Received this last Wednesday – it was well packed, no damage to the box or parts inside. Based on mixed reviews, I knew I wanted a professional to put this together or, at least, someone who knew what they were doing. It was assembled Thursday by a handyman off the thumbtack app, and today – Saturday – was the first day I used it.First off, I work out in my living room. I have a barbell, bench, plates and a Roman chair, some assorted kettlebells. I’m by no means a serious lifter – yet. I’m working my way up. I’m also an EDNOS battler. At one point my weight was down in the double digits and in my sock feet I’m just shy of 5’7”. So, I basically started off with zero muscle. I made the decision to begin weightlifting after I wrenched hell outta my piriformis muscle simply walking on flat ground. My main goal right now is strengthening my glutes and hips so this doesn’t happen again. Right now my hips are still pretty weak - I’m all over the place when I try to do even banded donkey kicks, let alone weighted ones. I was hoping this machine would help my stability issues.It does. Not so much as a wiggle. I’m able to keep my back and hips neutral even when my leg is fully extended back. For the first time I was able to do kickbacks without feeling any pain in my lower back during or afterward (I have lordosis, too, an abnormal spinal curvature). As a bonus: if I place my weight bench over the torso pad it’s the perfect height to do fire hydrants, as well. I need a pad because the edge of the foot plate digs into my outer thigh, but otherwise it works like a charm. I’m very excited about that because I’ve really been wanting a hip abductor machine. Unfortunately, the only ones I can find are out of my price range for now. I thought I was settling when I got this machine instead, but no – with a lil jury rigging I can thoroughly work out my abductors with something more than resistance bands.The machine itself: because someone who knew what they were doing assembled it (in an hour) it’s as sound as I could hope for. Is it gym-grade quality? No, but it’s not designed for dozens of people to be using it everyday. It’s lightweight enough that I can easily drag it or lift an end and move it. It doesn’t sit exactly flush on the floor when unoccupied, but when I’m using it there’s no problem with it teetering or rocking. The foot pads move smoothly and quietly, no lubricant needed – at least for now that’s not an issue.Only cons: I wish the foot pads were a lil higher up. When lowering the weight I sometimes mis-gauged the distance and brought the weight fully down, thus killing my time under tension. But this is a simple learning curve and over time I’ll adapt. Secondly, the loading dock is geared for one inch plates and mine are two inch. Fine for now, but once I’m strong enough to add plates over ten pounds (or load up more than two plates at a time) I’ll have to buy an Olympic adapter sleeve. Not a big deal. For all the pros this machine has, I’ll settle for a couple of cons.And those who wonder if you can use this as a leg press, too? No. The way the foot pads are angled back all the tension will be on the balls of your feet – no way to place your feet flat. I tried it anyway and felt zero pull in my quads. However, it might actually help with working on my nonexistent calves??If looking to improve your home gym and you’re a beginner (or even intermediate) user you really can’t go wrong with this machine, especially for the price. It’s going to be perfect in helping me strengthen my glutes, hips and hamstrings.
