🏋️ The 10 best functional trainers of 2024

Welcome to Home Gym Club! According to Duke University, just climbing two flights of stairs per day can lead to about six pounds of weight loss over a year. As Miley Cyrus once sang, “It’s not about how fast I get there…it’s the climb.”

What’s in today’s newsletter:

• Our expert testers review the 10 best functional trainers of 2024.

• Coop ascends the STEPR stair climber.

• A guide on how to build your own weight bench.

• We pick the 11 best protein powders for smoothies.

Train Station

10 Best Functional Trainers

Functional trainers may not be at the top of everyone’s home gym shopping list, mostly due to their size and cost, but there’s a place for them in nearly every setup.

Don’t believe us? We’ve picked the 10 best functional trainers on the market today, and we’re willing to bet there’s one on this list that works for you. We’ll go over what makes each one so special, why a functional trainer is a great addition to your home gym, and what you should look for when shopping for one.

Our team of certified personal trainers, competitive weightlifters, and home gym equipment experts have assembled dozens of functional trainers, performed tens of thousands of reps to test cable pulleys, and tested attachments for durability and versatility. Check out our list!

Watch Party

STEPR Review

Is the STEPR the best stair climber for a modern home gym? Coop aims to find out in his latest equipment review. Follow along as he breaks down all the specs you’d want to know about the STEPR stair climber, including:

• Dimensions, footprint, and weight

• Touchscreen mechanics

• Programming

• Safety features

• Warranty

• Pricing & product comparisons

What’s Coop’s final verdict? Watch the video to find out!

DIY

Build Your Own Weight Bench

We wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t point out that a weight bench is one of those unicorn gym items where building it can be significantly more expensive than buying one. Why? Because the cost of lumber fluctuates.

As Garage Gym Reviews resident DIY gym equipment expert and head of operations Sam “AsSAMbly” Presley explains, “Right now, it’s literally more expensive to build a bench than to buy a bench.”

That said, if you’ve got some lumber lying around and your motto is “I like to make stuff, and I want a DIY gym,” this step-by-step tutorial for a DIY weight bench will show you how to make your own.

What’s Supp?

Best Protein Powders for Smoothies

Would you rather bolster your protein intake with a hearty blended smoothie than with a bland mixture from a shaker cup? Whether you’re looking to stack your post-workout shake with more superfoods or you want to add whole foods to make it a meal, you’ve come to the right place.

After testing countless protein powders and consulting with registered dietitians, we’ve got you covered with this guide to the 11 best protein powders for smoothies.

Check them out!

Quick Hits

Looking for Lunge Alternatives?

• We put together a list of the 10 best lunge alternatives, complete with step-by-step guides for each movement.

• GGR Everything lead reviewer Lindsay Scheele looks at the Bells of Steel Lat Pulldown machine.

• Dealing with pre-workout nausea? We asked a registered dietitian what you can do to prevent it.