As someone who is just starting out with home gym equipment (only have Ironmaster Dumbbells and a DIY bar/band/board) with minimal space, I’m so glad I discovered your channel. It has been invaluable and has been incredibly helpful to discover new minimalist gym equipment with your reviews. You have carved out a niche in the fitness channel space and I really hope your channel grows. You deserve all of the success. Appreciate what you are doing.
Appreciate that my friend. I hope it’s obvious these extra tools are just options and “icing on the cake” to what people are using especially with a minimal space set up.
I have the Kynett Home flywheel device. It’s cheaper but not as portable. It is also more quiet. The handy gym shines with its portability. The flywheels are great but you cannot add resistance to the eccentric phase. The eccentric phase is only as powerful as the inertia put into the concentric phase. The key is to stop the inertia in a short time during the eccentric phase to cause a slight eccentric overload. I love my flywheel system and use it regularly. The Synapse CCR, however is cheaper, more portable, and allows the user to add resistance during eccentric phase so that you get true eccentric overload through the full range of motion. I don’t know of any system that meets your criteria of minimalism and versatility like the Synapse. Great video and content!
I’ve had mine for four years.. I actually have two of them.. best thing to have in your bag when you’re outside on the train.. it’s kinda noisy but I’m in PREETY good shape and it works me out crazy.. at 55 it’s like weights but more force.. it’s definitely a core workout
I’ve watched many videos which have not come close to the detail of your review. Great work as usual. It just seems way too clunky and convoluted to setup/scale for exercises.
Thanks again Stevie for the compliment. This kind of reminds of x3 (or even bands in general) in that I was thinking the same thing, but the more I used it, the more I started to get excited about how I’m going to incorporate it. I’m probably going to start with a few exercises per workout. But time will tell with this thing
This looks like a modern day, more expensive version, of the old Exer-Genie from the 1960's (which amazingly enough is still available for sale today).
Good video. I knew you would be getting one these soon. I went ahead and bought the Kynett fit it is bigger but you can get more weight plates for it. I think with the force doubler it can go up to like 300 pounds. And it’s really quiet.
Great job Mike. I was intrigued by this product in terms of its eccentric overload potential. I thought it would be a good complement to my Synapse. It was interesting but ultimately I returned it. For me, the Synapse is better. However, if you are a bands guy where most of the resistance is near lockout (i.e. shortened muscle), this would be nice complement since most of the resistance with Handy Gym is at the bottom change of direction (i,e. elongated muscle).
I was waiting for you Parker with the synapse. That’s gonna have to be my next thing to look at. The cost of that is more a shock to me than x3 was initially, but I ended up liking that.
@@SouthFist It's a small price to pay for the benefit of much shorter workouts. I also find the control strap side causing a lot of muscle fatigue as well eventually. When working out alone, you just need to learn how to position your body to get the full range of motion. After a while it becomes second nature and for me, enjoyable.
I wish this was a bit more polished. I use a Kabuki Kratos but it is a bit too big and I wish I had a small device available to use. In any case, really good review, appreciate the video man.
It’s a tough decision. Of course a sliding bench comes to mind but you said “one” piece and there’s just a few short issues that need to be fixed on a future model. So I’d say a SBT designed to my specs.
I think the bigger flywheels are quieter, but these little discs are ripping. One thing I forgot to mention on exercises like presses that you don’t what to get to close to those things when they’re spinning.
I bought one and liked it a lot. There are things you can do with it that are not possible with other products. BUT: it runs on an internal gearing system, and the gears are plastic. I had a couple of teeth break off a gear and jam the entire system. Being both impatient and a bit of a mechanical geek, I took it apart to see what had happened. It’s unfixable for a DIYer and, since I’d taken it apart, I’d voided the warranty. I’m sure they’d have replaced it if I had sent it back rather than taking it apart but, as I said, I’m impatient. I don’t know if I got a defective unit or if it’s a general problem, but that was my experience.
@@hybridresistance I had it for about three months, using it about twice per week. I liked to use it for developing punching strength, so I would put it at shoulder level behind me and punch out as hard as I could, and let it reel back in. At one point, it just simply jammed and became unusable.
