The Bowflex Extreme SE is a great piece of home gym equipment. It offers a huge range of exercises that hit every single muscle group of the body. The Bowflex home gym is able to achieve this because of its revolutionary Power Rod Resistance system. This system provides a unique weight lifting lifting experience that I have grown to love. It offers a wide range of variable resistance options to always keep your body feeling the burn. I have gained approximately 10 pounds of lean muscle, and have lost 10 pounds of fat over the course of using the Bowflex for 9 months. With the Bowflex you can perform 70 plus exercises ranging from your legs to your back.

So to answer the question on all of your minds; The Bowflex really does work!

Initial Assembly: The initial assembly of the Bowflex Extreme SE home gym took approximately 1 and a half hours with the help of a friend. The directions are easily laid out and were simple to follow. All of the tools required for assembly are included, but I recommend having a good set of vice grips available to make the tightening of all of the bolts a lot easier. We did not hit any roadblocks during the assembly, and all of the necessary pieces were included. This is definitely a two man job though.

Resistance Weight Included: My Bowflex Extreme SE home gym came with 210 pounds of resistance weight, and this was definitely sufficient for the first few months of training. Once I became stronger, I found that the 210 pounds was not sufficient for chest and lower body exercises. It is important to point out that the Power Rods do have a different feel in comparison to free weights. This is a feeling I have grown accustomed to and truly enjoy, but I do also incorporate several free weight exercises into my routine to help with muscle confusion.

The great thing about the Bowflex is that it can grow with you in terms of resistance weight. The Bowflex is upgradable to 410 pounds of resistance. I purchased the 100 pound upgrade and currently exercise with 310 pounds of total Power Road resistance. I have found this amount of weight to be sufficient for all heavy lifting exercises and provides a great workout that leaves your muscles screaming.

Lat Tower: The Bowflex Extreme SE home gym comes with an integrated lat tower that makes performing back exercises a breeze. I really enjoy this feature and use it not only for back exercises, but also for triceps pull downs and additional chest exercises.

Cable Pulley System: The Bowflex uses a cable pulley system to connect the Power Rods to the various work out set ups, and they are of very high quality. They provide a very smooth and very wide range of motion that really allows you to get the most out of each exercises you perform.

Overall Quality: The Bowflex Extreme SE home gym is made of high quality materials like steel, and aircraft rated aluminum cables and pulleys. There are no weak points of the unit, and everything is still rock solid on it.

Space Requirements: I currently have my Bowflex set up in a spare bedroom and that provides more than enough space. (I recommend a min mum area of 8X8 ft to ensure proper functionality)

Safety: The Bowflex is one of the safest home gyms you can purchase. There is no need for spotters because the Power Rods eliminate the need for lifting heavy free weights that could potentially fall and injure the user.

Overall, the Bowflex Extreme SE home gym has been a great investment for my overall health and fitness. It has helped me to lose fat and put on pounds of lean muscle. The unit allows for quick changes between different exercises so you can get through a muscle burning workout in as little as 30-40 minutes (The 20 minute claim on the commercial is a bit outrageous). I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who is looking to get in shape in the comfort of their own home, while not sacrificing a gym quality workout.

Super hydration is based on the concept of drinking a very large amount of water daily, in conjunction with a healthy diet and workout regiment. Although it can sometimes seem like a challenge at first to drink the recommended amount, you'll find that as your body adjusts to the increased amount of water intake, you'll actually thirst for more water.

The process of Super hydration helps you to lose weight by ensuring your kidneys have enough water to do their job. If the kidneys do not have adequate water, strain is put on to your liver to help them function and the liver can't perform its main job. The liver's main job is metabolizing stored fat into energy, which is vital to the weight loss process. If the liver isn't working at full capacity, you're not burning fat as efficiently as you could be.

Water intake also helps to prevent over eating. Drinking large amounts of water will help you feel full longer, and kill those cravings we all know can be often times too tempting to ignore. An interesting fact about drinking ice cold water is that it actually burn calories! If you drink 1 gallon of ice cold water, you are effectively burning 123 calories of heat energy, as your body warms the water.

Now let's break down the recommended amounts of the Super hydration process into a manageable time line. We are not going to start drinking the max amount of water all at once; we'll work up to it over the course of several weeks.

Week 1: Drink 4 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

Week 2: Drink 4 1\2 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

Week 3: Drink 5 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

Week 4: Drink 5 1\2 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

Week 5: Drink 6 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

Week 6: Drink 6 1\2 32 oz bottles of ice water a day

That's all there is to Super hydration! Follow these guidelines and you'll be losing weight and feeling better in no time. I wrote this article because Super Hydration helped me so much during my initial start of fitness training that I felt I had to share its benefits.