Introduction

CAVEAT: This article is based upon my INITIAL impressions for the Speediance Gym Monster 2. At the time of writing this I have used the product for and 2 weeks. It will be updated once I use for a longer duration.

The Speediance Gym Monster 2 is an all-in-one – compact digital gym – with essentially what is a built-in personal trainer. The product MIGHT BE perfect for those who are:

Limited on space
Want to take the guess work out of getting into and staying in shape, and/or
Want to level up with the benefits of digital, magnetic resistance – allowing you to do things that you cannot do with analog resistance from Barbells, Dumbbells, or Cable Pulley systems.

Initial Concerns Alleviated

Just so you know, 5 months ago, Speediance reached out to me to review their product, and while I was intrigued – I turned them down. For several reasons:

CONCERN 1: DIGITAL RESISTANCE? -- I was not sold on digital resistance. My barbells and dumbbells, and cable/pulley systems never have to be plugged in or charged. So why would I want this?
CONCERN 2: NOT CHALLENGING ENOUGH? -- Concerns that the products was just for “beginners,” and that it could not challenge me.
CONCERN 3: BAD QUALITY? -- I had no idea if this was going to be a quality product – or made from cheap, inferior materials propped up by good marketing and photoshopped images. I had tried a TONAL before, and I was very impressed it. However, the Gym Monster 2 is less expensive than the Tonal. Therefore, I was concerned that the Gym Monster2 was of a significant lower quality.

HOWEVER, months later, I attended Home Gym 2025 in Louisville, Kentucky. Speediance was one of the vendors. While there, was able to use the product first hand. This experience completely changed my mind, and alleviated all of those initial concerns.

CONCERN 1: DIGITAL RESISTANCE? -- I love it. It has the following resistance modes: Standard, Chains, Eccentric, Fixed Speed, that Monster 2 which typical cables/pulley systems and weight plates cannot offer. I will explain each one of these modes later in the video.
CONCERN 2: NOT CHALLENGING ENOUGH? -- Is it just for beginners? Absolutely not. The very first workout I did on it made me a believer. It pushes you further because you cannot cheat like you can with analog resistance. It counts the reps in real-time, monitoring the force output and keeping you constantly engaged on each and every rep – pushing you to go as hard as you can.
CONCERN 3: BAD QUALITY? -- The product itself is much higher quality than I assumed it would be – and far exceeded my initial expectations. The materials used – even down to the speaker system - are much nicer than I expected them to be.

Different Packages

The product can be purchased in 4 different packages:

My recommendation:

I would personally go with either the “Works Plus” package or the “Family Plus” package. I personally have the “Family Plus” package. Having the Adjustable bench is crucial to be able to really leverage the benefits of the product – being able to set the bench’s back pad to an incline is important in my option – and you cannot do this with the flat bench. With the “Family Plus” package – you also get the rower – but if you already have a rower – or just don’t like rowing, then you can skip that and save yourself some money.

Delivery, Unboxing and Assembly

The boxes came on a pallet and were delivered by a freight company. They delivered right to my door. I just had to get it into my basement. It was an incredibly hot day – so I did work up a sweat getting into my basement. While the bench and rower boxes were relatively light weight, the Gym Monster 2 box was huge and heavy. I used dollies to move it.

The packaging was incredible. In fact, it was probably the most well packaged home gym product I have ever received. As a result, each and every item came in pristine condition.

The unit and the bench are pre-assembled – but the rower does require assembly which can be done in about 20 minutes.

It has wheels so that you can move it into position very easily.

Setup is easy. Simply, turn it on, create your account, create your user profile, and get started. You and each one of your family members can create their own user profile, and each person can then track their own workouts.

Operation

There are 11 different Height settings, and up to Up to 220 LBS of resistance.

The resistance level can be managed by the touchscreen – or by the Bluetooth Ring. The Bluetooth Ring allows you to control the screen while you are holding one of the provided attachments such as the barbell. This allows you to drop or increase the weight mid set.

If you are relatively new to having a home gym -- then the Speediance Gym Monster 2 – which currently has 510 guided programmed workouts – can take the intimidation and guesswork out of the equation. The workouts that I have tried so far – are well produced, engaging, enjoyable.

If you are a more advanced lifter or have had a home gym for years, and your home gym already has machines galore, barbells, and dumbbells, and cable pulley systems, etc.….I still think that the Speediance might still be right for you, because electronic resistance offers something that these analog methods of resistance can’t offer.

STANDARD MODE: While using the product in standard mode – it performs much like any cable pulley system – except by having two anchor points – there is some degree of instability between the two sides – and you have to stabilize more than you normally would have to -- as you perform each rep…the screen also monitors you performance of each rep – telling you in real time if you are favoring one side or the other – with the intent that you exert the same force on both sides.

Now here is where it gets interesting:

CHAINS MODE: Much like lifting using chains – the resistance increases during the concentric portion of the movement – because as chain links are picked up off the group the load increases. During the eccentric portion of the movement links in a chain are set on the ground – so the resistance decreases.
ECCENTRIC MODE: In eccentric mode – it is essentially the exact opposite of CHAINS mode. Where the concentric portion is easier, and the eccentric portion is more difficult. Your dumbbells and barbells certainly cannot do this…
FIXED SPEED MODE: The more force you apply, the harder it gets.
ASSIT MODE (2 Levels): In assist mode, if the machine senses that you are going to fail to perform a rep – the product will automatically drop the weight to help you complete the set.
PARTNER MODE: With Partner mode, You and your workout partner can both workout at the same time. You can control each pulley independently of one another.

Best of all there while there are 510 workouts and counting. There is no subscription required – unlike Tonal.

(CURRENT) Verdict?

Is the Speediance Gym Monster 2 the right product for you?

At this point I can’t really steer you towards the product or away from it – because I have not used it long enough. That being said – so far, I am really enjoying it – and to be honest I really needed to shake things up with my training. Lately I have found myself not being focused during workouts – being distracted by my phone – taking too long between sets – and just not pushing myself enough. As of right now – I think that having someone guide me in the workouts – pushing me to make every rep count – might just be the thing to reinvigorate my home gym workouts….IN fact --- I am going to use this for the next 5 weeks – virtually exclusively – over the next 5 weeks, and then I will report back with an in-depth review covering the good and the bad of the product.

Be sure that you are subscribed to the YouTube channel with notifications turned on to be alerted the moment that that full review video drops! DO IT NOW: http://www.youtube.com/@DesignBuildLift

If you have heard enough an want to buy the product with a $90 DISCOUNT use Promo Code “DBL” and CLICK HERE: https://bit.ly/DBL-Speediance-Gym-Monster2

Speediance Gym Monster 2