@@TIO540S1Do you have the new, quieter flywheel? I’ve had the handy gym for over 1.5 yrs and use it 3-4 times a week with no issues. I had the quieter flywheel and From what I heard, that one is more prone to defect which was why Mueller stopped selling it. They swapped out the flywheel for me back to the noisier one over a year ago but I never had issues with either flywheel.
I haven’t been using it as much as I’ve planned because of other fitness reviews/programming I’m doing. But it’s one of the things I’m looking to do a lot more as the weather gets nicer. You’ll definitely see more content on this thing in the future.
I was SO close to picking one up, but the noise issue gave me pause. Picked up an Exxentric KBox 5 and a KPulley Go instead. Any plans to review those?
Ideally yes, I hope to cover that one day for sure. But they're up there in price too! People blame me for covering expensive products, you guys got to recommend some cheap ones for me to check out.
Sandbags? I have some from Ultimate Sandbag Training, but REP has some cheap ones. Suspension Straps? Handy Gym has the ideal form factor, both portable and able to connect to the foot plate for heavier leg and back training. Wish they’d have a fully enclosed housing for the flywheels, to both prevent injury potential and cut down on the noise. Went with Exxentric because it’s the best I found in my research. Lots of support on the backend as well.
Just a quick comment about the doubler pulley. Unless they have changed the instructions, I attached the end of the line with the pulley to the loop on the body of the Handy Gym. With the Red disks the plastic body loop broke. The company refused to honor the warranty, saying that I should only use the doubler with the board and the eye on the board. I pointed out that the instructions NEVER gave that warning and since the board was an optional item Handy Gym should have honored their warranty. I was very disappointed in their refusal to honor the warranty since NO instruction mentioned not using the body loop with the doubler, although it is pointed out with the accessory foot board. I did fix (with epoxy and a metal rod) the body loop, and used a separate loop when using the doubler pulley. I like the Handy Gym, but I was upset that since their instructions did not mention that need for an "off the body loop" when using the pulley they would not repair my unit.
The way you connected it is actually shown on page 38 of the manual. Even with the yellow disks, the plastic body would probably break, eventually. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I would say this a very different tension / stress compared to bands. I will say even with a heavy band, you can really load up your muscles in a unique that’s kind of hard to describe with this thing.
Even though I haven't used the gympal, from what I heard I think that probably is the best overall purchase among these. The handy gym is great, but the flywheel might not be for everyone. I'll have more videos with it coming soon.
That was definitely part of my apprehension with this and flywheels in general. But I also said as much with Harambe / bands. It a learning curve for sure.
This seems like a lot of messing about to even set up and get going. I’ve had one in the garage for 2 years and gave up on it. Just too much messing about.
The product seems super messy with the winding and all the extra rope. It seems real confusing. I’m a Tonal user and have been for 2.5 years. I just got 3 Unitree Pumps for a total of $190 for all for when I travel. I was able to find them second hand but hardly used at all. I got very lucky. They are compact and so easy to use. I wouldn’t be able to deal with all this messy set up.
I hear you, but the biggest thing I’d want to convey is this is much different than a unitree other than being portable. I’d it’s more about getting that flywheel resistance but more portable or versatile. I’m still learning with it, but definitely respect the ecccentric overload you get days later with the doms you experience.
@@ironray123 whoa I wouldn’t go that far. This thing can straight up wreck you if you want it to. If anything I’m careful how much I use it and when in a workout.
This looked really interesting and promising UNTIL you tried to show how to set it up. OMG!!! Are you kidding me??? 30 minutes later... It's finally ready for a set. Yikes!!! You lost me right at that moment! I'll stick with a pair of dumbells and a set of bands. Done! I think conceptually, the flywheel is good but the set up for that thing...is just bad. Just my opinion.
Haha you had me laughing on that one. It really takes about less than 10 seconds to set up unless you’re moving mounting locations / changing discs. But the beauty of the fly wheel is you can change resistance mid set by effort. So I’d just pick one disc color per workout. Next video I’ll probably show a practical flow through a workout when it’s mounted to the board.
