to do separate cardio.
• Burns Lots of Calories – Bowflex claims that its workouts can help you burn up to 2.5 times the calories than a standard elliptical, treadmill or stair master. And they have the studies to back it up. As you can imagine, burning twice the calories means you can burn up to twice the fat in less time!
• Burns Calories Even After Use – Because the Bowflex Max Trainer incorporates high intensity interval training (HIIT) into the workout regimen, your muscles continue to burn calories anywhere from 24-48 hours after you have worked out.

How Does the Bowflex Max Trainer Work

A variety of factors determine how many calories a person burns at different intensities of exercise. Bowflex Max Trainer helps you burn the maximum amount of calories possible by incorporating high intensity interval training (HIIT) into the workout regimen. According to the concept of HIIT, your work out should alternate between high and moderate intensity cardio. Your body then adapts to the changes by increasing the maximum aerobic capacity. This ensures that you burn more calories when you are exercising, and continue to burn calories after training. Instead of having to work out for hours, you only need to work out for merely 14 minutes each day, which would give you the same results as working out for hours, but in much less time.

The 14-minute workout can be broken down into the following intervals:

• 25 seconds of high intensity work out
• 80 seconds of low intensity recovery work out
• Intervals are repeated 7 more times

The Max Trainer also allows you to select the level of resistance. The level of resistance helps determine the difficulty of your workout. When you are first starting to work out with the Bowflex Max Trainer, you may have to use a lower level of resistance and then work your way up to a more challenging resistance level. That’s what’s so great about the Max Trainer is that it is both for beginners and advanced trainers alike.

When working out with the Max trainer, your lower body trains with a stair-stepping motion, while your upper body tones itself by moving with the arm bars. Although the arm bars look similar to those on elliptical trainers, they can be nearly twice as effective at toning your body.

You’ve heard us mention earlier that the Max Trainer targets specific muscles in the lower and upper body for a total body workout. The repetitive stepping motion with your legs combined with the pushing and pulling with your arms gives you a complete workout. The Max Trainer works the following muscles:

• calves
• thighs
• butt
• core
• heart
• chest
• back
• shoulders
• arms

The truth is there isn’t a muscle in your body that can get a good workout with the Bowflex Max trainer. If you want to get your entire body into shape, then the Bowflex is a perfect match.

Workout Programs

Although the 14-minute interval workout is very effective, it is only one of the workout programs that the Bowflex Max Trainer offers. Here are some other general workout program modes that you can also benefit from:

• Interval Training – this kind of workout involves you manually adjusting your workout intensity for specific lengths of time to raise and lower your breathing rate, heart rate and calorie burn. This allows you to burn more calories than a standard workout in a shorter period of time.
• Fitness Test – this workout measures the improvements of your physical fitness level by comparing your energy output to your heart rate. As your fitness level begins to improve, you will notice that your power output will increase at the same heart rate
• Fat Burn – this kind of workout gives you the necessary intensity to burn fat.
• Calorie Goal – this kind of workout tracks the amount of calories burned. It assigns a caloric value to each of the 16 segments. This value is based on the burn rate. At the end of the 16 segments, you will have reached the caloric goal.
• Steady State – this kind of workout starts out slower and builds up to a more challenging steady rate that you can keep for the entirety of the workout. For a good steady state workout, you will want to get your heart rate into the Fat-Burning, Heart Zone and keep it there. The Steady state workout helps you gain stamina and endurance and is essential to a well-rounded cardiovascular training program.

Bowflex Max Trainer App

Bowflex Max trainer has developed a brilliant app that is compatible for both Android phones on Google Play and iOS phones on the App Store. It is important to note that the app is only compatible with the M5 and M7 models that have smartphone connectivity. The app tracks your work outs and provides a detailed summary of accomplishments and a breakdown of individual workouts. You can expect to see data reflecting your average heart rate and calories burned. It’s a great way to help you stay motivated and track your progress in your fitness journey.

Which Should I buy? M3, M5, M7

Trying to decide between the three different Bowflex Max Trainer models? Each model has its own features that make it a little bit different from the others. Let’s take a comprehensive look at each, to find out which one is right for you.

