XMARK Functional Trainer Cable Machine, Dual Weight Stack Cable Pulley Machine for Strength Training, Commercial and Home Gyms, and Rehab Facilities

Some quick facts up top: The package weighs over 700 pounds and arrives in a wooden crate on a pallet via freight delivery. The folks at the last mile freight company were professional and friendly, both on the phone when they called to set up delivery and at my home when they delivered it. The machine was for use in my basement home gym. Do not expect to have the package delivered indoors or up or down a flight of stairs. It's just too big and weighs too much. I unboxed it in my garage and carried all the individual parts downstairs. Not any single piece of this was too heavy to carry by myself, although the frame pieces were large and somewhat unwieldy. No big deal. Assembly took a few hours, but it was not terribly complicated. The printed instructions are clear, written in good English (sometimes you get bad translations out of other languages with these products, but this one was very good). The user's manual has a very large exploded view of the machine, which was very helpful for seeing how certain parts of the equipment came together. There's also a 10-minute video on Youtube that shows how to do these things, and that was helpful as a better visual aid than some of the images in the book. It's very helpful to have a second person during certain parts of the assembly (especially the initial frame construction), but not impossible (just frustrating at a couple key points in the process). The only part of this assembly that didn't quite go as described in the documents was the rubber fitting that slides over the cable ends. The video shows the fitting sliding very easily into place. On mine, this was very difficult to do since it was just slightly too tight to slide on. It took me several minutes just to get this one piece in place. I tried using tools, but it threatened to tear the rubber, so I quit that right away. I had my wife try to make sure I wasn't crazy, and she had trouble with it as well. Nevertheless, it was possible, just very, very difficult, and I was able to complete assembly. In general, you probably want a short stepladder to help with reaching some of the higher-up points. It's also very useful to have a socket wrench and ratcheting screwdriver to make this easier to assemble. The package comes with one or two small spanners, which were useful for tightening some bolts in small spaces, but generally they would have impeded the assembly. A proper set of tools is invaluable in building this. Once assembled, the thing works great. Before, I had some hand weights and other flexible-use equipment, but found myself spending too much time swapping out weight plates between exercises or shifting equipment out in my basement space. With the cable machine, I have a lot more exercises at my fingertips, and switching modes of exercise takes almost no time at all. I can go up or down in weight with the shifting of a pin instead of unscrewing a nut to add or remove weight plates. Most of the workouts that I do can be done without any equipment other than the cable machine, so I do a lot less mode-shifting in the gym now. Couldn't be happier. If I had to quibble on something, I'd say two things. First, the system comes with two foot attachments for doing leg exercises. One is a simple loop meant to wrap around an ankle. The other is a few straps designed to stay cinched up on your shoe. These are sturdy enough, but can be kind of difficult to get into the right place on your body. The second thing is that it comes with a poster demonstrating various exercises you can do on the machine. It's nice if you're not familiar with what you might use this equipment for, but it came rolled and folded in a way that makes it so I can't unroll/unfold it. There is a crease in the bottom of the poster causing it to roll backwards at the bottom. Still, I don't anticipate hanging this thing, so it's not that big of a deal. If you're in the market for a high-end, professional cable machine, this is a great option. Don't buy if you have a very tiny space to work out in (it's quite large, but the dimensions on the product page are accurate). Don't buy unless you're committed enough to swallow the cost (it's almost 3 grand after taxes and shipping). Otherwise, it's a really great product that works exactly as you'd expect. I've seen this exact model in actual gyms before, and it's great in your home gym if you have this kind of space to work with.

