10 Best Compact Home Gym in 2023: Expert Review

If you are looking for the best compact home gym for your fitness goals, you have got to the right place! As a professional bodybuilder athlete who is very busy with a 9-6 job, runs this blog, and travels at least 30% of my time, I know first-hand the importance of having the best compact home gym to keep up with my fitness journey.

Compact home gyms are very convenient and just as effective in working the muscles as most commercial gyms. Compact home gyms come in different styles and sizes, from portable and foldable trainers to compact gyms with cable/pulley systems and specific workstations designed for home use.

And they also differ in terms of build quality, versatility and pricing.

So, what are the best compact home gyms? And more importantly, what should you look for when choosing the ideal compact home gym for you?

In this article, I answer all the questions by providing detailed reviews of the best compact home gyms in 2023. I draw largely from my 25+ years in the fitness industry expertise and from my experience in researching, trying, and purchasing my own equipment.

I will also guide you on important factors to consider before making your decision. However, your search will be a lot easier if you’re pointed in the right direction, which is the purpose of this article.

You will also enjoy:

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• 10 Best Elliptical for your home gym

If you want a compact home gym that will perform as effectively as a commercial gym and challenge your muscles with every rep, then you won’t go wrong with the Bowflex Blaze Home Gym.

This compact home gym features Bowflex’s patented Power rod resistance, which provides enough resistance to engage the whole body. The Power rod resistance mechanism is very fluid, with smooth motions that work your muscles without making them sore.

It’s both intense and low-impact, and you can easily transition from one exercise to another, with over 65 full-body workouts to choose from. The Bowflex Blaze compact home gym has a small footprint and solid, heavy-steel construction. It comes with a 5-year warranty and a lifetime warranty on the power rods.

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One of the best things about home gyms is their versatility and convenience. The best compact home gyms can be used to perform tons of exercises that work the full body and also targeted exercises that work for specific muscle groups.

This helps you achieve a balanced and physically fit body with well-toned muscles. Compact home gyms are great for those days when you’re unable to go to the gym for whatever reason. They are just as effective as commercial gyms in keeping you fit, and a lot more convenient and cost-effective. 

Adjustable Dumbbell:

If you don’t want a full rack of dumbbells, but want to consistently train with weights in your home, then an adjustable dumbbell is really what you need. Adjustable dumbbells are great because they provide up to 15 to 30 weight options in one package. The best adjustable dumbbells come with a smooth weight selection knob, so you can make small adjustments as your muscles get stronger. Here’s a great adjustable dumbbell, you can increase the weight option when you need it to be heavier and dial it down when you need it to be lighter.

Power Rod Resistance:

Bowflex power rod resistance gym uses a pulley system as well, but the cable is attached to long, flexible rods that provide varying levels of resistance dependent on weight. The more you push against the Power Rods, the more resistance you’ll feel, this gradual increase in resistance will allow you to push yourself a bit more with each session. The seamless transition is low-impact and reduces painful and sore muscles

Single Stack & Selectorized Weight Stack

in weight stack gym equipment, a cable and pulley system is attached to a stack of weight plates made of iron or steel. Using a sturdy handle, the weight plates are then pulled vertically by the cable and pulley system, with the resistance controlled by a sliding pin. Weight stack machines are easy to adjust, their cables provide versatility, and their vertically-stacked design means they have a small footprint.

Plate-Loaded Lever Gym:

instead of pulleys, lever gyms often use a lever system that is driven by your arms, legs, or shoulders. Sometimes, a lever home gym will have an integrated cable system, which is often better because it allows you to safely lift heavier weights. Compared to Power Rods, plate-loaded lever gyms provide a more consistent resistance weight across your range of movement.

Suspension Trainers:

a suspension trainer is a device made of straps and rings or handles. It’s designed to help you do weight-training workouts and build up muscles. Suspension trainers are excellent for exercising at home, you only need to attach them to a fixed point above your head and go on to perform a variety of exercises. The straps are often adjustable to enable customization, and they are also very portable. Here’s a good suspension trainer you may like.