@@hybridresistance That will be great!!! I am interested in it but really it just seems clunky with the dangling excess cables and getting the pulleys set up right. No knock on you at all!!! You did a great job explaining it! I will hold off on anymore judgement of the device until I see you run it through some paces. Its really intriguing to see some of these new products hit the market. Thanks for covering this stuff!
great for those shaping/cutting workouts,looks solid to me,that fly wheel is nice smooth,the good thing about working out is theres so many options,free weight fly wheel,total gym free weight bands etc,thank again big mike🫡
As someone who is just starting out with home gym equipment (only have Ironmaster Dumbbells and a DIY bar/band/board) with minimal space, I’m so glad I discovered your channel. It has been invaluable and has been incredibly helpful to discover new minimalist gym equipment with your reviews. You have carved out a niche in the fitness channel space and I really hope your channel grows. You deserve all of the success. Appreciate what you are doing.
Appreciate that my friend. I hope it’s obvious these extra tools are just options and “icing on the cake” to what people are using especially with a minimal space set up.
I have the Kynett Home flywheel device. It’s cheaper but not as portable. It is also more quiet. The handy gym shines with its portability. The flywheels are great but you cannot add resistance to the eccentric phase. The eccentric phase is only as powerful as the inertia put into the concentric phase. The key is to stop the inertia in a short time during the eccentric phase to cause a slight eccentric overload. I love my flywheel system and use it regularly. The Synapse CCR, however is cheaper, more portable, and allows the user to add resistance during eccentric phase so that you get true eccentric overload through the full range of motion. I don’t know of any system that meets your criteria of minimalism and versatility like the Synapse. Great video and content!
The synapse is on the short list it’s honestly just looks like something I wouldn’t be into.
I have the Kynett as well, love it.
Great support from the company. Definitely planning to get the synapse CCR next.
I’ve had mine for four years.. I actually have two of them.. best thing to have in your bag when you’re outside on the train.. it’s kinda noisy but I’m in PREETY good shape and it works me out crazy.. at 55 it’s like weights but more force.. it’s definitely a core workout
Did you ever have to change the rope? I have to do a double-take when I see that they want 90 euros for a replacement rope.
@@Tomasquonope.. I broke it once but after I add the Vaseline to the rope and now no issues.. I actually have two of them
@@Tomasquo Al the parts are easily swapped out, it’s rock climbing equipment
@@Tomasquo you can literally tie it back and it will work.. I’ve had mine for 4 years now.. and have two of them
So cool that you've got one. It's a lot of fun!
I have a handy gym and love working out with it. Looking forward to upcoming vids with it.
Thank you. Feel free to add any user tips you've noticed since owning it.
Always waiting for your videos
Thanks man.
Happy you guys enjoy these reviews.
I’ve watched many videos which have not come close to the detail of your review. Great work as usual.
It just seems way too clunky and convoluted to setup/scale for exercises.
Thanks again Stevie for the compliment. This kind of reminds of x3 (or even bands in general) in that I was thinking the same thing, but the more I used it, the more I started to get excited about how I’m going to incorporate it. I’m probably going to start with a few exercises per workout. But time will tell with this thing
This looks like a modern day, more expensive version, of the old Exer-Genie from the 1960's (which amazingly enough is still available for sale today).
I thought the same
Yes, for sure. This thing excels in back, arms, and shoulders the most.
Matter of fact I was the first person in the Bronx and NYC to buy one.. 2020 I take it everywhere lol res good reason to show off for no reason
Good video. I knew you would be getting one these soon. I went ahead and bought the Kynett fit it is bigger but you can get more weight plates for it. I think with the force doubler it can go up to like 300 pounds. And it’s really quiet.
I'm eying that kbox as well. But I will the flywheel feel definitely surprised me.
I have to look into this.
Great review. I’ve always been interested in these flywheel devices but the cable management also looked clunky. Still seems like a great device.
Cable management is the main con for sure. I’m thinking a rubber band or little clips though will solve that problem for me.
Great job Mike. I was intrigued by this product in terms of its eccentric overload potential. I thought it would be a good complement to my Synapse. It was interesting but ultimately I returned it. For me, the Synapse is better. However, if you are a bands guy where most of the resistance is near lockout (i.e. shortened muscle), this would be nice complement since most of the resistance with Handy Gym is at the bottom change of direction (i,e. elongated muscle).
I was waiting for you Parker with the synapse. That’s gonna have to be my next thing to look at. The cost of that is more a shock to me than x3 was initially, but I ended up liking that.
