COVID changed the way we fit our routines into day-to-day life. Part of that adjustment was figuring out how to bring the quality of a brick-and-mortar gym workout into our own homes.
No surprise, then, is the severe uptick in the popularity of at-home gym and workout systems.
As technology creates systems that are smaller, lighter, and equipped with “smart” accessories and features that give us more data about our workouts and bodies than the gym can offer, the more people have decided that maybe working out without going out will be their new normal.
That’s why it’s time we share our BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 review with you.
This isn’t the first BodyBoss home gym review out there, but we do think it’s the best. We’ve spent some quality time with this system, and if you’re considering doing the same, read on to know exactly what you can expect.
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Special Promotion for our readers! Save 15% by using Promo Code homedojo15 at Checkout!
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Review
Most of us don’t have space for all of the equipment at our disposal at the gym—particularly lifting benches, eight-foot, thousand-pound resistance equipment, and a complete set of iron weights and dumbbells to go along with it.
We have a small, dedicated space for workouts in our home simply because a bit of separation while we’re all together under the same roof is vital for our mental health.
Contrary to popular belief, even in our happy home, there is such a thing as too much time together!
But sometimes, that little bare-walled room feels boring. Sometimes you want to pop up in the middle of your workday and get in a few reps without going outside your home office, where the kids will inevitably latch on and need you for 10 other things.
This is where the BodyBoss portable gym is invaluable. You can pick it up in seconds and take it anywhere inside or outside your home. It really goes anywhere.
We knew we’d be doing a BodyBoss portable home gym review almost immediately because it’s so quickly and easily integrated into our daily gym exercise routine. Still, we needed to give it a few good shakes first.
So, what is this thing? The BodyBoss 2.0 is a complete home gym you can carry around like a briefcase, handle, and all.
It unfolds flat to reveal a series of pivoting hooks to which you attach resistance bands and various accouterments to do your at-home workout, whatever you want it to be.
Yes, it’s resistance-band-based training, but it leverages those bands to function in the same way your favorite benching, lifting, stretching, cardio, and strength routines do.
How It Works
The BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 premises are its resistance bands and a base you stand on to keep you and those bands safe and stable during your at-home workout.
Resistance bands have made a comeback in a big way in recent years, partially due to better materials that won’t snap and break and are resistant to degradation over time.
This portable home gym fold up platform turns into a narrow briefcase-like shape with a handle that makes it easy to port around.
It’s so tiny that you don’t need a dedicated gym room to do it. Throw this sucker in the trunk of your car and take it to the park. Take it to the bus stop to fit in those reps while you wait. Heck, take it to church!
The point is, you can take it with you, and it can, according to our tests, take seemingly anything you can throw at it.
The BodyBoss 2.0 unfolds to reveal anchored hooks to which you attach resistance bands with interchangeable handles to give you the precise feel you want from the workout you’re doing.
There’s a dumbbell-like handle, a collapsible workout bar akin to a barbell, and additional accessories that let you switch it up with different exercises such as:
- Lat Pulldowns
- Chest Fly
- Upright Rows
- Bicep Curls
- Resistance Boxing Workout
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
- Ab Crunches
- + Hundreds More!
Here’s what comes with the full package:
- Instruction manual + Page Guide
- Accessories carrying bag
- Fold Up VectorFit platform
- Collapsable workout bar
- Two hand grips
- Two wrist / ankle straps
- A set of resistance bands – 30 lbs of resistance each (extra bands bundle can also be purchased).
- Door anchor
- Ten hooks (five on either side) fold down flat when you need to fold up the case and go. When you’re using the BodyBoss Home Gym, these anchored hooks serve a couple of purposes:
- All-around access points for any angle of resistance
- Increased resistance by looping your bands through multiple hooks
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Specs:
- Lightweight at weighing in at about seven pounds
- Low-profile, 19 x 34 inches while opened up, approximately four inches thick
- One-year warranty and easy returns
- Withstands 500 pounds of force
BodyBoss 2.0 Workout Tracking & Tech Accessories
Is the resistance or lifting equipment at your gym suited with advanced sensors and associated apps to track your workouts and progress? Didn’t think so.
This is yet another reason at-home workouts are quickly overtaking the gym membership.
Exercise tech is a hot market. It’s easier than ever to create a set-up in your home that is far more advanced than the one at your gym.
Body Boss is in on this trend with a revolutionary workout concept, the 1Loop Resistance Band Tracker (and yes, there is a video demonstrating how to connect the 1Loop to your BodyBoss system. Spoiler alert: It’s effortless).
