Total Gym Model Differences, Value, & Cost – Which One Is Right For You?

It is easy to stick with your exercise when you enjoy it!

You can do any exercise you need on this fitness equipment and it is fun! It is easy to stick with your fitness program when you enjoy what you are doing. Additionally, the other great thing is that when it is right there in the house with you, you can fit in the time to use it whenever you want. If there is an exercise that you want to do and don’t know how to do it on the Total Gym, it just takes a little search online to find it. Switching between exercise types is performed easily.

Plenty of exercises and ways to find what you enjoy!

Not only are there lots of instructional exercise DVDs for this equipment, but there are many people sharing their favorite exercise routines on Youtube as well. There are plenty of exercises to try or just to switch up for what you normally do and add some variety.

How they work

This exercise equipment has a glideboard that slides on a rail. You lay or sit on the glideboard and roll back and forth to do exercise on this machine. You set the incline of this track to the level that you want and your exercise is done by means of the resistance of your own body weight.

I do exercise in the standing position, much like the picture shown. This is a great Pilates range of motion exercises for the legs. There is a standing platform attachment for this type of exercise. This platform bolts into place at the base and looks exactly like the equipment pictured.

Incline level & basics

The incline level of the machine adjusts the amount that your body weight increases the effort of your exercise. I do my squats and push-ups on the glideboard. With no attachments, the basic machine is estimated to have over 60 possible exercises. Addition of attachments increases the number of possible exercises.

Which one would work for you?

Look around, you can find some great deals on the Total Gym models. There are many models now, so there are ones offered at good prices. Most all of them fold up for easy storage. The really heavy ones fold in a way that makes them movable on wheels, sort of like a hand truck. Certainly, if you have always wanted to have one, it is well worth looking at them!

New or used?

I have listed the products that are highly rated with well detailed information. Furthermore, if there are used models worth noting, I note them in orange font so that you can find them easily. In this way, you can easily distinguish new from used.

More attachments can add to what you can do!

This exercise machine will always be the right machine for the exercise you want to do. For mine, I have pulleys, Pilates toe bar attachment, and wing bar attachment. That is all that I need for everything I like to do.

The Pilates toe bar attachment is a long U shaped piece for the base. I prefer it to the solid foot platform (called squat stand) that is standard. It is very useful for so many things. I can do exercises that require my feet or hands to be higher up, at the top of the U piece. Pulleys are great for many, many arm and leg exercises. The wing bar attachment allows me to do pull-ups.

 

Pilates is possible

 

If you are a fan of Pilates, this equipment can be used like a Pilates Reformer, plus much more. The old Pilates Reformer does not usually have an incline and the lowest level would be like that Reformer. These are the accessories that give compatibility with the Reformer: the leg pulley system and the Pilates toe bar attachment. Pilates exercise is great for elongating, strengthening, and giving great flexibility to the muscles.

Pilates foot platform

I was shocked at the cost of this foot platform attachment from most sellers. If you cannot find this for a realistic price, there are other possibilities. All you need to do is remove your squat stand or Pilates toe bar. Use the floor as your platform as you do your workout. Make sure that you will have good footing on the floor and that your Total Gym is solidly placed too (won’t slip).

Lots of possibilities here…

Basic exercises – jumping

A really great workout for the legs is just jumping as you lay on the rolling glideboard at your desired incline angle. One great thing I have learned about doing the jumping exercises, is that if I raise my shoulders up off the glideboard while doing them, I get a great ab workout at the same time.

These are so fun and great exercise for legs, but don’t even seem like exercise. When you get good at them, you can isolate and do one leg at a time, which is more intense (single leg squat). Also, you can use it like a rowing machine in many variations.

Additional exercises

A great exercise for the back of the leg is to be forward toward the top of the glideboard with one knee planted at the base while rolling up and down to work the isolated leg resting on the foot platform (glute kickback).

For the abs, a great exercise is to have your feet at the high top area of the Pilates toe bar attachment and roll up, raising yourself and your knees upward as you roll downward. This rolls through a range of abdominal muscles lifting you up…again it is so fun it does not even seem like exercise. The same ab exercise can also be done with the ab crunch attachments. There are still more ab exercise methods… including my favorite, in the Total Gym exercises page.

Many advantages to the workout

It is easy to do lots of great range of motion type exercises on the Total Gym. Of course these type of exercises add up to a cardio workout, and improve your flexibility as well.

It is very quick and easy to run through many exercises without any attachment changes to interrupt your routine. You have the choice of doing a low incline and many reps for endurance improving exercise or small number of reps at a high incline for muscle building.

This section is for those who are new to this exercise equipment or who cannot picture the exercise possible on a Total Gym

Dip bars

These allow the dip bar exercises that you can envision being done on parallel bars. They are performed at an angle on this sliding platform instead. These bars are meant for a central location on the rails of the machine. If you don’t have the dip bars, there are ways to do these same exercises with the pulley system.

