Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE and XTLU Review
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Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE Home Gym (Refurbished) List Price: Average Rating:   |
Description
Looking for a total body workout but you're on a budget? The refurbished Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE offers a compact total-body workout solution that allows you to perform over 70 exercises. It includes a Lat Tower that adjusts to two positions, leg extension for developing strong, muscular legs, an abdominal crunch shoulder harness to help you build strong, defined abs, and a 4-position lower pulley/squat station that helps in building your glutes, hamstrings, and quads...
Features
- Refurbished home gym provides a total body workout with over 70 exercises
- Provides 210 pounds of resistance via Bowflex Power Rods--upgradable to 410 pounds
- Includes lat tower, leg extension, squat station, and ab crunch shoulder harness
- Recommended workout area of 8' x 6' 5"; 300-pound maximum user weight
- Backed by full 6-month warranty
I have had an interest in the various type of weight machines that are on the market for some years now, since I was in my early teens. Its the technology that goes into todays fitness machines that fascinates me the most. I grew up of course, with weight stack machines being the only choice that was available and I can still remember those first ads for Bowflex machines that appeared on TV when they made their debut.
Back then there was some resistance to change for a number of reasons. To begin with, many people just assumed in those early years that there was just something fundamentally better about stack machines that used iron weights for resistance. Also, weight stack machines tended to be a substantially larger machine than this new compact style of fitness machine.
Of course, by now Bowflex has become a commonly accepted name in fitness and is universally recognized around the globe. However; recently a turn of events in my life gave me the opportunity to take a much closer, in depth look at Bowflex fitness machines. I am currently attending the University of Reno, Nevada, majoring in education and I plan on being a high school teacher after I graduate in two years.
To qualify for my degree I am required to complete nine units of physical education courses, so I am taking two classes to fulfill six of them this semester. As it turns out, my instructor in one of these classes is a Bowflex fanatic and has decided to make the study of Bowflex machines an integral part of his study curricula.
The Xtreme 2 SE
Comparing the Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE and the XTLU
Recently he gave a fascinating lecture comparing the Xtreme 2 SE and the XTLU and what I learned was quite interesting. The first thing that separates these two models of Bowflex machine is price. I had always assumed that to acquire a Bowflex machine would set a person back around $2000. However; I was surprised to learn that the XTLU can be purchased for around $1000 and the Xtreme 2 SE for somewhere in the area of $1400.
It was during the portion of the instructors lecture on weight resistance mechanisms and the actual mechanics of Bowflex power rods that things began to get real interesting. It turns out that weight stack machines are still one of the most popular type of fitness machine particularly in commercial settings such as gyms.
The Xtreme XTLU
One of the major reasons for this is that they can accommodate more than one person at a time if it is a larger style of machine. However; technologically speaking, they are an inferior style of weight machine and far less safe to use as well. If you don't know by now, a classic weight stack machine uses stacks of iron weights that are added on or taken off a set usually using a heavy metal key to lock them in place.
Bowlfex fitness machines have completely done away with iron weights and replaced them with an engineered resistance system that uses what it refers to as “power rods”. I personally like the fact that they are made entirely in the U.S. and undergo thorough testing before they are cleared for use on a fitness machine.
Beyond the price differences, the Xtreme 2 SE and the XTLU I also learned, have several similarities. For instance, they both come with a standard rod resistance factor of 210 pounds. Also, they both have easy to adapt adjustment kits that can increase their weight resistance to 310 or 410 pounds. This makes both of these machines ideal for use in both amateur and professional settings.
Also, they are both great machines for men and women alike. It was very interesting to see how the rods and their cable pulley mechanisms functioned. One, two, three or four of the power rods can be connected at any given time to produce as little as 5 pounds of resistance up to as much as 210 pounds on a standard unmodified machine.
Its a very uncomplicated system that takes only seconds to change. However; one item that differentiated these two machines in this area is that the Xtreme 2 SE is able to be used without having to change or switch the cables to adjust the tension ratio. Bowflex has accomplished this by in fact doubling the number of cables on the machine.
It really is basically a convenience feature that allows a user to go from say, the lat tower for arms directly to using the leg extension feature without having to stop and make any changes or adjustments in the machine and its cables. Overall, both the Xtreme 2 and the XTLU I found out are the very latest in fitness machine technology.
This extends to the materials that they are constructed from, as well as the overall technology that goes into them. For instance, even the covering material that is used on the benches on both machines is the exact same type of ultra-durable fused polyurethane fabric that is used in the automotive industry.
Also the benches are divided into two sections conneced by a hinge lock system that allows it to be quickly converted into a seat for a more comfortable and diverse workout. While the XTLU boasts 65 exercises, and the Xtreme 2 SE boasts 70, it may seem from the outside that it can be complex to access them all. Surprisingly, the fact is that both machines are quite simple in their operation and self explanatory to understand.
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