What is the Bowflex Revolution?

I must say I was surprised at seeing all these blog posts and comments talking about something called the Bowflex Revolution. It sounds like some kind of historic battle, like the Battle of the Bulge, the Norman Conquest, or something like that. And "Bowflex" sounds like one of those old Scottish weapons from "Braveheart," doesn't it? I can just picture one of those History Channel re-enacters in his multicolored plaid kilt, stroking his red beard while recounting with a thick Highland brogue, "Yeah, the Claymore Conquest was a big moment for us, but we couldn't really hold our ground until after the Bowflex Revolution was finished."

Fortunately, after viewing too many late-night commercials over the decades, I knew that Bowflex is not a medieval battlefield weapon but a home gym that lets you do dozens of exercises (or hundreds, the company's Web site claims) in a compact unit in the home... like one of those exercise stations in a gym, but with a lot more attachments and options. From what I can tell, the unit looks like the traditional Bowflex unit, with flexible strips creating the resistance, but the Bowflex Revolution seems to have a traditional looking barbell with free-weight plates on the back of it (Brett Favre is using the machine on the Bowflex Revolution home page).

If advertising can be believed, the Bowflex Revolution helped Brett Favre prepare for the latest NFL season, which saw a great comeback by him and his team. Brett is indeed in great physical shape. I'd like to see what he could do with a claymore... maybe that would have helped him beat the Giants in the playoffs.