Soloflex Opinions?
daniel.m.kuster..jr
Greetings All,
This is my first posting to this group - I was pointed over
here from misc.consumers...
I'm sure this is a "Frequently asked question" here, but
what is the general consensus on the Soloflex and NordicFlex
machines? I have a small apartment and am interested in
toning and defining muscles, and losing a few pounds.
I don't have a lot of room for equipment. I am NOT interested
in pumping massive amounts of weights in order to bulk up
with Mr. Universe type muscles!
Please enlighten me!
dan
wil...@gw.wmich.edu
I was thinking of buying a Soloflex machine. A used one (2 yrs old) was listed
in the newspaper. I went and tried it and was seriously disappointed. The
machine is wobbly on the floor, so using it does not inspire confidence. The
path through which the main lever arm travels is unsatisfying. The setup to
move from one exercise position to another is cumbersome and difficult; the
rubber power bands (especially working with the second side) do not go on
easily -- perhaps regular doses of WD-40 would help here, but even so a fair
amount of wiggling of the lever arm is necessary to get that second band into
position. Worst of all, though, the feel of the resistance of the rubber band
is simply not satisfying.
Your experience might be different than mine. Try one from the want ads before
putting down your money. I was surprised at how seriously disappointing the
experience was. Just my opinions.
Darrin A. Hyrup
>I was thinking of buying a Soloflex machine. A used one (2 yrs old) was listed
>in the newspaper. I went and tried it and was seriously disappointed. The
>machine is wobbly on the floor, so using it does not inspire confidence. The
>path through which the main lever arm travels is unsatisfying. The setup to
>move from one exercise position to another is cumbersome and difficult; the
>rubber power bands (especially working with the second side) do not go on
>easily -- perhaps regular doses of WD-40 would help here, but even so a fair
>amount of wiggling of the lever arm is necessary to get that second band into
>position. Worst of all, though, the feel of the resistance of the rubber band
>is simply not satisfying.
>Your experience might be different than mine. Try one from the want ads before
>putting down your money. I was surprised at how seriously disappointing the
>experience was. Just my opinions.
Well, from another perspective; I've owned my Soloflex for almost 2 years now
and I've not noticed the problems you point out in your post. Mine is stable,
easy to use, and the bands adjust fine. However, you are right, it can be
a bit cumbersome to change the setup from excercise to excercise, but no more
than can be expected by any home-fitness machine like this. Another slight
problem is that if you are using the lateral bar and you weigh a lot, you can
sometimes cause the opposite side of the machine to lift into the air, unless
you secure it to the ground, or put some weight on it (like put something on
the bench.) It's not a big deal though, and easily worked around.
Besides that, you can also use free weights with the Soloflex if you prefer
to use them instead of the bands. Of course, you can't use them for every
exercise (i.e., they don't work with the butterfly attachment) but free weights
work with most of them. You can even combine bands and free weights if you
were of that mind.
Anyway, that's just my $0.02. I have no idea how well the bands compare to
free weights as far as development goes.
Best,
Darrin
--
Darrin Hyrup Computer Game Designer/Software Engineer Fido 1:349/7
GEnie: shades A.U.S.I. / Shades of Reality, Inc. BIX: shades
sha...@speedway.net sha...@sorinc.cutler.com sha...@netcom.com
Dan Nix
>Greetings All,
>Please enlighten me!
>dan
My advice is (if you have some extra money) join a gym, or maybe your
company has a gym. I feel that nothing can replace the feel and results
that free weights provide. Also, to lose weight, I'd suggest do some type
of aerobic exercise 3 or 4 times a week. Lifting will make your muscles
toner but to get rid of that extra fat in the middle, you need to exercise
aerobicly.
I have tried SoloFlex and I thought it really, really sucked. When I
benched, the dumb bar wobbled around. When I leg extended, the attachment
wobbled. It took longer than they claimed to change the bands, you have
to wiggle them out by wiggling one side some, then the other, etc, until
you can pull it the rest of the way out. Some exercises are down right
hard to do, like the squat. Plus it cost ~$1000, ugh!
One last thing (one of my pet peeves) is that lifting will NOT make you
look like Mr. Universe!! Most bb follow very strict diets, lift many hours
a day, use tons of supplements, and basically make it a job. Hell, I've
been lifting for over a year now, 5 days a week, taking weight gainer and
all that stuff, and I by no means look like Mr. Universe! I have gained
25 lbs and look much fitter cause I was very skinny.
Dan.