If building out your garage gym is at the top of your home improvement project list, you’ll want to consider buying a full-body workout machine. These all-in-one machines let you hit all your major muscle groups, whether you tackle them all in one workout session or using a workout split. So yes, investing in a full-body workout machine is a smart idea whether or not you do full-body workouts on the reg.
Many types of total-body machines exist, from traditional steel racks and functional trainers to high-tech home gyms that almost double as an interior design flex. But before taking the plunge on such a big investment, you’ll want to look at this list of the best full-body workout machines. Our team thoroughly tests and reviews many of the products that made this list, so you know they’re the creme-de-la-creme regarding versatility, value, and longevity. Accessories For Rig&Rack
This power rack doubles as a cable machine with two 289-pound stacks for each cable. The basic package features 12 attachments, while the upgraded kit will bring the total to 18. The X20 is rated to hold up to 990 pounds, so even the most elite-level athletes can confidently hit their heavy lifts.
If you want to invest in an all-in-one trainer for your home gym, the Force USA X20 Pro is the perfect pick. The base package comes with 17 attachments to help you hit every muscle group — you’ll get an aluminum straight bar, two pull-up bars, a landmine attachment, a close-grip triangle attachment, an ankle cuff, two plastic d-handles to use with the cables, a nylon rope attachment, a tricep pushdown bar, a short bar, two extension chains that attach to the cables, and four band pegs to use with resistance bands.
That means this nifty trainer will help you stick to your split without hitting the gym. Use the dip attachment for a chest and triceps workout; the lat pulldown attachment, low-row footplate, and d-handles to ignite your back and biceps; and you can easily squat and deadlift on leg day with this rack. Plus, you don’t have to worry about stability — there are holes, so you can bolt it to the floor, but we didn’t find that necessary during testing. “It’s a beast,” our tester Jake Herod says. “It didn’t budge in the slightest during any movement from pullups to heavy back squats.”
While this entire machine is large — it stands at about 7.5 feet tall and about 6 feet wide — there’s a lot of room to work within the rack itself. So, we definitely recommend measuring out your space before investing in the Force USA X20 Pro. Given this machine’s sheer size and price, this may not be suitable for those with limited space or a tight budget. However, if you do have the space, this machine may be worth the dough if you’re looking to replace nearly every staple piece of equipment you’ll ever need.
Read our full Force USA X20 Pro review.
The Bowflex Xtreme 2SE is an impressively versatile home exercise station, perfect for anyone who wants to train hard in their own space without taking up a ton of square footage.
If you’re looking for a full-body workout machine for your home gym that won’t totally break the bank, go with the Bowflex X2SE. This compact machine boasts Bowflex’s Power Rod resistance system, which utilizes flexible rods with a specific weight rating, which you pull or push to perform various exercises.
The X2SE comes with various attachments and accessories (including a lat bar, squat bar, and multiple cable pulleys) so you can do more than 70 different exercises, from chest presses and tricep pushdowns to leg curls and kickbacks. During testing, we found that the only knock against it is that it doesn’t have a bench. Thanks to the pully angle, you can do chest presses from a seated position, but if you want to do traditional bench presses, you’d be better off looking somewhere else.
At under $1,500, this machine is priced lower than many other competitors. However, more experienced lifters might find that 210 pounds of resistance isn’t enough or that the lack of a bench is slightly limiting (but you can still do chest and back exercises on the upright seat). Still, if you’re looking for a space-conscious, all-in-one fitness solution that’ll save you money on buying separate pieces of equipment in the long run, the Bowflex X2SE is a great investment.
Read our full Bowflex X2SE review.
With 12 attachments included, this all-in-one trainer features a complete storage system for your barbells, weight plates, and cables. It can be further optimized by adding a leg press and lat-pulldown seat. Save $400 on the G3 now
The Force USA G3’s compact design saves space while providing an extensive range of exercise options, making it a solid choice for anyone looking to build strength or maintain a consistent fitness routine from home. The foundation is the power tack, which is made of heavy-duty steel and has 62 adjustable J-hook positions and safeties, so you won’t need a spotter when going heavy at home.
