Bowflex - Design and History

Design and History

The Bowflex grew out of a now-expired patent first conceived by an Ethiopian engineering student in San Francisco, Tessema Dosho Shifferaw. Bowflex of America, Inc. began marketing the first product, The Bowflex 2000X in 1986. Bowflex of America changed its name to Bowflex, Inc, and became a public company on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In 1999 the company changed its name to Direct Focus, Inc. and initiated an IPO on Nasdaq. With the success of Bowflex, the company bought the Nautilus Corporation, Schwinn Fitness, and Stairmaster Fitness. In 2002 the company moved to the NYSE and renamed itself The Nautilus Group and is now Nautilus, Inc. which owns and markets the Bowflex along with Nautilus, Schwinn Exercise, Stairmaster and Pearl Izumi lines among other brands.

Instead of conventional weights or pulley machines, the original Bowflex machine used a combination of polymer rods to create constant resistance or tension. The machines are marketed as taking up much less space than a complete set of weights and machines. The company held a patent (U.S. Patent 4,620,704) on this "power rod" design which expired in April 2004.