Consumer Reports: Strength-Training Machines for Use at Home

Nationwide, about 7 million people work out regularly on strength-training machines -- whether at home or at a health club.

Most health clubs offer a wider variety of equipment than you could possibly have at home, and the energetic atmosphere of a busy gym may provide needed motivation.

However, there are advantages to exercising at home. It's often more convenient and takes less time than going to a club, and there are no annual fees -- just a one-time purchase price for whatever equipment you choose.

We recently tested 12 home gyms that reflect the variety of equipment on the market, as well as the broad price range: The tested models cost from $200 to nearly $2,000. We chose machines that exercise all the major muscle groups (chest, shoulders, back, abdomen, arms and legs) rather than those that focus on one area.

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Some of the machines are so large and heavy that they'd become fairly permanent structures in your exercise area. Others are comparatively light and can be easily moved or even folded and stashed under a bed or in a closet.

The gyms we tested use different ways to provide the resistance that builds muscle. Most have a stack of weight plates, or in some cases two. Lifting more or fewer plates increases or decreases the resistance. Gyms using elastic bands or flexible rods provide progressive or variable resistance, which starts low and increases through the exercise. Other machines employ hydraulic pistons that look and act like a car's shock absorber. Still others use body weight to supply resistance, although that resistance is limited to about 50 percent of the user's weight.

While none of our test machines proved ideal in every respect, several came close.

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Closest of all was the Hoist Multi-Gym H210 ($1,700), an exceptionally well designed weight-stack machine that can provide users of different sizes and fitness levels with a challenging and effective range of exercises. Like most weight-stack models, the Hoist Multi-Gym is very heavy and bulky and hard to assemble.

Other weight-stack machines scoring high were the Body Solid Multi-Station EXM 1500S (at $700, A CR Best Buy), the ParaBody 400 Home Gym ($1,900) and the Schwinn 8100S Series II Strength System ($1,700).

Among other types of home gyms, the flexible-rod Bowflex Power Pro XTL ($1,400) proved the best of the non-weight-stack machines, while the Soloflex Muscle Machine ($1,195) -- an elastic-band model -- was one of the easiest of our tested units to assemble. Still, the Soloflex requires time-consuming setups between exercises, and both models impart a progressive resistance that users may find somewhat unnatural.

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If you have little space and budget, consider the Total Gym 1000 ($200), a body-weight model. Compact and easy to assemble, this machine provides an excellent range of motion for most exercises, but the resistance is too low for stronger users.

The lone hydraulic-piston gym in our tests was the $350 HealthFX Multi-Station Home Gym. Lowest-scoring of the 12 machines, it provided imprecise adjustments, inadequate range of motion and awkward body positions for many exercises.

If you decide not to buy a home gym but still want a decent home workout, free weights are an effective and economical strength-training option. Although we didn't test them, free weights require a proper technique and coordination that can make a workout more challenging. A set with a variety of weights costs as little as $50.

Before buying any exercise gear, however, consider signing up for a short-term membership at a health club. There, you can try different types of equipment to see what you like and whether you're likely to stick with it.

(c)2001, Consumers Union, Inc.

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