GR8FLEX 2026 Limited Edition High Performance Gym with Total Over 100 Workout Exercises Included with Storage Bin and Upgrades (Carbon Fiber Black Model)

I have owned many iterations of the Total Gym and was nervous about straying but because I have a number of commercial pieces of equipment in my home gym I did not want to spend a large sum on a product that whilst very versatile is used for specific reasons. The GR8Flex in my opinion is far more sturdy than more expensive versions of the competitor, comes with a great array of attachments and has a lifetime warranty. The product arrived in a timely fashion and in good condition, the attached wheels make it easy to manoeuvre but it is a surprisingly heavy machine so opening it out for initial setting up is an adventure.

The GR8FLEX Performance Gym is a very worthwhile piece of exercise equipment. Having a fair amount of experience on these types of 'sliding bench' apparatuses, I have very positive opinions about this one. Nothing wrong with the main competitor (Total Gym), but a lot of what you're paying for is their never-ending advertising campaign, whether it’s those 30-minute infomercials or basic 30-second TV ads. The Gr8flex delivers a superb machine along with a bunch of accessories, for a lot less money. I'd read the reviews here on Amazon and saw only a handful were negative, mostly regarding scratches and dents and some even having mold. Thankfully, mine arrived in perfect condition, save for a wee bit of oxidation on the ends of the glide rails. (A quick wipe with a wet towel took care of that.) Everything else was pristine and packed securely. One thing to note with mine is that the bench pad itself was NOT encased in plastic like so many other reviewers have complained about in the past, so maybe they've re-thought their approach. Opened it up and extended the machine for use, and set it up, all without the instruction manual. (I couldn't find it at first, only later did I notice it in the package with the floor mats.) Easy enough with my previous experience with these machines, though. The machine itself is fully assembled, but you do have to clip on the pulleys & cable, then the handles. And of course any attachments you may want to use for certain exercises. The motions are smooth and slick, no roughness. It is not silent, but neither is it noisy. The bench has a decent amount of padding, not too firm nor too soft. The handles have a softer grip compared to other brands I've used, but that's just an observation, not a complaint. As far as adjusting the tower height to change resistance, it is relatively easy and smooth, but does take a little effort. Others have complained that it is very hard to move up or down, but I did not experience that issue. Make sure you have pulled the yellow knob all the way out and it should move just fine. Spent the first 25 minutes or so just running through a bunch of different exercises, getting a feel for each and mentally noting how the resistance/motion felt in comparison to my Total Gym and Weider Ultimate Body Works. The Gr8flex is as smooth or smoother than the TG, and just as stable. (The Weider is a more budget-friendly knockoff, so as expected, it is a notch below in both categories. Still delivers a good workout, though.) The biggest bonus the GR8FLEX offers is the inclusion of the resistance cords. Without having to raise the angle of the platform, you can still increase the resistance simply by adding one or more of the (2)10-lb or (2)15-lb cords mounted underneath the bench. I will admit these can be a little difficult to place them back in their respective slots when detaching them. (Otherwise, they will drag along the ground when not connected). That is one area for improvement, IMO. But the fact that they're there adds another dynamic to the workout, and I'm very pleased to have that option. The included attachments consist of: Wing bars (for pull-ups & push-ups, leg curls), dip bars, ab-crunch bars, leg pulley system, and the EZ-curl bar. The last one is extremely valuable when needing to add some variety to all of the standard exercises normally done with the two handles. Also comes with an oversized squat stand, floor mats, and a cellphone holder. (Note: the cellphone holder would not screw into the designated hole…it wasn’t machined properly.) All in all, the GR8FLEX is a remarkable machine. No, it's not inexpensive, but in all honesty it's priced accordingly here on Amazon. In my opinion, all of these sliding bench machines are somewhat overpriced (some a lot more than others), but that's the market and I don't mind paying for quality. This top GF model is less than half of the price of the top TG model. I've always worked out 6-7 days a week, so we'll see if it's up to the rigors I'll put it through over time. As I’d mentioned earlier, there's nothing wrong with the main competition, but for a lot less money and with a lot more accessories, the GR8FLEX wins out. (I've since sold off my Total Gym and gave the Body Works to my daughter.)

