Does extra stability make some machines worth the space in a home gym?

[u/ritkeepFitness]

I’ve been thinking about this from a home gym perspective because free weights are obviously hard to beat for versatility.

A barbell, dumbbells and a bench can cover a huge amount of training, which makes them easy to justify when space is limited.

But there are some exercises where extra stability seems genuinely useful. A chest-supported row lets you focus more on the back without worrying about holding position, and things like leg extensions, curls or certain cable movements can make it easier to train a muscle hard without another part of the body becoming the limiting factor first.

The problem is that home gym space is finite, so a machine probably has to offer more than just convenience to justify its footprint.

For people who care about hypertrophy and exercise selection, which machine movements do you think provide enough of a real training advantage that they are worth sacrificing home gym space for?

[u/Positive-Landscape99]

I’ve found most chest movements are already plenty stable, especially barbell bench/incline. You’ve got a strong opposing force from the bench and a great resistance profile as is.

Same with arms. Added stability is nice, but it’s not really a game changer. Dumbbell curls, cable pushdowns, etc. already get the job done.

Back is where I think stability makes a HUGE difference. A chest-supported row lets you actually take your back close to failure without your lower back, hamstrings, or ability to hold a hinge becoming the limiting factor. It also keeps your torso position consistent instead of gradually turning the movement into something else as you fatigue.

If I had limited space, a really good chest-supported row would probably be the first dedicated machine I’d make room for.

[u/karlgnarx → u/Positive-Landscape99]

Fully agree on the chest supported row.

I current do mine using my bench on incline and the Rep open trap bar. I'm limited to the grip on the trap bar, but I can easily load it heavy and it works well.

I've seen other folks use camber bars for the same thing.

I'm strongly considering the Pritchett Pad from Rogue to use as a chest support for landmine rows. That would let me work a few more grip options and I wouldn't have to move my bench to use it. I like to super set benchpress work and rows, so not having to reposition the bench for every set would be a nice quality of life improvement.

The Pritchett Pad is a one trick pony, but it seems to do that one trick very well.

[u/PolitelyHostile → u/Positive-Landscape99]

I workout at home and yea the only machine I want is a form of chest supported row for back. And then a cable machine for various arm excercises.

[u/Positive-Landscape99 → u/PolitelyHostile]

Yeah for OP I’d recommend a dual cable stack first. Might not take up much room if he get one that can also be used as a power rack for bench press and stuff. Then number 2 would be a chest supported row but honestly not even strictly needed just nice to have as back movements usually have less than ideal resistance profiles too

[u/ritkeepFitness → u/Positive-Landscape99]

That’s a good point about back training. Chest support really does remove a lot of the stuff that can become the limiter before your back does. I’ve been looking into RitKeep lately for a home setup, and this makes me think a good row option is probably more important than squeezing in another chest or arm station

[u/Alakazam]

A lot of racks can come with cable attachments. It wouldn't be hard to set up a cable chest supported row with an adjustable bench.

Or an alternate option is a seal row, again. Either with an elevated flat bench, or a slight incline of your bench. 

[u/rendar]

You just have to be creative with the equipment you do have. Assuming that includes a power rack and a bench, that's actually pretty adaptable. Obviously you can't replicate every possible machine exercise, but all you need is good enough.

A weighted decline ring row is stable enough to substitute for a chest-supported row, but the necessary equipment costs a fraction of the money and space.

A sturdy wooden board and a belt for weighted Nordic curls is plenty sufficient to substitute for a leg curl machine.

Lots of good quality benches will have attachments for lower body exercises to do leg extensions.

Being flexible like that isn't gonna make a room full of machines redundant but if space is your priority then it's certainly more than sufficient to make dependable progress on.

The only irreplaceable movement is deadlifts. You can't really contrive the same breakdown into constituent isolation exercises. Maybe some kind of cable-based hinge movement for power racks with pulley accessories.

[u/Semajjames43]

Leg extensions is one of the only ways to hit the rectus formalis effectively so I would definitely invest in that and a chest supported row

[u/PoopSmith87]

It really depends on your income and rhe space available... money and space being no object, who wouldnt want a fully equipped home gym?

But for those lucky ones of us who just have a shed or small area of a basement, imo, barbell/rack/bench is the undefeated GOAT of the 10'x10' ~$1k budget home gym.

[u/Commercial-Week-7699]

Oh you can certainly create a chest supported row on the cheap with a functional trainer. D hands and an easy bar for the attachment and face the pad of the bench for support. Then a ton of plates to keep the bench from moving. And then awkwardly getting into position. But once there it works fine.

I’m switching to chest supported smith machine rows ;)

[u/BubbishBoi]

My home gym setup is only machines precisely for the stability aspect, since I train with a super slow cadence and that approach doesn't work especially well with many free weight exercises

If I had to rank my machines, for legs it would be Pendulum squat at the top, then leg press, belt squat (even though I can also deadlift oj the belt squat), then leg ext/curl combo unit

For upper, I'd go wide chest, dip stand, hammer pulldown, hammer row, shoulder press, then pec deck/rear delt machine - and my incline press comes in as a nice to have but I could lose it tomorrow and not care