Introduction
A few months ago, we asked “What type of gym equipment are you most interested in adding right now?”
To no surprise, rack attachments were at the top of the list with 40% of the votes, but specialty machines were a very close second place with 34% of the votes. I did find that somewhat surprising!
That led me to want to ask some additional questions regarding specialty machines. Below are a few additional insights.
A lot of people who are interested in adding specialty machines to their home gyms right now.
The concept of the “bare bones home gym” seems to be dwindling and many do want to replicate as much of a commercial gym as possible.
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To start, 70% would put a specialty machine in their home gym.
70% would also add a “commercial gym piece” to their home gym.”
In an ideal world, 62% would add at least two specialty machines to their current home gym space.
The first choice between the most popular specialty machines would be the Functional Trainer.
But not by too much. The functional trainer received about 37% of the votes, lat pulldown, 31%, and a leg machine (leg press, leg extension/curl, belt squat) had 29% of the votes. Only 3% voted other.
The functional trainer is the top “standalone machine” choice of the traditional pulley systems.
It was pretty neck and neck, but the functional trainer eeked out a victory over the lat pulldown/low row with 46% of the total votes vs. 44%.
Which leg machine interests you most?
Between the leg press, belt squat, leg curl/extension, and “other” options, the leg curl/extension was the relatively easy winner, with nearly 46% of the votes.
Belt Squat was a distant second with about 30% of the votes.
19% of the votes went to leg press and just 5% to “other.”
Feel free to add your thoughts to this IG post!
Rack Attached vs. Standalone Options
In addition, earlier in the year, the community asked whether they would prefer to add individual pieces to their gym as rack attachments or standalone machines.
The results with notes are below.
| Machine | Rack Attached | Standalone Machine | Not Interested in Either |
| Dip Attachment | 81.24% | 10.53% | 8.24% |
| Lat Pulldown/Low Row | 49.89% | 45.31% | 4.81% |
| Belt Squat | 38.11% | 30.83% | 31.07% |
| Functional Trainer | 37.33% | 44.34% | 18.33% |
| Smith Machine | 35.16% | 17.81% | 47.03% |
| Leverage Machine | 25.22% | 21.07% | 53.71% |
| Single Column Trainer | 23.48% | 31.82% | 44.70% |
| Leg Curl/Extension | 18.43% | 62.44% | 19.12% |
| Adjustable Dumbbell Storage | 10.30% | 66.74% | 22.95% |
Rack Attached over Standalone
- The Rack-Attached Dip Attachment received almost eight times more votes than a standalone option. This isn’t surprising, considering how easily a dip bar can be stored when not in use.
- The Smith Machine on a rack had almost 2x more votes than a standalone option. This is something that can be relatively easily integrated into a rack whereas a standalone option would take up quite a bit of space. In addition, standalone smith machines are not usually cheap. For example, the Titan option is $1699.99, but you can get a G3 from Force USA, which does so much more.
- The rack-attached belts squat also beat out a standalone option, most likely because of its space-saving ability. I believe that the Rogue Rack Attached Rhino Belts Squat and a cheaper alternative like the Mammoth Belt Squat have helped shift this view. While a belt squat like the SQUATMAX-MD is more performance-based than many of the rack-attached lever belt squats, the space-saving potential is huge.
- Leverage machines received the highest “not interested” votes, but more chose the rack-attached option over standalone.
- Lastly, the closest “rack-attached winner” was the Lat Pulldown/Low Row. Most racks now have this option, and while you may feel a bit tight within the rack, it doesn’t typically add much space. Plus, it may not even interfere with the rack posts. Nevertheless, this was a close one.
Standalone over Rack Attached
- The adjustable storage option as a standalone item received about 6.5x more votes than a rack-attached setup. Since a standalone storage setup would not likely take up much space, I think this dominating choice was not too difficult to foresee.
- A standalone leg curl/leg extension machine dominated as well, with about 3.4x more votes than the rack attached.
- The single column trainer surprised me. About 32% voted standalone vs. 23% rack attached. Nearly 45% said they were not interested.
- There are some really solid/budget-friendly towers from companies like Bells of Steel, but I was also considering items like the Beyond Power Voltra & Ancore, but maybe people did not consider those options?
- The closest “standalone winner was the functional trainer, which received about 19% more votes than a rack-attached setup.