The BodyBoss workout product is evolving over time with newer and pretty creative accessories and variations, all with the good news that you don’t have to buy a new base to use them.
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Pros and Cons
Pros
- Beyond-reasonable price point for the functionality, quality, and versatility you get in this home gym
- Ideal for someone with disabilities or in need of a highly-customized strengthening workout
- Customer service We haven’t had to use customer service personally, but everything we’ve read states they are responsive, friendly, and fast.
- High-quality, strong, and safe material – Raise your hand if you’ve ever been burned by a resistance band. We know it’s not just us. BodyBoss bands are covered in a soft sheath made of sweat-resistant, latex-free cloth. The base and anchor point have a reinforced steel core to withstand your strong self. Eliminates the risk of scuffs and divots to your floors and walls from dropped or mishandled heavy gym equipment
Cons
- Less cohesive BodyBoss community – Because we’re real research nerds, we noticed the hashtag #becomeaboss on the BodyBoss website. We got excited that we might join in with a community of BodyBossers on Instagram. And we were disappointed to find that this hashtag has very little related to the BodyBoss Total Home Gym.When we went to YouTube, we found hundreds of videos by BodyBoss and professional fitness trainers, so there is no shortage of variety of workout here. But since we’re so used to a social element in all of our favorite activities in life, including exercise, it is a little disappointing to see that there’s no dedicated platform for interaction among the BodyBoss community—at least not one that was readily apparent on the BodyBoss 2.0 website or in our basic Google search.
- No consistent live classes
- We did experience slight shifting of the BodyBoss base, particularly when switching up your stance while holding resistance. It never felt unsafe, only mildly surprising. Customer reviews indicate that this may initially be a problem for lighter-weight individuals until they get a handle on proper transitions.
- The folding base with the handle makes it a tidy little briefcase that would be perfect if only the attachments fit inside. As with anything claiming super-portability, self-containment is ideal. Admittedly, the attachment carry-on is easy enough and takes up very little space.
Does the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Actually Work?
There’s a reason the BodyBoss gym has almost 3,500 four- and five-star reviews. Will you just look at this thing?
Its deceptively slim and sleek body provides an absolute beast of a workout.
No need for the bulky equipment that takes up too much space. Instead you can find a fun place inside or outside of your home and get your workout in.
We’ve been keeping an eye out on what’s been selling well in the home gym genre for months so that we could jump on board after lots of others do the testing (that’s why you’re here, too, right?).
We sat on it, and now we’re literally sitting on it every day.
We can definitively say that the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 is something we wish we would have brought home a long time ago because it actually works.
This is a fantastic way to get in your reps, kicks, lifts, splits (definitely not splits for us), or whatever. The BodyBoss 2.0 can give you an all-around workout that few home gyms can, let alone portable home gyms.
Born of User Feedback
Unlike most portable home gyms, the BodyBoss team started their product journey on Kickstarter and Indiegogo, raising over $1 million. This is a massive indicator that users love this product. We also know it’s been through multiple iterations with plenty of user feedback before hitting the primetime selling market (Amazon and Walmart, to name a couple).
It has been ranked the #1 home gym on Amazon and is a top-selling workout product at Walmart.
Are Home Workouts Just As Effective As Going To The Gym?
Many people claim motivation to be the downfall of consistent at-home workouts. The way we see it, having to pack a gym bag, hop in the car, park, and either shower (masked) in a locker room or get back in your vehicle to drive home sweaty … that’s a little less motivating.
A bigger demotivator for working out at home is that you don’t have the social interaction and in-person accountability you might at the gym. Might is key here since going to the gym doesn’t always involve social interaction through a class.
Finally, at-home full body workouts are becoming social, more and more, with apps, equipment, and communities designed and rising in the wake of isolation during COVID.
Given these points, yes, home workouts can be as or more effective as those done at the gym. Let’s look at how BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 accomplishes this.
Related: The Best Home Compact Gym
BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Guided Workouts
If you’re like us, you get to the gym and immediately have no idea what to do, so you throw down a few crunches and push-ups, scratch your head and move on to cardio.
Not sure what happens to your brain when you get to the gym, but ours pretty much go flat.
So, before we did any purchasing, we made sure to look into what types of guidance we could find on how to get a well-rounded workout in using the BodyBoss 2.0 gym—something that goes beyond the basics of “pull on the resistance band.” We need step-by-step pictures and videos that hold some form of intrigue to keep us going when our muscles want to stop.