Portable Home-Gym:

a portable home gym is another excellent way to recreate your gym sessions in your home. A portable home gym kit allows you to perform a variety of exercises that target specific muscles with enough resistance to give you the push you need. These kits are often lightweight and don’t take up too much space, but they can be folded up and carried around. An example is the Gonex portable home gym with 14 exercise accessories.

Fitness Mirror:

a device that streams live fitness classes from a companion app, it displays a virtual instructor and your own reflection on a sleek wall-mounted screen. Fitness mirrors are fun to use, but they are really pricey with required monthly subscriptions. However, it may be worth it if you really want to improve workout habits with a set schedule and virtual instructor

Key Features of a Best Compact Home Gym:

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OVERALL Best Compact Home Gym: Bowflex Blaze Home Gym

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for a full-body workout
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: 65+ full-body exercises for the chest, shoulders, back, arms, abs, and legs.
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 90 x 38 x 83 inches
• QUALITY: very solid construction with a solid and heavy steel frame
• VERSATILITY: multiple cable/pulley positions enable custom workouts, with 7 free trainer-built workout regimens
• WARRANTY: 5-year warranty on the machine, lifetime warranty on the rods
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Overall, this blaze home gym is an excellent multi-body workout package.

PROS	CONS
It has a superior design and solid construction	Doesn’t offer much in the way of ab exercises
It provides enough challenge for a fantastic workout	It’s big and needs a lot of room
It’s great for staying in shape, even when injured
The setup is simple, with clear instructions

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2) Bowflex Select 552 Adjustable Dumbbell

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for muscle-building
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: great for lunges, shrugs, raises and a variety of other exercises that target the legs, back, check, abs, shoulders, and arms
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 16.9x8x9
• QUALITY: durable molding for quiet workouts
• VERSATILITY: 15 weight settings (with weight-selection dial) and 30+ exercises
• WARRANTY: 2 years warranty and 1-Year JRNY Membership
• VALUE FOR MONEY: great multi-weight dumbbells for any home gym

PROS	CONS
Quick and easy to adjust the weight settings. (weight goes from 5 lbs to 52.5 lbs)	Slightly bulky, the length of each dumbbell is longer than a standard dumbbell
Smooth operation, the selection knobs turn easily and give a distinct “click” when it’s in the correct position.	Everything is plastic, including the weight-selection gears and dumbbell holder
Great for saving space

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3) Bowflex Xtreme 2Se Home Gym

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for aerobic and strength training routines
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: 70+ full-body exercises for chest, shoulders, back, lats, arms, abs, and legs.
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 53 x 49 x 84 inches
• QUALITY: Heavy-duty steel construction frame
• VERSATILITY: pulley system, integrated lat tower, and 7 free trainer-built workouts
• WARRANTY: 7 Years on machine and No-Time-Limit Warranty on power Rod units
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Great home gym for beginners

PROS	CONS
Very well constructed with heavy-duty materials	It has very little resistance, and the weights are not accurate
Easy to read instructions and easy to assemble	More like a home gym for beginners
Quality parts and a very effective work out system
It is easy to use, you can smoothly go from one exercise to another
It allows isolation exercises for almost all muscle groups

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4) Marcy MWM-988 Multifunction Steel Home Gym

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: Best for strengthening muscle groups
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: Dual-action press arms, this versatile equipment allows you to perform chest press and vertical butterfly exercises to develop your biceps, triceps, pectorals, and other muscles with a simple removal/insertion of a pin
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 68 x 35 x 79 inches
• QUALITY: Rugged construction with heavy-duty 14-gauge steel tubing
• VERSATILITY: Pulley system, dual-function press arm, dual-action butterfly arms, lat bar, adjustable preacher curl pad, and 150lbs weight stack.
• WARRANTY: 2-year warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Good value for the money.