The Force USA G3 can also be used as a Smith machine, and it accepts up to 772 pounds of weight plates and features 12 height adjustments. The chin-up station offers various hand positions, so you can work your full upper body while the suspension and core trainer add versatility to your workouts.
However, some users note that the construction can be wobbly at times, especially when using the pull-up station and the Smith machine. The bumpers might limit other movements of the machine; for example, one user noted that the leg press attachment (which you can add for an extra $150) limits the safety hooks. Still, with its multiple attachments and versatility, the G3 allows you to target your entire body. This is a pretty solid, cost-effective alternative to a gym membership, whether you want to build muscle, increase strength, or simply maintain a regular fitness routine at home.
The Tonal is an interactive home gym that delivers up to 200 lbs of total electromagnetic resistance with the use of two maneuverable pulleys. What's most impressive is that it adapts as you progresses, which means you'll always be pushing closer to your fitness goals.
The Tonal is one of the sleekest home gyms around, boasting a 24-inch interactive touchscreen that leads you through workouts, gives you feedback on your form, and lets you connect to Bluetooth. Unlike other home gyms that require a dedicated room or take up a significant portion of your garage, you simply mount the Tonal screen on your wall — and the only floor space required is however much room you need to fully extend your arms to the side and over your head.
Tonal’s adjustable arms can support many different types of upper and lower-body movements (yes, even squats, lunges, and deadlifts) as well as core exercises and stretches, giving you a full-body workout plus recovery movements for your cooldowns. What’s more, you’ll gain access to a library of trainer-led workouts, from 15-minute quickies to hour-long sweat sessions.
The Tonal boasts 200 pounds of electromagnetic resistance, so the machine doesn’t require any physical weights, like plates. And while 200 pounds may not seem like a lot to some strength athletes, the constant tension from the cables adds to the difficulty. “To be honest, I rarely used the full 200 pounds,” our resident powerlifter says. “I can squat 500 in the gym, but that cable tension really gives you a burn, even at a lighter weight.”
Read our full Tonal review.
The Rep Fitness FT 3000 Compact Functional Trainer is true to its name. It’s incredibly compact and highly functional with 15 cable positions to choose from and twin 180lb weight stacks — pull up bar included.
Cable machines are prized because of their versatility, and the REP FT-3000 is as adaptable as they come. It features 21 cable positions with dual steel weight stacks, each totalling 187 pounds, or 374 pounds total. So you can perform various exercises, accommodating virtually every major muscle group in the body while allowing you to switch between movements easily.
Plus, the REP FT-3000 is compatible with lots of different cable attachments — including the ankle cuff for a booty burn as well as the tricep pressdown bar and multi-grip curl bar for toned arms, and many more. We also love that this full-body workout machine is very compact. It stands about 6.5 feet tall and 4.3 feet wide, so if you don’t have much space for a home gym, this pick will most likely fit in a smaller garage or basement.
But at the same time, this functional trainer wouldn’t be ideal for folks with larger bodies. People with wider wingspans may find it difficult to perform chest flys or crossovers, and tall people may find their feet hitting the floor during pull-ups. What’s more, the weight stacks operate at a 2:1 ratio, so experienced lifters may find that the 90 pounds in each stack (or 180 total) of actual resistance isn’t enough. But if you’re looking for a compact home gym that offers the versatility of cables at a fair price point, the REP FT-3000 is your best bet.
The Tonal is an interactive home gym that delivers up to 200 lbs of total electromagnetic resistance with the use of two maneuverable pulleys. What's most impressive is that it adapts as you progresses, which means you'll always be pushing closer to your fitness goals.
Tonal’s vast smart capabilities truly set it apart from other home gyms, which typically rely on a large metal foundation and clunky weight plates. Instead, Tonal uses electromagnetic force to create digital resistance — so the entire machine is essentially a two-foot-long touchscreen mounted on the wall. On either side of the touchscreen display, you’ll notice the machine has two adjustable arms, which are used to perform various workouts that target the entire body, including squatting, benching, and deadlifts.
