EVOLPOW M2A…Our Review

100

 

When most people think about setting up their garage or basement gym, they probably get excited about all of the exercises they’ll be able to do at home. I know I’ve played out entire home gym workouts in my head, a smirk forming across my face.

It’s not until a little bit later that people start thinking about the things they can’t do, maybe even beginning to second guess their decision to cancel their gym membership.

Heavy, commercial-grade machine work is usually out, but so are many of those accessory machines and movements…like the pec deck…

…but what if you could get your pec deck reps in at home…? What if you could blast those reps out in between sets of Smith squats, cable crossovers, and low lat pulls? You’d totally go for that right?

(You don’t have to answer; I know you would)

Thankfully, a home gym piece offers all of this functionality. The EVOLPOW M2A offers that rare pec deck functionality…a long with a lot of other functional pieces.

…but is all that glitters gold?

Let’s take a look at our experience with the M2A and determine whether it actually lives up to the hype!

 

Shipping/Delivery

It actually took quite a bit longer for me to actually start using my M2A than I had anticipated due to some shipping and packaging problem I experienced.

The initial shipping process was quick and EVOLPOW provided me with tracking information from FedEx. The M2A arrived in two boxes to my house within a few days.

However, there was a problem: the M2A actually comes in three boxes. For some reason, only the first two made it to me and it took another 2 weeks for the third box to arrive. I don’t hold this against Evolpow since all of the packages were sent at the same time (confirmed by tracking numbers), but it still put a slight damper on things.

 

 

Before I begin assembling racks, I like to open all of the boxes first. This not only helps me essentially “inventory” everything (well, as best as I can when there are, like, hundreds of pieces), but also helps me to mentally map out how the process will go. However, this process was a bit more difficult since all of the nuts and bolts come in unmarked, brown bags…

…and ends up like this

 

More on this in a bit!

The boxes themselves were also rather inconspicuously marked, but I don’t really find that to be such a big deal.

Overall, this portion of the process was a bit slower than I would have liked and I’d like to see more clearly-labeled hardware, but I can’t really complain too much about it.

Shipping/Delivery: 90

 

Assembly

To be blunt, the assembly process for the M2A wasn’t much fun and, I would argue, for those who haven’t put together too many larger pieces of equipment before, the process would likely be extremely difficult.

 

Due to scheduling and time constraints, I wasn’t able to dedicate a significant amount of time to assemble the M2A in a single sitting. Instead, I split the process into 3 days, each period last between two and three hours. While 6 to 8 hours isn’t completely egregious for a rack build, I need to provide a couple of notes for additional context:

• Most of the time, I had an adult friend assisting me with the assembly
• I used an impact drill (as opposed to relying on the included wrenches, etc.) for securing most of the rack’s bolts

6 hours for a solo build using included tools isn’t so bad; 8 hours of working with a friend and using power tools isn’t very good.

To piggyback off the previous section, I pretty much knew from the start that assembly would be a little bit more tedious than it needed to be due to the unmarked and generally unorganized nuts, bolts, and other miscellaneous pieces in the brown bags.

This combined with the objectively ambiguous instructions (like many racks, there is very little written content) that should have been broken into many more steps added to the general state of confusion that I experienced during the assembly process.

 

 

To be fair, there is a little bit more going on with the M2A (such as the built-in pec deck) than there is with most other power racks and each of these additions complicates the assembly process. However, this was easily one of the most difficult rack builds I’ve experienced.

Assembly: 65

 

Construction/Steel

Like a lot of the newer racks we see on the home gym market, the M2A is constructed of 14-guage steel. While this is on the thinner end of the “lower number is better (thicker)” scale, it is by no means out of the realm of what is “normal” for these racks, nor does the rack actually feel in any way flimsy or less robust.

 

 

The uprights are of the 2×2-inch configuration which is also of the smaller/thinner size (although this size is common among the 14-guage steel racks). As such, these uprights aren’t as imposing as many of the thicker varieties and, as a less common upright size configuration, it is more difficult to find attachments on the secondary market to fit the rack (relative to the more common 3×3-inch configuration, among others).

Construction/Steel: 65

Stability

Tipping the scales at 366 pounds, the M2A definitely feels like a big, heavy piece of equipment. This isn’t the best characteristic if, for some reason, you want to move it somewhere without having to disassemble it, but as far as stability is concerned, it doesn’t get much better.

By itself the rack barely budges, to include when performing bodyweight exercises (more specifically pull-ups and dips). As more of a CrossFit guy, pull-ups are a big component of my training regimen. I weigh about 190 pounds and noticed very little rack movements and sway, even when doing butterfly pull-ups.

Granted, I did experience a slight amount of flex in the pull-up bar itself (widest handles of the multi-grip bar) during pull-ups, but the rack itself remained stable. I don’t think this flex would result in any long-term problems.

