If you don't have an entire room in your home to devote to a home gym, but you still want a health club-quality workout, consider the Nautilus NS300X. This home gym offers more than 30 different exercises for a full upper body workout. At the core of the NS300X is an upright bench and 11-position press station; this offers a range of chest press, shoulder press and mid rows from a seated position. The pec deck station offers dual pivots for greater range of motion, and the low pulley station features a fixed footplate for increased stability.

Simple adjustments ensure that the bench's rear and bottom seat pads offer a comfortable fit to your individual body size, while the multi-grip positions contribute to comfortable movement. We particularly like the level of customization available on the NS300X. The weight stack can be fitted to either the left or right of the machine, depending on the layout of the space where you intend to house the unit. The NS300X's 6X4-foot footprint is compact enough to fit in a guest room or home office, for example, and the weight stack offers up to 200 pounds of resistance. We would, however, like to see the leg extension/leg curl station included as standard, especially considering the unit's high price. There are several upgradeable attachments available for the NS300X; a leg press and ab crunch attachment, for example, doubles the unit's maximum resistance to 400 pounds and provides a solid lower body workout, although it will add a sizeable cost to the price of the NS300X.

The Nautilus NS300X is a well-constructed piece of home fitness equipment, which is reflected in the unit's lifetime warranty on the frame and 10-year warranty on parts. Serious bodybuilders, though, won't be tested sufficiently by 200 pounds of resistance, and budget consumers may balk at paying a premium price for a relatively limited workout. If you're looking to customize a home gym to fit into a limited space in your home or if you're seeking a machine with plenty of expansion possibilities, the Nautilus NS300X is worth considering.


Pros: Well constructed, reasonably compact, customizable weight stack to fit your workout space
Cons: Not as good value as competing gyms, leg press an expensive optional extra

Warranty
Lifetime, frame; 10 years, parts; 1 year, labor