Compact, versatile and cost-effective, a multi-gym can help you weight train effectively without stepping foot outside. From your shoulders to your soleus, these handy and fully loaded fitness creations essentially bring a fully kitted-out gym to the comfort of your four walls.
Want to power up your pecs? Interested in growing your glutes? Or do you want to strength-train these areas and then some? Well, thanks to the best multi-gyms, you needn’t venture out into the cold and can mix up the muscles you are working out from home at the drop of a deadlift.
“Multi-gyms are designed to facilitate resistance training, which is crucial for muscle building,” says personal trainer and founder of Fit Labs Kensington, Ali Malik. “The combination of weight stacks or resistance systems allows you to progressively increase resistance as you get stronger.”
And better yet, they can be just as brilliant for beginners as they are for seasoned pros. “While there might be a learning curve for beginners, multi-gyms are generally designed to be user-friendly,” Malik says. “Once you become familiar with the machine and its settings, it becomes easier to use for a variety of exercises. often come with safety features such as adjustable safety bars and secure attachments. This can be particularly beneficial for individuals working out alone at home.”
What features should you look out for?
Good question. First and foremost, you’ll need to work out your fitness goals and make sure the multi-gym aligns with them. If you want to strengthen your lower body, you’ll need a machine that has the means of doing this. And the same can be said for your top half.
As Malik tells us, most multi-gyms allow you to do both. “Common stations include a chest press, leg press, lat pulldown, leg extension, and more,” he says.
You’ll also want to consider whether you want a multi-gym that uses weight stacks or resistance resistance systems, like rods or bands. “Weight stacks are more traditional and provide a set weight for each exercise,” Malik explains. “While resistance systems often allow for more versatility and flexibility in adjusting the intensity,” he adds.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, Malik recommends checking the weight capacity of the multi-gym to ensure it can "accommodate your current weight and any potential future gains in strength".
Ready to take your at-home resistance training up a notch or two? We’ve compiled a list of the top multi-gym machines that are worth their weight in gold.
Best home multi-gym at a glance
- Best for all-rounder: V-Fit STG09/3 Herculean Modular Compact PYTHON Gym - £599, Amazon
- Best for cardio-lovers: Bowflex PR1000 Home Gym - £549, Sweatband
- Best for value: Opti 50kg Home Multi Gym - £339, Argos
- Best for small spaces: Compact Guided Weight Machine - Home Gym 900 - £449.99, Decathlon
- Best for lower body workouts: DKN Studio 7400 Multi Gym - £549, Decathlon
- Best for core workouts: Marcy MWM-4965 Home Gym - £599, Argos
- Best for beginners: York Aspire 420 - £349, Sweatband
- Best for full body workouts: Marcy Eclipse HG3000 Compact Home Multi Gym - £499, Decathlon
- Best for seasoned pros: York Perform Multi Gym - £799, Amazon
- Best for compound exercises: Tunturi WT80 Leverage Gym - £895, Home Gym Supply
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V-Fit STG09/3 Herculean Modular Compact PYTHON Gym 100kg
Best for: all-rounder
Maximum resistance: 100kg
It turns out you really can have a multi-gym that does it all and this V-Fit STG09/3 Herculean Modular Compact gym from PYTHON proves it. Whether you prefer to weight train or strengthen your cardiovascular system — you can tick off both aerobic and anaerobic exercises in one session if you really want to.
Work out your legs with leg curls and put your upper body through its paces by toning your pecs with the pec dec and by performing chest presses. Once you’re done, fire up your core with the dip station then hop onto the integrated aerobic stepper set-up. Fully loaded with up to 100kgs of resistance, you’ll never need to pay for a gym membership again.
Buy now £598.99, Amazon
Bowflex PR1000 Home Gym
Best for: Cardio-lovers
Maximum resistance: 95kg
There’s a lot to love about the Bowflex PR1000 Home Gym. For one, it folds. Which makes it ideal for those who are short of square footage but still want to get a sweat on. And secondly, this handy home gym features a hefty 95kg of power-rod resistance. Meaning this compact piece of kit can be adjusted as and when your strength increases.
But perhaps the best feature yet? It’s kitted out with a built-in rowing station, so you can put your cardio fitness to the test along with completing more than 25 strength exercises. From leg press to lat pulldowns, what’s not to love about this do-it-all multi-gym?
Buy now £549.01, Sweatband
Opti 50kg Home Multi Gym
Best for: Value
Maximum resistance: 65g
If you’re new to resistance training or you’re looking to build your strength at home on a budget, the Opti 50kg Home Multi Gym is the best value multi-gym and certainly worth a look.
In total, you’ll get a maximum of 65kg of resistance, which is certainly nothing to be scoffed at. And thanks to its nifty design, you can easily perform a whole load of exercises that can help you build lean muscle in your upper and lower body.
From leg extension and chest press to arm curls and low rowing, this workout station, which uses weight stacks, is ideal for those hoping to fit in a resistance session at home — without forking out a small fortune to do so.
