I've been watching your channel and purchased several items since discovering the slideboard. Your honest reviews influenced me to buy the Elevate GTS slide board, and I have no regrets. I appreciate your message about not letting reviewers, including yourself, influence purchases. This level of honesty keeps me coming back. Since I started watching your channel, I've transitioned from a gym membership to a home gym. The first piece of equipment I bought was the Elevate GTS, which was worth every penny. I watched dozens of your videos before making the purchase. The difference between an honest reviewer and just a reviewer is whether they use and recommend what they review. Your reviews are realistic and balanced. For example, your review of the Force USA leg press-hack squat-calf block combo was fact-based, highlighting both positives and negatives. I bought it and love it as my second piece of equipment. On the other hand, while I love Stevie Richards and appreciate your references to him, his endorsement of the Force USA G20 Pro with lat pulldown attachment led to my third and fourth purchases. Although the G20 Pro is solid, I wish he had mentioned that most attachments are just okay, the quality isn't quite commercial, and some features, like the swinging arm for a punching bag, are gimmicky and unusable. The lat pulldown pulleys make unusual sounds depending on the attachment used, and if you buy their bench, it won't fit under the smith machine for front shoulder presses if you have the lat pulldown attachment. Despite these drawbacks, I can replicate 80% of my gym cable exercises at home, making it a functional piece of equipment. However, given the narrow price difference between the G20 with a lat pulldown and its competition, I wish he had provided a more thorough review. Your reviews, in contrast, always cover the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I hope you continue this approach. While you advise not to let you influence us, people rely on reviews to make informed purchase decisions.
Thank you so much for this very detailed and positive review. This really means a lot. If you get a chance I'd love to hear on what you think about the Force USA unit as I'm considering looking more into them but also have concerns based on what I'm seeing as well. At this point, I pretty much want to avoid pieces that already are missing the mark.
Honestly my advice would be do your research on products. It’s not always the highest priced item that must be the best by default. Also if you are using your equipment once and awhile vs a heavy user that needs more heavier duty type of product.
Enjoy your channel. Started watching your total gym videos because my first purchase was a used fit . I learned from you about adding resistance bands to my total gym. Next I picked up a bowflex m 8 stairclimer el optical used like new . Next pull up station. Last a single weight machine that fills in most of the gaps from the total. Gym . My point is I have maybe 1500 in all of it in my 3rd bedroom. And at 72 years old it most of the equipment I will need. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get fit ,and loose weight . As to your point the single weight machine was an Amazon purchase I a love using it. This for your reviews. They help alot
Just cleared out ALL my cheap stuff last week and starting over. Honestly I’m getting more into commercial pieces at this point. Overkill for the home gym maybe. But I’m done “settling” for residential equipment that just halfway sucks or literal garbage.
Agree wish I got a leg curl/extension commercial piece. Flipping the weight over, the resistance curve etc just not as good. Still making gains but I mostly only use for hamstrings as squats and belt squats far better for quads anyway.
Research, go to the apps and buy in your local area. I just bought a second X3 system, which included the bar, footplate and four bands for $110. That's a great price. This is the best route if you lack space or are a busy individual. That said, you can find amazing deals on functional machines, racks and weights. And if that doesn't work out, you can basically resale it at no lost.
I’ve invested dozens of thousands of dollars on countless items for my home gym space. I learned the hard way a few times on a few things, but it’s all trial and error. I would say to go with items that you know you’d use. Some of the items I never regretted are: Power Rack, specialty barbells/barbells, flywheel training platform, a sliding bench trainer, dumbbells, cardio machines, a good band system, and isometric training systems (Bullworker and Dragon Door have been awesome).
Depends on budget if you have the money should get the best not always most expensive. I got Rep PR4000 with dual atheans, Rogue Ohio bar, USA olympic thin plates, Titan squat max md, rep's open trap bar, rogue kabukki transformer squat bar 6 positions, rep's cambered bar my favorite bar and xmark leg curl/extension and wish I'd spent more to get selectorized model changing weights sucks but the one time I cheaped out regret it!
That was something I didn’t add that if you got the money to burn then for sure go for quality. You for sure have a very solid set up. Love hearing your perspective on the curl/extension machine.
I really really feel like you should search your local marketplace and try to get your hands on an original soloflex. With straps and shock rings. Especially with your creativity. I think you’d enjoy like it.
If you want to get a piece of home gym equipment, you should go for the budget option at first just to see how it feels and whether you want to keep using it and maybe upgrade down the line. I did something similar with bands; I first bought a no-name band just to see how they felt and what I could do with them, then bought Serious Steel bands as an upgrade.
