Racks, Benches and Home Gyms
Force USA G3 All-In-One Trainer Review: Rack, Smith and Cables, With Limits
7.9
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Every product tested at homeNo paid rankings
IronnookSource: forceusa.com
The G3 gives a garage a rack, a good Smith machine and a cable station for $1,999, with a generous attachment kit and a lifetime frame warranty. It does not replace a commercial gym: the 2:1 cables are light, overhead pulling is limited, and assembly runs 12 to 16 hours. Buy it if you will use the Smith bar. If you want free-weight racks, buy a plain rack.
Best for: Garage lifters who want a Smith machine, rack and cables in one frame
The G3 packs a power rack, a Smith machine and a 2:1 cable trainer into a 78 by 60 inch frame for $1,999. The Smith bar shines, the cables are light, and assembly takes a weekend.
A commercial gym puts a power rack in one corner, a Smith machine in another and a cable station against a wall, and charges you a membership to walk between them. Force USA's G3 tries to fold all three into one 78 by 60 inch frame for $1,999. It nearly works. The things it gets wrong are the ones you only notice after the crate is open.
The G3 is a plate-loaded power rack with a Smith machine bar and a functional trainer built in. The foundation is a rack with safety spotter arms and J-hooks. Inside it, a 35 lb knurled Smith bar rides on a vertical track and holds up to twelve plates. On the outside, two pulleys give you cable work.
Force USA lists the outside size as 78 inches wide, 60.5 deep and 87 tall. That is tall. The maker says you need at least 8 feet 4 inches of ceiling to do full pull-ups on the included multigrip chin bar, so check your garage door track and your ceiling before you click buy.
Garage Gym Reviews tested the G3, and reviewers single out the Smith machine as its best part. One said it could pass a blind test against a commercial machine. Force USA credits quad-bearing rollers for the smooth travel. The bar is not counterbalanced, so it starts at its full 35 lb, and the uprights are completely vertical with no angle.
Testers had complaints too. One found a small drag in the Smith travel, another reported bearings falling out of a slider sleeve on unpacking, and knurling was called subpar. Force USA's warranty is lifetime on the frame, ten years on moving parts and one year on upholstery and attachments, so a bad sleeve should be replaceable.
The functional trainer uses a 2:1 ratio, so 100 lb of plates gives you 50 lb at the handle. The ratio gives a longer cable stroke, which is good for flies and tall pulldowns, but the load per side is half what you stack. If cables are your priority, see our
The PR-4000 is the rack we point most garage gym builders to. It uses the same 3 by 3 inch, 11-gauge steel and 5/8 inch hardware as the premium names, adds 1 inch Westside spacing through the bench zone, and costs less than a comparable Rogue. The trade-offs are a hammertone finish that is not perfectly smooth, numbering on one side only, and a four-post build that must be bolted down. Choose the PR-5000 only if you want 1 inch holes everywhere.
The T-3 is the budget power rack most home lifters should buy. The 2x3 inch, 11-gauge uprights, Westside hole spacing, 1,100 lb bar capacity and two pull-up bars are what a $700 rack gives you at around $520 on sale. The J-cups are average, the bolts are ordinary, the holes are not numbered and the warranty is only one year. Buy it if price decides. Pay more for a REP rack if finish and long-term support matter.
The Profile Folding Full Cage is the best answer we found for a lifter who needs four posts and a car-ready floor. It is stable, made in the USA and folds to 12 in from the wall. The price is the catch: $1,599.99 before safeties, a stud-mounted install and a ceiling of 86 in or more. If the car stays outside, buy a fixed rack for far less.
The attachments are generous. In the box you get J-hooks, spotter arms, a landmine, a multigrip landmine handle, a dual hook bar, straight bars, nylon stirrup handles, a pulldown rope, band pegs, Olympic lock collars and spring collars. The cables are 6.2 mm mil-spec aircraft cable, rated to 2,000 lb.
Uprights are 2 by 2 inch, 11 gauge steel with Westside hole spacing and 62 adjustment points. Total capacity is 992 lb, with 772 lb on the Smith machine and chin bar. The unit weighs 445 lb.
Delivery and assembly are the real cost. Garage Gym Reviews reported a single huge crate that the carrier will not bring inside, and 12 to 16 hours of assembly with two people, with a few errors in the manual (parts drawn upside down). Plan a full weekend and a friend. You will also need your own plates and a barbell, none of which come with the machine.
Force USA shows a 4.9 star average from 246 reviews, and the summary highlights sturdiness, easy assembly and smooth operation. The testers' 12 hour build and the shop's "easy assembly" do not match, so believe the testers.
Count the extras before you commit. You supply the barbell, the plates and a bench, and the Smith bar alone can swallow 12 plates. A decent set of Olympic plates and a bar can add several hundred dollars to the bill, which is why this machine suits people who already own iron. Force USA also sells larger models, with the G6 listed at $3,499 and the G20 at $5,999 on the same page, for those who want a weight stack.
No. It replaces three separate pieces of equipment for squats, presses, rows and basic cable work, which is a lot of value at $1,999. It does not replace a leg press, a lat machine with a proper stack or the range of a free-standing cable column. Overhead pulling movements are limited, and taller lifters report feeling cramped inside the frame.
Buy the G3 if you want a Smith machine and a rack in one footprint and you will use the Smith bar often. If you mostly want free-weight squats and benching, buy a rack like the REP PR-4000 and spend the savings on a bench and plates. Skip the G3 if the ceiling is under 8 feet 4.