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Our honest review of the resistance band set that claims it can revolutionise your home workouts Cross Trainer
If you're on TikTok, you may have already come across Gymproluxe. The brand's multi-gym band and bar set exploded in popularity earlier this year, amassing thousands of views and shares. It even made its way onto daytime TV, having been named one of the best home fitness gadgets of 2023 on This Morning.
Naturally, we're sceptical when we hear about a new viral fitness product, so when we heard there was a new multi-gym band claiming it could revolutionise the way we work out from home, with some even suggesting that the kit could replace the gym altogether, we had to give it a try.
To find out if it could really be time to ditch the dumbbells and weight benches, we put the Gymproluxe Band and Bar Set 2.0 through its paces with the help of our fitness editor, Andrew Tracey, testing its quality, ease of use, portability and how it compares to other resistance bands.
Here's our verdict on whether the Gymproluxe All in One Portable Gym is, as they say, the ultimate portable gym accessory, or just another overhyped fitness fad.
One of the first selling points of the Gymproluxe resistance band set is that it’s ready to use straight out of the box. In fact, before we’d even had a chance to unpack the accessories, Tracey was already smashing out bent-over rows in the middle of the office – much to the bewilderment of our non-Men’s Health colleagues.
The set comes pre-configured with handles attached to three resistance bands on each side. The six bands offer three levels of tension, each of which is colour-coded so it's easy to toggle between them. Simply attach or detach the bands depending on the difficulty you want.
The set also includes a belt, which houses the bands. This can be placed behind your back, across your chest, or stood on in order to target different muscle groups.
It also comes with a detachable bar, which, once screwed together, you can use to perform exercises such as bench press, deadlift, shoulder press, seated rows, upright rows and bicep curls, to name a few. For the extra leg straps, door anchors and five extra-long bands, you'd need to pick up the All In One set.
This is where the Gymproluxe multi-gym band set stands out. Unlike cheaper alternatives, we'd be surprised to hear of these bands snapping mid-way through an exercise. The bands themselves feel well made, durable and of good quality, which, when offering up to 90kg of resistance, is welcomed.
The bar, which is essentially a steel rod coated in a soft protective material, is comfortable to hold and plenty grippy, while still retaining a sturdy and durable feel. When threaded through the holes in the handles, the bar, as Tracey puts it, 'allows you train ‘bilaterally’ using both sides of your body, meaning you can really go heavy'.
The padded exercise belt is also a handy addition to the set, as ‘it makes performing movements where you have to use your body as an ‘anchor’ for the bands much more comfortable and mitigates the risk of the entire system slipping out from under your feet and causing harm', says Tracey.
Like other resistance bands, you can perform pretty much any exercise you can do with free weights with the Gymproluxe Band and Bar Set 2.0. As Tracey explains, this makes resistance bands in general a great alternative to using free weights at home 'and not just because they're portable and cheap'.
'The type of resistance they provide is unique versus dumbbells or barbells,' he says. 'The weight increases towards the end of each rep as the band stretches, meaning you really have to accelerate through the movement, before slowing down the band as it returns. This type of training can help to build powerful, explosive strength.’
As well as the variety of exercises you can do with the Gymproluxe Bar and Band Set 2.0, one of the main selling points is its portability. Whether you're going on holiday and don't want to lose your hard-earned gains or you simply enjoy working out outside during the summer, you can easily fit the entire set – that's the belt, two handles, six bands and bar – into a gym bag, suitcase or the carry bag provided.
For how-to videos of exercises you can perform specifically using their gear, see the Gymproluxe workout section. Alternatively, see our 15 of the Best Resistance Band Exercises for Every Muscle Group for a more general guide.
We tested the Gymproluxe Bar and Band Set 2.0, which, while being a capable and good quality set of bands for a performing a pretty wide range of exercises, the shortness of the bands included in this set significantly limits the muscle groups you can target.
As Tracey puts it: 'The biggest drawback of the bands being anchored to a single unit is that you can't spread them further apart to replicate movements such as cable flies, but the ability to realistically perform fairly heavy compound movements more than makes up for this.'
If you're looking to perform cable movements, we'd therefore recommend opting for the All In One Portable Gym, which includes five additional HIIT-X bands (which are longer than the bands included in the 2.0), two leg straps and a door anchor. This will unlock far more exercises (150 in total, according to Gymproluxe) and, importantly, also allow you to perform a wider variety of leg movements than with the 2.0.
So, is it time to cancel the gym membership in favour of the Gymproluxe Band and Bar Set 2.0? In short, no. But that's okay. While it clearly can't compete with the variety of free weights and machines you find in the gym, as a portable alternative for working out at home or on-the-go, it's a seriously capable bit of kit for getting a varied, full-body workout wherever you take it.
Tracey's verdict echoes this: ‘The Gymproluxe Band's adjustable resistance makes it pretty versatile and saves you carrying around a large selection of different sized bands. While you’re not going to find it a worthy substitute for grinding out 200kg deadlifts, the highest level of resistance is pretty heavy, and can provide a decent stimulus for even the bigger muscle groups such as your hamstrings and glutes.’
In summary, if you're looking to exercise at home without splashing out on masses of equipment, or you're travelling and need something lightweight and portable to keep you fit while you're away from home, the Gymproluxe Band and Bar Set 2.0 is a sound purchase.
Starting at £109.95 for the most basic set and rising to £195.95 for the full set with all the accessories, the Gymproluxe bands are more expensive than competitors, however, considering the top-quality build, high max-tension, great accessories and portability, they offer superb value for money and are well worth the cost. Just don't cancel your gym membership just yet.
Luke is Men's Health UK's senior ecommerce writer, specialising in reviewing the latest health and fitness products. Luke interviews some of the world's most knowledgeable experts across menswear, grooming, fitness equipment and nutrition to help readers make smart decisions when shopping online. He has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has worked as a journalist for titles like The Recommended, Outdoor Swimmer magazine and B2B publications.
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