Great video, especially for those who are starting out and might be overwhelmed with the options out there. I actually have the same CAP rack you mentioned that I just leave outside and use as an outdoor pullup bar. Another point is that the used market especially for high quality weight equipment like Rogue is quite good, so doesn't loose a lot of value if well taken care of.
Thanks Max. That was my regret with the cap rack as I would have left it outside. It's also super light to move around which is nice. Excellent point about the higher end stuff holding their value.
Great video. I'm definitely in the camp of buying quality equipment so I usually don't scrimp on that, especially if I feel it may fail and hurt me. As far as buy once, cry once, I get bored too easily using the same equipment long term, so I have to change things up to stay interested. I've been working out since I was about 16 and I'm not 57 so my motivation is not what it once was, so I have to find ways to stay motivated and changing up equipment is one of those ways. My problem is that I usually don't sell any of my workout stuff because I know eventually, I will circle back around to it but in doing so, I'm pretty much out of room and some stuff I can't even use at the moment because there is too much in the way. I'm a sucker for trying out new stuff that comes to the market so that doesn't help the situation.
Staying motivated with fun or new things I think is a major consideration for people to stay consistent in the home. I know for me, it's what kept me going.
Personally I love both methods and think everyone can do a bit of both. I think buying budget items helps keep the wallet happy and allows you to gain needed or wanted equipment sooner (for those that arent starting off with a large budget). Also knowing lesser quality items helps you REALLY appreciate high quality items, which is fun in my opinion. Buy once, cry once is often best if you already have the space and money ready to go and you have high standards for your equipment and know you'll use it. If I had a home and the space and money ready for my home gym, ofcourse I'd pull the trigger, but since I'm in an apartment for now I stick to snaller items I can fit in my tiny gym space. The 4ft barbell has been a game changer for me, I can do deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, etc in my tiny space and I buy the weight plates as I grow with my space. One day when I have a full sized power rack I'll get a 7ft barbell and a nice one but for now I love my small 4ft barbell (500lb capacity is more than enough for now). Same reason I love the Total Gym, its not the nicest of machines but it perfect for my needs for now and eventually I might outgrow it and have other machines replace it, but for now I love it. I think going with whatever your needs are and learning to appreciate what you have and upgrading later is a fun and rewarding journey.
i bought a set of cheap plastic adjustable dumbbells off Amazon last Black Friday, and after a lot of thought, ended up pre-ordering the Rep x Pepin's... kind of absurd but i think I'm in this for the long haul, and i just HATE those damn plastic weights, not looking fwd to waiting til September, I hope they release early... i went ahead and ordered a set of Rubberbanditz on your recommendation, and the j bryant bar, which will hopefully hold me over til the new dumbbells arrive, since my current set maxes out at 25lbs really great channel, been a big help. thx much!
My geographic location prevents me from ordering anything from Rep, Titan, Vulcan, Fringe, etc since they do not ship to my location. And those that do ship to me, shipping almost costs as much as the actual product. So for now, Amazon is my go to for equipment. I’ve been happy with my generic choices so far and the amount of $$ I’ve saved. Thanks for the opening the topic!
Hi Mike , I think to Torroband resistance bands are the heaviest rated band on the market . They are expensive but , really well worth the rise . They are still cheap compared to buying some weights . Put those Torrobands with the flexicon machine and that's one awesome set-up . The flexicon machine from the video I watched is both a cardio and a weight lifting machine in one . I was so impressed by it , I think is awesome . Definitely a great winning combination the flexicon and torroband bands .
I heard good things about them, but have never used them. I’m really not a big tube band person minus getting to play with the flexicon recently. But I will check them out.
Interesting subject again. If you're a home gymer and buy rogue stuff which is designed for hundreds of people to use every day you aren't going to scratch the surface. But then again you could argue why buy a Porsche when a ford does the same? Its preference and some people get by with a few sandbags with great results. The best equipment is that which gets used. Best regards...
Great video. Are you ever going to do a video on Bodycraft equipment. I've had two of their machines really well made decent price. The older ones used are pretty cheap money as low as four or five hundred dollars.
I think if someone wants to start ‘cheap’ to get healthy they should start with a body weight program and things around the house for like 2 - 3 months . Diet, consistency and implementing progression in the form of reps will create the foundation that will show if the equipment will be utilized over time, then add adjustable dumbbells, adjustable bench and barbell and equipment for squat pattern with your trap bar and harness arrangement for small spaces, bands or squat rack. Then use those for 2-3 months and then buy equipment for specificity if the space allows for things like calf machine, leg press or dedicated upper body equipment. Then once those are used for 6 months to a year, go to the top of the line stuff with the money from selling old equipment you know you will be using for years to come from the popular brands with lifetime warranties. Just my opinion. TLDR: start program with body weight to develop consistency or bands, let equipment ‘grow’ with you. fitness is for life Thanks for the content. 💪🏼 Edit: my next ‘downgrade’ is I hope to get the kids rogue squat rack to hold 5 foot barbells to save space and wall mounted pull up bar above because I find I use the pull up bar more than the barbell on a squat rack.
