Sigh…a bowflex question…

WickedWarlock

WickedWarlock

Member
Alright so I’m renting my brother in laws house because he is stationed in Germany for 3 years. He left a power rack, weights, bars, bench and dumbbells. The power rack doesn’t have any pulley attachments or anything. Just a four post rack with a pull up bar. I’m really missing lat pull downs and leg extensions. I can get a bowflex for cheap. Thoughts on using it as a supplement to the free weights mostly for lats and leg extensions or should I spend $200ish extra on one of those Marcy multifunctional trainers that go up to like 150lbs for the stack?
 
ReformedNerd said:
Why not use squat and pullup variations?
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I do pull-ups but just don’t get the same mind muscle connection that I do with pulldowns and while I would love to do split squats or even step ups, my nerve pain can’t take it even at body weight. Feels like my tailbone turns into a knife
 
For less than 200, you can buy a pull down machine on amazon. Leg extensions idk, I need something to add to my home gym for them as well. Been thinking about getting a bench with the leg station at the end of it for hamstring curls and leg extensions. Had one years ago and it worked well.

I guess one of the multifunction machines covers both and will work well for you.
 
If u have limited space and can get that for cheap i would do it. Unless you training for the Mr. O or W.S.M. i think some free weights, a power rack and some cables will do the trick for anyone
That bow flex will give you 100 possible ecercises and im sure its more versatile then any 1 cable machine
 
If you have the money and think it will enhance your workouts, go for it.

You could always leave them out for awhile, and as someone mentioned, substitute those exercises for free weight stuff, like sissy squats or pullovers.

If those substitutes aren’t working out and you really want to do pulldowns and leg extensions, invest in the pulley system.
 
I choke bands to the top of my rack, put my EZbar through it for a handle, and sit on the floor to do band Pulldowns to warmup up for chins/pullups (or if I want 15+ rep sets). I don’t really like this for heavier work because bands make it heaviest near the chest, when you already have the worst leverage to complete the rep.

You can use your barbell for a decent pulldown handle, or any actual handle attachments with a carabiner, with bands to do pulldowns. And you can stack multiple bands to change the strength curve & total tension.

Leg extensions can be done with choked bands as well, and/or with ankle weights & hanging kettlebell handles over your foot. You can combine all of that too.

Just ideas if you didn’t really want to commit the space to the bow flex.

If space is no issue, if you did get a lat Pulldown tower with a low pulley you could probably hook that low cable to an ankle strap with a carabiner and do leg extensions with the cable that way.

They have pretty cheap pulley kits on Amazon, but you still kind of need to choke some bands onto the weight pin, otherwise the weights tend to just sling around wildly - the bands guid the pin path some & smooth the travel out.
 
Before you buy a Bowflex, especially a used one, try using it for your intended exercises and see if it gives you enough resistance.
 
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