Bowflex Blaze Home Gym Review and Recommendation

Bowflex Blaze Home Gym is resistance rods home gym designed to provide full body workout at the privacy of your home. Large number of exercise, variable resistance upgradable up to 410 pounds, sliding seat rail, compact design and other features make this home gym one of the most popular home gyms on the market.

Bowflex Blaze Home Gym is excellent home gym for beginners and medium advanced trainees and for all people who wants to train at home regularly.

Updated: September 21, 2019.

Bowflex Blaze Home Gym Features and Specifications

Bowflex Blaze is rather compact home gym. When assembled it weighs 195 pounds (~88 kg) and its dimensions when ready for workouts are 90" L x 38" W x 83" H (229 cm L x 97 cm W x 211 cm H).

To help with the storage when not in use, it is also possible to fold the bench and leg attachment upwards in order to decrease the footprint down to 52" L x 38" W x 83" H (132 cm L x 97 cm W x 211 cm H).

Recommended minimum workout area (free space around the Bowflex Blaze) is 100" L x 78" W (254 cm L x 198 cm W), but larger area is recommended, for example 120" L x 100" W (305 cm L x 254 cm W), especially for larger trainees.

Maximum allowed user weight is 300 pounds (136 kg), but note that some of the exercises are done while standing and for those exercises, there is no maximum user limit.

Bowflex Blaze comes with an easy-to-read owner’s manual and fitness guide. Also, when it arrives, it must be assembled which can be done relatively easily, just note that there is a large number of small items that must fit their designated position in order for this (and other similar home gyms) home gym to function properly.

So, if you are not into DIY projects, order a certified technician to assemble the unit for you.

Note: Bowflex Blaze is an easy to use home gym, but nonetheless, before the very first use, be sure to read the manual thoroughly.

Bowflex Blaze warranty: is 5 year for the machine itself, lifetime for Power Rods and 60 days for parts.

Note that warranty applies only to defects in materials and workmanship for the original owner only and it does not apply to normal wear and tear during the use. So, lifetime warranty for Power Rods - under normal wear and tear, they will have to be replaced after 2-5 years, and in most situations, it is the user who has to pay for new ones.

Bowflex Blaze is designed to offer over 60 different exercises, providing the workout for every muscle group. Note that some exercises are very similar (more on that later), differing only in the grip and angle of the cable.

Bench is foldable, but it can also be used for rowing, thanks to the sliding seat rail. Resistance rods are not mimicking actual rowing in the water, but they provide good rowing exercise and can help the user burn extra calories.

Bowflex Blaze comes with a pair of 5 pounds (2.25 kg) rods, two pairs of 10 pounds (4.5 kg), one pair of 30 pounds (13.5 kg) and one pair of 50 pounds (22.5 kg) rods, which in combination with multiple cable pulley network (adjusting the angle of resistance) enable the user to quickly change desired resistance and the workout itself.

Default maximum Power Rod resistance is 210 pounds (95 kg), but that is upgradable up to 310 and 410 pounds (141 and 186 kg).

Note: Bowflex Blaze is also designed as single-user home gym. More users can use it, but it is not recommended (to say the least) to use it simultaneously.

Other features include:

Lat bar and tower provide means to workout back and shoulder muscles.

Pulley squat station and curl attachment helps tone and condition glutes, hamstrings and quads. There is no dedicated exercise for calves, but it can be easily done on one of the floor profiles - not the best solution regarding the variable resistance, but easy to do and very efficient.

Triple-function hand-grip/ankle cuffs help customize workouts to personal needs and requirements.

Handy placard guides the trainee through a basic 20-minute workout - very helpful for quick workouts, but don't forget that muscles get accustomed very quickly and must be simulated in different ways. For short, change your workout routine every 6-10 weeks.

Regardless if your Bowflex Blaze will be used as stand-alone unit, or just as part of your home gym, it is recommended to place it on the permanent position and to protect the floors and the unit itself with good gym mats.

Bowflex Blaze Exercises and Workouts

When working out, the resistance rods can't provide the 'feeling' of free weights, but they do stress the muscles in their own way, helping the users to tone muscles, increase the strength and stamina, burn extra calories etc.

Here is the list of the most common exercises that can be done using Bowflex Blaze home gym.

