Bowflex is a brand of innovative home-exercise machine that is focused primarily on resistance training. Your Bowflex manual will contain several different workouts for you to try, including a 20-minute "better body" workout. The 20-minute Bowflex workout, featured in some of the company's infomercials, is an entry-level workout designed to familiarize you with the machine and with resistance training.
Sets and Repetitions
When you begin the 20-minute Bowflex workout, warm up with a weight that enables you to do five to 10 repetitions without fatiguing your muscles. When you are comfortable with your technique, increase the resistance so you can perform 10 to 15 repetitions for just one set. As your strength increases, do two sets of each exercise with a 30- to 45-second rest between sets. Take 3 seconds to lift the weight and 3 seconds to lower it.
Chest and Back
The 20-minute workout consists of the standard bench press for your chest and seated lat rows for your back. For the bench press, lie on the bench and grasp the handles. Start with the handles by your armpits and press them straight up above your chest until your arms are nearly locked. Return the handles to your armpits and repeat. For seated lat rows, sit facing the machine and hold the bench press handles with your palms facing each other. Keep your back straight and pull the handles back in a rowing motion, so that your elbows point back behind you. Squeeze your upper back muscles on each repetition.
Shoulders and Arms
The shoulder exercise in the 20-minute workout is the crossover rear deltoid row. To perform the exercise, sit in the same fashion as for the seated lat rows and hold the handles with your palms facing down. Hold your hands a little higher, at chest level, and pull your arms back so that your elbows point behind you. For your biceps, remove the bench and stand facing the machine, holding the handles near your thighs with your palms out. Curl the handles up to your shoulder area by bending your arms. For triceps, move the bench and attach the handgrips to the high pulleys. Stand facing the machine and hold the handles with a palms-down grip. Keep your upper arms still and straighten your arms down to flex your triceps at the bottom.
Legs and Trunk
The leg press is the 20-minute workout's leg exercise. You must remove the bench and loosen the seat rail knob so that it will slide freely on the track. Remove the handles from the cables and attach the leg-press belt. Sit facing the machine, with the belt around your lower back. Place your feet on the frame and press your body away from the machine. Move the bench up into the incline position to work your abdominals. Hold the handles up near your shoulders and crunch forward against the resistance of the cables.
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