Body Masters Functional Trainer

[a7stringkilla]

Has anyone here had any experience with this piece of equipment? There is one for sale (somewhat) locally and I am considering buying it. Heres my issue with it though, its a single 200 pound stack unit. I know Body Masters makes good quality equipment and I dont know of a model that people gripe about so that makes me think it should be good quality also. Any info would be greatly appreciated, thanks. http://wcsfitness.com/Bodymasters-FT...l-Trainer.html

[a7stringkilla]

Anyone? If not this one, has anyone had any experience with a decent single stack functional trainer? I have one now with a single stack and its not the greatest on earth. Just wondering if the Body Masters could really be good. Any info would be awesome.

[dumb.bell]

That is one of the few pieces of Body Masters equipment that I haven't used. Most of the equipment I own is Body Masters and it is usually my preference when purchasing. I can't imagine that they would design a piece that wasn't any good. I'm assuming the main drawback would simply be that the stack might not be heavy enough for some people on certain exercises. I could be wrong here, but I don't see why there would be any difference in this machine and any of there single stack machines with independent arms (ie. lat raise, fly/rear delt machine). I own both of those machines, and they are just fine. I also own a different brand bicep curl that has independent arms and one stack and it also works just fine. All of these machines have the cable/belt ends attached to the independent arms and a pulley above the stack. Do you know if that is the configuration of the functional trainer?

[a7stringkilla]

To be honest, I have no clue how its configured. I would assume its that way but its almost impossible to find info on it. The most Ive found is in that link I posted. Im just gonna have to go try it out and see if I like it. But like you said, i cant imagine B.M. would put out a piece of equipment that wasnt good, commercial quality.

[a7stringkilla]

Made the trip and bought it. I will say this about this piece, its not made for heavy, low rep compound movements. The first day I used it, I parked my bench in front of it and did incline chest presses. I did sets of 10, and even though I couldnt use the whole stack, I was 4 plates away from doing so. It wasnt my first movement of the day so that couldve played a small part in me not using more of the stack. I seriously doubt any functional trainer was meant to be used for low rep training anyway. Where this thing freakin shined though, was with the arm movements I did on it. You can not generate any momentum in the weightstack no matter how fast you move the cables. That adds constant, unchaged tension through the entire range of the movement. You can try to cheat all you want, but you cant! It is sturdy as hell too, no way to knock or pull it over. The positions that the arms go into make for endless possibilities also. So like I said, its not a good tool for heavy compound lifts, but everything else it seems to be awesome for. Two stacks would have been a better design but it was money well spent and I am very happy with it!

[Northernmoris]

Looks real nice. Congrats on the pick up.. It does look solid.

[pumping4life]

That looks like a great pick up.

That second pic made me chuckle - looks like a robot.

[dumb.bell]

Congratulations!! Glad to hear that this piece worked out. Hard to go wrong with anything BodyMaster.

[a7stringkilla]

Yeah, Im really happy with it. I almost got a Functional Trainer with the two vertical columns instead of adjustable arms and Im glad I didnt. The arms are SSOOOOOO versitile. My only gripe would be the lack of resistance but I might replace the bottom ten weight stack plates with 15s or 20s and that would be plenty.

[roberalj]

I really hope that you enjoy the FT1000. I'm actually the one that designed it. Our goal wasn't for it to be something for heavy weight and low reps. The general idea I always followed was that if someone was looking to build bulk they would hit the free weights. This was made more for someone looking to workout for health and fitness, or rehabilitation. Also by reducing the weight stack travel we were able to do some explosive movements to aid in sports training.
Ralph

[qaz123]

I really hope that you enjoy the FT1000. I'm actually the one that designed it. Our goal wasn't for it to be something for heavy weight and low reps. The general idea I always followed was that if someone was looking to build bulk they would hit the free weights. This was made more for someone looking to workout for health and fitness, or rehabilitation. Also by reducing the weight stack travel we were able to do some explosive movements to aid in sports training.
Ralph

What kind of work do you do now?

[roberalj]

I design and test oil field equipment.

