Lit Method's Strength Machine is a clever at-home fitness system, but the lack of useful tracking stats and reliance on a membership ultimately hinder its long-term value
- Lit Method's Strength Machine bills itself as an all-in-one strength and cardio system that aims to innovate the way people keep fit at home.
- The machine itself is a water-powered rower that features hooks for attaching additional equipment like resistance bands or a strength bar.
- With a library of live and on-demand workout classes, the Strength Machine is a unique approach to at-home fitness that ultimately comes up short in terms of long-term value.
- Though it delivers sweat-inducing workouts, the lack of an on-board monitor and fitness stat tracking means it loses much of its value if/when the subscription to its classes runs out.
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If there's a lesson we've learned during this forced renaissance of home fitness, it's that necessity is the mother of innovation. We've all had to find replacements for at least one of our usual exercises due to not having a traditional gym's plethora of equipment at our disposal. Some solutions vary between stop-gap supplementations to full-blown replacements for the workouts we thought we needed. Indeed, many people are realizing that maybe they didn't need a gym to begin with.
Much of that depends on the versatility of the equipment on hand and how inventive one can be in using it. For an extremely rudimentary example, that could be something as simple as realizing the barbell used for bench presses can also be used for bicep curls. It's not using it the wrong way, per se, just in an entirely different style — and that's to the barbell's credit.
All of this is to say that I can't decide if the Lit Method Strength Machine is a clever attempt at providing a versatile, all-in-one fitness solution, or a baffling hodgepodge of ideas tacked onto another exercise machine destined to become an attic-bound dust collector.
Lit Method Strength Machine review 2020
The Lit Method Strength Machine ($1,750) is billed as an "all-in-one strength and cardio piece of equipment" which is technically correct, given that the core component of this fitness system is a simple yet sturdy water rowing machine (a device that can facilitate such exercises). Lit's machine endeavors to be far more than that with the addition of loops welded onto the device's frame to accommodate two pairs of resistance bands. These, along with provided handle attachments and the on-demand Lit Method online coaching, aims to be all the gym you'll ever need.
Despite the name's attempt to dance around it, Lit's centerpiece is that water-based rower, a machine that features a polycarbonate tank and a solid tubular steel frame. Out of the box, it's fairly easy to assemble, with every tool provided in the packaging as well as a pump to accurately fill the water tank. These types of rowing machines have grown in popularity amongst stationary rowers for the way they naturally mimic the resistance felt in real-world rowing, with the feedback dependent on the amount of effort you put in — the harder you pull, the stronger the resistance, just like actual rowing.
Two long and two short resistance bands are anchored along both sides of the device, with each pair providing different levels of tension to match whatever exercise you choose. These work in tandem with a bag of accessories that include a "Strength bar" attachment to mimic a barbell, a mobile device mount, and individual clip-on handles.
Resistance bands have proven their versatility, becoming essential parts of gyms, home or otherwise. In theory, the combination of having a solid rowing machine affixed with a few resistance bands for the sake of variety seems like a clever one. It's Lit's hyper-specific execution that muddies the water.
The Lit Method
A purchase of the Lit Method Strength Machine includes three months of complimentary access to the Lit Method on-demand training videos. After that, a membership's price range varies from $24.99 a month to $240 a year. If you've experienced any of the now ubiquitous on-demand fitness classes available, you should have a basic idea of what you're getting into. Led by coaches Justin and Taylor Norris, the programs lead participants in high-energy, low-impact routines designed to get the most out of what you have.
If you're looking for a frenetic, high-energy experience guided by highly enthusiastic fitness experts, look no further. While there are several on-demand routines designed for a variety of different goals, all of them will be an intense, heart-racing experience with hardly any break in the action.
Classes will certainly have participants rowing along, but Justin and Taylor mix things up with different tempos and pull variations, and you won't be seated for long. Before you know it, you're up using the machine's seat as an ab roller, doing lateral raises with the resistance bands, or performing myriad different movements before hopping back onto the Strength Machine's saddle.
Even at the beginner level, expect to walk away from each session thoroughly drenched with a well-earned layer of sweat. If Lit's home version is this intense, one can only imagine how much of a ride an in-person class must be.
It doesn't take too many classes, however, to realize that the Lit Method experience can flame out pretty quick if you aren't already a die-hard fan of the brand and its workouts.
