If you are in a hurry and just want to find out what the best compact home gym for strength training, then I’d recommend the Body-Solid StrengthTech EXM2500S Home Gym as the best one
Without the ability to hit the gym, you can always bring the gym home instead for strength training. The biggest obstacle is space.
In which case, the best compact home gym equipment may get the job done.
We scoured the internet to create a buying guide and review five top-rated home gyms so you can find the right one for your strength training needs.
Here are the top compact home gyms we’ll be reviewing:
- Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Station
- Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Stack MWM-988
- Body-Solid StrengthTech EXM2500S Home Gym
- Body-Solid Powerline Home Gym
- MegaDeal Home Gym Weider
Compact Home Gyms and Strength Training – Buyer’s Guide
In spite of our later reviews on five home gyms, we understand that it can still be tough deciding on which one is best for you.
Learning about how home gyms can benefit you and what type of features to look for might better help you come to a decision.
Benefits of a Home Gym
There are a few reasons why you may want to consider investing in a compact home gym rather than head out to your local fitness areas for strength training.
Strength training itself is important when it comes to developing muscular fitness, which can have numerous of benefits on your overall health.
So, it makes sense to bring this training home.
Home gyms can save you on time. There is no commuting needed, and you usually don’t have to wait on someone else to finish using the equipment unless you’re training with a buddy.
Also, compact home gyms can save you on space. That seems to be their main focus.
Building up a gym inside your home is no easy task, especially when there’s not much room like in an apartment.
There is convenience involved in compact home gyms as well. They may even offer you a total body workout in a single space, which might reduce the need to purchase a lot of different types of training equipment.
Design
On your search for a compact home gym, you may have noticed they sometimes differ in design. These differences are due to various fitness needs.
Some take the compact needs more seriously, offering simple mechanisms like just a cable and pulley system with a removable or foldable bench for storage.
These can create a small footprint when you truly need space.
However, for the purpose of strength training, you may want to look into total gyms that can give you a full-body workout.
These can allow you to further vary your exercise routine to focus on building strength and muscle mass.
Usually, you can add more weights and resistance exercises with these types of gyms.
Space is a factor to keep in mind as they don’t tend to fold away or come apart for storage.
Still, they’re more compact than some other home gym equipment, so you may have an easier time finding room to place it.
Features to Consider
What may the best compact home gym for one person might not be exactly what you need.
However, there are still certain features that can help you narrow down what products work more for your specific strength training journey.
Durability
The reliability of your home gym equipment may be one of the top features to look out for.
In order for these to be cost-efficient and useful for your workout routine, they should hold up well.
Consider home gym equipment that is built using durable materials like a steel tube frame. This may help the machine withstand frequent use.
Also, keep an eye on the weight limit these gyms have. It’s common to see a limit of around 300lbs, so respecting that weight limitation may also help your home gym last.
Assembly
Generally, even though the home gym is compact, it may still require assembly. How much is determined by the individual products.
Some offer a painless and quick assembly process, while others might take some time and skill to put together.
If you aren’t used to something like this, you may want to seek out help or go for the machines that have a simple setup.
Available Workouts
When you’re shopping for the best compact home gym, keep in mind the type of exercises you plan on doing.
For instance, some machines offer a multitude of different exercises such as the chess press, leg extension, lat pulldown, leg curl, and much more.
Others may not provide more than a handful of sections, yet that might be all you need for your individual strength training routine.
Always remember the type of exercises you want to perform as that can help you settle whether you need a home gym that’s capable of around seven different exercises or one that has about a dozen.
Best Compact Home Gym – Top 5 Reviewed
Finding a suitable home gym for your needs is hard enough. To save you some time, we’ve identified the top home gyms you should definitely consider taking a closer look at.
Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Station
The Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Station is designed to help you achieve a total body workout. Resistance is easy to adjust, as is utilizing the weight stack lock.
With that lock, you may eliminate the stress of loading and unloading the weight plates. This adds a level of safety to your training exercises. There’s a 150lb weight stack limit as well.
This machine seems padded well thanks to the foam rollers on the leg developer and the press arms. It might allow for a more comfortable workout experience.
Although the various exercises seem to perform well enough, you may notice a limitation when it comes to the range of motion.
This might be more noticeable if you’re taller as the machine can be too compact for some of you.
Also, the home gym is built from some heavy-duty steel tubing. There are also reinforced rods that manage to keep the weight properly in place.
However, this gym does seem prone to denting rather easily. So, you may want to take caution when putting it together.
