The Marcy Smith Machine is a full home gym packed into a single kit that supports full-body training. It incorporates all the elements of a Smith machine with the versatility of a multi-purpose home gym, with support for a wide range of exercises. It covers pretty much everything you’d ever want to do in your fitness journey at all levels.
Whether you’re beginning the fitness journey or already deeply entangled in your training regime, this machine has all you want. It achieves all that with durable materials for individual parts as well as an all-steel construction.
Marcy is already a popular name in the home training equipment industry, but it’s the Smith Cage Workout Machine that’s among its most successful products as it supports various exercises. Unlike most fitness equipment that targets specific exercises, the Marcy Smith Machine supports everything from squats, shoulder presses, and hammer curls to leg extensions.
If you ever needed a single fitness machine for all your workouts to build muscle and strength in your home, the Marcy Smith Machine might be the perfect choice for you. Let’s find out why it’s so popular over most competitors out there.
Marcy Smith Machine Specs
- Dimensions: 95 x 79 x 86 inches
- Weight: 373 pounds
- Weight capacity: 300lb on the bar 600lb on the bench
- Linear bearings
- Frame: Heavy-duty steel tubing
- Extras: Weight bench, high/low pulley, pec dec, cable crossover
About the Marcy Smith Machine
The Marcy Smith Machine is the perfect choice for a complete home gym system. It can handle up to 136kgs (300lb), so you can rest assured it will suit anyone. You can do many exercises on this machine, and it comes with a detailed exercise chart to help you identify them. You can effectively train your entire body on this gym equipment without requiring extra equipment, but it doesn’t really replace that mountain bike for outdoors exercising.
It comes with upgraded mechanisms that are above regular home gyms, the ball bearings that keep the press in vertical motion are of commercial quality and sealed to ensure they can handle even the largest of weights without breaking. The build quality, too, remains solid, and you barely feel any movement on the materials, which adds up to the equipment’s 180kg weight.
Like other Smith machines, you get lockout positions for the press bar, though the Marcy Smith Machine has 9 positions that hold the weights when you want to stop. This is very important especially when you’re pressing on your own without a spotter to hold the weight when you’re tired. It also comes with an independent weight bench that you can disconnect when you don’t need it; it does adjust in angle to accommodate the desired exercise.
The Marcy Smith Machine doesn’t include weights in the package, meaning you’ll have to buy them separately, but I assume by the time you’re buying this machine, you already have other small machines at home and have the weights at home.
According to Marcy, the Smith Cage Workout Machine is designed for serious gym training at home, and serious fitness fanatics will be pleased by the level of versatility it offers. For newbies, it may seem like a huge investment, but it will prove worthwhile in the long term, you can start with lighter weights, and max out gradually.
Installing the Marcy Diamond Machine
Before installing the Marcy Diamond Machine, ensure you have enough space in your home or garage. Apart from the space for installing the machine, you should at least have some clearance around to easily access the weight plates. When fully assembled, the machine measures 95 inches long, 79 inches wide and 86 inches tall.
While the Smith machine can look a bit intimidating at first, don’t be surprised that you can assemble it all by yourself. It comes with light but sturdy pieces which can be put together by one person. However, having a second hand to help is beneficial, especially with large-piece installations, such as frame elements.
However, while everyone can install the fitness machine without much help, professionals are always going to know how to assemble it better and quicker. You can even opt for Amazon’s Home Gym Assembly Service for help, but you’ll have to first check the service’s availability in your area. Otherwise, you can assemble it without much fuss.
Upper Body Workouts
On the Marcy Diamond Machine, upper body workouts are possible thanks to a good quality set of dumbbells. And, if you need to target specific muscles, isolation exercises are the best option, while keeping in mind free weights come with certain limits. This machine comes with everything you need to strengthen and grow your chest, arms, back, shoulders, and abs.