Press up bars

These allow you to do exercises where you grip the handle in a position that is parallel to the board. Exercises like pull ups, and press ups are both possible and depend on whether you are pushing up from a base attachment or pulling up from a top end attachment on your sliding platform. They are sometimes called press up/push up bars.

2 hand grip bar attachments such as multi-function or wing attachments, and 3 grip such as the tri-grip shaper bars

These can be used for a multitude of exercises much like the above 2 bars. These can also be used to brace your feet in position for doing things like stomach crunches. Although you can probably use most of the handle attachments in this way.

Pulley systems

With the pulley systems, you do all the weight stack type exercises that are performed at the gym. The sliding track allows for greater versatility in your position and use.

Row machine type exercise and variations are easily performed. Performing this very same exercise facing the base of the board, works different muscles in your arms in a different way. The way that you move your arms determines what muscles are getting the focus. There are an enormous number of variations possible.

Example

To illustrate the use, picture an exercise at a gym where you are using a pulley and a weight stack. You are gripping the handle palms down and pulling the stack from a position with your hands above your head down towards your knees.

On the Total Gym, you can do this same exercise by laying on the glideboard, holding the pulley palms up above your head, and pulling down toward your knees. You will roll upward as you are pulling downward. The weight stack is now your body laying on the glideboard.

Safeguards for long hair

One thing to keep in mind about using the Total Gym is that if you have long hair, you have to bind it so that it cannot hang down and get caught in the track. This should have been obvious to me, but I learned the hard way. Make it part of the routine to put a headband and pony tail band on long hair before any workouts.

My first exercise machine like this was UltraGlide…

My first Total Gym style exercise machine was a brand by the name of UltraGlide. Having never seen these exercise machines before, I saw one on a shopping channel and fell in love at first sight. It was reasonably priced and I bought it back in 1999.

I used it regularly, and was extremely happy with it. In fact, I used it so much that I completely wore the machine out. The structure came apart in ways that were not repairable. It took me about 5 years to wear it out. By that time, I had seen the commercials for the Total Gym.

Why Total Gym is my favorite

Ultimately, for my birthday, I made sure to get the better constructed Total Gym. They have the right mix of structural strength and shock absorption. Although my Ultraglide had a heavy metal structure, it broke up in weld areas. This type of failure will not happen to the Total Gym design.

I personally believe that if you are going to get one of these machines, you won’t find a better choice than the Total Gym. In fact, this design is a great balance of strong framework and shock absorbing meeting points that hold up well through usage.

My machine – Middle range

I have a Platinum Plus model and love it. The Platinum Plus version is very, very similar to the 1900 family of models. It has less incline levels and handles a little less weight. This might be something to keep in mind when comparing the cost of them.

I highly recommend it. As a result of my history with these machines, I feel that all the models in that middle price range are a great investment. They are a quality, durable exercise machine. I have been using my machine for about 11 years now.

High end

The high end machines are more towards the level of exercise gym equipment that have to hold up for heavy traffic. Moreover, the main models offered on the Total Gym Direct site are the Supreme, the XLS, the Fit, and the GTS, which are the more expensive models.

Total Gym manuals

You can find most of the manuals for the models on the Total Gym site, with the exception of the 1200. At the lower end, the Achiever is very similar to the 1100 model.

Warranty

Typically for a new machine, there is a five-year frame warranty, a one year parts and upholstery warranty, and a 90-day foam and rubber warranty.

Total Gym Attachments for early models

Early model Total Gyms were designed before many of the accessory attachments now in use. The 1100, Achiever, and 1500 do not have the foot platform, called the squat stand. They do not have the built in locations to attach one. On the other hand, they do have pin locations that may be used to add attachments. There is a hole location at the base and one at the top of the rail.

The dip bar is an attachment for the unique central area of the rail. There is a new compact dip bar that can be added to these 3 models and others as well. It is made for 5/16″ holes models: 1100, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, Pro, Ultra, Platinum, Achiever.

The 1100 and the Achiever manuals only list the multi-function attachment and the leg pulley system as additions to them. The 1500 manual only lists the wing attachment and the leg pulley system as additions to it. Look for attachments that are compatible with the 5/16″ holes.

Many kinds of attachments

Basics

These machines have many attachments to grip and give better versatility in exercises. There are dip bars (2 piece), and press up bars (2 piece). There is a mult-function attachment, and wing bar attachment (1 piece and 2 piece versions) that have 2 handle positions. A tri-grip shaper bar set (2 piece) has 3 grip positions. There are many ways to attach these handle type attachments.

Also, there is an arm pulley and a leg pulley. Arm pulley are foam covered handles at the end of the pulley system that are shaped like a triangle or L-shaped for your hands to hold. There is a pulley system with strap attachments for the leg pulley. As previously mentioned, there is a Pilates toe bar attachment that replaces the squat stand.