Synapse looks like a pain to use if you work out along. You always need your other hand to control it.
@@SouthFist It's a small price to pay for the benefit of much shorter workouts. I also find the control strap side causing a lot of muscle fatigue as well eventually. When working out alone, you just need to learn how to position your body to get the full range of motion. After a while it becomes second nature and for me, enjoyable.
Mike is finding all the coolest equipment. Awesome work!!🔥🔥
Thanks for watching again man. I know you're in the know, so let me KNOW what's good if you hear/see anything.
I wish this was a bit more polished. I use a Kabuki Kratos but it is a bit too big and I wish I had a small device available to use.
In any case, really good review, appreciate the video man.
Are you using the kratos portable? I’m thinking about getting one or the beyond power voltra.
Now that you have used so many types of workout equipment, what would you choose for yourself if you could only have one piece of equipment?
It’s a tough decision. Of course a sliding bench comes to mind but you said “one” piece and there’s just a few short issues that need to be fixed on a future model. So I’d say a SBT designed to my specs.
@@hybridresistanceWhat issues would you fix?
Yeah, the noise would be a deal breaker for many potential buyers.
I think the bigger flywheels are quieter, but these little discs are ripping. One thing I forgot to mention on exercises like presses that you don’t what to get to close to those things when they’re spinning.
I have it but had to buy Kynettone flywheel ...due to the sound it really bad....would have been great if not for noise ....
I bought one and liked it a lot. There are things you can do with it that are not possible with other products. BUT: it runs on an internal gearing system, and the gears are plastic. I had a couple of teeth break off a gear and jam the entire system. Being both impatient and a bit of a mechanical geek, I took it apart to see what had happened. It’s unfixable for a DIYer and, since I’d taken it apart, I’d voided the warranty. I’m sure they’d have replaced it if I had sent it back rather than taking it apart but, as I said, I’m impatient. I don’t know if I got a defective unit or if it’s a general problem, but that was my experience.
Thanks for sharing that. Can I hear how long it lasted and how you think it malfunctioned?
@@hybridresistance I had it for about three months, using it about twice per week. I liked to use it for developing punching strength, so I would put it at shoulder level behind me and punch out as hard as I could, and let it reel back in. At one point, it just simply jammed and became unusable.
@@TIO540S1 That is not cool to hear, but thank you for sharing that.
@@TIO540S1Do you have the new, quieter flywheel? I’ve had the handy gym for over 1.5 yrs and use it 3-4 times a week with no issues. I had the quieter flywheel and From what I heard, that one is more prone to defect which was why Mueller stopped selling it. They swapped out the flywheel for me back to the noisier one over a year ago but I never had issues with either flywheel.
@@SouthFist I’m not certain, but I believe I have the quieter one.
Have you continued to use this or have any thoughts after using it a bit more?
I haven’t been using it as much as I’ve planned because of other fitness reviews/programming I’m doing. But it’s one of the things I’m looking to do a lot more as the weather gets nicer. You’ll definitely see more content on this thing in the future.
I was SO close to picking one up, but the noise issue gave me pause. Picked up an Exxentric KBox 5 and a KPulley Go instead. Any plans to review those?
Ideally yes, I hope to cover that one day for sure. But they're up there in price too! People blame me for covering expensive products, you guys got to recommend some cheap ones for me to check out.
Sandbags? I have some from Ultimate Sandbag Training, but REP has some cheap ones. Suspension Straps?
Handy Gym has the ideal form factor, both portable and able to connect to the foot plate for heavier leg and back training. Wish they’d have a fully enclosed housing for the flywheels, to both prevent injury potential and cut down on the noise.
Went with Exxentric because it’s the best I found in my research. Lots of support on the backend as well.
Another great review,I love portable tools like this.
Thanks again Lou for watching.
I like the added eccentric resistance but pretty pricey
For sure.
Just a quick comment about the doubler pulley. Unless they have changed the instructions, I attached the end of the line with the pulley to the loop on the body of the Handy Gym. With the Red disks the plastic body loop broke. The company refused to honor the warranty, saying that I should only use the doubler with the board and the eye on the board. I pointed out that the instructions NEVER gave that warning and since the board was an optional item Handy Gym should have honored their warranty. I was very disappointed in their refusal to honor the warranty since NO instruction mentioned not using the body loop with the doubler, although it is pointed out with the accessory foot board. I did fix (with epoxy and a metal rod) the body loop, and used a separate loop when using the doubler pulley. I like the Handy Gym, but I was upset that since their instructions did not mention that need for an "off the body loop" when using the pulley they would not repair my unit.
