| | |
|---|---|---|
 | LCD Screen Padded Seat CounterBalanced Pedals Eight Resistance Settings |  |
 | Fantastic Customization Options Easy to Use Pulley Suitable for Upper/Lower & Core Workouts | |
 | Up to 50 Excercises Space-Saving Design Long-Lasting Material Free Exercise Guide | |
 | Plenty of accessories for versatility 300 exercises available Compact Size Varying intensity levels | |
 | Fantastic Cable System for rowing and lat pulls Exceptional build quality Heavy-Duty Safety Bars Large Weight Capacity | |
Home gyms are great for people who want to get in a good workout without the need to pay for a gym membership. At their most basic level, a home gym includes some free weights, a jump rope, and a pullup bar. The more advanced and substantial the gym is, the more equipment you have to play around with and the more exercises you do. More advanced home gyms are recommended for people who’ve already done some work in the gym and want to push themselves to the next level.
Our buyer’s guide will look at the best home gym to get a good full body workout at home, as well as assess the benefits of home gyms and factors to consider when purchasing one.
What to consider When Buying a Home Gym
- Size
Given that you’ll be buying a “home gym” you need to think about how much room you have at home when buying one. If you’ve got the space, then the size isn’t going to be much of a factor. You can get as big a home gym as you want. If you live in an apartment though, or you just don’t have much space for one, then you should look for the best compact home gym. You want one that you can fold up and store away without a problem. The more portable it is the better.
- Features
Different home gyms offer different features. Think about your current fitness levels and where you want to get to. Some home gyms have a lot of features that help push hardcore enthusiasts to their peak, while some are more basic. These basic models are better for people who work out on a more casual basis or are just getting started. There’s no need to drop thousands of dollars on something that you don’t need.
- Affordability
One good thing about home gyms is that they come with a wide price range and plenty of affordable options. There’s a home gym to suit any kind of budget. There’s the basic and budget-friendly models and the top-end models with big price tags. You should look to balance functionality and quality with price to get a good home gym that is able to meet your current and future needs. The more you plan on investing in your gym the more you want out of it and the more it should be able to do. Ultimately, you should choose a home gym that will save money on gym memberships in the long term, so you should also consider the savings over a gym membership when determining your budget.
- Warranty
The warranty is more important than some people think. Some manufacturers offer incredible warranties. Others, not so much. How long a warranty lasts is also worth considering. Does it last one year? Five? Is it a lifetime warranty? You should always find out more about the warranty before making a purchase. Learn what the warranty covers and for how long. The warranty will protect you in the event of a faulty or broken product. If you buy a home gym from a third party, such as buying through Amazon, the manufacturer warranty should be included in the product description.
The Benefits of a Home Gym
The main reason to buy a home gym is to be able to build muscle with the convenience of staying at home but the efficiency of still going to the gym. Lifting weights and other resistance exercises are great for working muscles to develop muscle mass and strength. Burning fat and toning muscles is at the core of being fit and healthy. The other benefits of having a home gym include;
- Getting a Better Workout
With the help of a home gym you’ll be better able to create a workout routine involving different sets and reps. Some people get better results by mixing up their workout and exposing their muscles to a range of different workouts. And the good news? Switching things up like this is the best way to get through fitness plateaus.
- Convenience and Versatility
A home gym is designed to work around you and your lifestyle. They allow you to do the workouts you want on your terms. Having a gym right in your garage or spare room means it’s easy to make smart and strategic choices about workouts. Create the setup you need to reach your goals on your terms.
- Save Time and Money
Saving time is a surprising benefit of investing in a home gym. Think about it; time is one of the most important resources you have. You only have a limited amount of time, and driving to-and-from the gym can be a big time waster. Why bother waiting for someone to finish with the equipment before you can use it? It’s all there waiting for you at home. You can be finished with your workout in the time it would take to even get to the gym. If you work out in the “peak hours” then you should really consider getting a home gym just to save yourself a lot of time and effort with getting to the gym.
- Privacy
Not everyone is comfortable in the gym. Some people find the social atmosphere and being around fit people motivating, of course, but others are intimidated and put off by it. They’d rather work out in comfort and privacy. Home gyms work great for people who want to be able to work out without any distractions or other people around. Even better, you get to choose the music that the “gym” plays.
