The original full-length-infomercial product not what it's cracked up to be
Written: Jul 19 '04 (Updated Sep 24 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: OK for a few exercises
Cons: Expensive, cumbersome, unpredictable
The Bottom Line: If you have one already, do a few exercises on it if you don't need the space. But don't waste your money nor count on it changing your life.
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| middlesexnj's Full Review: Soloflex |
UPDATE: Some jerk has since written a review "referencing" mine. Besides referring to me as a "chowderhead" he said that I shouldn't complain that holes developed in the weightstraps, because I "bought it used." ??? I bought mine new direct from soloflex. I have no idea where he got that idea. It does not say that in my review anywhere. He also said I had no idea how to use it. Well, unless he secretly observed me using it for the two years I had it, I don't know how he came to that conclusion either. I followed the instructions and the straps still fell apart, the exercises sucked, and were difficult to set up. The product stinks--don't buy it, and don't trust reviews from people who obviously can't read.
Here is my unedited original review:
I bought the soloflex about 15 years ago! I couldn't believe it when I saw it is still available. It had incredibly slick advertising back then but the product did not deliver. I used the thing religiously for about two years, and it looks like there have truly been no significant changes to it, so I think my review is valid, even though it was so long ago that I owned it.
First, I can certainly agree with the other reviewers that you are not going to become "Arnold" with this. The models they had in their ads certainly did not get their bods with Sflex. But I must disagree with another point. The biggest problem I had was that it was quite difficult to go through the routines because it really took a lot of time and energy to switch between excercises. Even with lots of practice, it was not easy, especially if you had to disassemble the bench to put on the leg attachment, put on the butterfly attachment, or were doing a stand up exercise, etc. It was quite annoying actually and just made you frustrated. Between all the extra parts, and the space needed to move them around, you really needed a big room to be able to make the exercising practical, let alone being able to store the things. The Bowflex weight changing process looks far superior, although I do not have personal experience with it.
Once set up the exercises were okay, but just "okay." The elastomeric resistance felt odd, and the "weights" were not equivalent to real force (gravity or otherwise) depending on the geometry involved, and the smallest increment (2.5 pounds) was actually not small enough for some of the exercises. The weights also would "walk" off during the exercise, and you could add more clips or such, but this made it take even longer to set up. That was just poor design.
Another big problem was the "rubber bands". Although I don't think they're made of actual rubber, they were not as durable as SFlex claimed. I used the machine regularly, and the most frequently used bands developed flaws (holes or pits) in less than a year that would get bigger, and make the resistance uneven. Although it was under warranty at first, it was annoying as heck getting them replaced and worrying which one would break next, and how much it was going to cost to replace after the warranty expired.
I also had problems with the machine sliding around, and yes, you do need higher than normal ceilings.
I most enjoyed the dip, pullup, and vertical situp exercises, but you don't need resistance bands to do any of those!
Overall, the realities of using the soloflex were overlooked when the glamorous no-weight resistance, multiple exercise, work-of-art home gym was advertised. Of course there was no world wide web to speak of back in 1990-92 era for everyone to find this out.
In the end the thing ended up being great for clothes, all the wire hangers fitting on the cross bar nicely. Most owners found out in a few months that this was really all it was good for. It took me two years to be convinced I had made a poor decision. After storing this albatross, I finally sold it in 1994 (in the newspaper, not e-bay) while it was still popular, so I got something back, but only after years of hauling around an extremely heavy and space-needy monstrosity, and which probably was the cause of a severely painful calcium deposit in my shoulder that ended up requiring surgery and six months of extremely painful PT.
In conclusion, there are many cheaper, better solutions to non-traditional home exercise. The Soloflex was an overdone combination of form-over-function and the then new infomercial advertising method, and at the end of the day its biggest achievement was not a cutting edge exercise system, but a cutting edge advertising system. I wish I could look back on it and laugh. Maybe in another 15 years.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
middlesexnj
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Reviews written: 7
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