I bought the Speediance Gym Monster 2 Works Plus as a Christmas gift to myself in December. Before you judge the price tag — $3,484, on sale — let me tell you what pushed me over the edge.
I was paying for a rec center membership and a Planet Fitness membership simultaneously. The rec center had become overrun with kids in the gym area, making a focused workout nearly impossible. Planet Fitness was better, but popular machines still meant waiting, improvising, or leaving without finishing my program. I was spending money on two memberships and still regularly walking out of the gym without a complete workout.
I don’t have all day to wait for a cable machine. And I got tired of reminding myself of that every time it happened.
The Speediance was the answer. Two months in, here’s everything you need to know.
What the Gym Monster 2 Actually Is
If you haven’t seen one, the Speediance Gym Monster 2 is an all-in-one smart home gym that looks nothing like traditional home gym equipment. No weight stacks. No plates to load. No wall mounting required. It’s a sleek, freestanding unit — about 4 feet deep, 2.3 feet wide, 6 feet tall — powered by dual 800W motors that generate up to 220 pounds of electromagnetic resistance, adjustable in 1-pound increments from a touchscreen or a Bluetooth ring controller.
It combines a squat rack, cable machine, Smith machine, bench rack, and pulley system into one unit. It ships largely pre-assembled. You unfold it, plug it in, and you’re working out.
The centerpiece is a 21.5-inch HD touchscreen with built-in workout classes, an AI training system, and a on-screen trainer who coaches you through every single exercise — showing form, cueing your reps, and moving through the lift alongside you.
What Comes in the Works Plus Kit
My Works Plus bundle included everything I needed to get started without buying a single additional accessory:
- Standard cable handles
- Barbell
- Tricep rope
- Ankle straps
- Skiing handles
- Bluetooth control ring
- Adjustable bench
Every major movement pattern is covered out of the box. Chest, back, shoulders, arms, legs, core — I have not encountered a single exercise I did at either gym that I cannot replicate on this machine. More on that in a moment.
Setup: “Unfold and Go” Is Legitimately True
The machine arrives via truck freight and is insanely heavy. Take this seriously: pay for whatever it takes for the deliver to get it into the room you want it in before you set it up. Once assembled, it has wheels and you can move it around easily within a room, but moving it through doorways and hallways after the fact is a different challenge entirely.
I set mine up in a spare bedroom, and it fits comfortably without needing to fold the platform. The folding feature is there if you need it, but I haven’t touched it.
As for the “unfold and go” promise — it’s real, with one caveat. The physical setup is genuinely straightforward. Understanding how the machine works, the cable height system, the pulley positions, the resistance modes — that takes a little time. I was doing a full workout the next day, but I was still figuring out the nuances of the system for the first week or two. Budget an hour or two of exploration before your first serious session. It pays off fast.
The AI Trainer: Wellness+ Is the Real Differentiator
I paid extra for Wellness+, Speediance’s AI personal training subscription, and it’s the reason this machine is different from anything else on the market at this price point.
Here’s how it actually works in practice: the app asks you a few key questions — which muscle groups you want to focus on, what type of training (strength, cardio, HIIT), and what your overall goal is. I chose muscle building. From there, Wellness+ builds a personalized training program, pushes specific workouts to the machine, and adapts week over week based on your actual performance data.
Every session, it recommends weights for each exercise. Every session, it watches how your sets go and learns. Two months in, it has a real history of what I can actually lift — and the recommendations have gotten noticeably sharper over time.
Is it perfect? No. The AI occasionally overshoots and programs more weight than I can handle on a given exercise, or undershoots and has me training below my capacity. But that’s what the Bluetooth ring is for. I can dial the resistance up or down mid-set without touching the screen, and the AI remembers the adjustment for next time. Once I’ve corrected it a few times on an exercise, it locks in.
I wear the ring on my middle finger rather than my pointer — the pointer position occasionally made contact with the tricep rope during certain movements, and the middle finger sits more naturally out of the way.
The 9-Rep Question: Why the AI Knows What It’s Doing
One thing that caught my attention early: Wellness+ frequently programmed sets of 9 reps for my muscle-building goal. Not 8, not 10 — nine. It seemed oddly specific.
So I looked into it.
Turns out, 9 reps sits dead center of what exercise science identifies as the optimal hypertrophy range. The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) prescribes 6–12 reps per set at 60–80% of your one-rep maximum as the evidence-backed zone for muscle growth. Some periodization coaches specifically use 5×9 as a hypertrophy prescription because it threads the needle between mechanical tension (the stimulus you get from heavier, lower-rep work) and metabolic stress (the stimulus from higher-rep work) — hitting both primary drivers of muscle growth in a single rep scheme.
The AI wasn’t being arbitrary. It was applying sports science in a way that most gym-goers — and frankly, most casual trainers — never think about. That detail, more than anything else, gave me confidence that Wellness+ isn’t just a gimmick layered on top of a cable machine. There’s actual methodology behind it.
What You Can Actually Do On This Thing
The machine does something I didn’t fully expect: it introduces exercises I wouldn’t have thought to program myself, targeting muscles from angles I’ve never used before.
