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Answer:
The Bowflex™
is a good quality home exercise machine that
has many good features to it. You can do a reasonably
good squat with this machine.
It does, however,
have the following drawbacks:
1. It locks you
into a pattern of movement - what ths means
is that you can only push straight up and down.
It doesn't require you to balance the load,
limiting it's carryover to real-world strength.
This locking can be an advantage if you have
trouble balancing in squats though.
Locking you into
the movement can also be detrimental to your
knees as they will be pushing at angles to the
resistance rather than directly against it.
This can cause torque in the joints, which can
lead to knee injuries. If you do use the Bowflex™,
be sure to place your feet directly under the
bar - don't set your feet forward at all.
2. The resistance
curve is different than a barbell squat - the
mechanics of the machine change the way resistance
is applied to your body during the squat. In
this case, it increases resistance as you push
up towards the standing position while at the
bottom of the movement there isn't as much resistance.
While this more closely matches the strength
curve of a squat (weaker at the bottom, stronger
towards the top), it means that you will be
using less resistance at the bottom, which is
actually the most effective part of the squat.
Personally, I
would choose the barbell squat over any form
of machine squat but the Bowflex™ squat
exercise can be effective when done safely and
with intensity.
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