Chest Exercises: - Bench Press - Decline Bench Press - Incline Bench Press - Decline Chest Fly - Incline Chest Fly - Shoulder Horizontal Adduction - Resisted Punch - Lying Cable Crossover Shoulder Exercises - Rear Deltoid Rows - Standing Lateral Shoulder Raise - Seated Shoulder Press - Front Shoulder Raise - Shoulder Extension - Shoulder Shrugs - Scapular Protraction - Scapular Depression - Lying Front Shoulder Raise - Reverse Fly - Shoulder Rotator Cuff - Seated Lateral Shoulder Raise - Scapular Retraction

Back Exercises - Lying Lat Pulldowns - Low Back Extension - Pulldown - Narrow Pulldowns with Handgrips - Lying Lat Fly - Lying Narrow Lat Pulldowns - Seated Lat Rows - Stiff-Arm Pulldown - Bent Over Row Leg Exercises - Leg Extension - Squat - Lying Leg Extension - Ankle Eversion - Ankle Inversion - Standing Hip Extension - Standing Hip Extension - Standing Hip Abduction - Seated Hip Adduction - Seated Hip Abduction - Standing Leg Kickback - Leg Press - Prone Leg Curl

Arm Exercises - Triceps Pushdown - Single Arm Pushdown - French Press - Lying Triceps Extension - Cross Triceps Extension - Lying 45°Triceps Extension - Seated Triceps Extension - Standing Biceps Curl - Seated Biceps Curl - Lying Biceps Curl - Seated Wrist Extension - Standing Wrist Curl - Reverse Curl - Seated Wrist Curl - Standing Wrist Extension - Rope Pushdown Abdominal Exercises - Reverse Crunch - Resisted Reverse Crunch - Seated (Resisted) Ab Crunch - Seated (Resisted) Oblique Ab Crunch - Trunk Rotation

Note: some of these exercises are done more often, and some are used just to avoid boredom and to prevent muscles to get accustomed to the workouts and number of reps and sets.

Bowflex Blaze home gym also comes with The Bowflex Body Leanness Program, which is good for general population and can be used as the base for more personalized program of exercises and nutrition.

For example, author of this article is 45+ year old (young!) guy, weighing well over 220 pounds (100+ kg) and personally, nutrition plan consisting of 20% proteins, 60% carbs and 20% fats is far from being suitable for me - I am endomorph (very slow metabolism) and in order to stay lean, I have to avoid carbs as much as possible. But that is just me, of course.

Bowflex Blaze vs Bowflex PR3000 Home Gyms Comparison

Bowflex Blaze and Bowflex PR3000 are two resistance rods home gym exercise machines. Their main similarities and differences are:

- both home gyms support large number of exercises, with Bowflex Blaze supporting slightly more (60+ vs 50+ exercises),

- default Power Rods resistance is 210 pounds, but Bowflex Blaze support the use of Power Rods up to 410 pounds and Bowflex PR3000 up to 310 pounds,

- both home gyms have instructional placard for quick workouts,

- Bowflex Blaze have horizontal bench, and Bowflex PR3000 have vertical bench (seat backrest),

- both exercise machines have leg/curl extension,

- Bowflex Blaze bench can be folded when not in use for space saving. When in use, Bowflex Blaze is larger than Bowflex PR3000 (90" L x 38" W x 83" H vs 76" L x 86" W x 82" H), but when folded, it is more compact and having smaller footprint (52" L x 38" W x 83" H),

- Bowflex PR3000 requires no cable changes between sets, but it does have more complex system of cables and pulleys,

- Bowflex Blaze comes with squat bar and can be used for rowing exercises, too.

For more information about Bowflex PR3000, check our Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym article and Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym Amazon link (link opens in the new window).

Best Bowflex Home Gym Models

Bowflex manufactures several very similar home gym models, which differ in design, number of exercises, size, price etc.

The following table lists some of the most popular Bowflex home gym models:

Bowflex Blaze Home Gym is rather large home gym, when ready for use. But, don't forget that this is 'unfolded' size and when the unit is not in use, it can be folded, requiring less storage space.

Considering its features, Bowflex Blaze Home Gym price is rather acceptable.

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Long Story Short: if you need good and compact home gym exercise machine for regular workouts, but you are not interested in heavy lifting, Bowflex Blaze may be the right choice for you. Power resistance rods don't provide the 'feel' of actual free weights, nor the feeling of actual rowing in the water (when used for rowing exercises), but it will help you burn extra calories, tone your muscles, and increase the strength and stamina.

Also advanced trainees can use it for supplemental work, especially when treating injuries of some kind - Bowflex Blaze allows very fine muscle targeting (angle, weight etc.), helping avoid problematic movements.

If you are interested in home gym exercise machines, consider Bowflex Blaze home gym, it might be just what are you looking for.

For more reviews and recommendations, check Bowflex Blaze Home Gym Amazon link (link opens in the new window).