You got a lot of new toys since I’ve been gone! I joined the Air Force and missed all of these changes to your gym. I can’t believe you got rid of the ER King. That was a good value buy but I can understand needing to make room for other pieces of equipment🇺🇸
First off thank you for your service brother. Awesome to have to you back in the comment section. No question that was a great piece, but figured I could gift it to someone else and make room for new reviews in the process.
I owned a walmart gold gym half rack and almost died 10 times due ti the 5lb 5inch spotters arms tha that kept falling out when I fail the lift. I think the bare minimum for a decent rack would be economy half rack from rogue monster lite would be sufficient. The trend of owning 1 inch holes racks are unnecessary imo. There are tons of custom 5/8 hole attachments. people focus too much on brand loyalty. I own multiple equipment from every brand out there which makes it my private personal gym I hmshare with my wife, family n friends. There are bad vs good quality pieces but I try to focus more on how often will I use this piece and will is it really useful in my gym. Creating a home gym allowed me to workout more than I used to at the public gym. Public gym is very distracting and I have the long wait line for using unsanitized equipment. I don't socialize with people at the gym and I got more family time with my kids working out at home.
I had a power rack 2.5” x 2.5” that came with a lat and low row attachment for $475 and I used the crap out of that rack . Nothing fancy it had those steel pipe safeties and it did the job just fine. I used a cheap cap barbell that I still have that’s over 20 years old ( it’s in my museum lol ) and I used cap steel plates and I made really big gains with that cheap equipment. I used the barbell so much that it’s almost non existent ( not kidding ). Now I have to much of this high end equipment and if you try to resell it you can’t get a fair price for it and you loose a lot of what you actually paid for it.
When it comes to racks, all of this stuff is just stupidly overbuilt. So I definitely think buying the cheaper stuff is the way to go from that standpoint. But what gets me is it seems like the best accessories are all made for the 3x3 racks at this point. At least from what I've seen.
A gym membership is always the most price efficient option. Especially some of the $10 memberships. Realistically, people who just want to be fit, need a band system. Treat it like running errands or doing household chores. Do your workout and move on. People who workout for fun and for health, already know what they want and what they need.
Well for the longest time I've had a gym membership, but since wanting to start a homengym, I kinda jumped in not realizing what was truly out there, now that I do I regret buying the rack I have, and once it not the best of better option it's hard finding descent accessories, so if I had to do it again I would invest in quality to what I'm doing with the most options related to my training
I think my most used item are my Kensui Adjustabells and those are only $40, my iFast 48" Barbell was only $99, I do want to replace my Amazon bench with a Bells of Steel Hero bench because I want a bench that can fit a leg extension and is actually stable. I just don't want to spend big money, and I don't have space for a rack. I might buy a vertical leg press though, I have about a 48" area of space I can still use.
I think money is always well spent on the bench and bar. Never cheao out on those. The weight is just weight, and most racks are sturdy enough. Garage gym reviews dropped like 1000 pounds inside the cheapest rack and it was ok. With adjustable dumbells, i recommend going quality all day. With bands, i just recommend going cheap unless younreally want a premium experience, 30 dollar bands and a pipe can do the same as x3 honestly, although i like my x3. Hinestly, the more moving parts something has, the more you shouldnt cheap out. The mire simple the item, the more you could get away with cheaping out most the time.
Yes to a point. My rep pr 5000 is damn near 1/2 of the price of a sorinex or rogue. And I do not have a problem with the quality. My only problem is made in China designed in Colorado.
What is the country of manufacture of the device you used to type this comment? If a company can ship a product halfway across the world with similar quality for less than you can with US manufacturing then it is silly to buy solely on US made. Buy what works best for you.
@@hybridresistance totally get that and all things equal I would pick US. Unfortunately where they are less equal these days is price making it difficult to go with the US option. Just tired of the US only shame people dish out when in reality we have been globalized for decades now.
“Don’t get influenced by all the content creators, myself included.” Mission failed, we’ll get em next time 😂 I’ll say, I have not regretted any purchase you have influenced me on. Thanks Mike!
Do your research on the benefits of resistance training then if you want to have better quality of life when you are 70 plus then it’s better to start where you are at. The start searching value for money. Barbell and compound movements work all the basic stuff instead of falling for marketing bullcrap. All you need is half rack, barbell, bumper plates, bands, bench. That should cover your basics especially most peoples enemy will always be time. Having your own gym is much better than commercial gym.