[qaz123]

I design and test oil field equipment.

So you still work at the same plant?

Did they sell the Bodymasters designs?

[roberalj]

So you still work at the same plant?

Did they sell the Bodymasters designs?

I left the company in 2003. They were bought by Knight Oil Tools a few years after that. About a year ago they started Bodymasters back up and I interviewed with them to go back but they shut it down again. Those that I knew that were still there and working for Knight didn't know why. The designs either still belong to the previous owner or to Knight. Not sure if that had something to do with why they shut it down. It's too bad though, that was a great job to have.

[matrix563]

how much was it?

[Skidmarx]

Hold on this thread is from a year ago. This machine is probably a distant memory for A7 now

[qaz123]

I left the company in 2003. They were bought by Knight Oil Tools a few years after that. About a year ago they started Bodymasters back up and I interviewed with them to go back but they shut it down again. Those that I knew that were still there and working for Knight didn't know why. The designs either still belong to the previous owner or to Knight. Not sure if that had something to do with why they shut it down. It's too bad though, that was a great job to have.

Did you use Solid Edge or something similar to design stuff?

[a7stringkilla]

Nope, still got it! I havent upgraded the stack yet though. Im waiting for a piece with 400 pounds of 20 pound plates to buy on the cheap. I wanna put 10 of them in my functional, and 10 on my precor dual row (5 each stack). I seriously doubt Ill ever get rid of it. The design really is great, both functionally and asthetically. Once I upgrade the stack though, Ill have no issue with it at all. Plus, from here on, Im only purchasing Body Masters and Atlantis equipment so itll go with whatever else I get. One question Ralph, "Why did you go with a nylon rope instead of steel cable"? Ive used the Atlantis functional trainer and they use that also. Whats the advantage?

[deadwoodgregg]

Are those aluminum handles on the Bodymasters FT? Did they come with it or did you buy them aftermarket? I have a couple of Freemotion pieces with that style of handles but they are plastic which is totally adequate. Aluminum would be badass though.

[roberalj]

We used solid works and cosmos works fea.

I would advise against a 400# stack. The arms are about 4ft long so that will be some serious force around the adjustment area. It wasn't tested to hold that much weight.

The rope had a much smoother feel and stretched less over time. It also allowed us to use smaller pulleys. Cable has a larger minimum bend radius.

[a7stringkilla]

No, I wasnt gonna install a 400 pound stack, I was gonna add ten 20s at the bottom. So itll be a 300 pound stack. I couldnt put 20s up top because the selector pin would hit the shroud. According to the specs though, its supposed to be 2:1 when using 1 handle and 4:1 when using both. However that works is beyond me! I did an experiment by hanging a dumbbell off of one side to see what weight would start pulling it, and it was an 80 pounder that budged the stack with not a whole lot of flex on the structural components. So it should be able to handle a 400 pound stack at 4:1. I didnt bother to hang dumbbells off both sides though. And yeah, they are aluminum. They are pretty damn nice, I gotta say. I was thinking of getting some U-Max handles for my Precor row too. Those things are pretty badass. GPI has some nice ones too.

http://bumperplates.com/umax-strengt...er-handle.html

[a7stringkilla]

You know what though, I did have to make two modifications to it. One of the things I had to do, was add an extra adjustment hole to the vertical adjustment plates. When I did Lat Pulls with it, I couldnt get a good stretch because the weightstack would hit. So with the extra hole, the arms lift higher and me or taller people than me dont even come close to hitting the stack. Im very glad I did it. The other thing I did, was add 1/4 flat bar to the inside wall of the side upright tubing. There was only 3/8 nuts and washers against the tubing wall and when you would use heavier resistance, that inside wall would flex and allow the entire adjustment mechanism and arm to slightly move before the cable would travel. Adding the flat stock eliminated that movement entirely, feels far better. Im including pics of the difference. I also made an add weight plate adapter similar to the one in the picture Im including. Ill post a pic of mine soon. And man, I took the arms out of the bushing to do some maintenance and lubricating, and that thing is HEAVY. Wasnt expecting that!