Bowflex MAX Trainer Reviews - Details, Models, Features, Pros and Cons

Just got my M3 in, put together in less than an hour. I figured I would jump on and do a quick 14 minute work out. Wrong. What a work out this is going to be, it will be a challenge but fun. Thanks Bow Flex

Will do a follow up review in a month.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

To start with, I found an online coupon that took $100 off of my order so my shipping was essentially free. They said it would be 30-45 days for delivery, I received it in 5 days. I put my M3 together in less than an hour so I am really glad I didn't pay for their assembly. It was really very easy. I am definitely having to work up to doing a full workout. I have had knee and ankle surgery and have no problems at all using the Max Trainer (other than me being badly out of shape). The small footprint is perfect for our living room. I would highly recommend this equipment. We figured it up and will have it paid off by just paying what we were paying for a membership to a gym that we never had time to get to. Having the Bowflex Max Trainer at home has already made a huge difference even in our 12 year old daughter who loves working out on the machine!

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I own a TreadClimber and it's good. But wanted something more engaging and challenging and this is it. My husband is in great shape, motor lifting mechanic. I am not in great shape. Sad/Bad for a RN. It takes me a few breaks to get finished with 14-minute interval. And even his first couple of times he needed to take a break.

Bottom line: there aren't any shipping delays. I ordered the Max Trainer on 7/19 and was delivered on Friday, July 24th. We put it together and it was not hard for us. And I believe if a person uses the machine in consistently and with some dietary changes, even if it's just for 14 minutes for three days each week, you will tone up and lose weight. I feel my abs, buttocks, thighs, arms. Wow. This thing is awesome. I have never been so excited to workout. Mot much strain on my knees either like with the TreadClimber. This thing is well worth the money.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I am 63 years old, and am no more than a 'weekend warrior'. I work out maybe 1 to 2 times a week, but that's it.

I looked into the Bowflex Max Trainer as an alternative to the gym, where I would have another avenue for exercise right at home, and as another avenue to keep the body weight down, as age slows my metabolism.

I took a chance on this in terms of low impact, because I have a bad knee that actually hates the movement of the ARC trainers, and I don't have the room horizontally for a conventional Elliptical Trainer.

I assembled it myself, with the internet research that indicated the application of "as tight as possible" is the best way to reduce/eliminate noise, and after 4 months of steady use, I can say that the machine is just as quiet today, as the day that I assembled it. I was worried about the possible noise factor, but it seems to operate exactly as advertised. I know that some people complain about squeaking, but my unit exhibits none of that.

As far as the difficulty in completing the exercises, I agree that the machine isn't easy, but I am able to finish all of the exercises. You don't have to go at an all out sprint and burn yourself out, and by pacing yourself, if I can complete the 300 calorie target burn program at my age, you should be able to, too.

I highly recommend this machine. Follow the assembly instructions as given, use, and enjoy!

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

My wife and I received our Max 5 trainer over a week now. So far the only down side is where the bottle holder is located, it's hard to reach.

Now for the good news, first if you can afford the M5 it's worth the extra money. Second this is by far the best workout on a cardio machine I've ever experienced.

The 14 minute workout is definitely a challenge I was able to complete 2 and burned over 500 calories.

I was skeptical at first but after considering for 2 months, my wife and I decided to go for it and I am so glad we did.

Lastly my wife has challenges from arthritis and the impact is minimal.

I am now a Bowflex family member.

I purchased the 552 weights stand and looking to feel my home gym with more. Thanks Bowflex Max5.

It's only been only a few days. I'll check in with you after 30 days to share our results.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I received my Max Trainer M5 about one week after I ordered it (12/3/2015 to be exact). But watch out for FedEx, they are delivering the machine with no signature required and if my neighbor hadn't called me at work, my machine would have sat in the rain and snow all day. FedEx dumped it in the worst spot possible.

1. Assembly was pretty easy. My wife and I had it together in about an hour.

2. Quality. This thing is pretty solid. I feared it was going to be fragile and flimsy (I was wrong). The steal is heavy duty (commercial strength). I weight almost 270 and it handled me fine.

3. Workout. Though I lift weights almost every day, I haven't done cardio in about a year. My first workout was the first level Max interval. It was challenging, but I did it. The movement reminds me as if I'm riding my bike standing up? It's comfortable and easy on the knees (I have one bad knee).

4. Problems. After about three uses, a bolt fell out of the inside of the unit (nothing I assembled). I opened it up and found three loose bolts on the wheel that turns the belt). Of course one of them completely fell out. So basically, the factory forgot to tighten these bolts during production. I could only access two of the bolts so I had to call customer service. They immediately knew what the problem was and are sending me the parts and a repair man from somewhere in my area to fix it. Customer service told me the belt wheel where the bolts were loose was plastic. For crying out loud Bowflex, you build this amazing machine and use a plastic belt wheel? Why would you do that? No, no!

Use metal, always. In the meantime, I'm out of service but I like the machine so much that I'm willing to exercise my patience.

5. Recommendations to Bowflex. 1. Use all metal parts if possible and think commercial at all times. Just charge accordingly. 2. The electronics screen could be elevated about 5 inches (it's a little low), the drink holder as well. 3. Add an on/off switch.

Do those things and you'll have the best overall cardio machine ever made. Well, you do anyway but...

6. Overall. The Max Trainer is definitely the best cardio machine I have ever used. The treadmill I was going to buy had a price tag of $3,400 so paying $1,600 for the M5 was significantly less. This is truly a great concept and it has exceeded my expectations. But use METAL not plastic!

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I'm a 55 year old female not in peak form, and I have 20 lbs to lose. I've just had my Max5 for a week, and so far I love it.

