Bullworker Bow Classic 36" Isometric Exercise Equipment, Portable Strength Training at Home Gym Equipment for Back, Shoulder, Chest, Biceps, Abs, Arm, Ab Workout, All in One Exerciser for Men & Women

A little backstory: Growing up in the 1970s I saw the Bullworker ads on television. I even had some buddies who either owned one or their older brothers did. I wanted one so, so badly but my mother didn't want a muscle bound freak for a son and my father was terrified that the thing would slip or break and punt my head in to the neighbor's yard. As a result of my parents' fears, I only occasionally had opportunity to manipulate a Bullworker over at a friend's house. No, they weren't muscled freaks, and their heads were still firmly attached to their shoulders. I would marvel at how much effort it took to completely compress a Bullworker and quickly understood how effective of a training tool it could be. Anyway I got older and like my father before me, got in to weight training with free weights. As a kid I was all over it, developing my barrel chest and big arms that I still have to this day. I did train as an adult as well, but with the passing of time and my exponential laziness I just didn't feel like lifting heavy stuff like I did when I was younger. I was still in great shape, strong as an ox, and had muscle tone even without actively working out for years. Fast forward through years of sedentary lifestyle and the loss of my wife, who for 26 years made sure that I ate proper food. Widowed at 47 years old I quickly fell in to the trap of becoming even more withdrawn and sedentary, but with the added twist of a nearly 100% fast food diet. Tired of feeling bad and looking like a parade balloon in both size and puffiness, I was surfing on Amazon and was astonished to see this fantastic device available for sale. A brand new Bullworker! The fastest I've moved in three years was when I ran to get my wallet after stuffing my previously forbidden chromed object of my affections in to my shopping cart. Review begins here: It came today! As always, it came in attractive, plain Amazon packaging so it didn't scream "Hey, the guy in Apartment 2 is a whimp". Opening the box revealed a plain white box (I suppose doubly discreet packaging?) which when opened revealed a nice tote bag that proudly proclaims "BULLWORKER" up the side. Ok, no biggie... it's not like I am taking this thing in to the park and working out with it, like some elderly Tai Chi practitioner. Inside the bag was the Bullworker (duh), a nice spiral bound instruction book that has far too many exercises in it, an awesome non-slip pad that would be a badass mousepad, and a black spring. Oh yes, the spring. I had remembered it came with another one, and I had assumed that it was the lighter resistance spring. I had wanted to change it out to the lighter one and then work up to the heavier one since it had been so long since I had any real exercise. But, before I changed it out I gave the Bullworker a good tight squeeze from the ends and looked at my results on the power meter. I had almost gone the entire length! Yes, there was a good bit of resistance, but it was less than I was expecting. I assumed that since I was a kid when I had last touched a Bullworker that I was just weak and puny back then, explaining the greater difficulty of compressing the old school spring. So, I proceeded to change it out. Spring changeout is super easy. Just put the Bullworker vertically with the larger diameter of the cylinder up, then compress and turn the top handle. It's bayoneted to the end of the larger diameter tube, twist it off and then the spring carrier and spring will be right there. As soon as I did that with mine, I immediately noticed the spring inside was silvery, like a spiral notebook's spine, and not black like the extra spring. The diameter of the spring wire was also significantly smaller than the black spring. "Hmm...", I said to myself. Like a dingus I put the black spring inside the tube, placed the spring carrier (which can only go in one way, good engineering guys!) back in, and tried to get the handle back on. That's right, TRIED. It was almost as bad as trying to compress a truck's suspension coils by hand. I felt that I couldn't get the thing to compress enough with the black spring that I could get enough of the handle on it to lock it down without a pretty significant (read: head punting) degree of effort! So, I put the lighter silver spring back in. That's great - that means that there is a ton of room to grow in to this device and I was planning on training for endurance and definition, so I'm more concerned with doing reps than I am with resistance. The fact that there is plenty of resistance is just the cherry on top! So it's time to start training. I had stretched out well and opened the book to page 9 that detailed the 20 step 'Bow Classic Power Routine'. I flipped through the exercises, checking them out, thinking, "oh this is not that big of a deal... I'll do two or three sets of these tonight, just to get started". Little did I know... I didn't make it. In fact, I didn't even get all the way to Legs, and I wound up skipping a few up until that point. This is no joke - the compression stuff over your head and behind your back does not play. I'm a pretty strong guy, I'm 6'3" tall with a huge chest and developed biceps and triceps that are large, detectable, and hard when flexed, and I had trouble compressing on those exercises. But you know what? Just like me not being to comfortably be able to put the stiffer spring in, this is a good thing! It gives me a nice low baseline that I can use to