Bowflex Max Trainer M3 Review: Most Affordable

The Bowflex Max Trainer M3 is considered the entry-level model of the Bowflex Max Trainer series. Although it uses the same advanced technology as the M5 and M7, it doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the upgraded models. It also comes in as the most affordable model, with a price tag just under $1,000.

As the base model, it contains the essential features that make the Bowflex Max Trainer a leader in fitness equipment. It stands by the ability to burn up to 2.5x more calories, while working the upper body 80% more than other fitness equipment.

The M3 is not like other traditional fitness equipment. The M3 includes 8 levels of resistance that you can manually change by using the dial on the handlebars. With the M3, you have the ability to work out at a level of intensity that is hard to find with other trainers.

The M3 is a very simple machine. The console area does not contain a display screen – only a few program controls and a dial to adjust resistance. Because of its simplicity, it makes the M3 very intuitive. Anyone can take advantage of the benefits of the Bowflex Max trainer.

Some notable features of the M3 model include:

Things that could be better:

Although simple in nature, the Max Trainer M3 can help you burn some serious calories and build muscle. Bowflex has long been known for its equipment, and the M3 doesn’t disappoint as it’s continually ranked as one of the best. It also helps that it is affordable and compact to fit in any sized home gym. The M3 comes with 8 different resistance levels and two workout programs, with features that both the beginner and advanced level trainee can take advantage of.

Bowflex Max Trainer M5 Review: Best Value

The Bowflex Max Trainer M5 is the company’s flagship model and it’s for a good reason. The M5 is a pretty big step up from the M3. Although the work out part doesn’t get any easier, the M5 provides more workout programs and resistance levels for anyone from novice and pro to utilize. It costs around five hundred dollars more than the M3, but it’s also significantly less than the M7 model. The M5 is the happy medium where most shoppers find that they are getting the best value for their money.

You’re probably asking yourself what makes this model “better” than the M3. Well, for starters, The M5 has 16 levels of resistance. That is double the amount when comparing it to the M3. You can toggle the levels by using the convenient digital controls. The M5 can be used in manual mode, along with the addition of eight different training programs that help trainees make the most of this machine, including:

Some notable features of the M5 model include:

Things that could be better:

The Max Trainer M5 almost sounds too good to be true, but we know that the Bowflex is the real deal. The Bowflex infomercials on TV feature real Bowflex customers with real success stories, helping you feel confident while shopping with Bowflex. They even provide a 6-week money back guarantee if you’re not satisfied with the product! When you’re ready for serious results but don’t have a huge window of time for fitness, the Max Trainer M5 can be an ideal choice.

Bowflex Max Trainer M7 Review: Top of the Line

The Bowflex Max Trainer M7 is the flagship of the Max Trainer series, offering all the luxuries that Bowflex Max Trainer can possibly give. This high-end model recently debuted in 2017.

The Max Trainer M7 is the only Bowflex model that’s considered commercial grade and is designed to withstand the heaviest use. Although the M5 has 16 levels of resistance, the M7 tops it by offering 20 levels of resistance to choose from, as well as more programs, including:

Some notable features of the M7 model include:

Things that could be better:

The Bowflex Max Trainer M7 leads an impressive line of unique fitness machines. It stands out from the competition by offering extra training programs, upgrades, and of course, very effective cardio workouts with low impact on the body. If the Bowflex M7 fits your budget, then it’s a recommended purchase.

Watch Bowflex Max Trainer Workout Routine Videos

No matter how intuitive the Bowflex Max Trainer is, it still can be intimidating to know where to start or even know what to do if you have little to no experience with working out. The Internet is filled with instructional and workout routine videos that pertain to whatever model you decide to get. It’s almost like having your own personal instructor at the gym, except you will be learning how to get the best results from your machine while in the comfort of your own home!

How to Assemble your Bowflex Max Trainer

This video is intended to be a supplement to the assembly manual provided with your Max Trainer. Please be sure to read your assembly manual thoroughly as it contains important safety warnings and assembly tips.

