Delt-O-Max

The chest pad angle, weight curve, and movement path are all tailored to isolating and activating only the rear deltoid, and we must say that we nailed it on this one. If you are someone who has trouble activating your rear delts with the traditional exercises, give this machine a try, as its design effortlessly isolates the rear delts. The adjustable seat height, and self adjusting pivoting handles makes the machine perfect for any height/size. Now we know what you’re thinking, “just use a Pec Deck!” So now imagine, when you’re on the Pec Deck facing backwards for rear delts, think about how wide that chest pad is and how most of them put you face to face with a piece of steel tubing. This makes the movement very limiting. The chest pad width limits your shoulder mobility and the frame tubing prevents you from leaning/stretching over top of the pad. Our machine positions you above everything so you have plenty of room to move properly. Another difference is the chest pad angle, ours has more angle than most Pec Decks, leaning you forward to prevent the back muscles from assisting too much.

Buying guide

Best GHD for a Home Gym — July 2026

What is a Machine?

What a strength machine is

A strength machine guides the resistance along a fixed path so you can train a movement safely, often without a spotter. The main types: selectorized (pick weight with a pin), plate-loaded (add your own plates for a heavier ceiling and better feel), and functional trainers / cable machines (adjustable pulleys for dozens of exercises).

Machines vs. free weights

Machines shine for isolation, safety, and high-rep hypertrophy, and for training hard alone. Free weights build more stabilizer strength and carry over better to sport. Most well-rounded home gyms use a rack and barbell as the core and add one machine — often a cable/functional trainer or a lat-pulldown/row — to fill the gaps.

The sub-types worth knowing

“Machines” covers several categories that barely compete with each other: GHDs for hamstring and posterior-chain work, belt squats for loading the legs without the bar on your back, leg press / hack squat combos for heavy quad volume, reverse hypers for posterior-chain work and lower-back decompression, cable towers and functional trainers for pulling movements, and row machines. Pick the one that fills a gap in what your rack and barbell already do. Almost nobody needs two.

Space and standalone vs. rack-mounted

Most of these come in a standalone version and a cheaper rack-attachment version. The attachment saves floor space and money, but often gives up stability or range of motion — a tradeoff worth checking on the specific product rather than assuming, since it varies a lot between designs.

A note on ratings

Machine listings frequently show a manufacturer’s own on-site rating, which runs high (4.7–5.0 is typical) and sometimes pools reviews across a whole product family rather than the exact configuration you’re buying. Where we have independent hands-on coverage, our summaries anchor to that instead, and say so on the product page.