Freestride Trainer Vs Bowflex Max – What’s the difference?

Trying to choose between Nordictrack Freestride Trainer or Bowflex Max? Wondering which is the best machine for your home?

These are two very popular elliptical-type machines that help you perform better than a standard elliptical exerciser. And having the same price range means that a lot of people are trying to decide between the two.

This article will give you an overview of the main differences between the two to help you find the right option for you.

# 1 Type of movement

These two machines give you two very different types of movement exercises. The Freestride Trainer is more like an elliptical trainer.

You can go forward and backward. You can even change the slope of the elliptical track with incline and incline.

But unlike a typical elliptical trainer that has a set stride length, you can actually vary your stride with the Freestride trainer. So you can do short step movements, longer running strides, or even longer hurdle-type strides.

Therefore, you can constantly change the movement, leading to less adaptation and burning more calories.

The Bowflex Max Trainer gives you a movement more like climbing stairs, with elliptical-style movable arm bars to tone your upper body.

You don’t have as much flexibility to vary your movements as with the Freestride trainer, but you do have a calorie-burning workout that really works your lower body and core muscles.

# 2 training program options

While this varies depending on the Max Trainer or Freestride Trainer model you choose, in general you get some more integrated workouts with the Freestride Trainer than with the Max Trainer.

However, all Max Trainer models come with the famous 14 minute high intensity workout built in.

This workout is part of what makes the Max Trainer so popular and effective. It’s a high-intensity interval training designed to burn maximum calories in minimal time, and even keep you burning calories post-workout for hours.

# 3 calories burned

The Max Trainer has a slight advantage here, but only because Bowflex has had the foresight to do lab tests on their machine.

With the Max Trainer you can burn up to 2.5 times more calories than a stair climber, treadmill or elliptical.

Max Trainer users in a fitness test actually burned up to 600 calories in 30 minutes, which is staggering.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t burn more calories on a Freestride trainer than on an elliptical. In fact, you probably can (because you’re not acclimating to a steady pace and you’re always challenging your body).

But so far Nordictrack has not yet released the results for calories burned. Therefore, there is no hard data to compare with the Max Trainer.

# 4 Console

I always like to look at the console of a machine because, let’s face it, you will look at it a lot during your training. So you want to see exactly what you’ll see (i.e. is it backlit, easy to read, easy to use, etc.)

Bowflex Max Trainer models come with various consoles, but for the most part you get easy-to-read feedback with an intuitive layout.

There is even an intensity meter that allows you to participate and really challenge yourself to go further. However, there are not many toys or extras on the console.

On the other hand, the Freestride Trainer console is backlit and easy to read too, but you get a lot of toys and extras.

For example, the FS7 and FS9 models come with full-color touch screen consoles with web browsers. So you can surf the net, watch YouTube videos, or read emails while exercising. Very cool.

You also get a built-in jack for your iPod or mp3 player with console speakers to listen to your favorite songs.

# 5 Price

While the price range is in the same ballpark, the Max Trainer starts off a bit cheaper, with a starting model costing around $ 1,200 and increasing from there.

As of this writing, the most affordable Freestride Trainer is around $ 1599. So if you’re on a budget, then the Max Trainer might be what you need.

So those are some of the main differences between Nordictrack Freestride Trainer and Bowflex Max. Both have many advantages over standard ellipticals.

It really comes down to what you want, your budget, and your training goals. Good luck and have fun!