Marcy Dual Functioning Body Fitness Workout 150 Pound Stack Home Gym System with Adjustable Preacher Curler Pad and Overhead Lat Station, White/Black

10 reviews for Marcy Dual Functioning Body Fitness Workout 150 Pound Stack Home Gym System with Adjustable Preacher Curler Pad and Overhead Lat Station, White/Black

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   zeke – 17 February 2018

   
   This is an update to the original review:After using this home gym for about a month and a half, I can say I am pretty much completely happy with it. The exercises I can do on the machine are a good complement to those I do with dumbbells. Everything works, it feels solid in use, and there are no show stoppers in terms of size or any other aspect. One complaint I read about after my initial review is that the chest press handles get in the way when doing the fly exercise, but that is not a problem for me. At 5’11 180 I’m not small, but I’m not especially barrel chested, nor do I have ginormous pecs, so I can see how for a larger individual it could be an issue.——————————————–I bought this gym to use for exercises I can’t easily duplicate with hand weights. After using it for a couple of weeks, my impressions are mostly good. I have not used any other home gym before, so my only point of comparison is with commercial grade machines, and the Marcy does seem a bit cheesy by comparison. However, my guess is that it is at least comparable to other home products at a similar price. I wouldn’t suppose this product will stand up to 20 years of frequent use, but then again, neither will I. 🙂 For the money (which was $400 when I bought it) I think it is most likely a decent value.As you have probably read, assembly of this gym isn’t exactly trivial. If you are at all mechanically inclined, you won’t find it difficult, but it is time consuming. The diagrams are reasonably clear, but they could be better. Four hours is probably a good estimate. All the parts were there, and everything fit together well. The one construction issue I had was that the swing arm for the chest press and butterfly station does not align perfectly with the frame, and therefore the rubber bumper it rests against. However, it is close enough to not cause a problem. If I had noticed it before I assembled everything, I may have been able to bend the pivot plates at the top a bit with a mallet before mounting if I wanted it to fit better. In terms of tools, the required allen keys are supplied, but you will need wrenches (and maybe that mallet 😉 ). I used a socket, a box end, and a small adjustable wrench. One suggestion I saw in another review is that you should make sure you string the cables thru the pulleys as you install them, and that was in fact helpful.The main quality issue I have had was with a pivoting pulley bracket, which broke in two the first time I tried to use the machine. I contacted Marcy thru their web site, and they responded quickly, sending a replacement thru the mail. If you are concerned about quality, you might want to check warranty periods when comparing products. The Marcy is 2 years. I saw a similar Gold’s gym product with a warranty of only 90 days(??) and I believe I’ve seen other gyms with 5 years or more, but I don’t recall it they were more expensive.Others have commented on the size, and I believe I’ve seen responses from Marcy that it was designed for people 6’3″ or less. I am 5’11” (I think I have shorter than average arms and longer than average legs for my size) and it fits me fine, but I can see how the lat pull-down would not allow full range of motion if you were much taller. On the other hand, as far as I can tell, the size is comparable to other similar products, which are designed to be compact.One note about the weight – the resistance range noted in the manual is 30-160 lbs in 10 lb increments for most exercises. That is with 1-14 plates in use. The chest press allows up to 200 lbs in 13 lb increments.The system comes with a couple of “quick links” with a threaded closure for attaching the foot strap and lat/curl bar. I bought a couple of spring links so I wouldn’t have to deal with the threaded rings each time I changed attachments.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Rob T – 1 September 2024

   
   So it took me about 4 hours to put this together by myself. Probably could have done it faster with help, but also less arguing, so it’s a win in my book. Since I got it assembled I’ve used it daily and it’s holding up well. You’ll want to get some attachments beyond what comes with it, and get some carabiners and a little bit of chain. Overall very happy with it. Supplement it with dumbbells and a separate bench and you’ve got a very nice little home gym.

3. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Eric S – 20 August 2020

   
   I just did a first workout after putting this together, so I can’t comment on durability. I should also say I’ve had another home gym for about 15 years that currently costs about 4X as much. This machine goes together well, but you should be aware that the instructions don’t offer any discussion of “how” to assemble the gym. I found that it’s important not to over-tighten the nuts and bolts to avoid crushing the relatively (compared to my more expensive one) thin square tubing that the main parts of the gym is constructed of. The cables are also comparatively thin and will probably need to be replaced occasionally (I’ve replaced the ones on my other gym once in 15 years). The Marcy gym does offer quite a bit of resistance and seems pretty solid. However, the seat and back rest are not adjustable at all. I’m 6 ft tall and find it hard to achieve full range of motion for many of the exercises, and the position of my hands for the chest press is lower than I would prefer. The gym comes with only one bent bar for curling/lats etc as others have mentioned, although it is not too hard to switch it from one station to another, especially if you leave the two chain clips open. The instructions recommend standing on the plate at the front of the gym to prevent it from tipping backward when doing shoulder lifts or curls. Again, I found this awkward, and the angle of the chain/cable then ends up banging the chain stop against the top of the preacher curl support. I put a heavy weight under the seat to solve this issue, but it would have been nice if the bottom support piece had longer extensions rearward to prevent the machine from tipping backward instead. The gym also seem a little easy to tip side to side, so it would be good not to let small children play with it or climb on it. The chain rubs against the preacher curl pad when I used it for curls, so I will probably just buy another bent bar and some free weights if I really want to do preacher curls. Despite my criticism, it fits my girlfriend and her son very well (they are not as tall as I am) and I expect to get a decent workout with it when I don’t have access to my other one. So overall, a decent bang for the buck. If it holds up, I will update this.

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   HAF – 6 September 2024

   
   This is a multi exercise machine to have at home. It cost me $500. and arrived quickly at my home. I set aside a Saturday to put the thing together. If your not mechanically inclined I don’t recommend as it came in what seemed a thousand pieces. However, once I got it all together and setup I have enjoyed using it. It is a great value for the price.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   ePortel PC Systems – 6 June 2022

   
   I’ve been working out with a gym since I was 24 years old and now 51.I’ve had a Pro-From gym similar to this Marcy product and also had a huge Leverage type of gym that used free weights with no pulleys. It was recommended to try a BowFlex gym. There is no comparison at all between this type of gym and a BowFlex. I don’t like the BowFlex at all. There is no structure to a BowFlex. I mean no pivot point…no references to the method an exercise is executed. With a gym like the Marcy you have a bolted together structure where you’re pushing or pulling actual weight (not resistance) and the part of the gym you are touching and using to execute your workout is part of the machine. This makes a huge difference in the effectiveness in your workout. The exercises are focused on the muscles because the way the machine works. This is not the case with a design like the BowFlex. The BowFlex has no structure when it comes to what you use to do execute the exercise. It’s just long cables connected to flex rods through a pully. As you’re doing the exercises you’re not able to focus on just the muscle group target because you also have to provide the stability because the cables with the handles are flailing all over the place. Again…no structure…so BowFlex was a NO GO for me.Due to a life change, relocating, etc. I haven’t worked out in 2.5 years. I sold the Leverage type gym because it simply wouldn’t fit in the space available. I’ve been wanting to get another gym for the last two years. I looked into many brands here in Amazon and other vendors. The Marcy seem to offer more than the others for less money but also seemed to be better built.What I’m about to say is so incredibly rare for me to feel this…but this Marcy product actually exceeded my expectations! Go figured! I can’t recall the last time anything exceeded my expectation but it’s true.The build quality is excellent. FAR better than a lot of other more popular products like Golds Gym products. Beefy built quality for sure. It was built a bit stronger than the Pro-Form gym I had in the 90s.It’s very smooth in it’s operation with nice and easy cable adjustments for tension. I’m sure the cables will stretch a bit but it’s no problem with the design to tighten them up.This is the very first gym that I actually can use for biceps curling. I was never able to use any gym I’ve had in the past for this. I always used dumb bells but the lower pulley with the chain a V-Bar (not included) and the declined forearm rest pad worked amazing well!Really it offer nearly everything that one needs to get a full workout. Since this is a pulley/cable type of gym the weight plates (10 pounds each) doesn’t tell the whole story of what you’re actually lifting. There is a simple chart on the last page of the manual that indicates what each weight plate is at each “station” which of course depends on the combination of the pulleys it’s going through. I have to say I do miss the weight plate/pulley/cable type of gym. It’s so much faster and easier switching weights between exercises and far better for a gym that is used by more than one person in a family.One note here; I have purchased this gym but haven’t received it yet. My brother also bought one and I was staying at his house out of state and was able to help assemble it and use it.Two things I added to this gym was the V-Bar cable attachment which was amazing for dual bicep curl using the forearm pad that comes with this Marcy product. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08NP8WW27/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1And padded foam grips for the chest press handles as I have found even with padded workout gloves it’s still a bit painful on the palms. This set (2) of foam grips slides on to the U shaped handles for the chest press exercise. Use some hair spray and slid them onto the U shaped handles before assembly. BIG difference in comfort.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PMCV6MR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   SCUBA – 11 September 2024

   
   This gym arrived quickly and with all parts needed to assemble. Assembly took me 3 hours by myself and all parts arrived at the same time. I’ve been using it for a week now and everything is working great. There are many different workouts you can do and plenty of weight for a home gym.

