Inspire Fitness FTX Functional Trainer: A Compact Design For Smaller Spaces

If you’ve been looking around at the best functional trainers for a home gym there’s a very good chance that you’ve come across the Inspire Fitness FTX. That’s especially true if a very small footprint is important for your home gym design.

This functional trainer has been among one of our favorite compact designs for several years now and for good reason. Inspire has created a solid unit that numerous reviews have called out for operating the same on day one as it does in years two and three.

Let’s take a look at the Inspire Fitness FTX starting at its solid frame.

Inspire Fitness FTX Frame

Let’s start with the most obvious aspect of the frame. The unit measures just 54-inches wide, that’s about 10-inches less than many other functional trainers on the market.

The unit is also just 40-inches deep, allowing for less space to be taken up in your home gym. While it’s less wide and less deep than many trainers, it’s still 85-inches tall, making it on the bigger side of the height aspect. That added height is a great addition for pull-ups and chin-ups.

The actual frame is constructed from heavy-duty steel. We searched high and low and several reviews claimed 12-gauge steel was used while many product sellers for the FTX simply said it was a rounded steel design. Regardless, the unit is solidly built and reviews have shown the longevity of the product.

If you’re overly worried about the steel used, keep in mind that the Inspire Fitness FTX functional trainer comes with a residential-use lifetime warranty for its frame and parts. You won’t find a better warranty on the market.

Plus, the trainer looks great thanks to an electrostatic powder coat that looks surprisingly good.

Inspire Fitness FTX Cables And Pulley System

A functional trainer is only as good as its cables and pulley system. If there’s drag your workouts won’t be as fluid as they should be. If the cables have too much slack, you’ll feel it when lifting and dropping your weights back down.

The FTX we’re happy to report offers incredibly smooth operation even when maxing out the unit’s weight stack. As one verified Amazon user wrote” “I used this machine immediately and the first thing I noticed was how smooth it was. Zero noise, zero clunkiness, and zero skipping on the cables. I’m excited to use this continuously.”

With thirty swivel pulley positions, you’ll also find that your movements are not prohibited in any direction, allowing for thousands of exercises to be performed. While this functional trainer includes a ton of pulley positions, it lacks the commercial-grade laser cut-outs we prefer. To be honest, the 19 positions on my Titan Fitness functional trainer are always more than enough and they look a lot nicer.

Thanks to the larger height you’re also going to find that even taller users can get some great use out of this functional trainer.

Inspire Fitness FTX Weight Stacks

Let’s start with the bad. The Inspire Fitness FTX comes standard with just 165 pounds per weight stack. The weights feature a 2:1 ratio which means the most weight you’ll pull off each stack is 82.5 pounds. If like me, you are a powerlifter, you’ll find yourself quickly maxing out this unit.

With that being said, you can spend around $200 more and 50 more pounds to each weight stack for a total weight per stack of 215 pounds. With the added weight stacks, your FTX can be among the heavier units that are currently available on the mark, at least when it comes to budget-friendly functional trainers.

You’ll also notice that the weights are left wide open. For most users, this isn’t an issue but we do prefer shields around the weight stacks on functional trainers. It’s not a huge issue but there’s a safety level associated with protective coverings.

The weights look great, featuring a solid paint job, we just wish they actually had weights listed. As it stands, you have 15 plates that are simply numbered from 1 to 15. That comes out to 11 pounds per weight. Sure, it’s not hard to do that math in your head but it’s also not ideal compared to other functional trainers on the market.

Inspire Fitness FTX Accessories And Pull-Up Bar

First up are the included accessories for the Inspire Fitness FTX functional trainer. The first thing you’ll notice is the accessory hold which provides plenty of space for included accessories and other options you might want to add at another time.

One aspect I really love with the accessory area is the space Inspire Fitness has included for holding a phone, tablet, or notebook. If you’re watching videos for your workouts, having a dedicated space to hold your devices is a huge plus and something I wish every functional trainer would start offering.

The unit ships with a tricep rope, 2 Deluxe D handles, a dual hook curl bar, and a Chin/Dip belt. The accessories get the job done with solid grips, they are nothing to write home about but they are perfectly fine for most users.

The real stand-out in my opinion is the curl bar. I hate setting up my power rack just for curls and the FTX Functional Trainer curl bar provides a quick alternative with a rubber grip that might actually surprise many curl bars.

I do wish Inspire Fitness would have thrown in some of its add-ons for free. My Titan Fitness Functional Trainer came with a straight bar and ankle strap but both of those are additional add-ons for the FTX.

Other add-ons that are available include the aforementioned 50-pound weight stacks, along with some decent rubber D handles and an ab bar. You can also buy a weight bench directly from the company if you want to add even more versatility to your workout routines.

Along with the included and add-on accessories, the Inspire Fitness FTX functional trainer also comes standard with a pull-up and a chin-up bar. I’m not a big fan of the rather boring option they provide, other functional trainers offer more angles that can be used with wide and shallow grip types. The FTX bar feels more like something we would find on a power rack. One aspect I do love is that it’s a solid bar that offers knurling while many other functional trainers have gone to rubber grips.

Check out the reviews for this awesome compact functional trainer on Amazon.