Multi-Gyms

Buying a home gym or strength station is the perfect all-in-one solution for strength training. In just a few square metres, you can perform more exercises than you might expect, from the chest press to the leg extension. This makes training at home very easy. Some of the best home gyms you can buy are strength stations from brands including Toorx Professional and Centr. View the full collection of home gyms we sell.

Why buy a home gym?

A home gym makes it possible to perform a huge number of fitness exercises in just a few square metres. A strength station with or without a weight stack often gives you more than forty different exercises, all within 2 to 3 square metres. By buying a home gym or strength station, you work on both muscle strength and fitness. When it comes to strength training, the following applies: the more energy you put into it, the more energy you get from it.

Which strength station suits me?

Not sure which home gym to buy? Our team will of course be happy to help. Base your choice mainly on your fitness level and what you expect from a gym in your own home. If you want a Smith machine in addition to the basics, you will quickly end up with an Inspire strength station. If you only want to do the basic exercises, a Finnlo Autark strength station is an excellent alternative. Complete your home fitness setup with a handy set of dumbbells to add even more variation to your training. If you want to work on mobility as well as strength training, we recommend a resistance band. If you prefer to combine strength training with cardio, an exercise bike is an ideal addition that also takes up little space. It is also ideal for a gentle warm-up.

Training with a strength station

Training on a strength station is both convenient and simple. Most of our strength stations have a weight stack, allowing you to select the desired weight easily. Then choose your favourite exercise and start training. In a gym, there is generally little concern about how much space each machine takes up. If you have more limited space, this does need to be considered. That is when it becomes interesting to combine multiple strength stations or exercises in one machine. Conventional strength stations provide all the exercises needed to train your entire body within the space they occupy. A chest press, for example, can be adjusted so it can also be used as a row. While seated, you can perform a lat pulldown above your head, while a separate cable below lets you perform biceps curls or upright rows, for example.

What should you look for when buying a strength station/home gym?

First, it is important to determine exactly how much space you have available. If you want to train at home, think carefully about how many square metres your own gym needs. Besides the dimensions of the machine itself, you also need to account for adjusting the weight and performing the exercises. If you want to work with cables while standing, for example, you also need a few metres in front of the machine to do this properly. Also take the ceiling height into account. Not all rooms in a house are high enough to place and/or assemble a machine. Garages and bedrooms in particular generally have a somewhat lower ceiling. In that case, it is wise to choose a gym with a lower height. Gyms are usually around 210 cm high. There are also lower gyms; see the overview on the home gyms page. This one is only 196 cm high, allowing it to fit in almost any room.

Second, it is important to compare the specifications of different gyms. Consider the maximum load. The higher it is, the higher the quality of the machine. The frame sections, welding and finish all contribute to this. If you plan to train comfortably at home 1 to 2 times per week, a somewhat lighter machine can work perfectly well. If you train more than twice a week, it is certainly wise to consider a heavier and often more expensive machine. These are finished to a higher standard and certainly will not disappoint in the longer term.

Many of our strength stations work with cables. There are also many differences here. The cables on our Inspire strength machines, for example, are considerably smoother and more durable than those on machines from cheaper brands. Almost all cables are tested for tensile strength. With Inspire and Finnlo, these are tested up to no less than 450 kg. This gives you confidence that your gym can take a knock. When assembling the strength machine, you notice how smoothly an Inspire gym cable can be routed over the pulleys. Absolutely the benchmark in strength equipment.

Accessories for your strength station

You can buy a huge number of different accessories for your strength station to give your training a completely new dimension. We all know the familiar lat pulldown bar or row bar, or a triceps rope. These are conventional accessories that let you perform many extra exercises such as biceps curls or triceps pressdowns. Less well known are “weight stack adaptors”. These are small weights cast precisely so they can be placed on top of an existing weight stack. These weights are a fraction of the weight of a standard weight block. This lets you increase or decrease the load slightly so you can perform a few extra repetitions, when increasing the weight by 4.5 or 5 kg would be just too much. Body-Solid and Inspire have their own versions that fit seamlessly on your machine. We also supply accessories such as ab bars. Attach these to the carabiners where you would normally place the lat bar, allowing you to perform ab crunches while seated on your strength station.

