FUNCTIONAL TRAINER.

A weight stack has two virtues that free weights can't offer: it makes training alone safe, and it adjusts in a second between sets. On a functional trainer, the cable adds a third dimension: movement stays free in every plane, and the path follows your build rather than a rail. It's the machine that lets a beginner train safely and an experienced lifter train with precision, on the same station.

Two weight stacks, two pulleys adjustable over the full height. Our dual-pulley functional trainer covers the essentials of cable work on its own: pulls, presses, raises, unilateral core work. The Elite version goes up to 2 × 120 kg of stack weight with two independent columns, for gyms where one user follows another. And the dual cable cross adds fully adjustable arms and a 2:1 cable ratio: the load you feel is half the stack, and the cable travels twice as fast. The tool for long-range, explosive movements.

The two-column cable crossover sets its pulleys face to face on a crossmember with a built-in pull-up bar: crossovers and flys along their natural line, and a frame that gives the zone its structure. By contrast, the articulating-arm functional trainer condenses cable work into a single central column: it's our most compact format, the one that finds its place in a home gym that's already furnished.

When square metres count, do the maths per station rather than per machine. The functional trainer rack combines pulleys and a squat rack. The multi-station Smith machine brings nine stations together on one footprint: Smith, dual pulley, rack and the rest of your guided work. The compact multi-station Smith condenses the same idea into three stations: guided Smith bar, squat rack and adjustable dual pulley at 2 × 120 kg. The MAX multi-station squat rack takes the logic to six machines in 3.5 m² of floor space, counterbalanced Smith included. For a studio or a corporate space, a single one of these structures replaces a row of machines: your budget goes into load and durability rather than redundant steel.

Three questions are enough. How much space: allow for the machine's footprint plus a metre of working room in front of each pulley. Who's training: a household can make do with a single column or a dual pulley, while a gym chooses independent columns so two people can train at the same time. What kind of work: range and speed call for the 2:1 ratio of the dual cable cross, while raw strength prefers the direct pull of a classic dual pulley. If in doubt, tell us about your space: we recommend the right format, with plans to back it up, and you can build the rest of your floor from our strength machines page.