PROS	CONS
This is a high-quality piece of equipment	It doesn’t do enough for some muscle groups, like shoulders,
It is smooth and noiseless when in use	The motion isn’t very smooth and the range is limited
It’s very heavy duty and quiet to use
Sturdy machine with different functions to hit various muscle groups
It seems durable and assembly is easy

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5) Marcy Smith Machine Cage System

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for weightlifting and bodybuilding
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: upper body workouts, bicep workouts, and a range of workouts that focus on strength & cardio training
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 63×26.4×53.9 inches
• QUALITY: heavy-duty steel construction
• VERSATILITY: adjustable dual pulley, multi-grip pull-up bars, smith track with Olympic weight bars, butterfly press arm, preacher curl with bar holder.
• WARRANTY: 2-year warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Overall it’s a great sturdy heavy-duty Smith Machine

PROS	CONS
It’s a professional gym machine with pretty solid quality	The Olympic Bar is sold separately
The adjustable pulleys and bar are extremely versatile for a variety of exercises	The foot plate is not ergonomic for a natural foot position
The smith machine is very smooth and has a natural range of motion

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6) TRX ll-in-one Suspension Trainer Home Gym System

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for total-body training
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: Designed for standing and floor-based exercises.
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 50 x 1.97 x 0.1 inches
• QUALITY: built for comfort and durability
• VERSATILITY: single anchor point for easy set-up and versatility
• WARRANTY: 1-year limited warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: it’s expensive for what you get.

PROS	CONS
Great for core exercises, it really challenges you and engages your core	It’s not really that good for leg exercises
The exercise guide included is clear and concise
It’s sturdy and built to last.
It is lightweight and portable

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7) Body-Solid Strength Tech Compact Home Gym

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for strength training
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: exercises include chest press, pectoral fly, lat pull down, cable crossover, ab crunch, shrug, etc.
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 83″ x 51″x 83″
• QUALITY: Heavy Duty Construction
• VERSATILITY: PEC station, press arm, chest press, leg developer, pulleys, 210 lb. selectorized alloy steel weight stack
• WARRANTY: Lifetime warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: expensive, but great value.

PROS	CONS
This is a very sturdy machine with the solid build quality	Assembly is difficult and instructions are unclear.
It’s a quiet machine and the flow of the cables is nice and smooth	It has no leg press option
The seats and back pads are comfortable
Each pulley is high quality but still adds some friction
It’s an easy way to get a solid workout

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8) Body Solid G6BR Bi Angular Home Gym

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for full-body workout and muscle-toning
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: a variety of full-body and targeted workouts
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 84 x 58 x 84 inches
• QUALITY: Superb construction
• VERSATILITY: steel aircraft cables, 210 lb. weight stack, PEC station, pulley station, leg curl station
• WARRANTY: Lifetime warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Overall, it’s a very nice piece of exercise equipment

PROS	CONS
Very well-built and solid home gym	It’s not easy to put together, and the directions are not clear
The components are of high-quality	It actually comes with 160 lbs, additional weight stack can be purchased separately to upgrade it to 260lbs
The motions are smooth, and the gym is very quiet
The press arm, seat, and PEC deck arms all have adjustable positions

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9) Gonex Portable Home Gym Workout

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for fat-burning and muscle-building
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: different training levels for full-body muscle exercise + 43-Page full-body muscle workouts fitness instruction manual
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH): 25.39 x 19.5 x 4.5 inches
• QUALITY: it’s nice and sturdy
• VERSATILITY: double pulley cable system
• WARRANTY: 1 year
• VALUE FOR MONEY: A good addition to any home gym setup.

