Bowflex max trainer - interpreting the hype

Bowflex max trainer

I was interested in purchasing an elliptical type machine to help me exercise more. I came across the Bowflex max trainer and the claims looked fabulous, then I found out its sold on infomercials on TV and read numerous unflattering reviews.

A product that is sold on infomercials (long TV advertisements) starts off in a bad way for me because I know that they find products that are cheap and hype them up with TV advertisements and marketing to sell them at a highly inflated price. They have to sell at a inflated price for they have to pay for the TV commercials. Part of the sales pitch is to sell you a desire, hope and a dream that the product will make you happier. They also rely on you not going online and doing some basic research, they rely on the instant impulse purchase. The advertising tries to stir your emotions and gets you to lift up the phone with credit card in hand and buy on impulse. A good product sells on its specifications, an overrated product sells on emotional marketing.

One of the main selling points is the Independent University Study (2013) that shows it burns 2.5x more calories than other machines.  The claim states:

"Participants burned significantly more calories during the interval training program on the Max Trainer compared to steady-state exercise on the treadmill, stepper and elliptical"

 The key words are "interval training program" and "steady-state exercise". The interval training program Bowflex are referring to is high intensity interval training (HIIT). The internet has many reputable scientific articles that clearly demonstrates that HIIT does burn more calories and requires less time to do as compared to steady-state training. So the comparison made by Bowflex is not on the performance of the machines, but comparing the two types of exercise programs. If you do not digest the statement carefully you will mistakenly think that it's the machines that made the difference (I did when I first read it quickly!). They should have done an experiment using the exact same training program on all machines. It must also be recognised that HIIT training was the initial HIIT scientific research was on upright bike machines.

Can you do an "interval training program" on a "treadmill, stepper and elliptical"? Yes you can and the internet has many articles that discuss the use of many different types of exercise machines with HIIT programs and many articles and books about HIIT.  I bought a low cost elliptical trainer (Lifespan X-22 ~ $400 AU: the high resistance was not enough and I did adjust the magnet closer to the flywheel to get more resistance) and do HIIT training on it (the X-22 and most computer controlled exercise machines have a preset HIIT program), I do get my heart rate up to 90-95% of maximum (suunto quest heart rate monitor) when doing the 40 seconds of high intensity exercise. The M5 Bowflex costs $2400 US / $3200 AU, for that price you can a top of the range elliptical or a number of pieces of gym equipment.  On specifications, I personally value the Bowflex at $900 AU (comparing it to features of other exercise machines), so if I purchased it I feel I am being sold $2300 AU of marketing hype.

I read reviews about Bowflex Max trainer many were very pleased, most of these reviews were done within a month of purchase, but there was a disturbing number of reviews with problems with the belt breaking, problem machines and a lack of service to get repairs done in a reasonable time frame. The main disadvantage for me is the noise the fan makes when using it, I like to exercise with the TV or music.

There is no doubt that when you use the Bowflex max trainer it will give you a good workout, any machine that makes you huff and puff will give you a good workout, especially if you follow the HIIT program, but you can do it for $2600 AU less on an elliptical machine or an upright bike. For $1000 AU you could buy a computer controlled elliptical and upright bike. For another $1500 AU you can have a very well featured compact cable weight gym; a home gym (weights, elliptical and bike) for a total of $2500 AU. Perhaps some people need to pay an extra $2300 for a Bowflex max trainer to get motivated by advertisements and brochures to do more exercise.... whatever gets you off the couch and gets you moving to a healther life.