Thank you for adding this!
The way you connected it is actually shown on page 38 of the manual. Even with the yellow disks, the plastic body would probably break, eventually. Thanks for sharing your experience.
What's the advantage over the Bodylastics bands?
I would say this a very different tension / stress compared to bands. I will say even with a heavy band, you can really load up your muscles in a unique that’s kind of hard to describe with this thing.
@@hybridresistance it feels and sounds like starting up a gasoline generator :)
👍
Where can I buy it?
You can get them at HandyGymFit.com. You can also SAVE 20% off using "SBT". Thank you
This or the speediance gym pal or the folding smart gym you have for your wife? I'm stuck on the fence for the entire week.
Even though I haven't used the gympal, from what I heard I think that probably is the best overall purchase among these. The handy gym is great, but the flywheel might not be for everyone. I'll have more videos with it coming soon.
At over $1.5K that gym pal better be good! I bet there is nothing it could do that the Synapse CCR couldn't do though.
Oh... not Jim -- Gym... Got it. Sorry wrong video...
i'm intrigued by flywheel training but tbh this kind of seems cumbersome and annoying to deal with when you're working out
That was definitely part of my apprehension with this and flywheels in general. But I also said as much with Harambe / bands. It a learning curve for sure.
This seems like a lot of messing about to even set up and get going. I’ve had one in the garage for 2 years and gave up on it. Just too much messing about.
I hear you. Best tip I got with this is just to not worry about winding up the cord. It's actually not bad the more I use it.
The product seems super messy with the winding and all the extra rope. It seems real confusing. I’m a Tonal user and have been for 2.5 years. I just got 3 Unitree Pumps for a total of $190 for all for when I travel. I was able to find them second hand but hardly used at all. I got very lucky. They are compact and so easy to use. I wouldn’t be able to deal with all this messy set up.
I hear you, but the biggest thing I’d want to convey is this is much different than a unitree other than being portable. I’d it’s more about getting that flywheel resistance but more portable or versatile. I’m still learning with it, but definitely respect the ecccentric overload you get days later with the doms you experience.
That's weird, Unitree debuted less than a year ago. Great price. I hope they work out for you.
@@Tomasquo the best part about fitness equipment is the people who can’t commit to using it.
Clever idea but would I personally use it? No.
haha, that's why you have me here to try it for you.
@@hybridresistance It ranks right up there with the ThighMaster!
@@ironray123 whoa I wouldn’t go that far. This thing can straight up wreck you if you want it to. If anything I’m careful how much I use it and when in a workout.
That seems messy and complicated
Not for me. Too many moving pieces. Too complicated for my small brain. I’ll stick with bands.
This looked really interesting and promising UNTIL you tried to show how to set it up. OMG!!! Are you kidding me??? 30 minutes later...
It's finally ready for a set. Yikes!!! You lost me right at that moment! I'll stick with a pair of dumbells and a set of bands. Done!
I think conceptually, the flywheel is good but the set up for that thing...is just bad. Just my opinion.
Haha you had me laughing on that one. It really takes about less than 10 seconds to set up unless you’re moving mounting locations / changing discs. But the beauty of the fly wheel is you can change resistance mid set by effort. So I’d just pick one disc color per workout. Next video I’ll probably show a practical flow through a workout when it’s mounted to the board.
@@hybridresistance That will be great!!! I am interested in it but really it just seems clunky with the dangling excess cables and getting the pulleys set up right.
No knock on you at all!!! You did a great job explaining it! I will hold off on anymore judgement of the device until I see you run it through some paces.
Its really intriguing to see some of these new products hit the market. Thanks for covering this stuff!
This Thing is crap.
great for those shaping/cutting workouts,looks solid to me,that fly wheel is nice smooth,the good thing about working out is theres so many options,free weight fly wheel,total gym free weight bands etc,thank again big mike🫡
Thanks again Elad as always a voice of pure positivity brother.