April 29

Just fired off my third e-mail to Thane Direct. This time I included the US e-mail address and Denise Du Barry who supposedly runs the place. Her e-mail is  info@kaswit.com

And get this: I looked at the Canadian e-mail address they gave me and it's the French one, not the English one. No wonder one of the replies I did receive was in broken English. 

April 28

The customer service is absolutely pathetic at Thane Direct, the people who sell the Total Flex. They take forever to respond and when they do, they don't address your concerns. Plus they reply in broken English.

If you want to buy a Total Flex wait until you can try it out at a store. That way if you are disappointed in it you don't waste money by paying return postage. To mail locally it will cost you between $27 and $43 depending on how you ship it.

April 26th.

I contacted the TotalFlex people and requested 2 free packs of resistance bands as a gesture of customer service for all the trouble I've had. As in keeping with TotalFlex tradition 2 e-mails were needed to be sent as they never addressed it in the first one. They said it can't be done, so I replied "Why?".

Who ever is answering these e-mails, English is not their first language, so not only do we have a company that doesn't respond to complaints, the responses they do give are in broken English.

I would not recommend this product unless:
1) You are under 5' 9"
2) Have a high tolerance for plastic/rubber odors.
3) You are in poor shape or just want to keep toned. You won't get like the Hulk using this machine. I have had this machine less than a month and I'm already using all six resistance bands for the bench press.

April 25

Weigh in day. 194 lbs. I should be at 192 lbs. Bummer.

April 24th

Not much to report. I saw Georges St. Pierre workout on T.V. My workout is so wimpy compared to his, it's rather embarrassing..

The disassembly  of the TotalFlex has thrown me off my schedule a bit. I should have modified my diet to compensate for the lack of exercise.

April 23

Machine still out of commission, but will be reassembled tonight.
I washed the upholstery and the thin foam cover in the laundry tub and wrapped the thick foam cushions in duck tape. Plus I sprayed a type of clear coat for plastic on the resistance band covers. Yaa Baby. The only thing that will smell now is me.

I needed to send 2 e-mails to totalflex to get the answer on how to order 2 more red resistance bands. They gave me a toll free number and I called it at 10 a.m. est. I get a message that they're closed and call back during business hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. est. 

This product's rating gets lower everyday.

Thursday April 21, 2011

I haven't worked out for a while as I took apart the Total Flex. I don't what types of chemicals they used making this thing but it smelled like fresh glue. A lot like Goop.

I took off the upholstery. There is a very thin piece of foam between the upholstery and the foam cushions. All three pieces smelled toxic. I washed and soaked the upholstery and the thin foam and they lost the smell. The seat cushions have been airing out for about 3 days and are smelling less intense. I have some white glue spray and will spray one side of the cushion to see if it can seal in the smell. Whatever happens I'll put the machine back together on Friday. I will also be painting the resistance band covers as I don't like the way they smell either. I have special paint for plastic.

April 18, 2011

Monday is weigh day. Came in At 192 lbs. Better get another scale as I really thought I had gained weight.
Yesterdays workout was o.k.. I didn't work out today as I took apart the Total Flex.

One of the gray resistance bands was not properly fitted onto one on the pulleys covered by the, well cover. That has caused some wearing on the cover over the rubber.
Second, about 3 screws were loose and needed tightening. I found this because I took the seats off to find out where that chemical/glue smell was coming from. I first thought it was the upholstery cover that smelled but I took the covering off both seats and it turns out it's actually the foam cushions. 

Since this thing was made in China, God only knows what toxins I'm breathing. Formaldehyde, sulfur, PCB's, dioxin?  I'm going to replace the foam and see if I can find somewhere to test the foam I took off to see if it's safe.

Anyway, I made my headrest extension to make it 6 inches longer. I also made a portable 4" seat extension to support my back when doing bench presses. It can't be permanent as it would interfere with the seat adjustment pins.

I'm on my way to changing my recommendation of this product to a "Don't Buy".  

Friday April 15, 2011

First workout since Monday. My back was too sore to work out sooner. At this rate I'll need an extra 2 months to reach my goal. I added a couple of more exercises.

I find the Total Flex seats are a bit to short. I think another 2 inches longer would be better for me along with another 6 inches added to the length of the head support. I'm 6' and if I was any taller I would probably send it back.

