ROGUE PRO OBLIQUE FLEXOR

The Rogue Pro Oblique Flexor features a unique, angled design with a 20" wide treaded-steel foot plate and a V-shaped pair of waist pads. Fastened to a fully adjustable 2x2" steel tube, the waist pads provide a secure cradle that isolates the oblique muscles (side abdominals) and conforms to the height of the user. In gyms where multiple athletes will be using the machine, a quick-release pop pin allows for easy height adjustments on the fly. The foot plate of the Pro Oblique Flexor includes a 4" tall mounted heel catch for extra safety, and the base is equipped with holes for band work and load bearing rubber feet to protect your gym’s flooring. Along with working the obliques, this free weight bench can also be used for back extensions, targeting the lower back muscles.

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.