Buying something using the retail links below may help the blog with a small commission at no additional cost to you.
Greetings, readers! Another week down and we’re already one full month into 2023…the year is already flying by! This week I’m excited to give a review of the cable machine I picked up at the height of COVID Fitness Equipment Tax Season: the Marcy Cable Machine.
Is it amazing? Is it the worst? Well, neither, actually. But the question I’d really like to help you answer is this: “Is it worth my time?”
So without further ado, let’s get into my personal review of the Marcy Cable Machine!
What Is It?
Per the description on Amazon, the Marcy Cable Machine is a home gym that lets you “enjoy efficient training right in the comfort of home”, featuring “an innovative structure that combines arm and leg stations; great for strengthening muscle groups and achieving a comprehensive total-body workout.”
The machine comes with the frame, pulleys, cables, weights, and a few attachments like an EZ Bar for curling/lat pulldowns and a velcro ankle fastener for glute workouts. That’s it – any additional extensions you’d like will have to be purchased separately. I did exactly that and will link them a bit later in the post.
Who Is It For?
I’d honestly recommend this to anyone, but it’s definitely more useful to someone that’s just getting started or is working with limited space. Beginners can use this to get a full-body workout, there’s no question. However I wouldn’t recommend that someone looking to significantly build strength or get huge plan for this as the only equipment they need.
If you’re wanting to “get big” or really push yourself to be strong, this should just be the beginning. Once you have a foundation in place you should look at getting a bench, squat rack, and olympic weights to hit those strength and size goals.
As for the weight lifting veterans, this is definitely still valuable – as a supplemental tool. Your primary pieces of lifting equipment will still the bench, olympic weights, and dumbbells for growth. Instead, this machine allows a person to follow those heavy compound exercises with focused resistance exercises to fully fatigue the muscles.
I use this for almost every workout as a way to burn out my muscles after finishing my compound lifts. I love it for weighted crunches, isolated resistance exercises for bi’s and tri’s, and fully exhausting my chest with presses and flys.
What Was The Setup Like?
Well the delivery was pretty quick, as is always the case with Amazon Prime. The unit came in multiple cardboard boxes and was definitely heavy, so if you’re going down stairs (like I did) I’d recommend grabbing someone to help you (like I didn’t).
After unpacking, setup was relatively straight forward but time consuming. It took me 2-3 hours to get everything in place and working after taking inventory of the parts. Nothing was a surprise, there were just a lot of pieces to work with.
What Else Do I Need?
There are two main extras that I picked up to make sure I could cover all the bases for my workouts.
- Rope attachment for weighted ab crunches, face pulls, tricep extensions, rope curls, etc.
- Close grip attachment for seated rows and pulldowns
These aren’t necessarily required, however they will definitely make your workouts more comprehensive.
All Right, What Are The Cons?
Of course there are some caveats that come with any all-in-one solution. Let’s go through the areas that I wasn’t thrilled with.
- The cable shielding wore through on the leg press in the first year. Since splitting the cable makes a disconcerting sound whenever using that section of the machine. There are no issues with the functionality of the machine as the metal cable is perfectly fine, so it’s not a safety concern. I received no response when I requested a replacement from the manufacturer.
- The cable length doesn’t allow for the full range of motion on some exercises. The full motion for standing cable curls, lat pulldowns, and upright rows results in the weights hitting the frame at the top. I’ve been able to change my positioning to allow for the full range of motion, but I’d definitely prefer to not have to.
- The mechanism that allows for chest flys doesn’t let the bars shift in the other direction to do rear delt flys. I love to do resistance training for rear delts, so this is a really unfortunate one for me.
Not a whole lot to complain about, to be honest. Overall I think the value of this unit heavily outweighs the shortcomings, but as always I want to make sure you’re fully informed.
How Much Does It Cost?
Ah, the most important question to us Frugal Fitness Freaks™. The cost today is MUCH better than it was when I bought it – remember that COVID Fitness Equipment Tax I mentioned? Yeah, I paid a bit over $800 for this guy – “no ragrets”, considering it’s well past paying itself off after killing my overpriced gym membership, but seeing the price it’s at today does sting a little.
I’d say the Marcy Cable Machine is a solid value proposition with its current price. At the time of this posting it’s listed on Amazon for $499.99, which is 38% off the listed retail.
Conclusion
All right, product review concluded. Let’s recap:
- The Marcy Cable Machine does allow for a full-body workout with only a few compromises
- $499.99 at the time of writing
- Recommended for:
- Beginners looking to break into the home gym workout space
- Experienced lifters looking for equipment to supplement their compound exercise equipment
- Anyone looking to get a home gym experience without much taking up much space