The assembly process can already take some time too due to low-quality instructions.
Pros
- Solid performance
- Has a small footprint
- Comfortable and easy to use
Cons
- Might dent too easily
- Limited range of motion
Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Stack MWM-988
The Marcy Multifunctional Home Gym Stack MWM-988 is a straightforward machine that can help you accomplish some strength training goals.
It’s constructed with a reliable 14 gauge steel frame. Some added durability is granted by the vinyl coating.
Putting it all together may become a task though. This may be due to the instructions, but it might take you some time in the assembly process before you can actually jump on this machine.
This has a weight stack of 150lbs, while the machine as a whole can support users up to 300lbs.
The press arm has a dual function, serving as both a chess press and a vertical butterfly. There are even double pulley stations so that you can versify your strength exercises.
It may not be as smooth as some other home gyms though as the retention seems a touch low.
Otherwise, this is simple enough to use. Much of this simplicity stems from its size. There’s just enough to it so that users of various heights may exercise on it well enough.
Pros
- Feels sturdy
- Easy to use
- Versatile press arm
Cons
- Hard to follow instructions
- Retention seems a bit low
Body-Solid StrengthTech EXM2500S Home Gym
This Body-Solid StrengthTech Home Gym is the best compact home gym if you want more choice in how you handle your strength training.
There are around 12 different setups you can work on using this one machine. At the same time, it still doesn’t appear to take up too much space.
There is also a Pec-Fly station that is separate with its own seat. If you wish, you may be able to get some strength training in with a partner.
Something to keep in mind while exercising is that you might experience some roughness with returning the weights to their retaining position.
The action doesn’t seem as smooth as it should be.
Now, this is one of the higher end types of home gyms available.
Beyond the fact that you can get a multitude of workouts, the machine is made from durable steel and features DuraFirm pads for more protection and comfort.
All of it is protected under a lifetime warranty too.
When you get this home gym, you may want to take a good deal of time out of the day to assemble it.
The instructions aren’t the best, but labeling everything may make the process go by a bit better.
Pros
- Quality lifetime warranty
- Several different exercises
- High-quality materials
Cons
- Some difficulties putting it together
- Weights don’t return smoothly
Body-Solid Powerline Home Gym
The Body-Solid Powerline Home Gym may be among the quickest of the compact gyms to put together.
Since it arrives to you 90% assembled, there is not much you have to do before you can start enjoying it.
This seems to be just as straightforward to use. The adjustment is smooth to handle along with having a good range.
There are eight positions in which you can change the arm and leg developer. With this type of design, you can perform the routines safer with the proper style.
Moving between the various exercises permitted by the machine is simple too as there isn’t anything you have to change before you can change your training.
It is built well-compact too so you can train in a small space.
How long this may last is unknown though as the cables seem a touch low in quality.
Also, this machine may take some upgrading as the seat doesn’t come across as stable. At times, the seat might even be a bit wobbly in spite of how you adjust it.
Pros
- Good adjustment range
- Easy assembly process
- Smooth to change between exercises
Cons
- Low-quality cables
- Seat doesn’t seem that sturdy
MegaDeal Home Gym Weider
The MegaDeal Home Gym Weider is one of the more budget-friendly compact home gyms you may find.
It’s a good small size too to fit in various rooms with little space to spare. There may be some time put into assembling it, but having more than one person might make things easier.
Once you have it together, it is easy to use. Everything is straightforward, and it feels smooth, particularly the pulley system.
Though it is simple enough to use even if you haven’t worked out with such a home gym before, there doesn’t seem to be much room for adjustments.
This is more seen in the weight stack. One thing to look out for is that there are no labels on the weights. Meaning, you may not be able to tell exactly how heavy the weights are.
It seems solid enough to use frequently. However, the material may have a flimsy-like feel to it. Not putting this home gym through any rough usage may help it last longer.
Pros
- Ease of use
- Takes up little room
- Smooth pulley system
Cons
- No labels on the weights
- Material feels a bit flimsy
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to put off your strength training if you can’t make it to the gym.
Bring it all home with the right compact gym machine that will take up little space while offering you the tools needed to work on your strength and muscle building.
If you want to pick something from our review list, we have to recommend the Body-Solid StrengthTech EXM2500S Home Gym as the best compact home gym.
It is a more expensive model, but the investment seems well worth it as it can handle your strength training needs.
This is done because of the massive amount of workouts you can perform on it.
The frame is reliable, heavy-duty steel so that it may hold up well, and there’s still a good lifetime warranty in case anything goes wrong.
