As luck would have it I recently gained access to both of these machines and would love to work one or the other of them into my routine. Does anyone have or know of a good resource for a full body workout using one of these machines?

The best thing you can do with them is sell them on Ebay for as much as poss and get some 2nd hand free weights.

The bowflex is a great tool to add to your workout. Just do the same exercises that you do with free weights (depending on the model, the bench models are the best IMO). You might try the book "the bowflex body plan" also. I've been using the BF Ultimate for the last 15 months with excellent gains in size and strength (had a gym membership the previous 8 yrs.). Any full body ruitine that you would do with free weights can be done on the BF. It also forces you to stabilize the resistance much like free weights and doesn't lock you into a single plane of motion like most machines do (you already know this if you've tried one).

Here's a link to an argument I made for the Bowflex on another site (no sense in rehashing it here LOL!):
bow flex and real weight - Discuss Bodybuilding

If bowflex were that great then they would be in gyms.

They are gaining popularity in gyms. I bought mine at a gym supply store in Grand Junction Colorado and the owner of the store (a bodybuilder) said he has been selling them to some gyms in that area because the body builders like to use them for a change in resistance without being locked into a specific plane of motion like they are on a machine. He said some of them had three or four set up in an area of the gym.

Ok so maybe they are better than machines, But that still dont say much for bowflex!

Machines are rubish, Free weights are the key.

Everything has a spot...just like all postings. The bowflex is what my wife and I use. Safety working out alone is one of our concerns and this solves it nicely. A bowflex and a set of dumb bells is a nice combo. Try it out and see. Good luck!

LOL, no thanks. I'll stick to 100% real iron.

Using the dumbbells will give you control and balence so it will get more and more safe. If you use machines you'll never get that, you'll always be unstable.

You're confusing the BF with machines that lock you into a prescribed plane of motion, you do have to "balance" the weight. It took me a few weeks of using it to get to where I could keep stable using it. It's a shame that "ironheads" are somewhat like the Harley owners that think "it's the only real motorcycle". Have you tried a BF (or a Ducati)? How long did you use it for? Can you speak from the experience of using both free weights and the BF for years (I can)? Or did you just write it off because it's in an infommercial and anything in one of those can't possibly be worthwhile? Or is it that it's not real "manly" iron? There's more than one way to skin a cat and you're only depriving yourself if you totally write off everything else as worthless.

LOL - my info comes from people with letters after their names, put it that way.

I only do exercises that mimic real life practical tasks to improve functional streangth. Check out my program - http://www.fitness.com/forum/journal...ams-18895.html

Have those guys used the bowflex LOL!? Look, in reality billions of people have gotten through life just fine without ever having lifted weights. I have no real reason to lift other than my health and sanity and in reality I would get through life just fine without the extra strength. Lots of us lift just to get stronger or bigger and some just to attract the women. And when we talk about "real world" weight, are we talking about the awkward refridgerator or couch without the nice chrome bar we use when lifting weights? If you want to get good at lifting real world objects or real world tasks, lift real world objects. When lifting weights we strive for perfect form, but when was the last time you had to lift something heavy in the real world that wasn't awkward and off balance and didn't have to be carried? Training like a strongman is the best for that (or working for a moving service). And I do the same exercises that anyone would do w/ free weights, I just use the BF. Here's my setup:

So how do you deadlift, clean and press on a bowflex?

You can deadlift off the squat pullys but you can't do the clean and press.

You cant do step ups - the box would get in the way of the cable.

How far away from the machine does the cable some out? You need 2 meters to do a good wood chopper.

I'm pretty sure you can't lunge as you'd be pulled back or forward (depending on which way you were facing.)

Bulgarian split squat? doubt it.

Also the bowflex costs the same price as 3 years membership at my gym. The bowflex does not have a swimming pool and a bunch of hot girls running around ether!