One of the main reasons why a lot of people don’t exercise regularly is because they feel like they don’t have enough time to seriously commit to a workout routine. However, this is a machine that will allow you to reach your fitness goals without having to dedicate a lot of time to work out. All it takes is a few 14-minute sessions every week in order to notice a difference. This machine also features in our best overall cross trainer guide.
Why bother working out on a treadmill or an elliptical when there are better pieces of workout equipment on the market. This allows you to burn up to 2.5 times the calories you would burn by working out on an elliptical.
The 14 minutes that you spend on a regular workout on this machine will be quite challenging. It works by combining an elliptical with the motion of a stair stepper in order to create a low-impact exercise that will help you burn calories more efficiently. It is without a doubt one of the most attractive home-exercise machines that you can buy today. Another great thing about this piece of workout equipment is that it’s smartphone-savvy and will easily sync your workouts to a tracking app of your choice.
The Main Features
- 8 Workout Programs
- 16 Resistance Levels
- 8 Week Subscription to Daily Burn (600+ workout videos)
- 14 Minute MAX Interval Workout
- Heart Rate Chest Strap Included
- Handlebar Heart Rate Sensors
- Compact Design
- Bluetooth Connectivity for the Free MAX Trainer App
Resistance – This machine allows you to choose from 16 different resistance levels. This is an incredibly important feature because changing the resistance level will allow you to avoid a fitness plateau. In case you’re unfamiliar with this term, a fitness plateau refers to a state your body reaches when your current fitness routine isn’t yielding the desired results.
Zero Impact – Zero impact means that your body remains in constant contact with the machine during a workout. Unlike treadmill running, your body won’t be hitting the surface of the machine repeatedly. This will help you avoid joint and back pain that’s usually associated with this type of exercise.
Workout Programs – If you don’t exactly know where to start with the M5, then you’ll be happy to hear that there are eight different preset workout programs that you can choose from. The two best modes for burning the maximum number of calories are based on interval training and are called Max Interval and Smart Max Interval. These two modes will allow you to burn 2.5 times the calories you would burn by working out on an elliptical machine.
Other preset workout programs include Steady State, Calorie Goal, Fat Burn, Fitness Test, Calories Burn, and Stairs. All of these eight programs are excellent, but you should ideally choose 2-3 modes that work best for you. Other than that, you can also choose a manual exercise mode.
Heart Rate Monitor – Another great feature of this piece of exercise equipment is that its grips have heart rate monitors. This means that you won’t have to spend additional money on a chest strap or other gadgets.
Upper Body Workout – There aren’t too many pieces of cardio fitness equipment that will provide you with a proper upper body workout. However, the Bowflex definitely does a good job of building your upper body strength while focusing on cardio at the same time. Because you’ll work your upper body while exercising on this machine is exactly the reason why you’ll burn more calories compared to other machines such as treadmills.
Two User Profiles – User profiles allow you to save your workout data and physical stats. Since there are two available profiles this means that two different trainees can save their data.
Compact – Not only does it provide you with a better workout, but it also doesn’t take up as much space as a treadmill.
Reading Rack – Some people need a distraction while they’re working out in order to get through their workout more easily. This is why this piece of exercise equipment has a reading rack that you can use to place a magazine, a book, or even a tablet computer.
The Main Disadvantages
Not For Everyone – Despite this being an excellent piece of workout equipment that will help you get into shape quickly, it’s simply not for everyone. Even the lowest resistance level is simply too powerful for most beginners. If you don’t exercise regularly then it’s recommended that you start before you decide to purchase this machine.
Assembly – The assembly is quite cumbersome. Although some choose to assemble this machine themselves, it’s recommended that you pay extra for a professional set-up.
Price – Although it’s better than an elliptical or a treadmill, one of the things that you’ll have to consider before buying this piece of equipment is its price. It costs more than most elliptical and treadmills of similar quality on the market.
Bottom Line
Every once in a while you see a new exercise machine get advertised that promises to help you get into shape very easily. In most cases, these machines don’t deliver the desired results. However, that’s not the case with this cross trainer.
The main selling point of this piece of exercise equipment is that it can provide you with a proper full-body workout in just 14 minutes. This is completely true, as you’ll see that it’s easy to get into shape quickly just by doing a few of these 14-minute workout sessions every week.
Although people who aren’t used to exercising regularly should avoid using this machine, those who are already in shape will see that this machine will meet their every need. This is because there are a lot of resistance levels that will always keep your workouts challenging. On top of that, there’s zero joint impact, which will ensure that you don’t experience any joint or back pain.
If you are looking for a cross trainer that is going to challenge you then it may also be worth checking out some of the JTX models such as the JTX Strider X7.
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