I unbolted the cushion from the metal support and added a 6" piece of 1/4" plywood to increase the length. I'll  use it next time I workout. I could do the same with the seats but I'd have to get the extension upholstered. Just checked and it looks doable. I'll do the seat with the head rest attachment first as that's the one that needs the extension the most.as your back presses against it during the bench press. Just need to make sure it doesn't interfere with the cords.

April 11, 2011

Zoinks, I missed a couple of days of writing. Saturday, I helped move some furniture. Mistake. Sunday I was in a lot of pain and I was up most of Sunday night because of it. Today I'm staying pretty much horizontal.

I weighed myself and came in at 194 lbs, down 2 pounds from last week. If I can't exercise the rest of the week I'll be restricted to eating only carrots this week.

April 8, 2011

Only about a 3/4 workout tonight. Back is no good. Not too exciting is it? Anyway, this Total Flex is pretty good. I do find the leg exercise bands are not going to be enough as I'm using all 3 now when doing leg extensions. Plus I can double up the bands for each arm when doing curls. A long way to go though with back exercises before I can switch from using the grey (weakest) bands.

Regarding the headrest, I don't even use it. The post is too short so it only extends enough to support the bottom of my neck, not the head.

Until the back gets a bit better, I may just walk this weekend if I can (due to back pain, not laziness), instead of using the machine.

April 7, 2011

No work-out today as the back couldn't handle it. If you don't know I need to have disc surgery. It bums me out but if I push it, I could be in bed for the next week.

April 6, 2011

As boring as it is to read, writing everyday helps me to keep on track. My back is killing me though. Geez, you know you're out of shape when just moving the machine into place makes your heart beat faster. But I'm determined not to have another clothes hanger. Onward Ho Pilgrims!

p.s.
Has anybody out there started exercising yet?

April 5, 2011

Tough workout. Back is killing me.What am I going to do when Dancing with the Stars and hockey season is over? Work out to the BBC? Still getting use to what elastic bands to use. And I really want to weigh myself, but after 5 days what's the point.

April 4, 2011

I decided to weigh myself only once a week. So today (Monday) I weighed in at 196 lbs.

I put off exercising until about 8:30 p.m. I don't know why I resist working out. Maybe some psychological reason to stay a failure. I think that if I work towards the goal of losing 20 lbs other things will fall into place.

I added another set of curls to the routine, did 25 more sit-ups on the floor and kept the hamstring curls. All while watching Dancing with the Stars.

Now for my glass of water and an orange.

April 3, 2011

Day 3 saw me do the complete workout and add a couple of more exercises. I do the "plank" for my back and use the machine to do hamstring curls. I put the chart on a music stand for easy viewing.

Rather disturbing that I need the grey elastic bands (weakest) for every exercise but the arm curls.

It was nice to exercise at home. I was able to watch the Rangers/Flyers game.

April 2, 2011

I missed day 2 as I got a call that required me to go out of town.

April 1, 2011

Today my quest starts. The machine looks at me and smiles with contempt. It says "bought another clothes hanger I see". So I rise and begin. I discover with shame that I need to use the Express Workout. The workout for out of shape people like me. I guess I never wanted to admit it but I'm getting old. Long gone are the days of just running out and playing ball hockey without a second thought.

After the workout I'm tired and out of breath. Fun wow.

March 31, 2011

I ordered the Total Flex March 6, 2011 along with the performance package (leg accessory and head rest). The total was $324.50. I didn't order the "fast shipping" for an extra $20. The performance package came around March 25th, the Total Flex on March 31st.

It came well packaged. Out of the box you need to do some minor assembly but all tools and bolts are included. The machine is well built and sturdy.

Pros and Cons so far:

Pros: Compact, light weight, easy to switch exercises, multiple tensions available with the elastic cords. No need to leave house to exercise. Head rest is is good. Super easy to adjust both seat positions and attach the leg exerciser. Came with user guide, motivational tracker calender, 8 sturdy charts with each diagramming different workouts. Also included is a healthy eating plan guide which has recipes and tips for success.

Cons: It may be a bit tiny for some. I'm 6'1" and weight about 200lbs and have long arms. I also have a bad back, needing fusion on L5/S1. I need to adjust my frame so I don't start some exercises like an arm curl with my arms already at a 90 degree angle. I also wish the head rest could be inserted in both seats not just the one with the elastic bands attached to it.

Conclusions:
I feel that the machine was worth the price. I'm pretty out of shape so the bands are more than adequate for my needs.