The wow factor is in all the smart features this home gym has. For starters, you’ve got the Spotter Mode, which detects how much you’re struggling while performing a lift and lightens the load intuitively, making progressive overload way easier — and safer — at home. One tester was a big fan of the chains mode, which increases resistance as you perform a lift, similar to hanging chains from the end of a barbell during squats or bench presses. “You can really feel the resistance increase as you go through the lift,” he says. “It gets tough on those last few reps.”
Plus, Tonal’s sensors can also correct your form in real-time, as well as track vital workout variables, including your reps, sets, load, time under tension, and range of motion, and save them so you can compete with yourself in every workout. However, all of these nifty features come with a price. In addition to the Tonal machine itself, which costs around $4000, the accessory package will run you about $500, while the mandatory membership is about $60 a month.
Have you ever wanted a full-body workout device that can fit in your backpack? If so, the TRX Rip Trainer is the answer with a resistance band-style full-body system that you can set up nearly anywhere in seconds. Don’t let the light resistance fool you — this product means business.
Maintaining a solid fitness routine can be challenging when your lifestyle requires a lot of travel, but that’s where the TRX Rip Trainer comes in. A U.S. Navy Seal invented the band-based system, so you know it’ll kick your butt, and you can take these bands virtually anywhere. Set them up in your home office, stash them in your suitcase or carry-on, or leave them in your car for when you need a pump or a quick sweat session while you’re on the go.
Set-up takes seconds, and you can work out virtually any body part with these bands — all you need is a sturdy door to anchor the Trainer Cord in and get to work. The TRX can add oomph to hip extensions, chest presses, side planks, jump squats, hamstring curls, and everything in between (however, there is more versatility with the TRX when it comes to upper-body and core workouts versus lower-body workouts).
And just because you’re not stacking plates doesn’t mean you’re not getting a good workout in. The medium resistance cord boasts 20 pounds of resistance, and the beauty of TRX is that you can easily customize your workout to make it harder — simply stand closer to the anchor point to lift more weight and make the movement more challenging. Still, if you’re used to lifting heavy, the TRX won’t cut it for every single workout, but it’s still a great option when you’re trying to maintain your strength on the go or if you don’t have access to the gym.
This rower from Lit Method is so much more than your typical rowing machine. It combines the cardio benefits of a rowing machine with the strength benefits of resistance band training to give you a full-body workout. If you like instructor-led workouts they have a membership which you receive three months of for free with purchase.
The LIT Method Strength Machine is a great piece of equipment if you’re looking for a low-impact way to improve your fitness. If you’re not a fan of running or you deal with joint issues that prevent you from hitting the pavement too hard, this water rower will become your go-to.
While rowing is a solid cardio workout that’ll help boost your endurance, what’s really impressive about this machine is that it also triples as a pilates reformer and strength trainer. It has four water resistance levels from 10 to 40 pounds, and adding the resistance bands (which loop around both sides of the rower handle) adds even more of a challenge. You can easily adjust the water resistance to perform drop sets and pyramids to crank up your heart rate.
This all-in-one machine also has Bluetooth capabilities to track calories, BPM, and performance zones. “The Bluetooth tracker also measures band workout stats,” Herod says. “It’ll tell you things like your time under tension, how many reps you did, and more.” You’ll also get a complimentary three-month membership to the LIT app, which gives you access to thousands of classes and keeps records of your progress — but after the three free months, expect to pay around $25 monthly. This versatile machine starts around $2000, and expect to shell out even more if you want added accessories. Still, this is an impressive full-body machine that’s compact and great for low-impact cardio as it is for strength training.
Investing in a full-body workout machine is, well, a big investment. These total-body fitness solutions don’t come cheap, and you’ll need to do your research before doling out all that cash on one — especially since you’ll be using it for many years to come. To help you make the most informed decision, we researched countless top-rated machines from popular brands as well as leaned on some of our thorough pre-published reviews to come up with this list. We chose these products based on their cost and value, the variety of workouts you can do with them, and their durability.