If for some reason you were to find that the M2A isn’t quite stable enough, there are 4 weight horns on the back of the machine, each able to hold 3 or 4 competition-sized bumper plates. Throwing on additional 200-300 pounds would ensure that the rack would never budge.

 

Squat heavy and do pull-ups with confidence!

Stability: 95

 

Functionality

The M2A has a lot of potential as far as functionality goes and I was really excited to give all of its different components a try. My regular workouts involve a lot of free weight work, but I’ve done some bodybuilding in the past so I appreciate Smith Machine work as well as cable pulley movements.

As far as free weight movements go, I appreciate the more angled J-cups and find these hold the barbell more securely after finishing a heavy set of squats. This may seem like kind of an odd thing to focus on, but if you’ve ever struggled to re-rack a bar in some loose or oddly-shaped J-cups, you understand.

Also, although I’m used to squatting in wall-attached rigs without any type of safety bars, I can also appreciate the M2A’s “safety arms”. The downside, though, is that like most other racks of this kind, they’re pretty short, leaving a tiny window of space between the J cups and the ends of the safety arms where you can realistically squat and realistically be caught if you fail.

 

It’s possible to perform all of your standard Smith Bar movements (bench presses, squats, upright rows, etc.) by unloading any free weights and loading the bar. The pulley system is plate loaded (as opposed to being a plate stack) and allows for both single-arm and two-arm movements to be performed.

I like that the dip bars can be removed and aren’t in the way when not in use, however, they, like many of the M2A’s components, it takes a bit of time to screw and unscrew items in and out of place. To be fair, each time I do this only takes a few seconds, but it adds up over the course of a workout.

The multi-grip pull-up bar wisely includes enough completely horizontal bar space to perform pull-ups with a “traditional” grip, which I much prefer to the angled grip on most racks (which is also an option on the M2A).

For most people, I think the pec deck is going to be the main selling point of the M2A since it is such a novelty (as well as being a popular bro gym movements). This part is functional enough and uses the same system as the pulleys which, I’ll soon discuss, hasn’t worked out for me.

 

Unfortunately, although the M2A offers a lot of variety, I have experienced problems with just about all of these areas.

Regarding free weight movements, it’s common for power rack/Smith Machine combination pieces to “efficiently” stack and organize each piece. This often translates to the Smith bar being attached to the front uprights. However, in most cases, there are additional uprights that house the Smith components and outer uprights where the J-cups go.

 

On the M2A, the same uprights hold the Smith Machine and the J cups. Because of this, during racking and re-racking, the Smith Bar is constantly in the way, even when set to its highest level.

 

Also, while I appreciate the pulley system, I found it (along with the Smith Machine itself) to be not overly smooth, especially during the eccentric phases of movements. In plain English, consider a triceps pushdown.  Pressing down is fine, but I experience a bit of a delay with getting the rope back up (it also doesn’t want to come back up all the way). It almost feels like I have to pull it back up to the starting position.

 

Unfortunately, this applies (although not to the same degree) to the pec deck. I have no problem closing on reps, but I actively have to push the pads back to initially move them back into place to end each rep.

Finally, the Smith Machine is serviceable and I besides it being a bit in the way, I haven’t really experienced problems with it. It is perfectly average and of the expected quality and smoothness of what you could expect from any home gym Smith Machine.

The lower accessory items (low lat pull and landmine) function well with the landmine easily rotating in an “around the world”, 360-degree fashion.

Overall, you can do a lot of exercises with the M2A, but I found some type of limitation with just about all of them that I attempted. There’s a chance that if you grew accustomed to some of the machine’s movement nuances, these limitations may not seem overly bothersome. However, I don’t think I could personally adapt to many of these.

Functionality: 80

 

Accessory Compatibility

The EVOLPOW M2A doesn’t include that many accessory items in its base package. However, I would argue that for the vast majority of people, these accessories (short straight bar, T-bar, lat pulldown bar, dip bars, D-handles for pulley system) are all that they’re gonna need.

For those who are looking for a bit more, EVOLPOW doesn’t have a lot of options on its website and, as mentioned previously, the 2×2-inch uprights aren’t the most compatible with accessory items for purchase on the secondary market. With this in mind, if you decide to purchase the M2A, be prepared to work with the included accessories for the majority of your workouts.

 

Accessory Compatibility: 70

 

Price

The M2A finds itself in an interesting position of “competing” with Smith Machine/power rack combos while offering the additional pec deck functionality that few others offer. Interestingly enough, even without the pec deck, it does pretty well compared to other, similar racks.

Depending on where you ultimately purchase the rack from, the base package is, at the time of this writing, reasonably priced at under $1100. It’s by no means impossible to find a Smith Machine/power rack combo that goes for this much, but the M2A is definitely on the less expensive end of this group.

