The Bowflex Recall

Exercise On The Ropes: The Bowflex Recall

The Bowflex fitness machine manufacturers and The Consumer Product Safety Commission did a recall of certain Bowflex home gyms. Almost 782,000 Bowflex fitness machines and exercise equipment were recalled at that time. This recall affected about 680,000 Bowflex Power Pro XL, XTL, and the XTLU gym systems that have the Lat Tower attachment and well over 100,000 Bowflex Ultimate Fitness Machines.

In the beginning of 2004 some Bowflex fitness machines were recalled by The Consumer Product Safety Commission. There had been a number of overwhelming consumer reports of injury from mechanical failure and problems with the Bowflex.

As if that wasn't bad enough, this was the second time that the Nautilus Group, the makers of the Bowflex fitness machines, had recalled their home gym exercise equipment. Makes you wonder about the safety of the equipment, doesn't it?

Then, in November of the same year, the makers of the Bowflex fitness machines and the Consumer Product Safety Commission additionally recalled all of the Bowflex Power Pro models for faulty seat pins that were not fitting properly. The seat pins kept falling out, causing problems and injury to the consumer. 

Safety Issues

The two major safety issues of the Bowflex fitness machines are the backboard benches and the Lat Tower. The backboard benches would break after regular use of these home gyms over a short period of time. There were reports of over seventy injuries including shoulder, back and neck injury cases. None of the cases were reported as serious.

The Lat Tower on the Bowflex fitness machine and exercise equipment would rotate forward and in some cases even fall on top of the person using it! Can you imagine that? You're pulling down on the handgrips to work out your shoulders, and the lat tower rotates and crashes on your head! There were about eighteen injury reports on the back, nose, teeth, head and shoulders. Many of these injuries required stitches.

If you purchased your Bowflex before December 2004, however, you may want to contact the Nautilus Group to see about a resolution, and use extreme caution when exercising with your Bowflex. 

The good news is it seems that the Nautilus Group has fixed the problems with the Bowflex. None of the current Bowflex models made after December 2004 have been recalled for any safety issues.

Free Repair Kit

The Nautilus Group is offering anyone with these home gyms a free repair kit that will fix both safety issues with the Bowflex exercise equipment. They have a twenty-four hour hot line you can call to get your free repair kit shipped directly to your home.

The Bowflex website also has more information about the Bowflex fitness equipment and all the precautions needed to use these home gyms until your repair package can be assembled onto the machine.

The Bowflex fitness machine and home gym system recall affects anyone with the stated models that were purchased between the dates of January 1995 and December 2003.

Basically, if you have one of the recalled Bowflex machines, you should only use the backboard bench in the first position and not adjust it. Avoid use of the Lat Tower at all until you've received and installed the repair kit to your Bowflex fitness equipment.