One of BodyBoss 2.0’s best selling points are its free-to-anyone slew of videos to help you get going, learn, and reach your goals, including:
- A three-week activation and an eight-week BodyBoss program. The workout guides reinforce your confidence to make sure you’re doing it right!
- Target-area workouts focused on legs (lower body workout), arms, shoulders, back and chest (upper body workout). With a body part focus workout, you’ll ensure you work the areas you want.
- Total body and cardio workouts
- Tutorials on form and increasing or decreasing your resistance
- Onboarding instructional demonstrating everything you need to know to get set up and started with your BodyBoss and BodyBoss accessories
How Much Does BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 Cost?
Compared to other home gyms that costs thousands of dollars, BodyBoss Home Gym is very affordable. Originally priced at $255, the BodyBoss 2.0 is now on sale for $179. Our readers can save an extra 15% by using the promo code homedojo15 at checkout dropping the price to a very affordable $152 for a savings of over $100!
Furthermore, if you are not satisfied with the BodyBoss 2.0, it comes with a 14 day full refund making this a risk free purchase.
To purchase your BodyBoss and take advantage of this great deal, click here.
FAQs About The BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0
Is 30 pounds of resistance (per band) enough for a solid workout? Yes. Oh, yes. While each resistance band offers 30 pounds of resistance initially, looping a band to more than one anchored hook effectively increases your resistance by multiples.
What is a “VectorFit base”? BodyBoss’s base has hooks that can be rotated and adjusted to fit the exact angle you need for your resistance and lifting goals. This is such an essential function of the BodyBoss because it’s what allows you to target muscles in any way you want.
Is the BodyBoss safe? This question certainly applies to anyone who’s ever dropped a barbell on their toe at the gym or snapped a bright red welt onto their arm in an attempt to do resistance band training. But it especially applies to families with small children who can be severely injured by heavy gym equipment and the sharp metal edges that commonly accompany them.
Resistance training, in general, is safer on your body than free-weight lifting because it’s harder to have bad form.
Other Portable Home Gyms
As part of our BodyBoss portable home gym review, we want to open your eyes to a large-and-growing home gym market.
A search online will show dozens of portable home gyms of this sort. We’ve taken a look at most that have a standout presence. We have no regrets about going with BodyBoss 2.0.
- Lacks the versatility of the BodyBoss 2.0
- Still has the potential to snap you pretty good because the anchor of the bow is you, and your ability to hold onto it
- Surprisingly more expensive than the BodyBoss 2.0
Michelle Lewin’s Fit Base Platform
- Looks cool
- Comes with the backing and guidance by the contagiously motivating Michelle Lewins
- Every piece is detachable and separate. You’re bound to lose a few of its parts in a home where critical Lego pieces disappear faster than you can utter a curse word upon stepping on one.
iDeer Life Home Gym Workout Platform
- Looks like something out of the eighties with the product models to back it up. Its look alone might motivate you to hop on and do a few reps.
- The functional rolling wheels make for easy mobility across a flat surface. But that it might require wheels at all indicates its bulk.
- Folds in half and self-contains all accessories
- Significantly heavier and bulkier than the BodyBoss Home Gym
- Claims its flat, padded structure doubles as a yoga mat, but with the folding cases closure hooks on the sides, two sets of wheels on either end, and sitting a couple of inches off the ground, this is not a yoga mat we would find ourselves using on the regular.
- Reminds us of the BodyBoss Home Gym in form and function but is a less sleek chunkier version
- Maximum weight capacity only 290 pounds, which doesn’t accommodate the variety of body size we’d like to see
- Unique “wheel mode” lets you attach an ab roller wheel to your resistance bands for a fantastic core workout.
Wrapping it Up
We’re kind of smacking ourselves for not getting the BodyBoss Home Gym 2.0 sooner.
If you have also been waiting to bite the bullet on buying a home gym because you think:
- You don’t have room;
- You can’t afford it; or
- It can’t possibly give you the same quality workout as those massive iron machines at your local gym;
… think again.
The BodyBoss 2.0 has provided just the ease, versatility, portability, and, very importantly, the safety our family requires in a home gym.
We love that with the 1loop resistance sensors, we can now add resistance training to the growing fold of workout management and progress tracking capabilities.
We’d like to see and participate in a more extensive and collaborative community of BodyBoss home gym users, but that may be in the works down the line.
BodyBoss is the boss, and it will help your boss-self reach your fitness goals for ultimate boss status.
That may have been too much. But seriously, this total workout system is a great way for anyone looking to get fit at home or anywhere.
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Special Promotion for our readers! Save 15% by using Promo Code homedojo15 at Checkout!
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