Gold's Gym XR-45 Review

The Gold's Gym is part of a huge company called Icon Fitness, and is known to reuse the same product under many other company names. As a result, there are quite a few home gyms that look very similar to the XR-45. However, I assure you that this home gym is a quality buy.

Several months ago I was in a search for a versatile but affordable home gym. I looked at many gyms at an inexpensive, which all were either bow resistance (which are very short-lived gyms, as the rods lose resistance over time), or too simple, without many exercises. Then, I came upon the Gold's Gym XR-45, which looked too good to be true.

The machine can do quite a few different exercises, which I've listed below with their respective resistances:

• bench press: 216 lbs
• butterfly arm: 92 lbs
• high pulley w/ lat bar: 114 lbs
• leg extensions: 282 lbs
• low pulley that can do sitting rows, barbell curl, and leg curls, etc.: 241 lbs

A major plus for the machine was for its price. All the other machines I saw that the same price range were much less robust in the the features it offered.

However, most of the machine is very satisfactory, but there were two cons to this machine, and they can really keep you from buying them:

1. It comes unassembled and takes quite a while and effort to put together (6-7 hours for me)
2. There are only 8 weights in the stack which weigh 10 pounds each, but with the use of pulleys are increased to the resistances I listed above, which means that you can only change it by ~15-30 lb increments, depending on the exercise.

The two cons aside, this machine hasn't failed to surprise me. And even after the initial 'wow' phase after buying it, I'm still very satisfied with it.

So the bottom line: If you have a tight budget and want a versatile multi-exercise machine, if you can put up with the huge weight increments, assembly time, and if your workout is under the weight range that I've stated above (i.e., you're not a hardcore bodybuilder), this machine is right for you. (I know, quite a lot of criteria to fill)

I give it 8 out of a maximum of 10 points. It's a fairly cheap buy, and you really can't go wrong with a price like this. It pays off its price in gym membership in no more than 3 years, and is much more accessible than one.

To my disapointment, it seems that the XR-45 is currently not available on Amazon. However, to make it up to you viewers, I'v added here several of the other gyms I mentioned, from a separate branch of Icon Fitness. However, these have an even higher resistance than the XR45 offers, with a slightly higher price tag.

If anyone's interested, I can run a search and give you an in-depth review of these machines.They seem to be fairly impressive deals for those who are interested, especially the last one, if your budget allows it!