Our list includes options ranging from $230 to upwards of $4,000. Cheaper options like the TRX (which clocks in at $230) is portable and convenient on the go, but it obviously doesn’t boast the same weight range and workout versatility as a rack or cable system (usually around $2,000) or a smart home gym like the Tonal (which costs at least $4,000). The more expensive full-body workout machines often allow you to use more weight and perform more compound and isolated movements, justifying their higher price tag.
We included a wide range of price points on our list to accommodate different budgets. But cost shouldn’t be the only factor you consider — value is equally, if not more, important. A pricier machine may provide better long-term value if it lasts longer and meets your fitness needs better. The upfront cost may end up saving you money in the long run if you’re not spending money on a gym membership or other home gym equipment. A full-body machine is a one-time investment and may be worth spending a little more on.
Whether you’re an experienced lifter or just getting into the swing of things, your home gym should offer a variety of both compound and isolated movements to help you hit every muscle group. It should also be adaptive enough so that it allows you to progress — so it should offer a high maximum weight tolerance and boast customization features that allow you to add more weight and use the machine in a variety of different ways.
That’s why we chose versatile and compatible products with different attachments and accessories to target different muscle groups. Many of the products on our list also come with dedicated apps or smart features where you can access live or on-demand fitness classes that you can follow while using your machine. Ultimately, variety will help use the machine consistently as well as progress in your lifts — and we all know that consistency is key to seeing results.
When you’re investing in a full-body machine, you’re in it for the long haul. You want a machine to last a really long time, maybe even a lifetime, which is why we considered durability. A durable machine ensures longevity and enhances safety and overall value for your investment. And that all ties back into how much you’re willing to spend on an all-in-one workout machine.
Many racks and cable systems are made with steel, which is extremely durable. Other, less traditional machines might have added tech features like touchscreen displays, so you’ll want to ensure the product comes with a worthwhile warranty. What’s more, you’ll also want to consider your own weight and the intensity of your workouts. If you plan to engage in high-intensity workouts or use heavy resistance, you’ll need a machine designed to handle these demands without compromising its structural integrity.
When shopping for a full-body workout machine, you’ll likely run into two types of products: resistance-based and physical weight-based systems. And the type you choose depends on various factors, including your fitness goals, preferences, and the specific machine you’re considering. As with everything, each has its pros and cons.
Some machines rely on resistance from bands or electromagnetic resistance to create adjustable levels of tension. When you stretch a resistance band, you’re essentially pulling against the resistance provided by the band’s elasticity.
Machines that rely on electromagnetic resistance, like the Tonal, generate force from magnets moving closer or farther away. These come with a benefit because they don’t require physical weights, which can be clunky, and they’re often integrated with smart technology for interactive workouts and data tracking. However, they may lack the feel of traditional weights, which requires some getting used to.
Systems that use physical weight can be broken down into either weight stack machines or plate-loaded machines. Weight stack machines use a stack of weight plates with a selector pin that you insert into your desired weight, and lifting or pushing the stack provides resistance. Plate-loaded machines are common at your commercial gyms — think squat rack and smith machine. They have posts where you load on weight plates, and the number and weight of the plates added determines the resistance.
These mimic the benefits of free weights and feel intuitive to experienced lifters; plus, they’re highly customizable. But they’re also clunky and require you to buy weight plates separately, which can be expensive, especially as you advance in your lifts.
No matter which one you go with, buying a full-body workout machine is a big investment. This is why it’s important that the one you buy is suited to your specific needs. While the best workout machine can be different for everyone, everyone should consider how they want to work out, how much space they have, and whether or not a specific machine fits within their budget.
Everyone has a specific workout style that they like. Some people prefer to clang and bang heavy weights, others prefer bodyweight workouts, and others prefer a cardio-heavy routine. There are machines on this list that will suit any of those styles, so if you’re going to be plunking down a good amount of cash, make sure it suits a workout style that you’d enjoy doing regularly.
Workout machines vary in size from room-swallowing squat racks to systems like the Tonal that mount on your wall and take up no floor space at all. If you’ve got an entire garage or spare bedroom dedicated to fitness equipment, something like the Force USA X20 Pro would be a solid option. If you’re tighter on space, try something like the LIT Method Strength Machine or the TRX Rip Trainer.
