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Introduction
As home gym owners, we say goodbye to machines when we leave the commercial gyms and go into full-time training at home. Budget and lack of space are the top 2 limiting factors for someone adding to their home gym. They are typically expensive, and they take up a large footprint.
Nevertheless, there are cases where a specialized machine or two makes sense for home gym owners. If you have the space and can justify filling it with a machine, the Titan Leg Curl/Leg Extension v2 may be worth a look, especially if you find yourself missing it from your commercial gym days.
This plate-loaded combo machine allows you to incorporate two popular movements (leg curls and extensions) that are difficult to train otherwise. Is it the best home gym leg machine at a reasonable cost or even worth the space it takes up? I’ll discuss this in this Titan Leg Curl/Extension review.
Product Overview and Overall Experience
While it is a relatively simple machine, the leg curl/leg extension does have a handful of different moving parts:
Seat and Backrest
The seat and backrest are both adjustable. The seat allows for a slight incline with a simple pin adjustment. While it is simple to use and does its job, it is cheaply done with three holes and a small metal pin. We would have liked to see a spring pin like what is used on every other adjustment setting on this machine.
On either side of the seat are handles, which are convenient to use while lifting.
The backrest is adjustable for different-sized users. It moves back and forth in 7 different settings. To change, you use the screw in the spring pin. If you adjust the backrest by moving it back for a larger lifter, the extra bar sticks out the back end and increases the footprint. Keep that in mind if you plan to use it against a wall.
One of Titan’s most significant improvements in recent years has been the updated pads. The vinyl is decent material, but more importantly, it fits the pad very neatly. The pads themselves have a nice give and work well. The rollers are a little on the stiff end, but they do the job and are a vast improvement from previous Titan pads and vinyl.
Plate Loaded
The arm of the plate-loaded machine is plastic and is 10″ long. The arm’s length is nice, and you can load a significant amount of weight without expanding the footprint needed to use the machine by too much.
This machine is plate loaded, which is a benefit and a minor drawback. As you perform either movement (curls or extensions), the weight you feel increases as the weight moves up its swing-like pattern. Meaning, you feel the most loaded weight at the top of the movement. Because the weight does not move vertically and instead on a pendulum arm, the resistance you feel is inconsistent.
Compare this to a selectorized machine where the cable connected to the weight stack gives you the same weight from the beginning to the end of the range of motion. Not all plate-loaded machines use a pendulum arm, but this one does.
Leg Curl to Leg Extension
The plate-loaded arm rests against a pull pin. While doing leg extensions, the plate-loaded arm will rest in front of the pull pin.
To switch to leg curls, all you need to do is remove the pull pin and re-insert it with the plate-loaded arm now resting behind the pull pin. It takes just a few seconds.
During the exercises, the plate-loaded arm swings in opposite directions. With leg extensions, the arm swings forward in the same direction as your legs. During leg curls, the arm swings backward following the movement of your legs.
This minor complaint may be the biggest issue with this machine. o switch from leg curls to leg extensions, you have to remove all the weight. You cannot remove the pull pin with plates on the plate arm as they are in the way. As your starting weight will likely be more than a single plate each time, it would be nice to keep a plate on the machine at all times for ease of use.
Plate Storage/Extra Stability
There is a weight horn on the back of the machine that can be used as plate storage as well as extra stability. The feet on the machine allow it to be bolted to the floor, but if that is not something you want to do (to keep it mobile or to avoid anchoring into your floor), you can load down the back with extra weight to hold it in place.
Without being weighed down, the machine is plenty stable, with up to about 140 lbs on it (this will vary with the user’s weight). If you have a heavier weight and are pushing the movement with some extra swinging, then the extra stability may be something you want. As you lift heavier weights with more force, the back of the machine starts to rock forward. The weight peg comes in handy in those situations.
2 Adjustable Leg Rollers
The machine has two adjustable leg rollers. One for your lower legs that drive the plate-loaded arm during lifts, and one for your thighs that is used for leg curls and holding your legs in place.
