Very satisfied with the Band Flex Home Gym
by - Written: Feb 26 '03 (Updated Mar 29 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Well built, affordable, stable during use, versatile, compact fold-up design, provides great workout.
Cons: Preacher curl attachment needs some padding for the chest when doing curls.
The Bottom Line: I have an extremely limited amount of space to use and store a gym, so the BFGym fit a very specific situation well for me.
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| crackthesky's Full Review: Stamina Products Band Flex Gym 50-0202 |
The Thought process and a warning:
As a 5' 7" 37 year old once active male turned couch potato, I wanted to do something to get myself back in shape, and decided that a home gym was the right choice for me. My extremely limited living space and storage area for the gym, narrowed my search to the “Rod” or "Band” type resistance fold-up home gyms that are available on the market today. The BowFlex gym was far too expensive for me, so when I came across the Band Flex Home Gym for $300, I was intrigued but skeptical. I looked but couldn't find any consumer reviews of the product, so I decided to take a no risk approach and buy one from QVC where I know they are a good company and I have 30 days to return it, with no questions asked. After living with the gym for awhile, there is no doubt that I purchased the right product, that being said, my workout routine utilizing low weight with high repetition is perfectly suited for this type of home gym. Here is a warning to potential Band Flex Gym buyers. I don’t know if the manufactures stated top resistance of 260lbs is accurate or not, but please make note that the gyms top end resistance CANNOT be upgraded or increased. While 260lbs is more than enough weight for me, it may render Band Flex Home Gym the wrong choice for the person that wants more resistance in a home gym
The Product and customer service:
The product itself is very well made, stout and stable in use and in storage. The manufacturer uses tough thick gauge steel and quality made components throughout. The gym is compact, yet it has many workout stations that are designed intelligently for the uses they were intended. It has a leg station, an overhead Lat pull down bar, a curl bar station, and a sliding row station for cardiovascular workouts among its features. The directions were easy to follow and assembly was straightforward and trouble-free. In fold up or storage mode the unit is slim with a small footprint that is fully capable of fitting into a fairly small closet. So far the bungee resistance cords seem to be holding their tension fairly well 6 months into the purchase. I would be happy if they last two years before having to be replaced, only time can tell the tale. In terms of the manufacturers customer service, I had two occasions where I used the 800 number provided in the paperwork and the customer service was excellent each time. On one of the calls I needed a replacement part (due to my own fault), and they quickly sent me the replacement part with no charge.
The Workout and a tip:
The manufacturer states that there are 67 individual exercises that can be done on the machine, so one of the things I was worried about was having too many exercises on one machine for them all to be quality exercises. I was concerned that some of the exercises might have a make shift quality about them. Thankfully that turned out not the case, the exercises are easy to do and provide a terrific workout from head to toe. Changing the machine for various exercises and weight settings is quick and easy. The range of motion of the gym is remarkable due to the free moving ropes that allow you to perform many exercises in any direction. It really is a complete gym for someone of average size and strength that wants get into very good overall shape. In closing here is a tip to the potential buyer, the workout manual shows maybe twenty exercises, I had to call and have the manufacturer send me a second manual showing the additional exercises.
Addendum:Two Points
#1,The second manual turned out to be a disappointing list of exercises on two sheets of photocopied paper with NO pictures or descriptions of how to do them. Here are two examples: The exercises are listed as “Scapular Retract” and “Close Grip Pulls” under the category of “Back”, but I don‘t know exactly how that translates into doing the exercises on the machine. The bottom line for me is that the poor quality of the second exercise manual doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for the product because I get a great workout, and I enjoy developing my own workout regime on the gym. In my case I only wanted the second manual to provide me with some additional ideas for my workout.
#2, The Band Flex comes with six bungee cords, three mounted on each side of the gym that are colored coded, Blue=Least Resistance, Red=Middle Resistance, and Black=Most Resistance. It occurs to me that if someone got to the point that they no longer used the two Blue or least resistance bungee cords on any of their exercises, they could replace them by purchasing (directly from Stamina) two Red or middle resistance bungee cords, thereby achieving a sort of poor mans method of increasing the top end resistance of this gym.
Recommended:
Yes
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