We’d all love to deck out our home gyms in the biggest and best equipment, but most people have a limited amount to spend on their home gyms. So make sure that what you buy won’t stress out your budget. While many of the machines here are in the $1,000-plus range, you can find solid full-body workout machines like the TRX Rip Trainer that cost under $200.
Full-body workout machine prices are usually big investments, with the cost often soaring well above the $1,000 mark. These prices are generally due to the amount of equipment involved and accessories that you add on, or, in the case of the Tonal or the LIT Method Strength Machine, the level of technological features the machine has.
But there are options for those working with tight budgets, like the TRX Rip Trainer, which costs about $190. If you’d rather use weights or resistance other than bands or body weight, you can always buy a bare-bones version of something like the Force USA S20 Pro and add on the accessories over time.
Using a total-body workout machine offers a range of benefits. It’s an especially smart addition to your home gym if you’re only buying one piece of equipment since it allows you to work your entire body. Investing in one is a great way to improve your fitness at home. Here’s why.
Total-body workout machines are designed to target multiple muscle groups so you can achieve a full-body workout in a single session, saving time and ensuring you hit both compound and isolated movements. Instead of switching from one machine to the next, a full-body machine lets you get everything done in one spot, reducing time in between sets and potentially getting your heart rate up faster.
Unlike traditional gym setups that require a bunch of different bulky equipment, full-body workout machines combine multiple exercises into one unit. Instead of needing separate machines or equipment for chest presses, leg extensions, lat pulldowns, and more, a full-body workout machine integrates all these exercises into one compact system. This all-in-one design is especially great if you live in a smaller apartment or don’t have the space to dedicate an entire room to a home gym.
And since these machines are a single unit that covers multiple exercises, you won’t have to deal with the clutter of multiple weights, bars, and benches. Many full-body workout machines also boast other compact design features, like vertical storage capabilities.
Gym memberships don’t come cheap, especially if your local fitness club has all the bells and whistles. If you’re looking to save money on a gym membership or would just rather work out from the comfort of your own home, investing in a total-body workout machine can help you crush your fitness goals while potentially saving you cash. Full-body workout machines are generally made with heavy-duty materials, such as steel, that basically last a lifetime when they’re properly taken care of.
And while shelling out anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 on a total-body workout machine is a big investment up front, it can save you money in the long run if you’re not spending money every month on gym membership dues. If you pay $100 a month for your commercial gym, it’ll take you less than two years to reap the savings if you spend $2,000 on a full-body workout machine for your home gym.
If you’re looking to build out a home gym, a full-body workout machine will become the centerpiece of it. Investing in one is a smart idea because a total-body machine allows you to target all the muscle groups without purchasing extra equipment, so you’ll save space — and cash. While the upfront cost may be high, you’ll likely save money in the long run because you won’t be spending on a monthly or yearly gym membership. Plus, you’ll be able to work out from the comfort of your own home.
But because it’s such a hefty investment, you’ll want to do your research before taking the plunge. Consider the machine’s value, durability, and versatility before purchasing. And if your goal is to build muscle, you’ll want to make sure your machine of choice allows for progressive overload because that’s the bread and butter to making gains. And at the end of the day, choose a machine that you know you’ll look forward to using regularly because consistency (which just so happens to be the fundamental principle behind progressive overload) is key.
While full-body workouts are great for building overall strength, burning fat, and improving your health biomarkers, you don’t want to work every muscle group every single day. Muscles need time to recover and grow, and daily workouts can hinder this process, contributing to muscle fatigue and increased risk of injury. If you’re keen on working out every day, try splitting up your days into muscle group-specific workouts to let the worked muscles recover in between.
The best full body workout machine depends on individual needs and preferences, but we think the Force USA X20 Pro is the best full-body workout machine because it combines six strength-training machines, eliminating the need to purchase any other equipment. Plus, it comes with 17 different attachments to help you isolate different muscles.
Yes, full-body workouts are both effective and efficient — and they’re especially great for people who don’t have much time to work out. Total-body workouts target multiple muscle groups in a single session and can help you improve your strength, endurance, and overall fitness.
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