RitFit Sports M1 Multi-Functional Smith Machine REVIEW!
My Experience with a HEAVY DUTY Home Gym Smith Machine
by Alec Enkiri | 4/2/24
Use discount code RFENKIRI for 12% off your order
Looking for an all in one home gym solution?
The M1 Smith Machine & Power Rack by RitFit Sports might be just what you've been searching for! Be sure to read on as we do an in-depth review of this heavy duty, highly versatile, and multi-functional rack!
In today's review we cover the assembly process of the RitFit M1 Multi-Functional Smith Machine, the build quality, the myriad of add-ons and accessories that it comes with, some of the unique features of the machine, and it's pros and its cons. So let's get to it!
I hope you find the review helpful.
I recently received an awesome new equipment package from RitFit Sports, including their top of the line M1 Smith Machine & Power Rack, along with their BWB01 heavy duty adjustable weight bench, some high quality bumper plates, and a nice new barbell as well!
I've really been enjoying the equipment so far. It's only been a few weeks for me, but I've put some big work in on it already and today I want to review it all and let you guys know what I think of it! Please note, that I have been financially compensated by RitFit as part of this review process.
M1 RACK ASSEMBLY
Kicking off briefly with the rack assembly process! Overall, it went pretty smoothly. It was a little bit time consuming, I think it took me about 6 hours in total from unboxing to finished assembly, but the rack does so many different things so I wasn't really surprised that it took a bit of time to put it all together.
Overall, the process itself was smooth and I didn't run into any sizable hiccups, even in doing this two man assembly job as a solo endeavor.
My only real complaint is that a couple of the steps in the instruction manual weren't 100% clear on exactly how to position certain pieces to secure them together.
Usually you can figure it out without too much fanfare, but, for example, this also leaves the door open to where you run into the possibility of securing a particular piece the wrong way and then running down the line 2 or 3 steps later and having to undo all of it because that's when you realize that that thing that you don't yet understand the function of is on backwards.
And there's nothing more annoying than having to undo work you've already done!
While that's not an issue I actually ran into here, it was a possibility. So just making the manual a bit more clear about how things go in place, instead of just showing them already in place, would be very helpful, in my opinion.
As noted, however, I didn't really run into any issues. It was just a somewhat time consuming assembly, but this rack has so many functions I sort of expected that would be the case going into it anyway.
QUALITY, SPECS, & FEATURES
The funny part is, in all my days I never thought I'd be reviewing a Smith machine! I've used them on and off for different things over the years in my travels to many a commercial gym across the country, but by and large I've never really been a fan. Having access to one in my garage, however, has gotten me to rethink things a little bit as it has given me the opportunity to try out some things that I never otherwise would have really gotten the chance to try.
For example, hip thrusts on the Smith machine are freaking awesome. You can set them up as a deficit movement for max range of motion through the hips, and because you can rack the bar on the Smith machine you can get set up under it really, really easily (wedging yourself in for the setup is probably the most cumbersome aspect of doing deficit hip thrusts with a barbell).
Further, the movement itself just feels great on this rack. The Smith system is super smooth and this exercise absolutely trashed in my glutes in a way that feels somewhat different from the free weight version of the hip thrust, and more similar to the hip thrust machines that you see in some gyms.
Another movement I've been loving on the Smith machine is the suitcase hold for my obliques, which works particularly well here. I've also been enjoying the BTN press this way as well.
So the Smith machine attachment definitely adds some really nice and welcome versatility to the M1 powerhouse of a rack. It's built well, it has a load capacity of 575lbs, it has a safety system that you can set up underneath the Smith barbell to make sure you don't get pinned (a very important safety feature as people have died by getting pinned under Smith machines!), and it makes your work feel really smooth and really nice.
So far I like it and I've been enjoying some of the new versatility that it has added to my training.
Smith BTN press is gooood
Suitcase holds are always uncomfortable!
M1: POWER RACK, DUAL PULLEY SYSTEM, CALISTHENICS STATION, & MORE!
But this M1 multi-functional rack is so much more than just a Smith Machine! It's also a stand alone power rack with a dual pulley system and calisthenics station added on for good measure.
The rack setup is heavy duty with a max load capacity of 1,500lbs for the whole unit. The safety arms and J-hooks both have a load capacity of 575lbs; the pullup bar's max load capacity is 465lbs (which is far more than 99% of people are ever going to need); the pulley system has a max load capacity of 420lbs per pulley (there are two pulleys), which is solid as well; and the dip handles can hold up to 280lbs per side, or 560lbs in total, which is also very substantial.
So the thing is heavy duty man!