PROS	CONS
You get a full workout with this setup and really does work out your whole body.	It has limited resistance
It compliments dumbbells and works muscles differently	The push-up handles are cheap plastic
It’s very versatile, and you can do varied workouts
The elastic straps are really strong
Very portable and folds up, also comes with a storage bag
Included accessories: bars, handles, wheels, door hanger

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10) Echelon Reflect Smart Connect Fitness Mirror

Features of this Compact Home Gym:

• FITNESS GOALS: best for daily meditation and yoga
• EXERCISE OPTIONS: featured workouts include pilates, core, boxing, cardio, stretching, yoga, etc.
• DIMENSIONS(LxWxH):  47.75″ H x 24″ W x 2″ D
• QUALITY: Good quality
• VERSATILITY: cables or pulleys, weights, functional trainer, smith machine or power rack
• WARRANTY: 12-month limited parts and labor warranty
• VALUE FOR MONEY: Not very great

PROS	CONS
This was so easy to set up, and a beautiful wall decor	Very expensive monitor with an expensive subscription
It hangs on the wall and has zero footprint	Unreliable customer support
It has tons of classes to choose from
Fits in at any high-end gym, hotel, residential space, or commercial space.

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Resistance

The common resistance types in home gyms are often resistance bands, weight stacks, and body weights. And with most home gyms, you’re able to challenge your muscles with resistance levels that are enough for most people. But if you’re a pro bodybuilder, then you have to be very specific with your resistance requirements. And depending on your fitness goals, you may need a resistance system that pushes you even further.

Footprint

Another important consideration when buying a home gym is the size of the equipment and how much space you have. A portable and compact gym doesn’t always mean that it will fit into a small space, especially if it has features like leg extensions, butterfly arms, etc., and think about all the different workouts you do with it. It’s important that you consider all these because you need enough room to achieve a full range of motion during workouts.

Quality

Most home gyms, especially weight-stack, power rods, and lever gyms are made of steel, but there are different levels of steel that are measured as the gauge of steel. You will see home gyms with 14-gauge steel, 12-gauge steel, and 11-gauge steel. You should know that the lower the gauge of steel, the stronger it is. Therefore, a home gym with 11-gauge steel is stronger and more durable than one with 14-gauge steel. Also check the Amazon reviews to see what other buyers have to say about the equipment, as this will give you an idea of what to expect from your purchase.

Versatility

This is an important aspect of a home gym because it gives you the liberty to perform very different exercises that work different muscle groups, which is necessary for preventing muscle imbalance. Some home gyms permit you to do up to 20 different workouts, while some can be used for up to 70 unique exercises or more. The best home gyms are those that can be used for tons of workouts including full-body workouts and more targeted exercises that work specific muscles like the triceps, biceps, lats, hamstrings, glutes, abs, hip flexors, etc.

Value for Money

Home gyms fall within different price ranges, you can find some portable home gyms going for less than $200, some more effective gyms cost about $500 to $1000, while the most exotic models are way above $2000. But, one thing with home gyms is that price doesn’t always equal effectiveness because you can get very affordable gyms with a similar level of performance as some very expensive models. Therefore, you have to be very careful to ensure that you get your money’s worth from whatever product you choose.

Console & Smart Features

This is an optional feature, but if you want the best spin bike under $500 and to be able to monitor your performance and progress during each workout session, then look for a stationary bike with a digital monitor and LCD screen. Digital monitors are great because they give you real-time updates on the progress of your workout. Bluetooth and internet connectivity are features included in some consoles for staying entertained while exercising.

Warranty & Return Policy

Warranties are a very important part of your purchase, it gives you the impression that the manufacturer is confident in their product. Most times you get a 1-year or 2-year warranty, but a lifetime warranty is the best you can get, it’s basically all you need as proof of quality and durability for a product.

I hope you know by now, that this is the Best Compact Home Gym for you. 

Whether you want to quickly build well-toned muscles or stay in shape, a home gym is certainly a good way to complement your weekly gym sessions. An excellent home gym to consider, and my top recommendation, is the Bowflex Blaze Home Gym. It’s effective and versatile with the sturdy build quality, great for both beginners and experts.

Another excellent choice is the Bowflex Select 552 Adjustable Dumbbell, which is more compact, portable, and excellent for muscle-building. And if you often travel and want a foldable gym that can follow you to places, then the Gonex Portable Home Gym Workout is just perfect.

If you have any additional questions, suggestions, or recommendations, please leave a comment below. I always answer my readers, and I love hearing from you. 

Be fit everyone!