What is the Best Home Gym? Our Top Six Picks
1.Marcy Recumbent Exercise Bike With Resistance ME-709
The Marcy Recumbent Exercise Bike With Resistance ME-709 is impressive right out of the box with a very smart design. It was designed to be simple for users to mount and dismount thanks to a clever step-through design. Other bikes need you to climb on to them, which can be cumbersome and even an injury risk for some users. With the ME-709, all you have to do is essentially walk through the bike and sit down on it. This is easily the best way for seniors to get a full body workout at home. Be sure to check out our full review of this excellent bike.
Resistance Levels
Another standout feature here is the eight levels of resistance. Fitness experts agree that interval training is one of the fastest and most effective ways to boost fitness levels. If you’re interested in doing interval training at home, you need the option of different resistance settings to play with. The more you have, the wider the interval training can be.
The Marcy ME-709 comes with eight resistance settings to give you all the options you need for interval training. You’ll have the chance to pedal quickly for a short time and then slow things down, which is the basis of interval training. Just use the knob on the frame to change the resistance in a pinch and get the right setting.
These resistance levels are for more than just interval trainers too. Different resistance levels allow you to push yourself further and get stronger. Turn up the resistance when you find things are too easy, or turn the resistance back down for an easy workout on a rough day.
LCD Screen
It’s good to know some statistics about your workout. Knowing how long you’ve been training, how many calories you’ve burned, how “far” you’ve travelled, and the like gives you a sense of accomplishment. Knowing what you’ve done pushes you to do even more. The resistance bike comes with a built in computer that keeps track of speed, distance, time, and calorie loss on a handy screen.
All the information is displayed with big numbers so there’s no need to stop a workout just to read the screen. This is a little feature that goes a long way in pushing you to the next level.
Comfortable Padded Seat
A good home gym is a comfortable one. You see, you have to feel comfortable sitting on the machine so that you enjoy using it. No one wants uncomfortable equipment. It doesn’t sound like much, but the bike here has a padded seat for an extra layer of comfort.
Not only does it have padding, but the seat is also designed with ergonomics in mind. To put it simply, it fits around you and your body. This is a bike that will work with you and contour with your body instead of pushing against it.
Counterbalanced Pedals
One of the worst feelings when riding a bike is the feeling that you aren’t in control of the pedals. This happens when the pedals are too light and they don’t have any weight to them (or added to them, as the case may be). That’s not an issue with the Marcy ME-709. As well as offering plenty of exercise choice and comfort, the Marcy has counterbalanced pedals. These pedals have been weighted to be just right. You’ve got some extra support and you feel like you’re really in control. If that wasn’t enough, the pedals also have little straps to them to keep your feet in place and reduce injury risk.
By now, you should be able to see what makes the Marcy one of the best home gym options. It’s got everything you need for a solid workout at home and it delivers it all in a convenient, comfortable, and user-friendly package.
2. Bowflex Blaze Home Gym
The Bowflex Blaze Home Gym has everything you could need to get a full body workout at home. You’ll be able to work out your upper and lower body and get in a good cardiovascular workout all at once. It’s not the best for working out the abs though, which may be a bit of a drawback to some. It’s best suited for those who are interested in strength training. It was designed with strength training in mind so the cardiovascular side of things isn’t as effective as you might get with some other models.
Bowflex Home Gym Workouts
The Blaze is capable of performing up to 60 home workouts, including a specific workout designed to take full advantage of what the machine is able to do. Bowflex are committed to giving you the best possible results you can get from a daily 20 minute workout. The exercises are focused on burning calories, building and sculpting muscle mass, and overall fitness.
Bowflex Blaze Home Gym Features
The Bowflex Blaze makes it easy to build your back muscles and shoulder muscles using the lat tower and lat bar. Use the pulley squat station to train quads, hamstrings, and glutes for a more toned lower body.
The Bowflex comes with a standard 210 pounds of Power Rod Resistance but you can upgrade that if you so choose. It can reach up to 310 and 410 pounds of resistance to give you a more demanding workout and better results. If you think that you’ve pushed the Blaze to its limits, think again.
Extra customization options are available through the cables and pulleys. They can be set to different positions, along with the hand and ankle grips and cuffs, to create the ultimate workout customized around your needs.