There are also various differences among conventional accessories. We supply standard lat pulldown bars, which are often completely solid and therefore weigh around 3 to 4 kg. That already makes a difference of almost an entire weight block in your exercise. This is why we also offer aluminium bars. These weigh less than one kilogram, making the selected weight much more accurate.

Find an overview of all accessories for expanding your gym here.

Assembly tips for your strength station

Your order has arrived. What now? There is probably a pallet full of boxes waiting for you, so where do you start? No worries: every delivery includes an easy-to-follow assembly manual. As long as you follow it carefully step by step, it will work out. We recommend first unpacking everything at your own pace, separating all waste material properly and then getting started. Give yourself both enough space and enough time. Rushing rarely ends well, and that applies here too.

Once everything is ready for assembly, make sure you have the right tools. That is half the work. A good ratchet, a set of open-ended spanners, a set of Allen keys and a Phillips screwdriver will get you a long way. Every gym comes with tools as standard, as you may know from well-known furniture stores. However, we recommend using your own tools. They are much sturdier and really work a lot better and faster. Then follow the first instructions without rushing and especially without improvising. There is a reason for the order of the assembly steps.

Stretch the cables out completely first. The cables are supplied rolled up. Although many cables can certainly handle this, it is advisable to stretch them properly before fitting them. If you do not, they may twist, which can prevent your machine from running smoothly.

Do not tighten all bolts too firmly at the beginning. If you have made a mistake somewhere, it is easier to correct, and when positioning different frame sections you need some play to connect them. Once the entire machine has been assembled correctly, we recommend tightening it properly from bottom to top.

Effective exercises with a strength station

With a strength station, you can mainly perform isolation exercises. This means training only one muscle group per exercise. The advantage is that you have little chance of injury because it is almost impossible to perform the exercise incorrectly. You can imagine that incorrect posture during an overhead walking lunge places more – incorrect – load on your body than incorrect posture during a chest press or lat pulldown with cables and a controlled movement on the strength station. Another advantage is that you can push your limits more easily. If you can no longer move the press arms, quickly lower the weight slightly and press out another 3 to 4 repetitions. Welcome progressive overload and therefore muscle growth.

Benefits of a strength station

The biggest advantage of a strength station has already been mentioned: performing as many different strength exercises as possible within as few square metres as possible. This allows you to train your entire body on one machine. Another benefit is the controlled movement, allowing you to perform the exercise properly and safely. If you want to perform more different exercises, we recommend choosing a strength station with multiple and preferably adjustable pulleys. With a little creativity, this lets you perform a wide range of different exercises.

Maintaining your strength station

There it is. After a few hours of assembly, you are ready to use your own gym. Once you have used it for a few weeks, you will probably understand all the exercises and have built your own training routine. But how do you make sure your strength station can keep up with that routine? A strength station also needs some maintenance. On many machines, you will find the basic maintenance tips on the frame and/or in the manual. Follow these so you can enjoy using your new fitness machine for as long as possible.

The most important tips we can give you from our years of experience as a distributor are:

1. Make sure the machine is assembled correctly. Take your time. No matter how good a cable is, if it is fitted slightly incorrectly and rubs against the pulley, the movement becomes stiffer than normal AND your cable starts to wear. After training, you may then find black debris on the floor; this is the nylon coating from the cable. The cables can be tensioned after assembly.
2. Speaking of cables: fit them reasonably tight. After assembly, you can tension them further, and they will stretch a little after being used a few times. After assembly, our technicians set the weight to maximum and perform a few repetitions; this is often enough to stretch the cables properly. If the cable then hangs slightly too loose, you can adjust it at the indicated point as described in the manual. Check the tension periodically, depending on use certainly every 2 to 3 months.
3. Lubricate the guide rods before first use. Many guide rods come out of the box fairly greasy, but this is certainly not always the case and it is certainly not enough for smooth and optimal use of your strength station. Use only silicone spray or WD-40 for this. Spray a little onto a sheet of kitchen paper, fold it between your hands and lubricate the guide rods thoroughly. Then perform a number of repetitions with weight and the guide rods will be lubricated automatically by the weights.
4. Remove any sweat from your machine and the upholstery after use. If you leave it for too long, it affects the coating or the top layer of the upholstery, causing it to wear.

For further tips on buying, using or maintaining strength stations, you can always contact us. We have been supplying fitness equipment since 1993, so we can provide excellent service.