The assembly would have been easier had there been more detailed instructions and the video used is too quick and not close up or detailed enough to see the parts and how they are assembled. I am mechanically inclined, and after careful and repeated reviews on manual and videos, I figured it out well enough. Most users will be frustrated with assembly. It has to do more with where the items attach and routing of cables, and how the pull knobs on the upright are positioned. Overall, there's not much to assemble, but it could be much better in detail and close-up views. The overall machine is of very good quality. I feel I got a great value for this machine especially after considering paying for a competitor that is double the cost and not half the accessories this unit has. I am very pleased with my purchase!!! There were only 2 issues I had. 1) Missing safety pin for upright. Contacted Gr8flex, they responded quickly and they are sending replacement. 2) The threaded hole in the upright frame where the cell phone holder stud screws in was stripped. A small wrench was supplied to tighten the stud, but I didn't have to use it since as I was screwing it in by hand, it just kept turning, and I could not get it to tighten. I believe the threads were stripped already. Anyway, this is not a deal-breaker by any means. I put a bit of thread-lock on it and it is fine now. All I have to do is take the cell phone holder off the threaded stud when collapsing the unit for storage. I love this machine, and it has a LIFETIME WARRANTY! This is huge, and it shows they stand behind their product and proves it is quality.

I like this machine a lot. It's very sturdy and fun to use. It was a little hard to figure out how to open it up the first time but now that it's open it's very easy to use the attachments. GR8FLEX has a whole series of You Tube videos that show how to open and close it, use the attachments, and exercises. The sliding board is very smooth. I decided to get the GR8FLEX after watching the review Total Gym vs GR8FLEX on You Tube. It compared very favorable with the total gym in every way. By the way, the review cites one of the negatives as having a cloth bench. It does not have a cloth bench, it's vinyl. When the GR8FLEX arrived, we had a problem sliding the carriage up the numbered post. It was jammed way down at the bottom. We got in touch with the company via email and they responded in a couple hours. They asked us to send a picture and a description of the problem and after we did that, they said they'd ship us a new one right away. It's a huge, heavy piece but they sent it out right away and we got it just about 5 days after we contacted them. The support rep was very helpful. Since we knew a new one was on the way, we got brave experimenting with trying to get it to work. We turned it upside down and put a piece of a 2x4 across the bottom of the sliding carriage and bashed on it with a hammer. After a few good hits, the carriage came unstuck. It seems like it got jammed down too far at some point during shipping. I've definitely been recommending this to friends. When I compare the features and price to the total gym, there's no comparison. I see that now Total Gym is offering a model with a similar price. It's missing some of the accessories (like a bar) and it only has 10 levels of resistance. The problem with having fewer levels is that as you want to move to more difficult levels, you have a much bigger jump in difficulty so it's hard to increase a little at a time. GR8FLEX 15 levels is much better.

Lugging this thing in the house is not very easy. Use a dolly if you can or have another person there to help It's 114 pounds but the box was surprising compact. Setting it up is fairly straightforward with the added hassle of the plastic around the sliding bench that pretty much everyone here has mentioned. I think I used a size 5 allen key wrench to take off the bolts and a #1 screw driver to take off the screws that hold the decorative guard on the bench. One of the reviews has pictures of mold or something extra under the plastic on the back of the bench and unfortunately mine had the same. There wasn't any scuffed paint or damage to the frame but damn was I disappointed that there was some sort of mold or residue inside the plastic bag. I put on some gloves, a mask, got some vinegar and water and a sponge and slowly wiped it away. I didn't notice a smell other than the new plastic smell and the sponge got 98% of it off. I wiped it again and sprayed some lysol all over the back and wiped the front with some clorox wipes. I'm not an expert and this could be extremely dangerous to do if it is in fact some sort of toxic mold but I haven't suffered any ill effects of doing this and so far it hasn't resurfaced. Also that plastic guard that also attaches to the bottom of the bench to make it look 'neater' is some of the cheapest plastic I've ever seen. It's really bad. It might look okay but I left it off as it's not adding any support and 'is a possible pinch point'. There is also a plastic film to protect it from being scratched but it might as well be part of the plastic because man is it hard to get off. Not worth it in my opinion. It's going in the trash with the rest of the plastic bags that come with it. For the actual set up and use of the machine. It's pretty straight forward. It's very sturdy. It's longer when laid out and took up more floor space than I anticipated but nothing a little re-arranging can't fix. It glides smoothly and feels pretty comfortable using it. The cables and handles appear to be a very good quality and I haven't had any issues with adjusting the height or folding it up. I used to have that other brand of machine a long time ago and missed using it and this is definitely worth the price for what you get. The squat pad is massive! The little booklet that has examples of workouts is fine. There's a handful of exercises but not a lot but you can totally find more examples online. There's also a couple that are mislabeled; a 'leg workout' that is clearly a oblique exercise. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the product and am excited to use it and you pay almost 1/10th of the price you'd pay for the equivalent of the other brand. If anyone can identify the mysterious growth in my picture that would be pretty cool too. I haven't seen any responses from the seller/manufacturer here and couldn't really find anything substantial on google. Just because I didn't get sick (yet) from it doesn't mean someone else won't.