A few that surprised me:
Seated calf raises via cable. I genuinely did not think this was possible on a cable machine. It is, and it works brilliantly.
Multiple squat variations. Standard squats, goblet squats, cable squats — each variation loads the muscles differently and the AI rotates through them intentionally.
Curls and triceps from multiple angles. The adjustable cable heights mean you’re hitting the muscle at different points in the range of motion depending on where you set the pulley. The AI cycles through these variations automatically, which challenges the muscle in ways straight sets never would.
The screen tilts for bench work. This sounds like a minor detail. It isn’t. Being able to tilt the 21.5-inch screen toward you while lying on the bench — so you can watch the form demonstration and follow the trainer through each rep without craning your neck — is one of the most thoughtful design decisions on the machine. The on-screen trainer walks you through every exercise: proper form, tempo, what to feel. For every single movement. It’s like having a coach in the room.
I’m two months in and genuinely feel like I haven’t scratched the surface of what this machine can program.
The Resistance Modes
The Gym Monster 2 offers four training modes beyond standard resistance:
Standard Mode is what you’ll use most of the time — smooth, consistent resistance throughout the range of motion, similar to a traditional cable machine at a commercial gym. This is what Wellness+ primarily programs.
Eccentric Mode increases resistance during the lowering phase of the movement. The eccentric (negative) portion of a lift is where a significant amount of muscle damage and growth stimulus occurs — and it’s typically underloaded in standard training. This mode isolates it.
Chain Mode mimics the effect of training with actual chains — resistance increases as you approach the top of the concentric movement, matching your natural strength curve. It’s a legitimately sophisticated training concept built directly into the machine.
Fixed Speed Mode maintains constant velocity regardless of effort, useful for rehab work and controlled conditioning.
I use Standard Mode most in my daily Wellness+ workouts. I’ve experimented with Eccentric and Chain, both of which are genuinely impressive. For anyone coming from a traditional gym background, Chain Mode in particular will feel familiar if you’ve ever trained with accommodating resistance — and novel if you haven’t.
The Honest Cons
One hiccup: Occasionally the cable produces a subtle clicking sound during certain movements. It doesn’t happen consistently, and it hasn’t affected performance, but it’s noticeable when it occurs. I’m monitoring it — if it happens again, I’ll reach out to support. Worth flagging here because this is an honest review, not a press piece.
220 pounds of max resistance is the ceiling. For most exercises and most people, this is more than enough. For heavy compound movements like deadlifts at serious working weights, advanced lifters may eventually find it limiting. Know your current training load before purchasing. I will say this, 100 lb squat feels like 250 lbs of free weights. That might be a bit of an exaggeration but it felt scary heavy. I also love that you can dial at 1 lb increments. Trying to do a curl but feel like you can do just a little more, push it to 17 lbs instead of 5 lb increments like most gym equipment.
The app has room to grow. The Wellness+ experience on the machine itself is excellent. The mobile companion app is functional but not as polished. Some features that would be useful on your phone — editing workouts, viewing full training history — are better accessed on the machine’s screen directly.
Speediance vs. Tonal: Why I Chose Speediance
I researched Tonal seriously before buying. Here’s why I didn’t pull the trigger:
Tonal 2 costs $4,295 — nearly $800 more than what I paid for the Gym Monster 2 Works Plus on sale. It also requires professional wall installation, which adds cost and means if you ever want to move it, you pay for installation again.
The part that killed it for me: stop paying Tonal’s monthly subscription and the machine essentially becomes a very expensive wall decoration. Their subscription isn’t optional for full functionality — it’s baked into the product model.
Speediance is the opposite. You can use the Gym Monster 2 without Wellness+ and still access all the standard training features, classes, free lift mode, and custom workout building. Wellness+ is an enhancement, not a requirement. The machine functions fully without it. The $129 discount for Wellness+ for a year is worth every penny.
I also won’t pretend the “made in China” concern didn’t cross my mind. It did. What resolved it: the Speediance Facebook community is active and supportive, and their customer response time is fast. The build quality of the machine itself put any remaining doubts to rest the moment I started using it.
The Math: Does It Pay for Itself?
Let’s run the numbers on what I was actually spending:
| Expense | Annual Cost |
|---|---|
| Rec center membership | ~$400/year |
| Planet Fitness | ~$228/year ($19/month) |
| Total gym spend | ~$628/year |
At $628/year, the Speediance Works Plus ($3,484) breaks even in roughly 5.5 years of equivalent gym spending — before factoring in gas, time, and the cost of incomplete workouts.
But that math undersells it, because the gym memberships weren’t delivering what the Speediance does. I was leaving the rec center early because kids had taken over the equipment. I was leaving Planet Fitness without finishing my workouts because the machines I needed were occupied. I was paying for access to something that wasn’t reliably available.
The Speediance is available at noon, midnight, in a snowstorm, or during a Tuesday afternoon when I have 45 minutes between calls. That availability — the ability to hit a full workout and eat lunch in the same hour — has no line item in the spreadsheet, but it’s the real value.
