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Big purchases have always made me pause.
Maybe it’s the habit of budgeting for rainier days, or the reality of family & fatherhood.
Whatever the reason, I tend to carefully select what comes into my home. Wannabe minimalist, sort of. My wife… is a little different here ;-)
But sometimes, even for me, an outlier comes along, and it’s not about the price tag but about the change it brings.
About 2 years back, my fitness level was really down.
Strength, condition, endurance, all pretty bad. Even though I have always done some sort of workout (gym, skateboarding, basketball), just not regularly enough.
So, I decided to take a leap. And buy a new fitness device.
The Smart Home Gym
I won’t sugarcoat it: the Speediance Gym Monster* costs more than most vacations.
Over €3,000, ordered from Amazon after a lot of obsessing and thinking.
You might already know that feeling, this mixture of guilt and anticipation when buying something expensive.
But I wanted to give it a shot for my health and fitness goals, creating a space in my day for the things that get left behind when schedules get tight and kids need shuttling.
And by space, I mean minimizing the time it actually takes to work out, and minimizing the excuses to get to it.
And oh boy, what I bought is more than a “smart home gym” for me now.
The Huge Upside
The Gym Monster* sits next to my standing desk where I work most days a week on my writing business and other things.
So, it’s right there. No need for a commute to the next gym, no gym membership, no rainy days that totally solidify the excuse of not going outside.
The Gym Monster is also not a plain home gym you might get anywhere. These all-in-one towers with weights and cables and handles. They’re huge, heavy, come in pieces, and cost a lot as well.
No, the Gym Monster is a pretty small device (for what it does). It folds up so it doesn’t take much space. It’s heavy but it has wheels. You can easily wheel it around. And it’s sturdy.
It’s an entire fitness ecosystem packed into a single compact setup, powered by electric-motor-driven weights and cable attachments.
The thing is versatile enough to handle every exercise I once lined up for during my gym years, like squats, deadlifts, rows, presses, curls, and almost anything else you can imagine.
I mean, there’s literally little it can’t do.
The “Smart” Gym
And it’s smart. That means it tracks every set and rep. It keeps tabs on my progress week after week, logs my weights, coaches my form, and feeds me training recommendations that keep routines fresh.
If you’ve ever found yourself repeating the same old bench or bicep routine, this is cool.
Or you keep doing the same old exercises. Also cool.
There’s a built-in library of training plans, so I’m not left scrolling YouTube for ideas or paying subscriptions for app workouts.
Speaking of subscription. Most smart home devices come with one. So does the Gym Monster.
The key difference is, you don’t need the subscription to work out with the Gym Monster. I have never paid a penny.
Routine
Three to four sessions a week, every week, for almost two years. That’s a streak I never managed in any commercial gym.
Why? I already said it: the machine is always there.
No wasted commute. No grumbling about how crowded the place is. The Speediance sits next to my desk, blending into my work setup like it belongs. And I fold away when I need more space.
A 30 minute session between work has never been easier.
And just a few weeks ago, I added a walking pad* under my desk, another game changer purchase.
I’ve never been a cardio man. And the Gym Monster doesn’t help with that. It’s not a cardio device.
So I got a walking pad* for under $100. Quite refreshing after the $3K for the Gym Monster.
Now my cardio is built into my workflow as well.
I walk and jog while writing, drafting newsletters, brainstorming headlines, hitting 10,000 steps before lunch.
The combination of strength work from the Gym Monster and steady movement from the pad hits all my goals: building a bit of muscle, staying strong, squeezing endurance and cardiovascular health into days that are already booked solid.
The Bottom Line
I am not a gym rat. Far from it. I was never consistent with working out. So, I need to make it dead-simple for me. No excuses.
The answer: ridiculously convenient tech, and a mindset shift.
Not making time for workouts, but building them into my work life.
With the gym and walking pad, I’m able to walk 2–3 hours a day, and take thirty-minute breaks to lift heavy, get the heart pumping, and then return to whatever project needs attention.
You probably don’t want to spend $3000 on a fitness machine. I didn’t. But I am glad I did. Best expensive thing I’ve bought in a long time, maybe ever.
*this is an affiliate or SparkLoop* partner link. I may earn a commission.