Below is a look at some of the main survey results so far this year.
Roughly 60% think the home gym community will keep growing, 28% expect it to stay about the same, and only 12% believe it will shrink.
Rack attachments took the top spot for “What products are you most excited for in 2026?” That said, voting was fairly spread out across the other options as well, including specialty machines, bench ecosystems, and pulley systems/cable attachments.
Each of these categories clearly has its own place in the home gym world.
Most don’t think there’s a high chance a new piece of home gym tech will really capture their attention in 2026. Voting has stayed pretty consistent on this over the past three years.
2 out of 5 believe magnetic resistance will have a big year in 2026.
37% say it’s at least somewhat important that gym equipment is made in their country, 41% say it’s not important, and 22% are neutral.
When it comes to buying made-in-country equipment, the results are pretty much in line with what we’ve seen since we first started asking this question in 2021.
37% say it’s important that the product was created by the original inventor or creator, 47% say it’s not important, and 16% are neutral.
For inventor/creator support, we saw a slight dip in importance compared to the previous two years.
In a head-to-head matchup, 63% believe REP will have a bigger year than Rogue.
In the question below, four companies offering a wide range of specialty machines were listed. All are heavily focused on the home gym community and sit at different price points. Votes were fairly spread across ATX, RitFit, Temple of Gainz, and Prime. Prime narrowly edged out Temple of Gainz, suggesting that many are willing to invest in this type of equipment.
When it comes to home gym dumbbells, adjustable options pulled ahead—earning 45% more votes than traditional dumbbell sets and accounting for 55% of total votes.
The adjustable dumbbell numbers are similar to last year, but it’s a noticeable shift compared to what we typically saw over the previous five years. Below is a look at how things have trended from 2024–2026.
Spending projections for home gyms are fairly spread out. About 44% think they’ll spend at least $1,000 on their home gym in 2026. The most common single response, though, was the $300–$1,000 range, which pulled in 37% of the votes.
Community involvement or “made in your country”—which matters more? In this case, 61% voted for community involvement.
Community involvement votes has increased from last year.
This question was meant to look at the overall quality-to-cost balance people care about, specifically for brands where you could outfit an entire home gym. When cost was factored in, REP came out as the top choice for filling out a full home gym.
Here’s how that’s trended over the past five years. While the “Titan / Bells of Steel / Fringe / Get RXd” group only accounted for 20% of the votes, that segment is up more than 3×, pulling share away from both REP and Rogue.
*Please note that 2021-2024 was simply “Titan” vs. “Titan/Bells/Fringe/Get RXd”
The home gym is the primary or only workout option for 89% of those answering these questions.
The “Fully Rack Attached (add-on) is the Smith machine choice for 41%.
Rack attachments edged out specialty machines when people were asked, “What type of gym equipment are you most interested in adding right now?”
Compared to last year, it’s very close overall, but specialty machines and cardio equipment are both up slightly.
77% would put a specialty machine in their home gym.
73% would put a piece of commercial gym equipment in their home gym.
In an ideal world, nearly two-thirds say they’d add at least two specialty machines to their home gym, even when keeping their current space in mind.