It's a full power rack setup so you can do pretty much anything here: squats, bench presses, overhead work, pull-ups, dips, and any other free weight movement you can think of. It's got a solid foot plate for heavy seated cable rows. The landmine attachment and landmine row bar also come standard with all packages, as do the dip handles and a few other attachment handles (straight handle, V handle, double D handle, rope handle) for things like pulldowns, pushdowns, curls, etc.
The pulleys can be adjusted from floor height to all the way to the top of the rack, so you can use them for pretty much any cable movement you can think of: curls, pushdowns, pulldowns, pullovers, lateral or front raises, cable flyes, rows, etc.
The pulley system itself also feels very smooth during use, which is always a nice plus! A variety of available attachment handles enhance the experience and versatility here. RitFit sent me a quality double D handle, a rope handle, as well as a whole five piece set of Mag Grip style neutral pulldown handles, which are basically the S tier pulley attachment, in my opinion.
The Mag Grip style handles are really nice
Heavy rows feel super smooth!
The rack also comes with band pegs for those of you who like using accommodating resistance, as well as abundant plate storage. It has 6 plate storage handles on the backside of the rack, so your home gym should never be a mess of cluttered weight plates ever again!
The band pegs as well as the foot plate for rows and the landmine attachment are all easily detachable and re-attachable via quick clips that just pop right on and off, so that's a nifty little feature as sometimes these attachments can get in the way of something you're trying to do.
A UNIQUE FEATURE: THE DIP HANDLES
Another cool feature of the RitFit M1 rack, and this is the first time I've ever seen this on anything, is that the dip handles are adjustable by width.
We talk about dips as if they are this universal exercise, but the fact is they're not at all! Part of what turns them into a make or break movement for a lot of people is just how wide the manufacturer decided to make the handles. Sometimes I run into ones that are too wide for my build and they wreck my shoulders. Or conversely, sometimes they'll be too narrow and they just feel freaking weak and awkward. But when the width is appropriate for my frame size and build the movement clicks really, really well with me, and I'm sure this is the case for many of you as well.
So the cool thing about this rack is that the dip attachment is designed to go on the backside horizontal post, rather than the upright framing as is usually the case. Because of that you are able to adjust the handle width in or out a few inches at a time as needed to find the optimal dip width for your build. That's really not something you see everyday and I commend RitFit for adding in this handy feature.
The dip handle width can be adjusted
A unique and helpful feature!
M1 RACK: FINAL THOUGHTS
So the M1 rack is sweet man! It's pretty much an all in one home gym solution. The footprint is relatively compact considering all the stuff you can do with it. It makes it easy to alternate back and forth between lots of different types of movements, whether you're using the pulley, the smith machine, free weights, or doing calisthenics.
It makes it easy to accommodate multiple people working out simultaneously. It's solid and stable, it's got some really cool add-ons and features that you don't see elsewhere, and I've been getting in some awesome workouts with it lately. Really loving it so far!
500LBS CAPACITY OLYMPIC BARBELL
Moving on to the barbell now. They sent me their novice bar which goes for $169.00 and has a max capacity of 500lbs. The bar weighs 20kg, or 44lbs, has a 28mm diameter, and boasts needle bearing sleeves.
After using the bar a few times, I have to say, I really like the feel of it in my hands. The knurl is really nice, not overly abrasive, the 28mm diameter gives you a really solid grip on it, and it just feels good. This is 100% subjective, but the weights have just felt light to me with this bar so far. I hit a really nice ATG Anderson Front Squat my first time using it, along with some solid power cleans, and then I crushed a solid Romanian Deadlift PR (new 10RM!) a couple days later.
So I really like the bar. Some bars you really like the feel of, and others you just don't. It's also not very pricey, which is nice, but at the same time I don't expect this bar to last forever either. The max load capacity is only 500 pounds and the tensile strength is also pretty low compared to most of my other bars, so chances are I'm going to do something that deforms the bar at some point.
For the price point and the feel though, I think it's an overall solid value. It just sort of depends on how durable of a barbell that you're looking for and how much you're willing to spend on it, as this bar is quite economically price.
Moving on to the bumper plates now, and I really like them! They're color coded for easy identification, they look really nice and clean, and the center metal ring that the bar runs through is seamless and very well secured to the plate. They've also been durability tested to withstand over 12,000 drops, and the plates themselves are all within just a couple ounces of the labeled weight.
In terms of pricing, most of the sets come out around 3 dollars per pound, some a little under and some a little over. This is somewhat expensive overall, in my opinion, but honestly it's also just the cost of decent bumper plates at this point so I can't really complain too much about it. In my day though bumper plates were more like 2 dollars per pound, but I suppose times have changed. This is pretty standard pricing in 2024 so I'm not knocking RitFit for it.