Holes for the attachments

There are holes for connecting along the rails. You can connect them at many locations at the top, at least one at the base. Additionally, there is a central hole for the dip bars.

Additional attachment information

All attachments with hand hold areas have foam padding for comfort of use. Dip bar handles come straight up from the side of the machine. Any Total Gym model that has the hole in the center area of the rail where the glide track travels can have the dip bar attached. The press up bar make a 90 degree angle for you to hold and comfortably use to pull or push yourself on the glideboard.

The wing bar attachment that I have is essentially like the multi-function attachment. As you use your equipment, you will find that you can do each workout with certain favorite attachments. As you learn your favorite process, you will reduce the number of attachment changes. I have found that I have more than I need.

Ab crunch attachment

If you do not have the ab crunch board, don’t worry, you can still do these type of exercises. You can plant your hands or grip at the base of the machine and perform these in a pushing position instead of a pulling one. It is also possible to grip at the top of the machine and do these. There is the option of doing both. You can also do many variations. Additionally, I described my lower abdominal exercises that utilize the Pilates toe bar in the beginning of this article as well.

Ab crunch boards are used for many range of motion abdominal muscle exercises – demonstrated below.

Ab work specialized Total Gym model – the Total Gym TGBLAST

This machine comes with the ab crunch board, but has a far shorter glideboard. It also does not have resistance levels. This is a more limited machine.

I would much prefer to get a Total Gym model with the ab crunch attachment and have all the workout possibilities for these home gym machines. You can do all the same core workout exercise plus many more when you have a regular Total Gym model instead.

Some example videos of exercises for the Total Gym

Below $400 range Total Gym machines

Models: 1100, Achiever, 1400, 1600, 1700 Club, APEX G1 to G3, 3000

UNFORTUNATELY LOW END COST TG MODELS CAN BE HARD TO FIND.

HERE ARE ALTERNATIVE EXERCISE MACHINES (SIMILAR DESIGN)

Below $400 range ALTERNATIVES to TG machines

$400 to $800 range Total Gym machines

Models:

1800 Club

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 93″ X 16″ X 44.5″]

1900, Ultima, Flex, Premiere, Force, Xtreme

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 16″ X 43″]

Fusion

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 15.5″ X 43.25″]

Supreme, Elite

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 93″ X 15.5″ X 43.25″]

Platinum, Platinum Plus

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 80.75″ X 14.25″ X 37.5″]

APEX G5

[Dimensions (L X W X H): 93″ X 15.5″ X  43.25″]

Total Gym 1800 Club

The 1800 model handles up to 300 lbs, and has 6 different incline settings. It comes with Pilates toe bar, dip bars, a wing attachment for pull-ups and leg curls, press-up bars, a leg cuff pulley attachment, and an ab crunch board attachment.
This model is much like the 1400 deluxe with additional accessories and only a tiny increase on the cost…seems like a great deal too.

According to the manual
Dimensions (L X W X H): 93″ X 16″ X 44.5″
Folded dimensions: 51″ X 16″ X 9″

Total Gym 1900

The 1900 model handles up to 350 lbs, and has 12 different incline settings. It comes with Pilates toe bar attachment, ab crunch boards, multi-function attachment, press up bars, dip bars, pulley system and 2 small mats for the base at each end.

According to the manual
Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 16″ X 43″
Folded dimensions: 50.5″ X 16″ X 8″

Xtreme

12 levels of resistance
This handles up to 350 lbs weight capacity
Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 16″ X 43″

Includes AbCrunch accessory, Leg Pulley System, Squat Stand, Tri Grip Shaper Bars, Wing Attachments, Training Deck, Todd Durkin Intermediate DVD, Rosalie’s Total Body Workout DVD & an Exercise Guide

Total Gym Force

The Force is a very stylish modern version of the Total 1900 model. It includes a raised oval head cushion in the glideboard. It has the same dimensions and performance with the same attachments, except that it has the squat stand instead of the Pilates toe bar.

The Force handles up to 350 lbs, and has 12 different incline settings. It comes with Pilates toe bar attachment, ab crunch boards, multi-function attachment, press up bars, dip bars, pulley system and 2 small mats for the base at each end.

According to the manual
Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 16″ X 43″
Folded dimensions: 50.5″ X 16″ X 8″
12 levels of resistance
It has a maximum weight capacity of 350 lbs

Both models include these DVDs:

Intermediate Program DVD with Todd Durkin to step-up your game by challenging strength
Total Body Workout DVD with Rosalie Brown

This TG Includes AbCrunch Accessory, Squat Stand, Dip Bars, Press Up Bars, 2 Piece Wing Attachment, Leg Pull Accessory, Exercise Flip Chart, Long Mat, Nutrition Guide, 2 DVDs

Total Gym XL7

The XL7 is a very stylish modern version of the Total 1900 model. It includes a raised oval head cushion in the glideboard. It has the same dimensions and performance with the same attachments, except that it has the squat stand instead of the Pilates toe bar.