achieve fast growth, because I know compressing this thing is going to make me stronger, and quite quickly. And when you see fast growth, you stay excited and you continue the exercises. It's an upward spiral, and it's what I need in my life right now. This thing whipped me, and hard. I was going to start out by doing 5 reps of each exercise of the 20 step routine with progressive breathing. You have to breathe and I smoke occasionally, so I have a lot of junk to fight in order to get oxygen in my system so my shredding muscles have a way to make food and to carry waste products away. I take a lot of supplements, including citrulline, and I don't like cramps or lactic acid buildup (burn) in my muscles. So, my first rep in the set would be one compression while breathing in, then exhaling as soon as 70% compression occured, also slowly releasing the Bullworker. The second rep would be inhaling and compressing, then exhaling but holding the Bullworker tight, then inhaling, and then finally releasing the Bullworker on the second exhale. Third rep, release on the third exhale, and so on. The inhales and exhales are done over several seconds and are nice and deep as you SLOWLY move the Bullworker to 70% or so of full power. I wanted to saturate my body with oxygen to encourage blood flow to my muscles and eliminate waste from them. Yeah. Wow. This thing beat me like a drum, but it's exactly what I needed. It didn't take long before I was realizing how weak I was and how difficult some of the exercises were. But, again, that's FANTASTIC! You're not supposed to be able to bottom out your Bullworker as soon as you pop it out of the box. You have to work up to it. That means taking a beatdown over and over until you overcome it. To the folks that say they can't compress it, I would tell them to check which spring is in the unit. Chances are they've got the big one in there. Even if you "can't" do it, I am sure you can compress some. If you get a 30 on the power scale, so what? Do your reps at 30 and before you know it you'll be to 100 laughing about the time you could barely do 30. The Bullworker Bow Classic is the real deal. This thing is so well built! You know when you pick something up and you immediately think of how well it would kill someone if you swung it at their head? No? Oh, must just be me then. But yeah, this isn't some "as seen on TV" rinky-dink piece of junk. It is at least as well built, if not better built, than the ones I saw back in the 1970s and 80s. I assure you that it will not fold up on you like a dollar store chaise lounge. Also, the book of exercises is awesome! They have the Basic workout and a regimen that takes you to 13 weeks (and beyond!). If you use this device correctly every day I can guarantee you that you'll have monstrous core strength and probably some well developed and defined musculature too. I love my Bullworker Bow Classic, and we're going to have some wonderfully terrible and painful times together. Tomorrow I'll work on my legs. The next day, back to my upper body and see if I can hit all those exercises instead of skipping a couple. Then back to legs. Repeat, and repeat for as long as necessary. Before long I'll be able to do all 20 steps and then I'll do another set. Looking forward to it!

Like many I also owned a Bullworker in the late 70s but being a teenager I lost interest in the device because I didn't know how isometrics work. A month ago I found a used model with the brown handles just like the one I owned back then. Suffering from back issues I was looking for something that would give me a good workout without much strain and the Bullworker fit the bill. The results I gained in just one month were so good I decided to purchase the New Bullworker Classic. As soon as I opened the package I was surprised at the solid build quality of the device, as much as I hate to say it made my 40 year old Bullworker seem like a cheap knockoff. I could tell I'll get many good years of service from this device. A couple of reviewers said the Bullworker was way too long, well, I'm 5ft4 and I can handle it with no issues at all. Also about the spring being too stiff, the unit comes with two interchangeable springs. The grey one is 50 lbs resistance and feels the same as my older model, the black spring at 100 lbs resistance is a beast, but that's how I prefer it for my isometric holds. I use the device in the manner it was first meant to be, 26 excercises with a 7 to 10 second hold on each one. There are a few excercises that are pretty tough and you may find it very difficult to compress the spring, but that's the beauty of isometrics. Your using your muscles against an immovable force, making them stronger with each worout. I found with my older model an excercise such as the overhead where I couldn't even budge it a hair, within a month I was compressing it an inch as shown on the power meter. It isn't the spring getting weaker, it's that I'm getting stronger. The Bullworker Classic is an all in one portable gym that will give you great results if you dedicate yourself to it and use it regularly. You will not become a bodybuilder, but you will become stronger, fitter and with more toned muscles. There are a few who knock the Bullworker, but I can tell you I'm old enough to remember when resistance bands were mocked and look at how popular they are today. There's a reason the Bullworker has been around for 50 years, they work. Try one out for yourselves, borrow a friends or start with a used one, you will soon find yourself wanting to buy the New Bullworker Classic, and why not? The results in your better health will surprise you.