Finally, the BWB01 heavy duty adjustable bench is really sweet! The weight capacity is 1,300lbs, which is damn hefty. In terms of how it feels during use I would say it's pretty comparable to many of the adjustable benches I've encountered in commercial gyms over the years. It's just really solid and stable and and feels very reliable.
It's got wheels so it's highly maneuverable and can be moved around really easily. It also has 4 different seat pad angles it can be set to, and 10 different back rest positions! I'm a huge fan of this because something I'm a big proponent of is covering all of my bases in terms of pressing angles. With this bench I can go all the way from a decline of -10 degrees, to flat, and then up in 10 degree increments from 15 degrees all the way up to 85 degrees. So that is a pretty sweet feature that I'm going to make sure to use the heck out of!
M1 RACK PROS (RECAP)
Alright so the pros with the M1Multi-Functional Smith Machine & Power Rack are myriad. We've pretty much covered all of them in depth already, but just to briefly recap.
Pro #1: All in one home gym solution
The RitFit M1 Multi-Functional Smith Machine is a power rack, a Smith machine, a dual pulley system, and a calisthenics station. You can do pretty much anything with this rack and work seamlessly between different types of exercises.
Pro #2: Heavy duty, solid, and stable
The unit has a 1,500lbs max load capacity. It's solid and stable and should hold up to the test of time.
Pro #3: Super smooth work
The Smith machine and the pulley system both feel really smooth for clean and productive work that doesn't beat on the body unnecessarily.
Pro #4: Abundant storage capacity
6 weight plate storage handles will store pretty much all the plates in your home gym. No more plate clutter!
Pro #5: Multiple Add-ons
It comes with several different attachments for the pulley system, a seated cable row setup, a landmine setup, band pegs, and plenty of plate storage space. Dip handles, a multi-grip pull-up bar, and other available attachment handles all enhance the experience.
Pro #6: Adjustable dip handles
The width of the dip handles can be adjusted, a unique and very helpful feature that I have not encountered on another piece of comparable home gym equipment. This is going to allow dips to accommodate multiple different types of builds, as opposed to trying to shove everybody into the exact same movement specs as is usually the case.
M1 RACK CONS
Now that we've recapped the pros let's touch on the cons. There are just a couple things I want to mention here, both of which are actually pretty easy fixes, and to RitFit's credit they actually reached out to me on Instagram after I posted a story of me using the M1 rack specifically to ask me if there were any adjustments that I think would be helpful for them to tweak as they move forward with the rack. So I thought that was pretty cool and I hope they take my feedback into consideration as they continue to improve this product over time.
That being said, let's touch briefly on the cons I've discovered.
Con #1: The dip handles are a bit too low
So there is a tradeoff here. Since we are attaching the dip handles to the horizontal post, rather than the vertical uprights, we are able to adjust the width but now the height is fixed. In this case I think the horizontal post should be a bit higher off the ground.
When doing dips on the M1 I have to keep my legs folded behind me, otherwise they'll hit the ground, and I also have to make sure that the chain on my dipping belt is very short otherwise the plates will hit the ground.
I do dip deeper than most people, but still, I shouldn't have to bunch up my chain to avoid my plates hitting the ground. So I'd like to see an adjustment that makes it to where you can set the dip handles a bit higher off the floor.
Con #2: The safety arms are too short
Now this one is really easily fixable. I actually mentioned on my last power rack review that the safety arms were too short for my liking on that particular rack, and those safeties were 24 inches long! The safeties on the M1 are significantly shorter than that at just 12 inches long. That's a little too short to make me feel comfortable.
The safety arms need to give you a little bit more margin when working with heavy weights
It's just too easy to miss the pins in that case as you can only get so close to the rack without having your bar hit the uprights while you're working. But then on the flip side if you move far enough away from the rack to gain sufficient clearance then you run the risk of missing the safety pins in the event of a missed lift.
So I'd like to see the length of these safety arms doubled to 24 inches, at a minimum, but if possible even a little bit longer than that would also be good by me.
FINAL VERDICT
Overall, I'm really happy with the M1 Multi-Functional Smith Machine by RitFit Sports! It's well designed, it's sleek, it's heavy duty, and the Smith and pulley systems both operate really smoothly. Lot of good stuff here, guys! The M1 rack, along with the BWB01 Adjustable bench are both really solid, heavy duty products. I like the RitFit barbell even though it's not the most heavy duty bar out there, and the bumper plates are clean and high quality as well. They're solid products, and so far my experience with RitFit sports has been nothing but positive!
If you're in the market for a new quality power rack or Smith machine, or you're just looking for an all in one piece of multi-functional equipment that reduces your overall home gym footprint then be sure to check out RitFit Sports and use discount code RFENKIRI for 12% off your order!
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