7. 

   Rated 1 out of 5

   rcw – 6 December 2018

   
   I’d make sure I knew exactly what I’m getting from Marcy before ordering. The video on this product, provided by Marcy and calling out the MWM-990 model number, doesn’t come with the curling bar shown in their own video. Even though the model number is referenced and the very first exercise demonstrated in the video is curling utilizing the short curling bar, mine arrived without the bar. Now, it does come with the curling pad but that is completely useless without the bar but and even though the video shows it, Marcy customer service says this model doesn’t come with it and they refuse to supply it. Of course they’ll send it for an additional $15 plus shipping and god knows how much handling. Just so I can get a part clearly shown in the promotional video. I refuse. I’ve had multiple go rounds with Marcy and they don’t care that I’m dissatisfied, refuse to even discuss the video and don’t care that I filed a complaint with the Pomona, CA BBB, which has a number of unresolved complaints against Marcy. My issue is yet to be resolved to my satisfaction and likely never will be. I’d recommend finding a gym produced by a company that doesn’t use a video to perpetuate a bait and switch. Every time I’ve contacted them they refer me to a parts manual that you don’t have until you get the gym and refuse to discuss anything about their video. Had I realized this before I was 75% done with assembling it, I would have returned it. Order at your own risk.Update 12/12/2018After taking the steps noted in the original review Marcy finally provided a curling bar. That said, they haven’t removed references in the description regarding the curling pad (which would naturally lead you to believe a curling bar is included) and they haven’t updated the video. But they did finally send me the bar. While I do find the gym adequate for my purposes, due to the fact I had to take as much action as I did just to get a $15 part that’s clearly referenced in their materials, I can’t say my opinion of Marcy has changed all that much. I did finally get what I believed I was purchasing from the start, it was only after I forced the issue and took the steps I told them I would. It would have been much easier just to have paid for the part but as I told Marcy, it is the principle not the money. I maintain you should check with Marcy to determine what is included with your gym as the videos and descriptions may lead you to believe you’re ordering something they don’t intend to supply.

8. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Ivy Reisner – 14 August 2017

   
   You can do a lot with this machine, but it can be a little fiddly to set up. It took so long, I regretted not convincing my roommate we could just do

   You Are Your Own Gym: The Bible of Bodyweight Exercises

   or

   Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness-Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength

   instead. But staying with it was worth it. It’s a nice home gym.First potential issue. Pay attention to when it says tighten and when it says not to. When you put on the central pole (step 2 or 3) you don’t tighten it. If you do, step 4 will be impossible. Step 4 may look impossible anyway, because the rear poles will be too low. You have to pull the middle pole forward with one hand, push the rear poles back with another hand, line up the top bar with a third hand, and set up the screws with a fourth. Yeah, it’s a good idea to have two people for this stage. And yes, there is a stage where a pully looks like it’s just hanging down connected to pretty much nothing. Go with that for the moment. Also, don’t make anything too tight.They give you exactly the number of screws, nuts, and washers you need and not a single screw more. Don’t lose one.You will need a pair of adjustable wrenches. They are not included.The lateral bar is on what for me seems like too long a chain (even my roommate at 5′ tall found it too long) so I would suggest shortening it with the simple expedient of connecting to a lower link. You can always let it back out if you need. You’re going to move that bar around from the top to the bottom. There is only one bar provided for both. You will need to use the same carabiner for the bar and for the ankle cuff. I may pick up a spare for convenience sake, but it isn’t strictly needed.There is a child safety lock provided, which I thought was a nice idea.In use, it provides me enough flexibility I’m happy with it. It provides a chart of how to do each exercise and what each exercise works. I love the lateral pull downs (a good exercise to work up to chin-ups) and that machine always has a line at the gym. No long line for a machine in my living room.It is small enough I was able to sequester it to a discrete corner of the living room, which is important for an apartment dweller, and it looks fine there. It is large enough to work out on comfortably, but here I’ll give the caveat, it’s being used by two relatively small women. I don’t know if a fairly tall man will find the unit large enough. It might be fine; I just don’t know and would be concerned.There are a lot of options, but most involve using the same thing in different ways (pulling the lat bar behind you, standing and facing the lat bar, puling the lat bar to your chest, etc, etc) so I’ll just describe what moves in what way.You have an overhead lat bar. You can pull it down.You have two grips. You can insert a pin and move them forward. You can remove the pin for butterfly presses.You have a leg bar that you can move up.You have a ring at the bottom that can be connected to an included ankle cuff or the lat bar. You can pull it away from the bottom front center of the machine.Within that, you have a lot of options, and you will be able to hit every muscle group.

9. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Ian Sutton – 21 September 2024

   
   some of the dimensions are a little odd and using the butterfly setup feels very off with how the bar is designed. but there is no doubt you can easily get in a good workout with this device and target specific muscle groups.My primary gripe is the Weight Ratio Estimate for each pulley in the manual is VERY VERY FAR OFF for the press and butterfly. I set it to the 10th weight in the manual it says 148lbs. but was surprised how heavy it was. i did a narrow pushup on my scale and it read 150-160 lbs through the whole motion. but i feel like i was lifting maybe 75 lbs less when doing a pushup than when i was doing the press pulley. I’m likely going to buy a heavy duty crane scale and measure the weight of each setup and make a new cheat-sheet that is actually accurate.Had to take a star off because of this because someone could get hurt by trying to lift what they know they can easily handle but it ends up being far heavier than estimated.

10. 

    Rated 4 out of 5

    Devin L. Cutler – 10 July 2022

    
    Look, you get what you pay for. The question is, at this low price point, what are you getting? You are not getting the same experience as a multi thousand-dollar piece of equipment like you will find at the gym. What you are getting is a very reasonably priced home gym that will let you do a moderate work out in the comfort of your home.I put the piece together in two evening session of about 2-3 hours each. I tend to go very slowly and methodically in order not to mess up, and the instructions were decently clear, with a few items requiring some intuition or guesswork regarding precise positioning or facing. But I am by no means very handy or crafty, and if I could do it, anyone should be able to if they do it carefully.The machine will basically accommodate up to 150 pounds of weightlifting. The numbers on the weights are 1-14, because the always attached initial weight is 10 pounds, so setting the weight bar at 14 means 14 x 10 lb weights plus the initial weight for a total of 150 lbs. Would have been nice for them to include actual pounds rather than just numbers that are off by 1, but that’s a minor quibble.The literature says not for people over 300 lbs in weight, and I would agree with that. No, the machine is not likely to collapse if you are 310 lbs, but you might not easily fit into the seat with some exercises, like the pectoral fly. At 250 lbs, the bars for the pectoral fly graze my stomach. A bigger guy would not really be able to do that exercise.I have a few quibbles with the machine, that lowered the rating by 1 star:#1) If you only are using the initial 10 lbs weight (which I do to warm up) and you fully deploy the exercise apparatus, you can pull the guide bar right out from the hole in the middle of the weight stack. It’s not a big deal, and it has only happened when I am at 10 lbs for warm up, but you have to stop and go behind the machine and put the rod back into the weight stack, or remember not to deploy the last 5% at that weight. They should have made the rod an inch longer.#2) If you are doing exercises at 20 lbs (i.e., the initial weight plus the first stacked weight), the pin holding your 20 lbs of weights will tend to scooch out as you exercise because there is not enough weight on top of it to hold it into place. This can result in the pin contacting the side walls of the weight stack, causing the stack to get stuck. You then have to go behind the unit and push the pin back in. This only happens using 20 lbs of weight (any more and the pin is held in place firmly) if you are exercising vigourously. Nevertheless, it is a pain to deal with.#3) The attachments like the bar and the grip are held to the unit or the chain by clamps that screw and unscrew. This means that every time you want to change the apparatus being used, you have to unscrew the clamp, pull it out, put in the new device, and then screw it back in. That really interrupts the flow of a workout. I eventually just ordered normal carabiner clips and those make switching apparatus so much quicker and easier.That said, I am happy with my purchase. If you are on a budget and don’t need intense workouts, then this machine is probably the right one for you.