Who Should Buy the Speediance Gym Monster 2
This machine is for you if:
- You love working out but hate waiting for equipment
- You’re into fitness tech and want a smart system that evolves with you
- You train alone and want a system that provides structured programming with on-screen coaching
- You live somewhere that makes getting to a gym inconvenient — weather, distance, schedule
- You want Tonal-level functionality without the wall mounting, forced subscription, or premium price
- You have a spare room, bedroom, or dedicated space with a standard outlet
Think carefully if:
- You’re a serious powerlifter approaching 220 pounds on most of your compound lifts
- You train primarily for sport-specific performance that requires very heavy loading
- You’re looking for a fully featured mobile app experience (the machine’s screen is better than the phone app)
- You prefer training in a social gym environment — this is a home training system
Final Verdict
The Speediance Gym Monster 2 Works Plus earns a 9/10 from me, and I’ve been training for years. This isn’t a beginner’s toy or a piece of equipment you’ll get bored with in three months. It’s a genuinely sophisticated training system that keeps getting smarter the more you use it.
The Wellness+ AI is better than I expected. The on-screen coaching is better than I expected. The range of exercises is better than I expected. And the ability to train a full session — on my schedule, in my spare bedroom, without waiting for a single machine — has made my workouts more consistent than they’ve been in years.
The occasional cable click is a minor concern I’m monitoring. The mobile app has room to improve. Those are the only things keeping this from a perfect score.
If you’re on the fence between this and a gym membership, run the math for your situation. If you’re on the fence between this and Tonal, the answer is straightforward: more functionality, lower price, no forced subscription, no wall.
Speediance Gym Monster 2: Quick-Reference Scorecard
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Build Quality | 9/10 | Solid, premium feel |
| Setup Experience | 8/10 | Unfold and go — takes a day to master |
| Resistance Feel | 9/10 | Smooth, comparable to commercial cable machines |
| Wellness+ AI Trainer | 8/10 | Gets smarter over time, occasional weight miscalculation |
| Exercise Variety | 10/10 | Nothing left behind from a commercial gym |
| On-Screen Coaching | 9/10 | Every exercise, every rep, tilts for bench work |
| Mobile App | 6/10 | Functional but not as polished as the machine interface |
| Value vs. Tonal | 9/10 | More versatile, lower cost, no forced subscription |
| Overall | 9/10 | One of the best fitness purchases I’ve made |
Where to Buy + Affiliate Link
If you’ve read this far and you’re ready to pull the trigger, you can purchase the Speediance Gym Monster 2 directly at speediance.com or through Amazon (where I bought mine).
Heads up: If you buy through my affiliate link, I earn a small commission — around 3% — at zero extra cost to you. Speediance doesn’t pay me, sponsor me, or have any say in what I write. I bought this machine myself, I use it 3-4 times a week, and I’d recommend it to anyone I care about. That’s the only standard I apply before putting a link in an article.
If you want to support Crained at no cost to you, use the link. If you’d rather go direct, that’s completely fine too. Either way — I hope the review helped you make the right call for your situation.
FAQ
Is the Speediance Gym Monster 2 worth the money? For anyone who trains consistently and values both the technology and the convenience of a complete home gym, yes. Compared to ongoing gym membership costs — and especially compared to Tonal — the value proposition is strong, particularly when purchased on sale.
How does the Speediance compare to Tonal? Speediance is less expensive, doesn’t require wall installation, and functions fully without a subscription. Tonal has a more established content library and a more polished app ecosystem, but it bricks without a monthly payment. For most home gym users, Speediance is the better buy.
Do you need the Wellness+ subscription to use the Gym Monster 2? No. The machine works fully without it — you get access to workout classes, free lift mode, custom workout creation, and all four resistance modes. Wellness+ adds the AI-personalized training plans, adaptive weight recommendations, and performance tracking. It’s a meaningful upgrade, but it’s optional.
How much space does the Speediance Gym Monster 2 need? The footprint is approximately 4 feet by 2.3 feet when unfolded. It fits comfortably in a standard spare bedroom without needing to use the folding feature. It’s much more compact than any traditional multi-station home gym.
What’s the max weight on the Speediance Gym Monster 2? 220 pounds of combined resistance from dual motors (110 lbs each), adjustable in 1-pound increments. More than sufficient for most training goals; potentially limiting for advanced powerlifters on heavy compound movements.
Is the Speediance Bluetooth ring worth using? Absolutely. The ability to adjust weight up or down mid-set without breaking your position to reach the touchscreen is a genuine quality-of-life feature. Worth noting: middle finger placement works better than the pointer for most cable movements.
What’s included in the Works Plus package? The Works Plus includes the Gym Monster 2 machine, adjustable bench, standard handles, barbell, tricep rope, ankle straps, and skiing handles. The Bluetooth control ring is also included.
Have questions about the Speediance Gym Monster 2 or Wellness+? Drop them in the comments. I’ve been using this thing daily for two months and I’m happy to go deeper on anything.