You’ll have no problem developing strong and healthy legs thanks to the leg curl/extension attachment. Looking for some cardio exercise? The aerobic rowing machine has you covered, as does the leg press attached to the seat rail.
One great little feature about the Glaze is the handgrip. It features a unique design designed to improve flexibility and make every workout more effective.
Bowflex Blaze Summary
While you could get a decent cardio workout out of the Bowflex Blaze, it was made primarily for strength training and that’s what it’s best at. One good thing it does is offer a lot of options though. It should still be able to deliver the workout you need. It’s possible to do any number of low-impact, high-power workouts with the machine.
Bowflex are a trusted name in the industry but this is clearly one of their more entry level options. It’s still among the best home gyms on the market, but it’s designed with a specific user in mind. It’s best for someone, not necessarily for everyone.
3. Weider Ultimate Body Works
If you’re looking to get a full body workout at home with the best compact home gym, then you should consider the Weider Ultimate Body Works. This home gym has everything you could need to work out at home. It’s capable of handling up to 50 exercises through making some adjustments and using a few accessories. It works by using your own bodyweight against you, in a way. It creates the resistance you need to work out using your own natural weight. It also has adjustable power bands for some extra resistance training for all the major muscle groups.
What makes the Weider so great is that it has a simple space-saving design. It fits neatly in most rooms without taking up a lot of space. Even better, when you’re done with it just fold it up and store it away ready to be used later on.
Weider Ultimate Body Works Features
The Weider Ultimate Body Works has a similar appearance to an incline bench, but one that has wheels and pulleys on it to enable you to do a lot of different exercises to work out all areas of your body. The Weider makes it easy to work out your shoulders, abs, arms, hips, back, thighs, and calves. Here’s a look at some of the standout features;
- You can get more out of each workout by adding up to 50 pounds of extra resistance
- The home gym turns your weight into pure natural resistance for effective body-shaping exercises
- The glide board can be adjusted to make workouts more – or less – intense depending on how you feel. A steeper incline means more resistance to work against for a better and more effective workout
- The gym has a cable and pulley system to allow for a wide variety of body movements and exercises
- It’s made from sturdy materials for a great quality and long-lasting build
- The home gym is designed to take up as little space as possible so it’s good for people in apartments and small homes
- It comes with a free exercise guide covering 100 exercises you can do with the machine
What’s the Verdict on the Weider Ultimate Body Works?
At the end of the day, this compact home gym offers an affordable and reliable way to work out at home. There’s a range of different exercises that work out all areas of your body to help you sculpt and shape the body that you want. It’s a great way to get a workout without having to pay for a gym membership. You don’t even have to purchase any additional extras to get a complete workout, which is always a nice bonus with this kind of thing.
4. BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0
The BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 is another contender for the best compact home gym for a full workout. It’s small enough and light enough to fit in most homes or apartments and could even be used for working out on the go.
What’s in the Box?
The home gym offers resistance through elastic resistance bands that users can add or remove depending on their needs. It comes with a range of accessories to allow for more exercises for better versatility. All in all the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 is able to pull off around 300 exercises with the same feel and results as what you’d get at a real gym.
Who Should Use the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0?
The compact home gym is a good idea for anyone that wants to be able to work out at home to their leisure but doesn’t have the space to put together a standard home gym. The gym can be folded up and stored away conveniently and used just about anywhere. It’s also good for people on the move because the equipment as a whole weighs in at around 10lbs.
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Exercises
The BodyBoss allows for a huge range of movement for different exercises at varying intensity levels. It offers a flexible solution to people looking to give their whole body a workout rather than focus on one particular area.
For example, the strongest setting is good for working and building muscles, while the lighter settings allow for interval training.
To put it simply, the Home Gym 2.0 provides users with a compact and convenient workout option to train a lot of different things in one small package. It’s a great choice for anyone with a limited amount of space or doesn’t want to deal with going to the gym and exercising around others.
All in all it’s a great product at a great price. It even has some extra accessories and is available in a few different packages to provide more flexibility and usability. Choose the standard package if you want something basic, or go for an advanced package to get a lot of extra equipment to work with.
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Summary
All in all, the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 provides a practical, flexible, user-friendly alternative for people who don’t have the space or money for a bigger home gym. The key advantage to this home gym is the compact size and weight, not to mention the low pricing options.