The XL7 handles up to 350 lbs, and has 12 different incline settings. It comes with Pilates toe bar attachment, ab crunch boards, multi-function attachment, press up bars, dip bars, pulley system and 2 small mats for the base at each end.

According to the manual
Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 16″ X 43″
Folded dimensions: 50.5″ X 16″ X 8″
12 levels of resistance
It has a maximum weight capacity of 350 lbs

Models usually include these DVDs:

Intermediate Program DVD with Todd Durkin to step-up your game by challenging strength
Total Body Workout DVD with Rosalie Brown

This TG Includes AbCrunch Accessory, Squat Stand, Dip Bars, Press Up Bars, 2 Piece Wing Attachment, Leg Pull Accessory, Exercise Flip Chart, Long Mat, Nutrition Guide, 2 DVDs

Total Gym APEX G5, G3, & G1

THE G5, G3, AND G1 ARE ALL AVAILABLE FOR ORDER HERE

THE G1 AND G3 ARE BELOW $400

G5: 10 levels of resistance
Includes wing attachment, larger squat stand, leg pull accessory, dip bars, training deck with holder, 2 stability mats, Total Gym TV access, exercise & nutrition guides, owner’s manual, and DVD
Over 80 exercises possible
Dimensions: 93″ L, 43.25″ H, and 15.5″ W
Supports a maximum weight of 375 lbs

G3: 8 levels of resistance
Includes wing attachment, larger squat stand, leg pull accessory, dip bars, exercise flip chart, Total Gym TV access, exercise & nutrition guides, owner’s manual, and DVD
Over 70 exercises possible
Dimensions: 93″ L, 43.25″ H, and 15.5″ W
Supports a maximum weight of 300 lbs

G1: 6 levels of resistance
Includes cable pully system, a wing attachment, and leg-pull accessory in a foldable design for easy storage
Over 60 exercises possible
Dimensions: 93″ L, 43.25″ H, and 15.5″ W
Supports a maximum weight of 300 lbs

Total Gym models over $800

Models: XL, XLS, Fusion, Fit

Total Gym XL

USED TOTAL GYM model at a great price from highly rated sellers, box opened

Handles up to 350 lbs.
Dimensions (L X W X H): 90″ X 18.5″ X 43″
Folded dimensions: 51.5″ X 18.5″ X 8.875″
These have the squat stand and Pilates kit

Total Gym XLS

This model is more heavy duty design and handles up to 400 lbs, and has 22 different incline settings. This design size works for people up to 6 feet 4 inches. The XLS can come with 6, 8, or 12 resistance levels.

Over 80 possible exercises with this machine
Handles up to 400 lbs.
6 levels of resistance
Dimensions (L X W X H): 90″ X 18.5″ X 43″
Folded dimensions: 51.5″ X 18.5″ X 8.875″

This one includes: ribbed squat stand, wing attachment, leg pull accessory with 2 ankle cuffs, exercise wall chart, training deck, and nutritional/meal planning guide

Comes with: ab crunch, wing attachment, exercise chart, training deck, and nutritional/meal planning guide

Fusion

‘Like new’ TOTAL GYM model, but seller says the box was opened

Exercises possible with the Step attachment: Squats, Plyometric, Rebound, add alternating step pattern to exercise.

Comes with: Leg pulley system, Pilates toe bar, Ab crunch attachment (2 pc), Wing attachments (2 pc), Step attachment (2 pc), Pilates exercise DVD

Dimensions (L X W X H): 92.5″ X 15.5″ X 43.25″

Folded Dimension: 50.5″ X 15.5″ X 8″

Total Gym Fit

Possibly USED TOTAL GYM model at a great price from highly rated sellers

The “flagship” model handles up to 450 lbs, and has 12 different incline settings. It comes with AbCrunch attachment and workout DVD, upgraded squat stand, updated 2-Piece Wing Attachment, pulley system, upgraded leg pulley system.

Over 85 possible exercises with this machine
Handles up to 450 lbs.
12 levels of resistance
Dimensions (L X W X H): 93″ X 18.5″ X 44.5″
Folded dimensions: 50.5″ X 18.5″ X 8.5″

Maybe some attachments, workouts on DVD and video, Pilates additions are just what you need…

The 3 major lines of home exercise machines that are competitors of Total Gym.

Maybe you will like one of these more…

Other affordable and valuable home exercise equipment.

I invite you to go there too! There is cheap alternative home equipment for various types of Total Gym exercises and more. These are the exercise equipment items that are affordable and give the best results. I also tell about equipment that is not worth getting or may not be as well suited as it seems.