1. Before beginning assembly, please open all boxes to confirm that all parts necessary are present.
2. Attach the rail assembly to the frame. This should be done using four socket head screws and washers. Hardware should only be hand tightened during this step. Because some components are heavy and awkward, we recommend using two people to complete the next couple of steps.
3. Release the frame from the shipping plate using a 13 mm wrench.
4. Attach levelers to the stabilizer assembly.
5. Have the second person carefully lift the frame assembly and attach to the stabilizer assembly by hand tightening four socket head screws and washers. Beginning with the hardware from
   Step 2, go back and tighten all the hardware.
6. Attach stabilizer shrouds to the frame assembly.
7. Using a Phillips head screw, attach the rear shroud to the frame assembly. Then insert the caps.
8. Attach the leg assembly with the socket head screw, washer and cap. Repeat on the other side. Please note, once leg assemblies are connected, if one moves, the other does as well.
9. Attach the pedal to the leg assembly using two socket head screws, washer and nut. Repeat on the other side.
10. Cut the shipping zip ties from the foot pads. Attach the foot pad to the pedal assembly using four socket head screws. Repeat on the other side.
11. Cut the shipping zip tie from cables and attach cables to console assembly. Attach the console assembly to the main mast. Tighten all the hardware.
12. Attach the upper handle bars to the frame assembly.
13. Connect the A/C adapter to the frame assembly.
14. Inspect your machine carefully making sure that all hardware is tight and components are installed properly before using your product.

What About Bowflex Max Trainer Parts?

With consistent use, the Bowflex trainer may have a part that gets worn out and needs to eventually be replaced. Replacement parts are not difficult to get. That being said, don’t forget that Bowflex includes a warranty upon purchase. Depending on which model you get, you may have a 1, 2 or 3-year warranty that may cover the replacement part. Even without a warranty, most parts are fairly inexpensive.

Here are some parts that commonly need replacement:

• AC Inlet
• Drive Pulley
• Servo Motor
• Speed Sensor
• Fan Belt
• Transport Wheel

Should You Buy the Bowflex Max Trainer?

The Bowflex Max Trainer is an amazing piece of equipment that can produce real results in weight loss and toning. However, as exciting and revolutionary of a concept that it is, it may not be for everyone.

Reasons you shouldn’t buy the Bowflex Max Trainer

If losing weight and toning is not your goal, then the Bowflex is not right for you. For instance, the Max trainer would not be ideal for body builders. While it can set you up for success, the Max trainer focuses on strengthening all of the muscles at once, not targeting certain muscles to grow them in such a way that body builders do.

Reasons you should buy the Bowflex Max Trainer

You should buy the M3 Bowflex if you want to get a complete body workout, without having to hop on multiple fitness machines to achieve the same results.

If you like the idea of 2.5x the amount of fat and calories being burned, then claim your machine today! The unique hybrid design means that you get the best return on your effort. You will burn calories faster than you ever thought possible.

Is the Bowflex Max Trainer Worth it?

The Bowflex is an investment. It is important to take your individual needs into consideration before purchasing. There are 3 different models in the Bowflex Max Trainer series that each have their own strengths and drawbacks.

If you have a larger family, you may want to consider the M7 that offers the convenience of 4 user profiles. Or perhaps you only plan on sharing it with a roommate. In that case, you may want to go for the least expensive M3. Or if you want the best of both worlds, you could opt for the mid-level M5 model.

If you think about how much a monthly gym membership costs and add up the total cost over a few years’ time, you will find that you could have easily paid for the Max trainer. With the Bowflex Max trainer, you have a one-time investment that will allow you to work out in your own home without paying a monthly fee.

There are a few other indirect ways that you can benefit from having a max trainer, including:

• Saving money on gas driving to and from the gym.
• Staying safe at home in inclement weather.
• You are more likely to work out with a fitness machine in your home.

The bottom line is that the Max Trainer is a great investment and is totally worth it! There are thousands of satisfied customers who attest to everything that the Max Trainer stands for.