The downside to the Home Gym is that it isn’t quite as suitable for extreme workout enthusiasts. It’s good for people who want a casual at-home solution but it won’t stand up to the most intense workouts by the most intense users.
5.Fitness Reality X-Class
The Fitness Reality X-Class is among the best home gym for bodybuilding options. It’s what is known as a “power cage”, which gives you enough room and the right setup to really push yourself to your limits without taking up much space.
Fitness Reality X-Class Features
One thing that stands out about the Fitness Reality X-Class is that it comes with a cable system that’s ideal for rowing and lat pulls. This is something that’s rare to see in power cages and home gyms, but the Fitness Reality makes it easy to work the back muscles.
Another stand out feature here is the sheer build quality. It’s designed and built with excellence in mind with a strong steel support frame capable of supporting up to 1500lbs of weight. The best way to build muscles is high weight. The bigger the capacity of the machine the harder you can push yourself, and it doesn’t get much bigger than 1,500lbs.
Safety First
One of the problems with lifting heavy weights is the potential for injury. That’s why spotters are so important. Given that home gyms allow you to work out from home, they aren’t exactly designed for spotters. The Fitness Reality X-Class has your back though. When the time comes for a hard bench press or squat, you can rely on the heavy-duty safety bars. These bars will ensure you have a smooth and safe workout no matter what.
The Bottom Line
Given everything the Fitness Reality is capable of, not to mention all of the great features and accessories that go into it, it’s clear to see what makes this one of the top home gyms to consider in 2020. A huge benefit of going with this home gym is the incredible weight capacity and safety features. This is one of the best picks for pure strength training. The downside is that it is pretty heavy and there’s almost no cardio options at all. This is for strength, pure and simple.
6.Body Solid
One problem with getting a home gym is that they can be very expensive, especially if you want a commercial-grade model with all the bells and whistles. If you’re looking for something under $2,000 then you should take a look at the Body Solid SBL4600P4. Body Solid is a recognized name in the industry and their freeweight home gym has earned a lot of positive attention from customers and reviewers alike.
Body Solid Features
While $2,000 sounds like a lot – and it is – the good news is that you definitely get what you pay for with this machine. This is one of the best around with three workout stations in all. The different stations go together to offer a wide variety of exercises. The machine is made from durable high quality materials so it’s built to last as well.
One thing to know about the Body Solid is that it doesn’t use a selectorized weight stack design like some other machine. The machine works like the ones in the gym, meaning that it uses plates to build resistance for you to work against. That does mean that the machine takes up a bit less room, but it comes with the caveat that you’ll also have to invest in some weight plates. That’s not bad if you already have some, but if you don’t it means that you’ll be paying more than you expect.
Another downside is that it can take up a surprising amount of room for a home gym. There’s a lot of workstations and potential exercises and they all have to go somewhere. It can take you a couple of hours to get it all set up, but the good news is the instructions are easy to understand. You’ll have no problem putting it together.
Like most other Body Solid equipment, the SBL4600P4 comes with a complete lifetime warranty on everything that goes into the machine, including the moving parts. Most companies aren’t willing to guarantee moving parts for very long because they are at most risk of developing faults.
While the Body Solid SBL4600P4 is priced closer to $1,000 than $2,000, it’s also true that you’re going to have to buy some resistance rods and weights for it. That’s going to knock the price up a bit, but you’ll still have a fair amount of change left over if you go into it with a $2,000 budget.
The extra resistance rods are worth the price because they increase the weight capacity from 210lbs to 410lbs, which is a solid weight for people looking to push themselves to the next level. It’s more compact than some similar models. It won’t take up as much space as say, a Bowlfex. One problem is that the instructions aren’t very clear. We recommend that you take a slow and steady approach to putting the machine together.
What is the Best Home Gym for 2020?
Ultimately, the question of which home gym is the right one for you can depend on your own needs and circumstances. A home gym is an investment in yourself. As such, you want one built around you. They are great for people who want to work out without having to go to the gym or pay a monthly membership fee.
If you’ve got the space for it then you can go all out and buy one with all the features and accessories you need. If you don’t have much room though, you want to stick with something more compact. On a similar note, don’t drop hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars on a machine that has a bunch of features you’ll never need. Don’t be afraid to buy simple if simple is what you need.