Commercial-Grade Plate-Loaded Leg Extension and Prone Leg Curl

I have been consistently training for just about 37 years. I was a competitive nationally qualified NPC bodybuilder in my early 20’s. I also spent many years as a personal trainer. During the main part of fitness career I spent about 20 years working as an Executive Vice President for an international gym chain overseeing well over 100 locations at one time. I write all of this so that the people that read this review know that it is a review that’s coming from someone with ample experience when it comes to fitness and fitness equipment. I built a home gym about 10 years ago and it gets used 4 to 5 times a week by my wife and I. We have a really good set up and can train everybody part effectively with our current set up. There are some additions we are looking to make but high up of the list was a leg extension/leg curl machine. We were just never able to really replicate the type or intensity of a workout that we wanted to for those movements. So we decided to pull the trigger on this machine. I’d will tell you we are not disappointed. We have now each gotten two workouts on this new machine and it works perfectly for us. It is smooth and allows for enough weight to be added for each movement. I will say it is definitely better for the extension portion then the leg curl. I’m not saying the leg cure is bad because it isn’t. It’s smooth and you get consistent tension right from full strength. The only issue is that just before and right at full flexion you will lose some tension. You can remedy this if you have a training partner and allow the, to use a band at the top of the movement. Other than that I have no complaints. The machine came quickly within 3 days. It was packaged well and easy to put together. It is solid and looks good in out gym. Best of all it has been a great addition and just what we were looking for to add to our leg day routines. I would absolutely buy it again.

I recently purchased the Echo Strength Commercial leg extension/lying leg curl and wanted to share some initial impressions.

From what I understand this is the same machine as the LE08 from GMWD - with Echo Strengths personal tweaks. It comes shipped in a wood box with each piece wrapped in a hefty amount to bubble wrap. In fact I only found 1 small ding located at the end of a smaller piece pictured below - which is me just being picky. The finish is consistent and located on the outside and inside of each piece. The welds seem consistent as well, and smooth. This piece is definitely more robust than the Lionscool but admittedly it’s also in a different price bracket.

The pads are large and comfortable to sit on. They are textured and grippy. Adjusting the machine is simple and you have an audible lock in each position. The handles that attach to the seat are very nice and in my opinion the perfect size to grasp and lock you in place while performing the movement.

The weigh horn is adjustable on a sliding bar - adding or reducing felt weight by a percentage of the total weight added depending which position you are in. The slide is smooth and the weight simply glides up or down. As a side note, it doesn’t seem like you need a collar to hold the weight on the horn. The weights stay in place and do not shift during the lift. There is also a storage weight horn which I’d imagine doubles as a stability horn when weight is added. Admittedly -I’m not the strongest person - but at 135lbs on the weight horn - the machine doesn’t move and no weight is on the storage horn. It appears very very stable.

Now on to the build and instructions included which appears to be the Achilles heel to most of these machines. If you are buying this machine, get a 24mm impact socket. Makes things go much quicker. There has probably been multiple iterations of the same machine - so the instructions and the nuts and bolts do not go 100% hand in hand together. There were times I had to use my best judgement of the bolt and bolt size needed - particularly when it came to applying the seat and backrest. Cross referencing the video Echo Strength provides - the video gives a general overview of assembly - but it doesn’t go in depth like how the guys and gals at Rep fitness did with their Ares setup. Also the video doesn’t follow the directions given step by step. This isn’t a huge deal - just something to note. The hardest part was lining up the back rest to the seat and placing the bolt through. Save yourself some aggravation and bribe your significant other for another set of hands. In total the build took a couple of hours by myself - with a lot of that time taking each piece out of its protective wrap.

Using this machine is smooth, like noticeably smooth. Like Rep fitness/Rogue fitness smooth. The leg roller is completely adjustable and actually rolls! You can get a complete stretch on the quad for extensions. Same goes for the hamstring curls. This machine allows for full range of motion with no need for a Husla pad or adding mats, or whatever you come up with; attempting to get more of a stretch. I can’t imagine you’d want or need more.

I’m very impressed with Echo Strengths machine and very happy with the purchase. These guys are delivering a very nice product.

I absolutely love this Echo Strength leg extension/leg curl machine! It’s an awesome addition to my home gym, and I’m extremely happy with it. The ability to perform both leg extensions and leg curls on one machine is fantastic and saves valuable space in my garage gym.

The machine has been a great addition to my leg workouts, and I genuinely enjoy using it. It’s exactly the kind of equipment I wanted for my setup, and I couldn’t be happier with it.

If you’re looking for a leg extension/leg curl machine for your home gym, I highly recommend checking out Echo Strength. This thing is awesome, and I’m glad I bought it!

Five stars all day long!

10/10 on the build quality. Loved that it seems like ya’ll tried to keep as many of the pieces together as you could while fitting in the shipping box. Instructions could definitely use some work. 1. For the love of all things holy can we label what bolts are what maybe on the cardboard they come on? Towards end half my time was spent just trying to figure out what hold it was asking for. 2. I thought the video would help with the bolts but no one tells you what bolt you’re using etc and then on top of that the video is going in a totally different order than the directions are. If you are going to make a video I’d expect it to follow the directions so I can watch something when I’m stuck.

Great machine does what it’s supposed to do. And does it well.