…and if that pec deck is really important to you, you’ll be really hard pressed to find it included in such a complete package at this price point.

Price Score: 90

 

Customer Reviews

The M2A is a newer offering (and EVOLPOW is a newer company); at the time of this writing there weren’t a ton of customer reviews for it (slightly less than 50 when including all of the Amazon reviews and those found on the company’s website). With that being said, the reviews are generally pretty good, although there is a bit of a discrepancy between the site reviews.

 

The 18 Amazon reviews combine for a 3.9 collective score while the Evolpow site reviews combine for a collective 4.7.

There are any number of reasons for this rather large difference, although the lower Amazon scores all seem to include a bit of disdain for the difficulty of the assembly process (echoing many of the points we made above).

With that being said, aside from the assembly/hardware marking and organization concerns, the commentary is pretty much universally positive.

Customer Reviews: 88

 

Customer Service

I will say that even though I was slightly frustrated with the delay in getting started with the M2A, we found EVOLPOW’s customer service contacts to be very receptive and easy to work with.

Understandably, when certain parts didn’t arrive in a timely manner, they wanted to get to the bottom of the exact items we still needed in order to prevent superfluous hardware from being sent out. However, all was well that ended well; we got the necessary parts and EVOLPOW actually followed up with us on a few occasions to make sure everything worked okay and that we are able to get everything together.

 

 

Overall, very easy personnel to deal with and people who are keen to get to exact bottom of the problem in question.

Customer Service: 100

 

Who is the EVOLPOW M2A really for?

The M2A isn’t that much different than many of the other Smith Machine/power rack combo pieces on the market today, but it does have some unique characteristics that will lend themselves to certain types of lifters. Let’s take a look at who these lifters are:

Those who want a Smith Machine/power rack combo…and a little more

If you know anything about Smith Machine/power rack combination pieces, it goes without saying that the major novelty of the M2A is the pec deck functionality. This is a really niche inclusion and not something that you really ever find in home gym equipment, yet alone as apart of a larger, more multifunctional machine.

If performing pec deck flyes and related exercises are important to you, you certainly can find stand-alone machines with this functionality. However, if you want something more than a “one trick pony”, the M2A might be it.

Those who want to give a newer brand a chance

It’s nice to see more and more companies get into the equipment manufacturing game and EVOLPOW represents an opportunity to give a new(er) brand a try. Considering the price point and overall functionality of the M2A, at the time, there is a likely a bit of an “arbitrage” (name recognition isn’t “priced in” to the machine).

 

 

Granted, the company’s “newness” probably contributes to some of the packaging issues that we (and others, apparently) ran into, but for a functional machine at a decent price, the trade-off could definitely be worth it for you.

Not for those who really like accessory items

The M2A comes with the accessory items you would expect, but doesn’t really go above and beyond in this area. I would say that you could just order some additional stuff from EVOLPOW if you really want a bit more accessory optionality, but there are very few relevant items available for sale on the company’s page.

The M2A’s 2×2-inch upright holes aren’t the most compatible, either. With that in mind, if you geek out on upgrading and customizing your racks, this probably isn’t the one to do it with.

 

How we tested the EVOLPOW M2A

I got to have a little more fun with the M2A than I do with most of the other equipment and machines I put together. I put it together with a buddy of mine who was really interested in it and we both got to test it out together.

Of course, we wanted to see how legit the pec deck was so we probably “overloaded” on it (at least relative to other exercises), but I also wanted to see how well it’s more “traditional” Smith Machine/power rack features held up. As a CrossFitter, I don’t do as much Smith work, but I will always appreciate a smooth-moving Smith bar.

We’ve traded off on using the M2A so I don’t have as much experience with it as I often do with some of the other stuff I get my hands on, but, then again, two people “testing” gear is better than one, isn’t it?

 

EVOLPOW M2A Alternatives

As mentioned before, there are a number of Smith Machine/power rack combo pieces out there, but there are very few with pec deck capabilities. If you’re looking for a rack/pec deck alternative, you have a few options; we present two below (as well as an EVOLPOW brand alternative):

Frequently Asked Questions

A multifunctional Smith Machine with pec deck capabilities is a bit of a unicorn. You surely have some additional questions about it that need to be cleared up:

 

 

The M2A…

The EVOLPOW M2A has a lot going for it…and even more potential. With so many different moving pieces, it stands apart, even from other “all-in-one” machines.

However, the assembly process is tough and its lack of overall “smoothness” causes it to leave a bit of money on the table.

In our experience, we had a bit of trouble with these areas with that latter one being something that will probably frustrate us over time. However, if you enjoy a bit of an assembly challenge and aren’t a stickler for perfectly smooth-moving cables and Smith components, the M2A could be quite the steal for you.

You do you!