I received it five days after ordering (could not believe that), and I put it together BY MYSELF people, in under two hours! I'm a 5'4", 140lbs banker, and tools are in no way my forte, but it wasn't hard, or that heavy, and I just used a bit of female ingenuity to get the unit into the base. The thought of someone paying $250 to have it done is ludicrous.

So far I love the flexibility of the programmed workouts, but have yet to figure out the best workout with the highest calorie burn. I don't seem to be burning 2.5X more than when I'm on my elliptical. I tend to track heart rate and calories burned via my Fitbit, and I'm hoping it's more accurate because it reads a higher calorie burn.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Couldn't be happier, fast shipping and really easy to assemble. I run but this thing really works you. I have finally made it up to 12 minutes but it's a struggle. Ill keep pressing, easy on the joints so you don't have to worry about pain. Make sure to check the bolts to make sure they don't come loose, maybe Bowflex should consider a small tube of Loctite. Other than that, I'm looking forward to getting in shape.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

We have had the Max Trainer M5 for 10 days now, so this is an early review. So far my wife and I have been using it regularly with great results. We both are feeling better, toned and starting to lose weight. I liken this machine to an elliptical mixed with a stair stepper but when you're are in Max mode it feels very similar to how I feel when I'm standing on my mountain bike climbing a hill. Lots of quadriceps and downward pedaling. I've spent a total of 79 minutes on it and my wife has almost doubled that.

A simple note to those in poor shape. This exercise is very intense to start with. It would probably behoove you to start in a mode other than MAX to get your endurance up and build leg strength. I am in average shape and I started out on resistance level 1 MAX and it kicked my butt. I thought my heart was going to explode. Now after a week of using it I can make it on level 1 no problem. You will become accustomed to the workout and will build endurance very quickly.

On to the stuff I've read from other folks: I'm not sure if people are getting lemons or are just not very mechanically inclined but it took me just over and hour to build the machine (alone). I see absolutely no reason to pay someone to build this for you unless you seriously don't know how to turn a screwdriver. If you follow the very easy to read instructions included with the neatly organized and labeled hardware and/or get a friend that has even the littlest amount of handiness, this machine is a breeze to build. Save yourself the money. The only sticking point might be the weight of the boxes. Each comes in at around 80 lbs (2 boxes). Unless you are a hobbit you could just enlist a friends help to carry these into the house and up the stairs, or ask some unsuspecting neighbor.

The machine is smooth, not too loud (unless in MAX mode) and takes up a very small amount of space. We find the Bluetooth capability very nice because we can sync it with our MyFitnessPal apps on our phones to keep track of our daily goals. The arm movements actually make you feel like you've done some upper body. It won't replace weights but at least you are getting your full body involved in the workout. The only thing that seems to not be seamless is the heart rate monitor grips. Sometimes they read quickly, sometimes a lot of hand adjustment needs to be made to get a good read. I don't have overly large/or small (Trump) hands either so this should not be an issue. Of course if you use the included band or have a smart watch the point is moot.

Lastly I will throw some kudos to Bow-flex (Nautilus) because they offer a great military discount. If you are in the service please don't forget to ask and it will make all the difference on whether you decide if spending the money is worth it. I struggled with the price but I do believe so far (barring some future catastrophic breakdown) that this machine is well worth the asking price.

The one great design flaw in this is that it doesn't really have any good angles to hang clothing from, so instead of having a high dollar clothes hanger you will just have a piece of modern art adorning your home if this doesn't get use.

Best of luck and if you decide to get this you will not be disappointed. I will update later down the road.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

I'll make this short. I'm overweight. I started at 231 pounds, I'm 5'3" and a 38 year old female. I'm an off and on workout junkie but I always give up because I have no time to spend in exercise that I need. However, a friend bought this Bowflex Max Trainer and enticed me to join her. So I did. The first two weeks were hell. I was barely finishing 14 minutes.

I sweated like I've never had before. I couldn't even stand straight on it. I'm on week 4 now, I have built up so much strength in my legs, so now my stairs at home are a cake walk. I use manual mode ranging between 8-10 for 20 minutes now. The only thing I do extra is a speed walk jog on treadmill at home for 30 minutes. The max speed on treadmill is 3.5. It's Alternating 3.0 and 3.5 with a six minute warm up and then a cool down.

Here's the best part: in 2 weeks, my legs which had bulge are no longer swollen.

At week 4, my legs have not looked this nice since my early 20s! My inner thighs are amazing no workout ever did what this did for my inner and back thighs.

I'm hooked and I can not believe the results. Also, I had a large Fanny top, I could hold a cup there but now it's gone! Now my butt is rounding and table top is gone. I'm experiencing just amazing results on hips thighs and butt. This machine will be in my life from here on out. Hopefully someday I can afford my own.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

My wife and I purchased the M7 model almost two weeks ago. We have been using it every day, however since we are so out of shape we are starting out slow and only doing a 7 minute session and add time as we feel fit. Just using the 7 minute session we have lost weight, but we have changed our diet as well. You cannot lose weight by exercise alone. I am hoping to move up to the 14 minute session within three weeks, if not four. I use the app and love the fact that it shows my progress daily. My Calories Burned increases daily and that pumps me up. Seeing my improvement makes me want to do more and more each time.

The assembly of this unit is very easy. I currently came off a surgery for a broken collar bone (still had the staples in) and built it by myself in an hour and a half. The instructions are very well laid out. The nuts, bolts and washers are well labeled in the packaging.

I would highly recommend this product to anyone. But remember if you do not change your diet it will be hard to lose the weight.

Bottom Line: Yes, I would recommend this to a friend