HydrangeaParent—March 18, 2026✓ Verified purchase
I spent a lot of time debating between the Speediance Gym Monster, AEKE, and Tonal. Speediance ultimately won me over for two reasons: zero monthly fees for guided workouts and no requirement to drill into my walls. Compared to the AEKE, this machine is far more versatile because it includes high mounting points for exercises like lat pull-downs and tricep extensions, which the AEKE lacks. Compared to Tonal, the base mounting points allow for a much more natural feel during squats, deadlifts, and bench presses. The community matters. I joined the facebook groups for each machine prior to buying. AEKE's is small, I wish them the best and further group. Tonal is the OG with tens of thousands of members. But Speediance has just about half of Tonal's members and I got a lot of tips on GM1 vs GM2 and third party attachments before I purchased. Recommended accessories from my perspective: The Bench & Screen: I 100% recommend the adjustable bench - it opens up so much variety. Also, the screen tilt feature is a small detail that makes a massive difference when you're mid-set - don't spend extra on the Max screen (I think you can only get it direct from Speediance) Bluetooth handles: As a middle-aged lifter, digital weight is a revelation. Using the Bluetooth handles, I can get perfectly braced and in position before "turning on" the weight. It saves my joints and makes me feel safe pushing heavy loads alone. I also bought a third party wireless foot pedal. The included finger control ring I use from time to time. Great for Beginners: My wife, who was always intimidated by traditional barbells, now works out independently. I designed custom workouts for her, and she just follows the on-screen prompts. We also love the "Partner Lift" function for working out together. The 220 lb Limit: I initially worried 220 lbs wouldn't be enough, but digital tension feels heavier than iron. By focusing on unilateral movements to fix imbalances and protect my joints, I’ve found it’s more than enough. Again I'm a middle aged lifter. Young powerlifters, you may be looking at products like the Voltra. Overall Verdict: It’s not quite as polished as Tonal, but it’s incredibly close. When you factor in the lack of a need for a high cost $60/month subscription, it’s a no-brainer. They do have Wellness+ which I believe runs only $200ish a year, but I haven't explored it myself. This has been an awesome machine that has brought me back to regular strength training. It's been great to roll downstairs and get to working out rather than driving to the gym. Read more
Kyle Worley—August 17, 2024✓ Verified purchase
DISCLAIMER: I'm not affiliated with Speediance in any way, nor am I being paid for this review. After two months of owning the machine and working out every single day, I wanted to give an in-depth overview of my experience as this has honestly been the best purchase for my health I've ever made and so far has exceeded all expectations. IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE, BUY THIS MACHINE IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE! FITNESS HISTORY: I'll be 40 this year, and have been in and out of every gym imaginable over the past 15 years. I've primarily worked out with free weights the entire time, with a few months of Orange Theory, Crossfit, F45 thrown in. Although I'm fairly fit and active, consistency has always been an issue for me. I'll go 12-18 months getting in amazing shape, take a 2 week vacation or get sick, then go 6 months sliding backwards until I repeat the cycle all over again. ALTERNATIVES: Before purchasing the Speediance, I was dead set on getting a Tonal after trying one out in a local mall. Unfortunately since I live in a Condo, I couldn't risk the noise that travels through the walls which IS a major issue if you research the Facebook / Reddit groups that talk about this. With that in mind, I was debating between Speediance, Vitruvian, and Oxefit as free standing solution. I chose Speediance since it was extremely compact compared to the Oxefit (which shouldn't be a part of any home gym unless you have a huge house), and the Vitruvian only allowed for exercises from the floor (the stand accessory was canceled last year due to lack of demand). POSITIVES: The Speediance honestly blew me away when I first received it and the build quality is much better than I was expecting after reading some complaints on the FB groups & Reddit. • Size: The Speediance is extremely compact and looks amazing next to my Peleton. It literally takes up around the same amount of floor space as my Powerblock Dumbbell stand. If you live in an apartment or condo, you can put this thing nearly anywhere and barely notice it once the platform is up. • Price / Subscription: I'm lucky enough in my career where price wasn't a determining factor in deciding between which smart gym to purchase. With that said, Speediance can't be beat if you purchase now with the free lifetime subscription, and there's no world where I could ever recommend purchasing a tonal at 2x the upfront cost + $750/yr in subscription fees. It honestly feels like a steal. • Cables vs Free Weights: I've done a lot of barbell/dumbell work in my day, but honestly rarely use cable machines outside of facepulls / lat pulldowns / tricep work. I was expecting this to feel like a Bowflex which is my only real experience with cable resistance, but it's nothing like that. The best way to explain it as it's like free weights on steroids and you can feel all the stabilizer muscles working. Bench presses, squats, deadlifts etc all feel much better to me than traditional free weights. • 220lb Resistance: I'm not a powerlifter or a large guy, but am strong for my size (5'7). My 1RM for barbell work is 180lb Bench, 220lb Squat, 240lb Deadlift. Originally I was worried that I would max out this machine fairly quickly for certain movements, but the cable resistance has humbled me. When I did my first strength assessment each lift was easily 25%+ less than what I can do with free weights, aka unless you are a huge power lifter you aren't going to max out this machine. • Variety of Movements: With free weights I will normally stick to the standard compound lifts and the accessory exercises I've always known. The huge array of different movements built into the software + instructions on how to perform them has really opened my eyes on how much I was limiting myself. Workouts are never boring now, and I think this is one of the biggest things motivating me to use this every day. • Screen Tilt: This is absolutely huge and allows you to look at the screen for almost every movement. IE when I do a bench press, I can tilt the screen 90 degrees and see every rep, power, etc. This is a small thing, but makes a big difference when working out which no other machine does to my knowledge. CONS: There's truly very few cons I've found with the Speediance. • Accessories: This is honestly the only area where Speediance feels "cheap", and I'm a little baffled at what they try to sell some of the accessories for (IE Handles). I'm including a section on all my top recommended third-party accessories I recommend, and a few accessories I think you should buy through Speediance. • Cable Burn: Without the cable extenders, some exercises will give you major cable burn causing you to never do them. Again, this is solvable with the Cable Extender accessory… INCLUDE IT WITH EVERY PURCHASE. TLDR; I had much more to say but I’ve hit the character limit for a review. Buy the machine! Read more
