Hip Sled: Bilateral and Unilateral Hack Squat Machine

Hip Sled training is a priority for serious weight rooms, and the Samson Bilateral Unilateral Hip Sled Hack Squat delivers the strength and versatility that coaches expect. Built from thick structural steel and weighing about 902 pounds, this machine provides a stable platform for heavy lower body work in both two leg and single leg patterns. Adjustable back and foot positions let you dial in hip and knee angles for athletes at every level, while industrial grade bearings keep the sled moving smoothly under load. The generous platform and guided path help reduce stress on the spine yet still challenge the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. This Hip Sled is specified as part of a full Samson room design, giving your program a durable, professional grade solution that fits seamlessly alongside Samson racks, benches, and accessories.

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.