The bench press forms an important part of any chest workout, and you can choose to either perform this exercise using the smith machine or free weight rack. The additional safety offered by the rails means you can challenge yourself in complete safety, whichever option you choose. This is a very important feature for home gyms, where you probably won’t have a spotter to assist you.
By having the 9 racking points for the barbell supports on the front of the frame, it is now possible to position the barbell higher for squats and overhead presses. The weight bench is strong enough to support most exercise, but if you want to take advantage of the 600lb rack capacity, there are stronger benches you can buy. The XMark 7604 is one such bench, that supports 1500 lb. weight capacity, with various adjustments.
The high-level frame strength and lateral stability make the Smith Cage Workout Machine a better option over most competitors, standing out as one of the strongest smith machines you can buy for the home gym. Aside from strength, the pec fly/low cable pulley at the back of the frame is another reason why the Marcy Smith Machine has proved so popular. T allows you to isolate your chest, back, biceps, and even shoulders, using different cable attachments.
Below are the most effective and popular exercise options you can do on the Marcy Smith Machine.
- Cable crossovers
- Preacher curls
- Close grip bench press
- Incline bench press
- Pec fly
- Tricep pushdown
- Bicep curls
- Overhead press
- Bicep curls
- Seated rows
Lower Body Workouts
The Marcy Smith Machine supports lower body workouts. Any resistance training program requires that you train your lower body with the same effort as your upper body. As such, you must put together a workout that includes larger mass-building exercises such as stiff-legged deadlifts and squats as well as isolation movements such as leg extensions.
In the same spirit, your quads and hamstrings, calves, glutes, and hip flexors may also need targeted exercises. This is where the Smith Machine proves so useful. It has a leg developer at the front with two sets of padded rollers which can be used for both lying curls and leg extensions.
For the compound exercises, you can opt to either squat in the smith machine or use the free weight rack, but it all depends on your training exercise and personal preference. To isolate hip flexors or work out your quads from a different angle, the low cable pulley is very useful. With a simple ankle attachment (provided) you can perform lunges, hip adductions, hip extensions, and single-leg kickbacks.
Below are some of the possible lower body exercises you can do with the Marcy Smith Machine.
- Single leg kickbacks
- Lunges
- Front squats
- Back squats
- Stiff legged deadlifts
- Hip adductions
- Leg extensions
- Leg curls
- Standing calf raises
- Cable hip abductions
Should I buy the Marcy Smith Machine?
The Marcy Smith Machine is a versatile performer, offering one of the best home training solutions than most fitness industry competitors. It packs ultra-smooth linear bearings and ergonomically designed steel guide rails that provide a safe and effective way of performing compound barbell exercises straight from your home gym.
This home gym machine comes with a cable system, a smith machine bar, and a leg developer that gain their resistance from weight plates, meaning you don’t need any heavyweight plate towers. Also, the free-standing weight bend gives you the freedom to perform dumbbell workouts away from the rack, especially when you want to extend the range of exercises further. While it could support more weight, it nevertheless feels comfortable for daily exercising.
Overall, this is an excellent fitness system that delivers everything you could ever want from a complete home gym while costing less than a year’s membership at many commercial gyms. For comfort, versatility, and lots of exercise options, the Marcy Smith Machine is the ultimate gym for everyone. It comes highly recommended.
Recommended Configuration
Marcy Smith Cage Workout Machine, Full Body Workout Bench for Home Gym, Gym Equipment with Linear Bearing, Steel MD-9010G (MD-9010)
$1,104.88 in stock
The Review
Marcy Smith Machine
The Marcy Smith Machine is a versatile performer, offering one of the best home training solutions than most fitness industry competitors. It packs ultra-smooth linear bearings and ergonomically designed steel guide rails that provide a safe and effective way of performing compound barbell exercises straight from your home gym.
PROS
- Combines power rack, Smith machine, and functional trainer
- Multi-grip pull up bar
- Pec fly station
CONS
- Low weight capacities
- Pulley rails get in the way of racking weight plates
Review Breakdown
-
EDITORS RATING