The X-Mark Functional Trainer has been a fantastic addition to my home Gym. It is the corner-piece (literally) and is where I spend about 40% of my workouts. I did a ton of research about what to add to my new at-home gym, and this ranked high on multiple lists. I will break this review down into 4 parts. 1. Things I like. 2. Things I would improve 3. Lessons Learned from Assembly. 4. Some additional things I did to improve my unit Assembly time: 4 hours (But I wasn't rushing, and had a couple beers toward the end) One person assembly, but two people is better with first couple of steps just to get the horizontal bars tied to the main uprights. 1. Things I like: - Description, pictures, elements, all as indicated - all high quality - Packaging was large (spread over two pallets and very heavy), but as described, and well assembled - Instructions were simple (too simple in a couple of cases), but the pictures were accurate - Packaging of parts was well done - Construction is sturdy, and good materials used - particularly for the price - very good value from my perspective - Machine operates as if you were using a very high-end commercial machine at a gym. There isn't much I would change about the machine itself. Sturdy, easy to use. - 200 lbs per side, for a total of 400 lbs. This benefit alone is a part of the true value, as weight plates aren't cheap. - Customer Service. I had one issue with assembly (see below), that was resolved within 24 hours. Very impressed in that there were no questions asked - new cable shipped - no complaint forms, etc., Very responsive. 2. Things I would improve: - Numbering of packages didn't always match that of the drawings. Use the drawings - they match, and are true to form. - Instructions were written by someone who does not speak English as their first language. Very simple written instructions with no tips or ideas to make assembly simpler. - Some signs of rust to non-painted surfaces inside of the tubes on the machine - I am sure my machines was on a container ship, so I sprayed some oil, and it will likely stop the rusting, but they may want to dip the tubing vs. painting outside only - Front Support Legs don't truly keep the machine from rocking with anything pulled from pull-up bars. I tie a TRX strap to the cross-bar, and I could easily tip the machine forward in a very uncomfortable angle (See fix below). 3. Lessons Learned from Assembly: - The pictures are true to form, and show all pieces. Instruction written words were not as simple to follow. I found myself just following the pictures. - They are 100% right - don't tighten everything until done. I only needed someone else's help once - when attaching the rear cross-brace / gear hangers to the large uprights. Once these are assembled to each other, this is a true one-person job. - Cable Routing is not complex, but there are few tips I learned from the first one, that I then used on the other side, and it went much faster. - 1. Feed the cable AS YOU GO with the pulleys. The cable CAN NOT BE FISHED THROUGH MACHINE WITH PULLEYS IN PLACE. - 2. Start with the end that has the threads / lock nut on that you will screw into the handle / pin assembly at the end. The reason for this is simple: By feeding this end through the machine, you will be fishing the line through the up-rite tube of the machine going down, letting gravity work with you. Starting from the other end will cause frustration, as you will have to push it up through the machine against gravity - 3. Fish the cable past each pulley location, and then install the pulley. It holds the cable in place, and if you make a mistake - you haven't gone too far. - 4. Don't forget that there are two holes in the top of the weight-assembly bracket you have to fish the cable through. I missed one by mistake and had to go backwards - 5. Don't tighten pulley lock nuts past hand tight until the whole process is done. WARNING: Don't do what I did!! There are two cable guides / safety angle bars that prevent the cables from jumping out of the pulley grove. These are both installed on the highest-up pulleys - clearly shown in the picture. I tightened these up, and without me noticing, instead of resting straight up and down (which they should), when you tighten the lock-nut, the angle iron has a tendency to push down against the wire (you will see what I mean). When I went to pull the cable at to test it, this angle-iron cable guard was rubbing up against the cable, and stripped the plastic sheathing off of the cable. Make sure your cable guards are vertical, and not resting against the pulley once it is tight. 4. Some things I did to improve my unit. - TRX Straps - can't have a functional trainer without them. - Made a jig for the number setting on the weight so it was easier to apply them. - The legs of the machine to not keep it stable if you use a TRX band. If you look at the picture, I attached the top horizontal back rail of the machine to the wall with wall anchor plates. I put these plates into the studs of the wall, and used a nylon strap to attach the machine to the anchor plates. Machine doesn't move an inch, and I can now use it without fail. All in all, I am thrilled with this machine. It is exactly what I needed, and wanted. Assembly was not overly difficult, and customer service was fantastic. I feel like I got more than I paid for, and I am very happy with the machine. Well done!!