Bowflex Power Rods vs Free Weights Part 2

This is a follow up to another fairly recent video. In this video I swapped out one of the 50 lb rods (on one side), for a brand new one, and took measurements with my luggage scale (as I did before).
For those who haven't seen the first one , I again measured 3 different rod combinations, using the rods that I've had for 6 years. Then I changed one , and then measured the combos again.
Before the measuring starts , there are a few minutes of silliness...
The bottom line was this ; the new rod provided around 4 more lbs of resistance vs the 6 year old one. The 50 lb old rod measured in at 34 lbs, while the new one came in at 38. All in all, I would say that power rod resistance comes in at around 68-76% of free weights depending on the age of the rods.
The bottom line again being that it doesn't really matter. You pick the resistance that works for you and up it throughout your sets. The important thing is the resistance ... not whether 230 lbs of power rod resistance equals 230 lbs of weight plates on an Olympic bar...

[MrTimbo]

I weigh 170lbs. I had to “load” 300lbs of rods to the lat pull attachment before I could hang freely. I recently replaced some worn 30lbs rods. Just flexing the old and new ones in my hands before installing I could feel significant difference in the tension

[rafterh]

Your right it doesn't really matter much to compare with free weights. Also with the Bowflex the speed which you workout is the single biggest factor in workout intensity. Intensity is where you find your biggest gains. The great thing about the Bowflex is the intensity you can get by slowing the negative portion of the reps, by doing this you don't need or even want as much weight and get a fantastic muscle stimulation! Try a super slow set and see what I mean. I'm almost 60 and can appreciate a great workout with good muscle stimulation while have little to no impact on joints. I've gained 10lbs of muscle over the last year and an inch to my arms just doing this for about 20 min every 5 days a total body workout. If you do it right thats really about as often as you can do it, sometimes you need even more time than that to recover completely. I think it's great you've stuck with Bowflex as many years as you have. I think its the most underrated machine there is for home use.

[Charliemmafan]

Great video but to make it more fair and consistent you should pull the handle until your rod's basically touch the machine where you can't pull anymore and hold it right there to see the pounds because sometimes if you're a little bit short of that I think it would show a little bit less than if you went and pulled absolutely all the way.

[williamcopeland]

Remember guys, with all the pulleys the Power Rods naturally will lose some of its resistant's'. Some kind of way you will have to bend the Power Rod without any pulleys being attached and it'll definitely be harder. Unfortunately, that can't be done though.

[t.c.]

I extremely interested in knowing what the tension is at 25%, 50% and 75% flex on both new and old rods. I suspect the old rods show more weakness (breakdown) in the first part of the motion. I would love to see another video showing the amount of resistance at different locations throughout the motion range.

[thePtBassTuT]

If you'd like to skip ahead to the meat and potatoes (the measuring of the new 50 lb rod), please skip ahead to 6:12.

[irenesmolicz]

I am exhausted just watching you ! Loved the intro... hahahaha

[theburningelement.]

So 410 would be close to 300 lbs in real weight