I purchased this Bullworker at a good discount on Prime Day to exercise and strengthen y upper body. I recently recovered from a rotator cuff tear and needed something to rebuild my shoulder and arm strength. This exerciser can do that and much more. It came with five resistance springs with a wide range of resistance so I could start out with mild intensity and work my way up as I build strength. It’s easy to use and comes with a very well illustrated, spiral-bound manual showing all the recommended exercises for the Bullworker. And everything fits neatly in an included sturdy, canvas carry bag. It’s expensive, but if you want a high quality, portable exerciser to build strength and muscle tone, this Bullworker is worth the money spent.

Bought this after discovering isometrics due to a shoulder and back injury. Hadn’t been able to do my normal routines due to constant pain and begrudgingly gave up on them and started looking for things I could do. Discovered isometrics thanks to Matt from red delta project and a couple other youtubers and bought an iso trainer. My rotator cuff injuries started feeling much better and I. Was able to get pretty good lifts in without irritating my shoulder or back so I kept researching isometrics. That led me to the bullworker and the isochain. Bought both and have been using them for a couple months now and have gained most of the muscle I lost over the past couple years back and feel so much more solid and stable than I did when I was doing heavy barbell lifts. The bullworker is great for upper body and has allowed me to get really hard lifts in like I never thought would be possible. It’s not the best for leg and bigger compound lifts like deadlifts but it’s absolutely incredible for arms shoulders chest and back stuff. It’s portability is a huge plus too. I’ve been doing a lot of 10 second holds followed by 5-10 reps and can’t believe how my bodies responding. Developing strength and muscle is all about time under tension and this is my new favorite tool for upper body lifts. Highly recommend this and looking into isometrics I’m general, especially if you have injuries you’re trying to work through.

I am speaking in this review with my own opinion and experiences with this product......... I have been using the Bullworker since 1971 and have always had great results with it ! I have found that doing each exercise in "repetition"... rather than .."holding the pressure" works the best! ...( for myself ). It really does work as it says and the best thing about it is it doesn't take up a lot of room so one could take it ...let's say....on a travel trip with no problem at all ! ......Just put it in your trunk!......also a .. "portable gym type padded mat" (6 feet x 4 footer size)... to use the Bullworker on is something that I recommend ...and..... is something I use all the time with it.. The original Bullworkers are basically the same as the new.... with the exception of the new "Rubber Grip" on both ends and the three rubber grips that are with the steel ropes which come in handy when doing leg exercises especially! This improves the grip "ten fold" on the new Bullworker as compared to the original Bullworker which was all plastic. I have dismantled mine ...(new Bullworker)..... and it is improved in quality on the inner workings .... and is built to last. There is only one problem I have noticed......and this problem seems to be a "carry over" from the original Bullworker.... where the plastic covered steel wire goes into the grip.....it seems to be cutting through the plastic line and rubbing on the steel galvanized rope line. My new Bullworker is has already started this process and is cutting the rope. As time went on with my original Bullworker.....each line of the twisted galvanized rope is rubbed and rubbed until it causes the galvanizing to rub off the steel strands.....once this happens.... rust sets in on the steel rope..... strand by strand ...and breaks them individually. This process will go on unnoticed in most cases with most people until it breaks down the whole rope and snaps...which is what happened in my case. It shot across the floor with force as I was doing ... "Bi-cep Curls" ....like a rocket and hit my wall in my home gym....luckily I was by myself at the time! This is a slow process and it may take a few years before the rope actually breaks....but it will eventually happen as in my case. Other than this problem I have mentioned.... I think the new "Full Size" Bullworker should also include optional springs.....the spring in the new "Full Size Bullworker Classic" is slightly too stiff and it gives me slight joint pain. An optional lighter spring would be welcomed....and another thing worth mentioning is that the spring is inter-changeable on the new Bullworker. Overall.....the "New Bullworker Classic" is a great exerciser and I feel it will not disappoint providing that one does the full round of exercises that come with the product at least four times a week. I work out about 6-7 times a week and it works just fine. In my case...after all these years...I have memorized each exercise so I don't need the charts ! Now in my own opinion.......Is it worth it?.....Yes....Overall ..It's a great product !

