Beginners will love the machine’s ability to offer real-time form cues based on sensor input, so you can ensure you’re getting the most out of every rep. Tonal’s footprint also sets it apart. It installs right into your wall (no need to DIY—trained installers will do this for you with purchase) and only requires about four feet of space—making it a great choice for those living in small apartments.That said, at $4,000, this device definitely falls in the luxury category of at-home gym machines.
Cable machines are a staple of most gyms, and there’s a reason why: You can do a lot with them. For our money, the Titan Fitness Functional Trainer offers the most versatile cable trainer you can get at home.
Our Tester’s Take
Completing a full-body workout with the Titan Fitness Functional Trainer is efficient and streamlined. Our testers couldn’t believe how easy it was to switch between weights, thanks to ultra-smooth aluminum pulleys (a much-needed change from plastic, which is the standard for cable machines and far less durable). Not to mention, it also comes equipped with two ergonomic D-shaped handles, a short bar, long bar, ankle strap, dual stirrup handles, rope handles, and single and double D-shaped handles—so you’ll be ready to start moving from the moment you’ve set this home gym machine up.
A nine-pound machine that delivers a full-body workout probably sounds too good to be true, but when you meet the Maxpro SC Portable Cable Machine, you’ll get it. It can produce resistance of up to 300 pounds no matter where you set it up.
Our Tester’s Take
Working out on the go presents a slew of challenges—many of which can be solved by the Maxpro SC Portable Cable Machine. This travel-friendly product weighs just nine pounds and can be easily carried in a backpack or duffel. You simply attach it to a door or other load-bearing surface using the included mount—or add on Maxpro’s optional wall mount or bench—and use one of the included grips to lift. Resistance can be adjusted using a dial on the side of the machine; the machine has a range from 5 pounds up to 300 pounds, so it works for a lot of different kinds of users. If you decide to purchase the wall mount, you can unlock hundreds of additional workouts on the Maxpro app.
Is the WalkingPad Tone Up Workout Station a magic trick or a home gym machine? In our opinion, both—and thanks to its diverse offerings of cables, weights, and more, it’s our favorite pick for our fitness newbies.
Our Tester’s Take
If you’re dipping your toes into weight training, the WalkingPad Tone Up Workout Station acts as your tasting menu for many machines you’d normally find in the gym, including the cable machine, free weights, and a weight bench. Three offerings at different price points allow you to choose how many features you want, and you can continue to add on more later. Bonus: Unlike some other at-home gym machines, the WalkingPad Tone Up Workout Station isn’t an eyesore. Wood surfaces combined with a leather cushion make this one of the best-looking at-home workout machines we tried.
If you’re looking for a one-and-done workout investment, you won’t find anything better than the Force USA G20 All-In-One Trainer, which is essentially 11 machines in one.
Our Tester’s Take
While we won’t list every machine the Force USA G20 All-In-One Trainer has under its trunk, some of our favorites include the power rack, functional trainer, Smith machine, lat pull-down, and low row. Given that it costs $6,000, we already expected this home gym machine to go the extra mile, but the fact that it supports three users at the same time and included two 289-pound weight stacks exceeded our expectations.
There’s no denying that this machine is an investment and a space suck, but if you’ve got a garage that’s just begging to be turned into a gym, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything with more workout options.
The Bowflex PR3000 supports more than 50 full-body strength training exercises, so you can dream up all sorts of weight-lifting routines.
Our Tester’s Take
Think of the Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym as the Swiss Army knife of at-home gym machines. With only a 63 by 49-inch footprint, this product replaces the cable machine, vertical bench press, and leg extension machine. Bowflex boasts that this complex design opens the door for more than 50 at-home workouts, which is impressive when you consider that many expensive home gym machines can’t do that.
