Exercise Equipment Review



Home Gyms Reviewed

When searching for new home gyms online, you will find that the options available are overwhelming with the range of choice offered, whether you are:

I am here to provide you with a more manageable selection of the available gyms and guide you through the many factors to be taken into consideration. We will do this, first, by outlining important features and, second, by providing you with reviews of gyms, case by case.

Of course, the two main factors you will take into consideration when making your decision are the amount you are willing to pay, and the amount of room you have available in your home. Knowing these two pieces of information will reduce the parameters of your search considerably. The reviews below are categorized by price, and the dimensions of the home gyms have been added to make your search easier.

Gym Station Considerations

Generally speaking, the higher the price of the home gym, the more stations you will get. Factors to consider are whether you are mainly interested in upper or lower body exercise, or both. If you are interested mainly in lower body exercise, do you need a leg press? Might a leg extension attachment be one of your requirements? We can balance cost against quality with such considerations.

If you are interested in upper body exercise, does the home gym cater to abdominal exercise? How solid is the arm curl facility? If you have plenty of space in a family home, which home gyms are of the best value and quality for a multiple work-out, with more than one person using the machine? The reviews below will take such considerations into account, and will detail which muscle groups a particular home gym will and will not work.

Weight Stack or Free Weights

The more serious lifters prefer to lift free weights, and the reviews below will detail which gyms are available that allow you to add your own plates; you will find a section below that reviews smith machines and others of that kind. However, most people are interested in purchasing a gym for the convenience of having the machine in their own home, in which case, they prefer to buy a machine with a weight stack.

A weight stack allows you to vary the amount of weight to be lifted by modifying the number of, usually, 10lb increments attached to the press with a pin. Of course, a factor to be taken into consideration with the purchase of a weight stack is safety, especially in a home with children, and we can detail whether the weight stack is enclosed for safety if this is one of your requirements.

Cost of Home Gyms

A home gym is a major investment in your health and well being, so cost, when balanced against individual requirements is, of course, a very important factor in your decision-making process. Consider how long you would have to use your home gym before you made your money back, relative to a the cost of a public gym membership.

Prices start at around $250 for the most basic machines. A reasonable amount to pay for a high quality multi gym that allows you to work all the major muscle groups is $500 to $1000. If the gyms cost more than this, it is probably a health-club quality, commercial grade machine aimed at the most serious weight trainers or beginners with serious money.

Therefore, with a brief outline of what to look out for in home gyms let's start to look at some specific models in more detail.



Bandflex
Recommended. Affordable and popular version of the Bowflex and Weider Crossbow.

Bowflex
Similar to the Bowflex and Weider Crossbow but much more expensive.

Total Gym
Almost an institution now! Great piece of equipment but may lack the resistance for many.

Weider Crossbow
Recommended. Affordable and popular version of the Bowflex and Weider Crossbow.