Customer Testimonials

If you Google “Bowflex Max Trainer Reviews” you will find a surplus of pages containing rave reviews from customers. You know when you search something that everyone has been raving about, and it turns out that it’s only a 2-star product? Well, this one is different. You will find nothing but 4 and 5-star ratings everywhere you look. The customers think it’s great; the fitness gurus think it’s great; and of course, the company thinks their product is pretty amazing too!

Workout Routines

Cardio exercise is essential to maintaining your health and aids in fat burning and weight loss. A busy lifestyle can be one of the biggest hindrances to getting enough cardio exercise. When you lack in cardio that is typically when you start to see weight gain. The Max Trainer is one of the best investments you can make to help you burn fat quickly and get back on track. By taking 14-minutes, 3 times out of your week, you can begin to see results.

There are other outstanding benefits of regular aerobic exercise including higher bone density, an increase in good cholesterol, mood improvement, as well as feeling more energized throughout the day.

Workout routines that you can implement with your Bowflex Max Trainer

Endurance Workout Routine

Depending on your level of physical fitness, it is likely that you will have to build up your endurance before reaping the maximum benefits of the Max Trainer. Realize that your first session might only be a few minutes, before you have to stop. Keep your focus on using the Max Trainer consistently, instead of focusing on the length of workout. Progressively challenging workouts will help you build your endurance on the Max Trainer.

Strength Workout Routine

You can combine aeriobic exercises with your Max Trainer in order to create a balanced strength routine. Start by doing the 14-minute workout on your Max Trainer, then switch to exercises that will target a specific muscle group, such as:

• Planks
• Burpees
• Lunges
• Push-ups
• Squats
• Wall sit
• Lunges
• Crunches

Abs Workout Routine

If you want to improve your endurance, exercising your core muscles is crucial. You may not realize it, but you can get a good work out with your abs using the Max trainer. The position of your hands is key to engaging your abs. Begin by placing your hands lower on the bars and use larger movements side to side with each stride. This will engage your core and begin to work out your ab area. Then, you will want to switch your hand position up high, and work your abs in the same manner. Finally, working in intervals will give your abs a complete workout.

Another important thing that you are going to need to do when it comes to losing weight with any kind of Bowflex machine is to focus on your diet. Your diet will go a long way towards ensuring that you are able to hit your weight loss goals. While a Bowflex machine can help you produce amazing results, weight loss or gain really comes down to what you’re putting into your body every day.

Comparing the Bowflex Max Trainer Against Other Home Fitness Equipment

Now let’s take a look at how the Bowflex matches up to other similar home workout machines.

Bowflex Max Trainer vs:

Treadclimber – Bowflex prides itself on letting customers workout more efficiently. The Max Trainer claims up to 3x as efficient exercise, and theTreadClimber up to 2x. (This means you burn 3x or 2x the amount of calories as on a normal machine with the same amount of effort.)

Rowing machine – Bowflex strengthens your entire body, while rowing machine’s focus on strengthening your core.

Treadmill – Bowflex is much more compact than a traditional treadmill that takes up lots of space. In actuality, they are not very similar. With the treadmill, you are getting the forward running motion only. The Bowflex boasts the forward running motion, combined with the upward climbing motion, all while being low impact.

Proform cardio hiit trainer – Bowflex and preform cardio hiit trainer are both hybrid machines that perform high intensity interval training, but once again, the Bowflex is the winner. It offers more hiit programs, and has a much longer running track record than the preform, which was introduced in 2008.

Nordictrack freestrider – Bowflex wins in this category, because the amount of calories burned far exceeds the freestrider. One of the benefits of the freestrider it that you have full range of motion, moving from backwards to forwards and vice versa.

Elliptical machine – Bowflex probably identifies the most with the elliptical machine, but it is very different. The Bowflex has more of a climbing motion, whereas the elliptical has more of a running motion. The Bowflex is also more effective, burning up to 2.5x more calories than an elliptical.

As one of the pioneers of the fitness revolution, Bowflex has paved the way for the concept of a total body workout in just 14-minutes time. There are many who have tried to duplicate its benefits, but only the Bowflex can successfully accomplish multiple physical goals simultaneously, while providing the most calories burned. If you’re trying to lose weight, nothing will compare to the results that you will see with the Max Trainer series.

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