The Best Functional Trainer For Home Fitness Workouts In 2024

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Functional trainers or otherwise known as cable crossover machines rely on weight stacks, cables and pulleys and the best ones give an almost limitless way of performing controlled workout exercises.

Below is a review of our top pick of 5 and of those five we rated the XMark XM-7626 Cable Machine as the best functional trainer in 2024 given the quality build, smooth action and excellent after-sales support. A good price too.

Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links, if you choose to purchase any of the products discussed, we may receive a small commission which does not affect the purchase price.

The complete list of reviewed machines are:

  1. XMark XM-7626 Functional Trainer Cable Machine – Best Overall
  2. Body-Solid Functional Training Center – GDCC200
  3. Inspire Fitness FT1
  4. Functional Trainer by Bodycraft
  5. Valor Fitness BD-62 Wall Mount Cable Station (Value Option)

You can pay 10 times the price of most of the above and get a commercial-grade functional trainer with all the bells and whistles but we had the wallet in mind when choosing these practical machines for the home gym market so here they are in more detail.

Reviews of the Best Functional Trainers

XMark XM-7626 Functional Trainer Cable Machine

The XM-7626 functional trainer is a nice piece of equipment to add to your home gym. It has quick-adjust pulleys with 19 settings spaced 3.5” apart with a number of attachments.

The FT comes with two 8″ hand straps, a pair of 17″ long strap handles, a 23″ tricep rope, a short bar and a 42″ long bar, leg extension leg curl strap and an ankle strap.

There is a built-in split grip pull-up bar. A workout poster 24” x 34” describes 36 workout exercises.

As with the majority of well-built functional training systems, the build is of heavy-duty 11-gauge 2″ x 3″ welded steel mainframe construction. Hard durable plastic with steel bearings makes the pull-up rig and pulley system very smooth.

The cables extend 81” from the pulleys and the space between pulleys is 60”. The lowest setting is 1’ to the highest setting of 6’6”.

The weight pulley system ratio is 2:1 200lbs is 100lbs of effort.

The cast steel plate weights are 10 lbs. each and 1” thick. There are no weights upgrades but 5lb plates can be separately purchased although this will reduce the total weight stack. Space between weight stacks is 48”.

If corner placed the machine unit will extend 52” from the corner down the side walls.

Assembled Dimensions: – 65”W x 43.5”L x 83”H – 760 lbs
Warranty: Lifetime in-home frame warranty and one year on hardware, pop pins, pulleys and cables.

Pros:

  • Great all round multi-gym
  • Compact, sturdy and functional
  • Smooth in action
  • Wide pulleys (60″)
  • Affordable price

Cons:

  • Assembly seemed to be the only fault with buyers… “You must run the cable as you install each pulley. Do not try to install the pulleys first”
  • Limited to the 2 x 200 lb stacks

Body-Solid Functional Training Center GDCC200

There are weight stack options from 165, 215, 270 to 320lbs. Whatever weight you choose the Body-Solid Functional Trainer tower shows no wobble or sway with any workout.

The vertical carriage has fiberglass-reinforced nylon pulleys and locking universal attachment connections.

The aircraft cables are made of 4.8mm diameter spun steel rated to over 2,500 lbs.

The pulley system is incredibly adjustable – between the 20 height adjustments, the pulley attachments swivel 180 degrees, and the 2:1 pulley system allows the cables to travel 2x as far as the plates rise with frictionless resistance.

There are countless exercises that can be performed on this machine.

The frame components are constructed from commercial grade 11-gauge, 2″ x 4″ oval tubing with an electrostatically applied powder coat finish which adds to the machine’s durability.

The high-density foam rubber handgrips and handles have an inner cylinder that rotates independently of the outer grip which is very comfortable. High-density injected molded end and foot caps.

The package includes a dual position pull-up bar although for a little extra the press bar is a great addition as it spans both columns allowing many exercises (squats, bench press, lat pulls, deadlifts, etc.) combining the weight of both towers.

The Body-Solid GDCC200 has a 60″ pulley to pulley distance apart. The height of the pulleys over the floor at the highest adjustment is 68″.

Assembled dimensions: 41.3”W x 78.4”L x 84.2”H – 551 lbs
Warranty: Lifetime

Pros: 

  • Almost unlimited variety of workouts
  • A solid build
  • Wide pulleys (60”)
  • Widely adjustable pulley system

Cons:

  • Assembly is difficult and heavy
  • The pull-up bar is a bit low for tall people

Inspire Fitness FT1

A well-designed machine the Inspire Fitness functional trainer is solid and weighty but compact fitting more easily into a residential property.

Inspire Fitness makes the FT2 which is a very similar machine with an inbuilt Smith machine but it costs a good deal more for something functionality we felt didn’t warrant the price.

The standard offering comes with 2 165lb commercial weight stacks with center drilled holes and magnetic weight pin for safety but there is a 100lb upgrade – that’s 50lb a stack.

The frame is heavy-duty 2″x4″ oval and 3″ round 11 gauge tubular steel and the electrostatic powder-coated finish means a durable, maintenance-free life span.

The quick, one-handed adjustable high/low pulley system adjusts to more than 30 height positions for all of your exercise needs. Pulleys swivel and are quite narrow at 48″ apart. The weight-to-effort ratio is 2:1.

The number of different exercises you can do on the FT1 is seriously only limited to your imagination. The pulleys are super smooth and quiet while using, and the whole thing is built solid!