Buy now £339.00, Argos
Compact Guided Weight Machine - Home Gym 900
Best for: small spaces
Maximum resistance: 60kg
Coming with a vertical pull bar, ankle strap, pull hand and pulley extension cable, the Compact Guided Weight Machine- Home Gym 900 means you can train all the muscle groups in your body without heading to a gym. And, as its name suggests, this contraption is compact, as the footrests can be folded away once you’ve completed your workout so it won’t take up any more space than it needs to.
Once you’ve put this machine together, you can bench press, pulldown, perform leg extension and more. Just note: this multi-gym has an adjustable weight range from 5kg to 60kg — so if you’re already working with heavier weights, this machine probably isn’t right for you.
Buy now £449.99, Decathlon
DKN Studio 7400 Multi Gym
Best for: lower body workouts
Maximum resistance: 80kg
As you might have realised, multi-gyms can be great for working out most muscles in your body. But if you’re keen to put leg day back on the map, then we’d class the DKN Studio 7400 as the best multi-gym for lower body workouts.
Coming with a specifically dedicated leg curl station, you can place your quads, calves and hamstrings under some tension, this machine will help you up the ante when it comes to your lower body resistance training. Also, want to strength train your upper body? You can isolate your biceps, work out your chest muscles and strengthen your back with up to 80kgs to work with.
Buy now £549.00, Decathlon
Marcy MWM-4965 Home Gym
Best for: core workouts
Maximum resistance: 68kg
So you’ve cruised through arm day, completed leg day and want to work on your core? Feast your eyes on the Marcy MWM-4965 Home Gym which is a brilliant all-rounder that has your back, legs and core covered thanks to its clever design and twinned cables that run through the pulley system.
Whether you want to chest press, use the pec dec or lat pull down, this do-it-all machine puts the power in your hands. Plus the abdominal crunch station means you can strengthen your trunk in the same session.
Simply switch up the weight as and when by using the easy-to-use selector pin. With up to 68kg to choose from, the exercise options are endless.
Buy now £599.00, Argos
York Aspire 420
Best for: beginners
Maximum resistance: 45kg
New to resistance training? No problem. The York Aspire 420 multi-gym allows you to play with up 45kg thanks to the weighted stacks with four unmistakable workout stations including leg extension, chest fly, lat pulldown and chest press.
So whether it’s chest day or leg day, you can get to grips with weight training in an easy and effortless way at home. Measuring 134cm x 109cm, this is also ideal for those who want a station that won’t eat into your floorspace.
Buy now £349.00, Sweatband
Marcy Eclipse HG3000 Compact Home Multi Gym
Best for: Full body workouts
Maximum resistance: 68kg
Many of the multi-gyms listed in our guide enable you to train every major muscle in your body. But if you ask us, we’d say this is the best piece of kit for a full-body workout. Wondering why? Well, it comes with a healthy 68kg of adjustable weight and you can perform everything from a seat bench press and a pectoral fly to a tricep push-down and wide lat pulldown.
You can also perfect a seated bicep curl, standing bicep curl and upright row. Lower-body-wise, you can give your core a blast by completing a weighted abdominal crunch and you can use the pulley system for your outer leg kicks, leg kick bags and leg curls.
Buy now £499.00, Decathlon
York Perform Multi Gym
Best for: Seasoned pros
Maximum resistance: 100kg
Looking for a multi-gym that can accommodate your current weight, along with any future gains as you grow? Designed with a 100kg weight stack, you can switch up the amount of resistance you’re working with thanks to the York Perform Multi Gym that’s best for seasoned professionals.
It’s kitted out with a chest press workout station, a peck deck, leg extension, lat pull, low row and arm curl. So you just have to pick the weight you want and get ready to feel the pump. However, all this extra weight comes at a price. So here’s a word of warning: you can expect to pay more if you want to up the ante.
Buy now £799.00, Decathlon
Tunturi WT80 Leverage Gym
Best for: compound exercises
Maximum resistance: 220kg
Compound exercises is the term given to movements that work multiple muscles in your body at once and essentially, this form of exercise allows you to increase your overall strength much faster than any isolated exercise could. And it’s for that reason that we’ve listed the Tunturi WT80 Leverage Gym as the best multi-gym for compound exercises.
Not every multi-gym gives you the opportunity to squat, but this setup from Tuntori gives you the opportunity to do so. Plus, instead of using a weight stack, this gym has weight horns for you to use your own Olympic discs meaning you can work your way up to a maximum capacity of 220kg on squat and 180kg on lifting exercises. Pretty impressive, right?
Buy now £895.00, Home Gym Supply
Verdict
If full-body workouts are your thing, the V-Fit STG09/3 Herculean Modular Compact gym from PYTHON can help you unlock all your fitness goals — and then some. Whether you prefer to weight train or have a passion for boosting your cardiovascular system, this do-it-all machine can help you boost your overall health and reap all the rewards thanks to its wide range of strength and conditioning stations.
