Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE Reviewed and Rated

This is not a portable unit, and it is not designed to fold or be put away between uses. That is mainly because of the height. The Xtreme 2 SE is 83 inches high, just a few inches short of 7 feet. It has to be that tall for the lat tower to work. With 8 feet being a standard residential ceiling, the machine will fit in most home gym spaces without too much trouble.

Other than the height, the Xtreme 2 SE has a fairly small footprint. It is about 4.5 feet long and just over 4 feet wide. Keep in mind that you will need more space than that, because of the room for movement during exercise. The assembled unit weighs 185 pounds, with a max user weight of 300 pounds.

We mentioned heart rate in our introduction. The Xtreme 2SE is a straight strength machine. There are no cardio attachments and no room for anything like a sliding rower seat. But despite prevailing wisdom, all exercise involves cardio. Just like running on a treadmill will strengthen your legs, lifting weight will have some benefit to your heart. With the 2SE, you have a unique chance to move quickly enough through your circuit that your heart rate stays consistently up. This may save you even more time if you are not having to perform separate cardio workouts.

We should point out that you have a couple of options when it comes to ab exercises on the machine. The first one is the ab crunch shoulder harness, which comes standard with your purchase. To use it, you snap two straps onto the ends of the dual cables. The straps look like the ones on a school backpack. When you bend at the hips from a seated or standing position, you get an ab burn similar to the motion of common gym machines. The straps are good at not locking you into a prescribed range of motion, which can cause injury over time and limit your progress.

The other ab exercise is called the gym style ab crunch. With this, you can actually grasp handles on either side of you and mimic a gym crunch machine more closely. The gym style ab crunch isolates the large muscles in your abs, while also giving your back a workout.

Those dual cables we talked about are also what you use for attaching your arms, hands, wrists, and ankles to the resistance. There are d-rings on the cable ends, and you can change your exercise by changing the straps that attach to the d-rings.

We were able to find the owner's manual for the Xtreme 2 SE, for factual information and specs. This is our preferred method, so we have seen quite a few manuals in our day. The 2 SE manual is one of the longest and most thorough we have seen, at 68 pages. This is what you would expect from an expensive, full-featured machine of this kind. Most of the pages are for illustrating all the exercises users can perform, with each area of the body having its own section.

The unit requires extensive assembly. Try as we might, we could not find directions even in the user's manual. But then we got smart and Googled "Bowflex Xtreme 2 SE assembly instructions." There is an entire separate manual just with assembly instructions, which gives an idea of how involved the process is. But the directions are clear, and several Amazon buyers said they got the unit together, without professional help, in less than 8 hours. If you want professional help, you can pay for a Bowflex-trained technician on the Bowflex site. Their help is not cheap, though.

If you are not mechanically inclined, it may be wise to have a friend come out and help you. You will need an array of tools, including several types of wrenches and a utility knife. Bowflex includes Allen wrenches, but none of the other required tools. If you are considering purchasing the 2 SE, it will be worth your time to find the assembly instructions and make sure you have all the tools you need before you start.

Looking at the main manual, and its 45 pages of illustrations, we can promise your routines will not get stale and that you really can hit every single muscle group if you work out with the Bowflex 5 times a week. The unit is expensive, prohibitively so for some, but Bowflex is not in the business of gimmicks or empty promises. The company offers a multiyear warranty against defects on all units. The warranty does not cover wear and tear. The steel frame and thick padding of the 2 SE are durable, so the machine will last a long time as long as you use it according to directions. There is some maintenance required, mostly wiping down and visually inspecting key areas. The manual outlines these tasks as well as the numerous safety precautions.

Bowflex multi-gyms are different from anyone else's, in the first place. That is because of the power rods, and Bowflex's laser focus on efficiency and simplicity. Those values promote consistent use, bringing results because none of us want to use a piece of complicated equipment day in and day out.

Within the Bowflex world, the Xtreme 2 SE stands out for the sheer number of exercises you can do with it. Also, there is little to no transition time since none of the pulleys need adjusting. Instead of having one set of pulleys, and making you move your body to accommodate their placement, the 2 SE has six pulley stations that, along with the interchangeable handles and attachments, will work out as many muscle groups as you want to, each day, with lowered incidence of fatigue and joint pain. Just make sure to rotate out and do not work out the same muscle group each day.

If you have a consistent fitness practice, either as a beginner or a seasoned vet, it is hard to imagine you will not love the Xtreme 2 SE enough to keep using it. For one thing, it is expensive. Nobody is likely to buy it and take it home if they do not have the willingness and desire to follow through. Once assembled, the machine will always be there for you. There is a learning curve since there are so many exercises and possible attachments. But that is true of any new exercise routine, and the Bowflex 2 SE will not make you sore or stiff while you learn. We think that, once you master your favorite movements, you will keep getting health benefits from the unit. Onboard tools, like trainer-led video workouts and a progress journal, will also inspire you and keep you on track. Bowflex believes in helping customers think about and meet their fitness goals.

The Bowflex 2 SE is one of the most expensive and also the most versatile multi-gym units in the Bowflex stable. If you can afford it and have used Bowflex equipment enough to know you enjoy it, you will get plenty of health and fitness benefits from this versatile unit. It is low impact, easy to learn on, and comes with both standard and optional attachments for greater ranges of exercise. This unit will help you winnow your daily workout time down to the minimum, letting you get an effective session while not taking too much time away from the rest of your life and routine.