Okay, let’s take a brief trip back in time. It’s the 1970s, I’m 15 years old (maybe 14, it’s been a long time), a skinny, rail-thin kid, trying to find my way through Junior High School. I recall my late mother telling me (many years later) how she would lament, “When is this kid gonna get some shoulders?” So, you get the picture. I was the classic 90-pound-weakling. While the other kids my age were putting on muscle naturally, I was being left behind. Without access to a gym membership or other training facility/weight room, what to do? (Weight rooms were for the football players at the high school). Well, I can’t recall when or where I read the ad for the original Bullworker, but I saw it as the answer to my young prayers. Here, finally, was a training device that would be THE equalizer and allow me to develop some muscle and compete with the other young men my age. I saved my money and ordered it from the Sears catalogue (Remember that? The Amazon.com, so to speak, of the day). This green handled wonder finally arrived. I can remember walking into the Sears Catalogue pickup area and being handed the package. This particular event is seared into my memory. That’s how much hope I had pinned on the Bullworker. I ran home and immediately opened it up, pouring through the information, exercises, etc. I dove right in and started my Bullworker exercise program that very day. I used the Bullworker religiously. I did the exercises as described and just kept this secret training device and fitness program to myself, not telling anyone. Then, one day while walking to the school cafeteria, a teacher/coach following behind, stopped me. He wanted to know what I had been doing. He noticed that I had gotten bigger, more muscular, especially in my back. Well, from that day forward, I was sold on The Bullworker. I not only had achieved results, but noticeable results that others had observed. I continued to use the Bullworker through my high school years while competing in Cross-Country, Track, Basketball, and Gymnastics. ( I was a lousy gymnast, but decided to give it a try as a way to enhance my overall training). Then, the Bullworker went off to college with me. I must have cut an athletic figure among the guys in the dorm because my roommate asked to borrow it to train. Sure. Help yourself. Again, the results of my physique were so visible, other guys wanted the same look. The original Bullworker was advertised as being well-built, something that would last a lifetime. Well, their claim, so far, has remained to be true. I still have my Original Bullworker and it still works! I’ve used it for my workouts, on and off, over the years. But most recently, I had forgotten about it. A couple of weeks ago, my older brother Tom sent me a text asking my opinion regarding some different fitness equipment he was considering purchasing for his own exercise program. Our conversation drifted to his asking me about my Bullworker. He remembered my using it when I was a kid. I told him I still had it. He wasn’t surprised. If you know me, once I find something I like, I tend to keep it forever. Well, this conversation inspired me to once again pull out the Bullworker and start the program. I went into the basement, and sure enough, there it was, my original Bullworker in its original case. It was just patiently waiting for me to return (once again) to a tried and true workout regimen. Now, this original Bullworker is 45-years-old (Yep, do the math, I’m now 60.). And it still gave me a great workout. But, seeing that it’s available in an upgraded, brand-new version, after a week of training with the old, I decided to purchase the new. Why? Well, I was getting results...again! Plus, the new Bullworker, with its three included springs, promised to deliver a more rigorous workout. In short, I needed a bit more resistance. One of the new springs would fit the bill. Considering that I paid about $50.00 for my original Bullworker (if memory serves), the price of this NEW Bullworker puts my total investment at about $180.00. So, that works out to 4 bucks a year over the last 45 years. Or, put another way, it works out to a gym membership for 45 years at .33 a month! Now that you have some background, here’s the review of the NEW Bullworker 36" Bow Classic: The Bullworker is very well packaged. It arrived undamaged and in pristine shape. It came with a spiral-bound, full color, illustrated, workout booklet (listing exercises, routines, and training methods), three compression springs of varying resistance (one already installed), a very rugged carrying case with strap, and a non-slip pad for holding the Bullworker in place (if a handle end is placed on a slick floor). The handle grips are generously sized, but not overly large. They have a nice padded feel but are still solid. They are slightly larger than the handles from my original Bullworker. The steel cables look solid and are very well coated with a plastic covering. I especially like the rubberized handles on the cables which help immensely for grasping during traction exercises. A nice touch/improvement that I wish had been included on my original Bullworker. Speaking of improvements, even the New Bullworker case is head and shoulders above the original case (which I still have). It’s made from a rugged canvas material, beautifully stitched with large, expertly stitched letters prominently displaying its name. There’s also a generously long pocket where you can store the extra springs. Additionally, the case has a handy strap so you can sling it over your shoulder should you wish to take it on the road with you. The tubing is solid and beautifully chromed. It has good weight but isn’t overly heavy when performing exercises. The Bullworker seems to balance the right amount of ruggedness with weight. The compression spring already installed was the one offering the least resistance. Swapping it out for the