The lower leg roller has an adjustable starting position that is easy to use with the spring pin. The top leg roller is adjusted the same way, and both adjustable leg rollers are easy to use from your seated starting position.
Total Footprint
The total width of the machine is 42″. This includes the 10″ loadable arm. The amount of room you would need for this machine in your space is the same, 42″ and additional space to load plates onto the device comfortably. So, while it is not a large machine, you need about 4-5 feet of open space to use it comfortably.
The depth comes at around 36″, but up to 43″ if your backrest is on the largest setting. The way the backrest adjusts, a bar slides through the frame as you move it back and sticks out 7″ out of the back of the machine.
Remember how this machine is used, as you will need space to have your legs fully extended in front of you to perform the movement.
This is a medium-sized piece of equipment that most gyms could store, but if space is tight (like it is for most), you may be unable to justify the floor space.
Flaws and Improvements
Installation
As always, the directions you get when putting together Titan Fitness equipment are not the best. You get a link that takes you to an online manual. You are looking at 3-5 pictures from your phone screen with at least seven steps in each image. The nuts and bolts are numbered, but the small numbers on the manual make it challenging to decipher which hardware to use in which spot. Though you can figure it out if you have even a little experience putting together gym equipment, the process would be much more enjoyable with step-by-step instructions with clear pictures sent to you (not that you have to find their code).
Chair Incline Adjustment
All of the adjustments on this machine use spring pins except the chair adjustment. This is a minor gripe, but the incline adjustment on the chair feels so cheap when you move it, while all of the other adjustments use a nice spring pin.
Moving From Extensions to Curls
A pull pin is inserted that acts as a starting position for the movement and prevents the machine from swinging before, during, and after use. Easy enough, except if you have plates on the arm, all the plates need to be removed to pull the pin out. The issue is when you want to move from leg extensions to leg curls (or vice versa), the pin needs to be removed, and the plate-loaded arm needs to be on the opposite side.
While most people would want to do extensions and curls in the same workout, it is inconvenient to remove weight to set up for the next movement just to put it back on again. Loading weight is the most significant inconvenience of having a plate-loaded machine instead of a selectorized one.
Plate Loaded Pendulum Arm
The weight that you load and are lifting does not move directly vertically. Instead, it is on a pendulum arm and moves in a circular pattern. When the weight moves up the pendulum, the more it wants to swing back down, which would equate to more weight you feel in the lift.
In the example of leg extensions, if you were to do isometric holds at the beginning of the lift as compared to doing holds at the top of the lift with legs fully extended, the amount of weight that you feel at the top of the lift would be heavier than the holds you do at the bottom.
Many machines move weight in this manner, but it is essential to note and understand the difference you would feel on this machine if you compare it to a selectorized version you have used.
Recommendation
The Titan Adjustable Plate Loaded Leg Extension and Curl Machine V2 is a Titan product worth getting for your home gym. Adding these movements that can replicate a commercial machine in a seamless and easy-to-use manner can greatly benefit training legs at home.
Being able to hop on a machine to build legs adds some key accessory movements to your gym. Let’s face it; it is much easier to jump on something like this after squatting rather than doing lunges, RDLs, or whatever else you are doing for accessories. It’s not always about making things easier in workouts, but having this as an option is a nice luxury.
Titan always offers sales, but if you were to buy when it is not on sale, you would spend $700. Now, if the price continues to increase as quickly as it has recently (because it used to be more than $100 cheaper not that long ago), this recommendation might change. But do yourself a favor and wait for a flash deal and save yourself $50.
Conclusion
In the end, this plate-loaded leg extension and curl from Titan brings two popular movements into your home gym in an easy-to-use machine. It is one of the more affordable options in this seated style, and the quality of this piece from Titan is good. While the price continues to increase, it still holds its value pretty well as long as you have space in your home gym.
