Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym
The Bowflex PR3000 home gym is a great way to strengthen your muscles with over 50 strength exercises and a built-in rowing station. With up to 210 pounds of Power Rod resistance (can be upgraded to 310 pounds), this versatile machine helps work the abs, arms, chest, back, shoulders, and lower body. It includes a no-change cable pulley system, vertical bench press, triple-function hand grips for lat pull-down, and four-inch upholstered roller cushions for leg extension and leg curl exercises. The PR3000 utilizes Bowflex’s patented Power Rods, which provide resistance, or weight, that feels as good as or better than free weights–but without the inertia or risk of joint pain usually associated with free weights. You can hook one, two, three, four or all of your Power Rod units to the cable pulley system and go from as little as 5 pounds all the way up to 210 pounds of resistance. They’re precisely manufactured from a high-tech composite material under the highest quali (more…)
Brief story – months ago, I was in the market for a home gym that uses free weights, but I happened to try out the PR3000 at Sports Authority, and I really liked it. We bought another unit, but it didn’t turn out to be exactly what we needed, and eventually I found myself remembering the PR3000 fondly.
When we finally decided to go with a Bowflex for a couple reasons – less weight on our floor and not having to move weights around our apartment. I thought I’d go for one of the long ones that let you do rowing and – I thought – leg curls. But after I tried the units with rowing, I didn’t actually care for the slightly loose feeling in the seat when it was locked in place, and I also discovered that some Blowflex don’t do leg curls and others have a complicated way of doing them.
So I went back and tried out the PR3000 again – and it was as much fun to use as I remembered it, plus it has a no-cable-changes design that made switching exercises easier. So I tried a workaround someone reviewing a different Bowflex on Amazon recommended for another unit, which was basically do the leg curls while standing and facing the unit. I tried that on the PR3000 at the store and it worked fine for me, so I finally got it and I love using it.
The pluses:
* It doesn’t take much floor space
* I don’t have to move heavy weights around during my workout
* It’s very quiet
* No cable changes keeps workouts moving along
* Motion is smooth (smoother than the Weider Platinum)
* Very good assembly directions
* A lot of things adjust for different sized people
* Top pulleys are on hook-and-eyes so that they swivel
* Can be upgraded to 310 pounds
* Very well-made, more attention to detail than other equipment we’ve had
The minuses:
* Doesn’t come with a lat bar, although you can do pulldowns with the hand grips
* The manual isn’t as detailed as other Bowflex units, although still better than most other home gyms.
* Very short warranty on smaller parts. I got an extended warranty.
* Bows resistance isn’t the weight specified (I measured and it’s lighter) but there was still more than enough resistance to give me a burn. Larger men and very fit people should probably get the 310 lb upgrade pretty quickly.
I bought this item last week from a local store for $847.00. It has been nothing but, wonderful. I will definetly need to upgrade to 310lbs later but, for now it is just great.
PROS- Easy to put together, a perfect machine for me even at 6′3″ tall. Felt a little awkward at first doing kickbacks but, got used to it quickly.
CON – It states it has over 50 plus exercises but only lists 27 in the book. I called Bowflex and they told me to go to their site and look up the exercise manual for the Extreme 2. I did and it shows ALOT more exercises because both machines are very similar except for the lat pulldown bar on the Extreme 2.
Everything else is perfect. I will definetly be using this machine for a long time. The fact that the weight is upgradeable to 310lbs and the no pulley change system are huge differences in the workout saving valuable amounts of time to focus on lifting.
I have had this product for a about 2 weeks now and have noticed a huge difference in the way I feel. I have lost 12 lbs. and am getting more toned everyday. I went to the gym several years ago, I feel like I did when I left the gym after each 20to 30 minute workout. I need to lose about 50 more lbs and am confident this product will get these results.
I am glad I spent the extra money on the pr3000 instead of the pr1000. I think changing the cables between exercises would take alot more time. I highly recoment this product to anyone wanting to get in shape.