Get Lit, fam
All of it — the classes, the Strength Machine, and the savvy alternative workouts — work effectively in concert, there's no question, and I'm sure that a membership to the Lit Method's studio is a blast, but there are a few things to keep in mind if you're considering bringing that experience home. First, the Lit Method machine doesn't take up any more space than a typical rowing machine and it's easy to stow away, but the extra bag of attachments is kind of annoying to accommodate.
That's a minor gripe but it's worth mentioning as it plays into other issues, beginning with the on-demand classes. Logging into the Lit Method video library presents you with all the available classes, many that feature the Lit Method machine, but lots more without. It makes for great variety, but those who joined the "Lit Fam" specifically for the Strength Machine will be a little miffed that most of the backlog doesn't feature it. To be clear, there are tons of classes that do use it, and it's hard to imagine anyone exhausting the available content.
When it comes to the classes, the trainers tend to forget there are people at home attempting to keep up. Apart from stating things like the session's time and type of workout, there isn't much else to prepare you for what's about to happen. That means your bag of extra gear better be handy because you're not told which ones will be used nor will you have time to pre-set them as your enthusiastic instructors have done. Lit Method may be about nonstop action, but you'll definitely find yourself pausing to either get your gear together or make extra room you also didn't know was going to be necessary.
Calling Justin and Taylor "instructors" may also be a generous title. It becomes clear very quickly that they're both knowledgeable fitness pros who've skillfully crafted routines based on very thoughtful use of the equipment on hand, but in these instances, they don't seem to be there to effectively teach you skills to use elsewhere. You're given just enough information to keep up with the session. Lit Method teaches you how to work out as much as Zumba teaches you how to dance.
Life after Lit?
The biggest disappointment with the Lit Method Strength Machine is the machine itself, which feels like a waste of a decent rower. The attempt of obfuscation by the product's own name should make it clear that those looking at Lit for a more traditional rowing machine experience will need to look elsewhere.
While classes incorporate rowing and even variations on different rows, any sort of guidance regarding proper form isn't given. The little that is provided is done mainly so that users are set up with a tempo to mimic rather than an efficient form to master. What this does is promote a technique that isn't considered especially sound on any of the number of other rowers on the market.
Lit's most egregious fault is the omission of any sort of digital monitor, so if you're not using the rowing machine for Lit, you won't be using it for much else. A lack of measuring even basic metrics like RPM, speed, or distance traveled means there's no way to track any progress if you decide to train between Lit sessions or — more critically — after the subscription ends.
It's at that point where it's hard not to feel like a bit of a rube, or that the Lit Method wasn't really for your benefit. At least with other home workout devices bundled with an online service, when the subscription inevitably ends, you're left with some transferrable skills like being a better cyclist or at the very least, a functioning machine to train on.
I'd argue that though the Lit Method Strength Machine technically works, it's incomplete without a monitor and not exactly a fully functioning piece of training equipment you'd be motivated to return to. In the end, the best hope for using the machine would be as an expensive anchor for resistance bands.
The bottom line
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Bringing a pricy piece of gym equipment into your home takes a great deal of consideration, especially now, when we're all rethinking how we stay fit. Home gyms are still homes, without a traditional gym's available space or budget, so getting the most out of your gear is critical. It's fortunate that much of today's equipment comes bundled with some sort of online coaching to extend the value of your purchase, and while Lit Method's fun fitness experience might burn twice as bright, its flame lasts half as long.
- Should you buy it? In its current iteration, it's hard to recommend this machine. Without any sort of exercise feedback or much replayability if your membership lapses, it lacks the kind of extended versatility of other similar machines. Spending $1,750 on an interactive workout machine is no drop in the investment bucket — and the Lit Machine should offer far more extended value for that sticker price. It is a unique attempt at all-in-one fitness that needs more refinement to truly be worth its cost.
- What are your alternatives? Though there aren't any machines that are exactly like the Lit Strength Machine, the closest in terms of experience would be something like Ergatta's rower or the Hydrow row machine. Both of these are standard interactive at-home rowers, though each comes with its own built-in screen that offers a deep well of exercises, workout feedback, and the kind of addictive gamification that does well to make you look forward to the next day's workout.
Pros: All-in-one strength and cardio machine that delivers sweat-soaked workouts, unique design that incorporates resistance band workouts with rower-based routines, offers upbeat classes
Cons: Clunky execution, classes don't always feature clear directions in terms of what equipment you'll use, how you'll use it, and when you'll use it, lack of built-in monitor limits some access, no output of workout stats, loses a lot of its value without a continued app subscription