black spring (this offers the most resistance) was a snap. Simply compress the tube, turn the handle, remove the handle, remove the tube, change out the spring. (If you want to see how this is done, you can see instructions and a demonstration on the Bullworker web site). With the black spring quickly installed, it was time to get in a workout. Note: the black spring is quite challenging. If you’re new to this, try one of the other springs, train with it, and work your way up to the black spring. The operation of the device is very smooth. It doesn’t make any rattling noises (something my original Bullworker would do). It’s solid and rugged. Like the original, it feels like it’s going to last a lifetime, as well! And again, the resistance with the black spring, compared to my original Bullworker, is massive! This thing gave me one heckuva workout! I was starting to break a sweat! And, I was only doing isometric exercises/movements with the Bullworker! If Ithought I was getting a good workout using my original Bullworker during the previous week, this new Bullworker definitely upped my game! The benefits from training with the Bullworker are noticeable after only a few days. I feel stronger. My muscles are definitely building and I feel an overall invigoration. In the morning, I’m waking up more easily and feel refreshed. I’m not overly tired due to a long workout from the night before. (When I was doing a treadmill workout, I felt far too tired to get up in the morning). The feeling I’ve gotten from Bullworker training is similar to the one I first got when I was that 15-year-old kid. My original Bullworker manual stated, “We quite frequently receive letters from owners who say they feel as though they could ‘tear trees out by the roots’ This exhilarating sensation often occurs after the very first exercise.” Well, I can certainly tell you I felt a very good pump and a satisfactory feeling of having had a very good and complete workout. I had that sensation back when I was 15 and experienced it again with the new Bullworker. It’s an exercise device that made sense then and it makes sense now. The Bullworker gives me the same great workout I remember as a youth and allows me to fit the training regimen into my schedule. I don’t have to drive to a health club and spend endless hours on weights and treadmills! Even better, I don’t have to wait for someone to finish their sets so I can use the weight machine! I simply grab my Bullworker and do the exercises for seven to ten seconds each, and then get on with other things that require my attention. I’m 60 years old. I don’t want to spend endless hours working out and I don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for a health club membership I’ll probably end up never using. All I want is a good, honest workout that will build muscle, trim the fat, leave me feeling better and better after each session, and do it all in the privacy of my own home. The Bullworker does this for me! It’s only been a little over a week using my Bullworker (new and old) and I’m already excited about using it each day and look forward to marking my progress. And, lesson learned, I need to stick with what works. I've tried many different exercise methods and routines over the years. I keep coming back to the Bullworker! The Bullworker works! I hope to update this review from time to time and share my progress. In the meantime, if you’ve read this entire review (thank you), do yourself a favor and get a Bullworker! If you’re 15 or 50, The Bullworker will pay lifelong dividends. It has for me, and now with the new Bullworker, will continue to do so.

I read the various reviews before buying, both good and bad. To be honest if you use this as instructed you can not fail to get results on you muscular system, anyone what says different is just lying, giving a bad review for no reason or not doing it correctly. Some of the negative comments and low stars ratings also complain about it making a squeaking sound and not silent. What on earth difference to it make to an exercise routine if you hear a slight mechanical noise while using it. I use it with music anyway and never notice the sound. I have noticed a tremendous difference in the time I have been using it with my muscles, strength and so on. Its expensive for what it is and what it costs to make, but it is what it is and if you do not want to pay the price do not buy it. The most difficult part about doing the exercise routines are motivating yourself to actual do it, like any other exercise tool or gym membership. I use it every other day.

I have the bullworker x5 and just bought the Bullworker 36" Bow Classic -Full Body Workout. let me tell you that this is far the best bullworker family that has been made that is better then any another i have use. The resistant is so strong that i can only use the second strongest spring. The bullworker classic comes with three springs. One is already inside the bullworker 36" Bow Classic. If you've been reading everyone review you will hear that some people got one extra spring. That is because when they first made this product it only came with one extra spring. The problem was the one inside the bullworker was pretty light for the people who were use to a stronger resistant. So then the other one was a black spring and the resistant on that was way to strong to jump to for those people who aren't use to that amount of strength resistant. listen i'm a very strong man and i was having problems with that black spring. So the bullworker developer made another spring that is hard on the resistant but less then the black one. So now it is stronger but easier then using the black spring. The whole workout for this bullworker is amassing. So much better then my bullworkerx5. It comes with a book that will explain with pictures and show you how to use this Bullworker 36" Bow Classic. . It was worth the money spent.