I bought my first Soloflex over 25 years ago after working out on a friends’s unit with the wood bench and the Shock Rings. I’ve loved it from the start. I gained muscle, lost inches and became stronger. I have never thought about buying a competitor’s brand in all of these years. Recently, I went back and read ALL of the blogs on the Soloflex website and became interested in Jerry Wilson’s (inventor of the Soloflex) assertion that using shock rings WITH weight plates on the end of the Soloflex lever arm gives the best and smoothest feedback to the body in his opinion.
I don’t have the Shock Rings yet but I have just begun to workout using Weight Plates with my Straps(a 50/50 percentage approximately) on many of the exercises and let me tell you, I am nearly as EXCITED as I was when I first got my Soloflex. I feel that I am working out on a NEW, IMPROVED Soloflex muscle machine. Here are the advantages from my perspective:
1. Using weight plates with the straps(or shock rings which I intend to buy as my straps wear out) add a new dimension of smoothness to the reps when doing the exercises. I don’t know why but I know that they DO! Jerry Wilson could probably explain it.
2. One reason many “free weight” believers including some fitness experts like free weights over machines is that it makes you focus on balance which is important especially as you get older. Adding Weight Plates to the Soloflex lever arm by using their free weight attachmant rods along with the straps/shock rings gives one the best of both worlds: You can still work out by yourself without a spotter but you still get the feel of balancing the weight plates.
Finally, how many products have you bought in your life that you can honestly say “almost” NEVER requires maintenance or repairs? For 25 years, the only thing I have had to do to my Soloflex is keep it clean and replace the straps as they wear out. It’s built so solid and well. So, here I am after all of this time, still enthused about a product I bought 25 years ago. THANKS SOLOFLEX.
Tennis Teacher(a.k.a. Richard Shirley)
June 25, 2011 at 12:13 pm
I have read ALL the blog entries as well. I also love the insight from Jerry about his wonderful machine. What has really impressed me about the Soloflex website blog, however, is the vast amount of articles that have nothing to do with the Soloflex company or their products.
While most companies utilize their virtual real estate for self promotion, Soloflex has given quite a bit of theirs to articles about general health and wellness issues. This proves to me, what kind of company Soloflex REALLY is. Sure, they have a lot of things you’d expect here, promoting their Muscle Machines and Whole Body Vibration; but the articles about diet, the medical/pharmaceutical system in America, the articles from Dr. Oz and Dr. Mercola, the articles on aging, the more political stuff, and the fun stuff… they all prove that Soloflex is about so much more than profit motivated self promotion.