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The Gym Monster 2 is probably not for people like me, but it should be.
The target audience for a $3,000+ all-in-one weightlifting machine is, I’d imagine, people who are so dedicated to getting their daily reps in that they’re willing (and able) to drop big bucks on a device that replaces all your barbells and hand weights with one surprisingly compact device.
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But for someone like me, someone whose experience with weight training was largely limited to bicep curls and resistance bands, this device gave me the confidence to approach weight lifting outside of a high-pressure gym environment.
The weight section at every gym I’ve been a member of always seems intimidating. Most of the machines seem wildly unintuitive, the popular machines always have a line, and I feel self-conscious bench pressing without any weight plates loaded on (but isn’t the bar alone, like, 45 pounds?).
The Gym Monster 2 replaces a whole gym’s worth of machines with an adjustable device that uses resistance to provide counterweight of up to 220 pounds. It’s got a large touch screen for picking guided routines (either with a coach or AI), seeing demonstrations, and checking progress. The whole device easily folds up when not in use, with roughly the footprint of a floor mirror.
Each workout automatically counts your weight, reps, and rest times. The first few times I needed to adjust the position and accessories between exercises, it took me longer than the provided rest times. Even with the ability to extend the rest for 15 seconds, I hit a point where the timer would not increase and I was warned that resting too long would impact my performance. After a few swaps, I got better at understanding how the machine functions, and switching between positions was super easy.
Every exercise has an on-screen video and written instructions, so you can try to mirror your form to the example you’re seeing and you get… moderately helpful feedback from a robotic-sounding AI coach. If you’re unbalanced and pulling harder with one arm or resting too long between reps, it will tell you. At the end of a set, you’ll get a suggested weight for the next set, which you can choose to implement or not. And unlike traditional weights and weight plates that can require increments of five or 10 pounds to add on, you can select single pound increments all the way up to the device’s max.
These adjustments are easy, thanks to the Bluetooth-connected ring that you wear on your index finger. You can easily increase weight by scrolling with your thumb and start and stop workouts. This is an especially helpful safety measure for bench-pressing and other exercises where a spotter is traditionally recommended: if you hit the button to stop, the machine will remove all additional weight. At one point during hip thrusts, I was positioned so my feet were not perpendicular with the ground, and I ended up pushing the mat and my feet off the device’s base. Since your own body weight on the mat is what helps keep the device stable, the Gym Monster 2 began to tilt as I pushed the bar up with my hips. I clicked the ring, and the weight instantly cut, stabilizing the device.
As a weightlifting novice, I appreciated how much hand-holding existed. Exercises are labeled as beginner, intermediate, or advanced, and the demo videos and instructions made me feel more confident than I ever have approaching a weight machine at a gym. And the stats provided are super motivating—you can track your progress and see an aggregate of how much weight you’ve lifted that week. For cardio days, the add-on rowing machine bench turns the Gym Monster 2 into a sweat machine. As with most screen-equipped fitness machines, there are also many workouts that you can follow that don’t even utilize the machine’s features, from HIIT to yoga to stretching.
Be warned: while the Gym Monster 2 requires minimal assembly, it’s delivered in an absolutely giant box (the weightlifting and rowing benches come in separate boxes). It’s about 200 pounds, so especially if you’ll need to get it up or down stairs, it’s best to go in with a plan (and maybe some extra hands). Once out of the box, set-up is super easy. Plug it in, connect to the internet, and you’re set. The rowing bench requires some additional assembly, but nothing anyone who has put together Ikea furniture would struggle with. The amount of trash and recyclables generated by the packing was eye-popping (three large contractor bags filled with plastic and pounds of cardboard), but perhaps that’s the trade-off for everything coming incredibly well insulated from shipping damage.
Additionally, Speediance’s non-American origin is sometimes pretty evident, with oddly translated text and generic soundtracks. Ultimately, the price tag means this device is best suited for someone with a serious commitment to weightlifting, but if you’re looking for a machine that delivers a ton of utility in a small space (and have a budget that can support it), the Gym Monster 2 delivers.
