Everything You Should Know About French Fitness’ FSR90 Home Gym [A Review]

French Fitness’ FSR90 combines the functions of a functional trainer, a Smith machine and a squat rack all into a single, highly versatile home gym system.

In other words, this bad boy gives you the tools to perform pretty much any strength training exercise you can think of.

Highlights of the FSR90 include dual 220 lb weight stacks for the functional trainer, a ton of included attachments, and impressive weight limits for the Smith machine/squat rack.

It also comes with a pair of Jammer Arms for even more workout variety, but more on that later.

Long-story-short: if you’re looking for a moderately priced all-in-one home gym system, the FSR90 is a solid choice.

But like everything else in life, it has its flaws.

In this review, I’ll go over everything this home gym has to offer- we’re talking pros, cons, specs, features, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

After reading, you’ll know everything you need to in order to decide for yourself whether or not the FSR90 is worth investing in.

Let’s begin.

The French Fitness FSR90 Functional Trainer, Smith & Squat Rack Machine

Damn that’s a mouthful of a name.

For obvious reasons, I’ll be simply referring to this unit as the FSR90 from now on.

Jokes aside, French Fitness is a respected fitness brand that offers residential and commercial grade equipment alike.

You’ll find all kinds of fitness gear on their site, from plates and barbells to sophisticated machines and multi-stack gym systems.

They also have their own line of cardio equipment and they even supply all kinds of gym mats and floorings (including synthetic lawn turf) which is pretty cool.

The FSR90 is the highest-end multi-function gym system in their lineup to date.

As I mentioned in the intro, the FSR90 combines the functions of a functional trainer, a Smith machine, and a squat rack and then comes it with a bunch of other attachments too.

I think the easiest way to tackle such a complex machine is to examine each station separately, so I hope this makes sense.

Pros

• Combines Smith machine, squat rack, and functional trainer into single gym
• Ton of workout variety
• Dual 220 lb weight stacks
• 600 lb weight limit on Smith machine
• J-hooks weight limit of 550 lb
• Safety bars weight limit of 660 lb
• Jammer Arms included
• Multi-grip pull up bar
• Adjustable dip handles
• Landmine station
• Vertical leg press attachment
• Includes all necessary clips, handles, and safety bars
• Built-in weight plate storage
• Great warranty

Cons

• Takes up a lot of floor space
• Difficult assembly
• No Westside spacing

Frame

Actually, before we dive into the different lifting stations, I wanted to start with a few quick words on the FSR90’s frame in general.

First of all, this bad boy takes up a floor space of 88″ x 65″, which is a bit over 7′ x 5.5′, so this gym takes up a fair amount of real estate.

And keep in mind these dimensions aren’t including the Jammer Arms, which’ll add a few extra feet worth of necessary space (depending on how you’re using them anyway).

You’ll also want to add a few extra feet of floor space to make sure you have enough room to actually walk around it and access the plates.

I also want to point out that I can’t find any info regarding the gauge of steel being used on this system, but based on the weight capacities of the rack and Smith machine, I’m assuming it’s made out of 12-gauge steel.

Most of the all-in-one gyms like the FSR90 use 12-gauge steel because it’s pretty strong and isn’t quite as expensive as the thicker, 11-gauge steel.

But as you’ll see down below when we start talking weight limits, the FSR90 can hold its own pretty well (but an 11-gauge system would likely be able to hold heavier weights safely).

Update – a helpful reader pointed out that the FSR90 is actually made with 14-gauge steel, so a little thinner than I was expecting.

Functional Trainer

Ok, let’s start with the functional trainer station.

FYI, a “functional trainer” is just a fancy term for a set of adjustable pulleys. Pulleys are great because they add a ton of exercise variety and allow you to perform popular moves like cable crossovers, lat pulldowns, and all kinds of stuff.

The FSR90 comes with an adjustable pulley attached to each upright of the rack and each pulley comes with a handle for easy adjusting.

Each pulley has its own dedicated 220 lb weight stack (divided into 11 lb increments) to be used for the resistance.

The pulleys on this gym utilize a 2:1 pulley ratio, meaning that it feels like you’re lifting half the weight that’s racked on the stack.

So, for example, if you put the pin in at 100 lb on each stack, it would feel like you’re lifting 50 lb on each side.

A 2:1 ratio is pretty common (although some gyms do offer a 1:1 ratio we’re you’re lifting every pound you rack) and with 220 lb on each side, you can still get up to 110 lb worth of resistance per arm.

Which is a lot for a guy like me.

I mentioned that the pulleys are attached to the same uprights that are used for the squat rack- this isn’t a big deal or anything, but it does mean you might have to move ’em around a little when using the rack.

Overall, the FSR90 scores highly with dual 220 lb weight stacks for the functional trainer station, making it a lot more convenient to adjust resistance than having to load plates.

Smith Machine

The Smith machine is composed of a barbell attached to a pair of rails, allowing you to safely perform pretty much any barbell exercise you can think of.

Of course being able to lock the bar out every few inches (and having built-in adjustable safety stoppers) allows ya to lift solo without having to worry about a spotter.

Having the bar attached also takes it a little easier on your stabilizer muscles, so you can usually lift a little heavier when using a Smith machine.

Anyway, the Smith bar on the FSR90 uses linear bearings for smooth operation and comes with a max weight limit of 600 lb.

This is more than enough weight capacity to handle a lot of home users, but there are Smith machines out there (like Force’s G6) that can handle upwards of 772 lb.

French Fitness doesn’t mention anything about their Smith bar being counterbalanced, so I would assume that it isn’t.

This is good, if you’re looking to lift every pound that you can, although counterbalanced bars do tend to feel a bit smoother.

Overall though, the Smith machine on the FSR90 scores highly with an impressive weight capacity.

Squat Rack

The squat rack (or power rack) station on this gym allows you to perform all the barbell exercises you’re thinking of- squats, bench presses, shoulder presses, dead lifts, etc.

The FSR90 comes with a pair of J-hooks that can be adjusted along the vertical uprights to rack a barbell at any height you require.

The adjustment holes are about 2″ apart, which is pretty standard.

The FSR90 doesn’t come with Westside spacing (1″)- I don’t consider this that big a deal, but more advanced lifters might prefer having the extra options to fine tune placement of the bar (especially for benching).

The J-hooks on this rig come with a max weight limit of 550 lb, although the included safety bar catches can hold up to 660 lb.

So, as long as you’re benching or squatting less than this (as most of us mortals are), the FSR90 will be tough enough to handle your workouts.

There is built-in weight plate storage of up to 600 lb worth of plates, which is nice.

This gym doesn’t include any weight plates, so you’ll have to purchase them separately (remember that the dual stacks are used only for the functional trainer).

French Fitness includes all the spring clips and collars you’ll need, but doesn’t include a barbell either, so you’ll want to make sure you purchase one of those separately too.

Overall though, the squat rack is pretty straightforward- it comes with plenty of attachments as we’ll see below and it can handle enough weight to accommodate most users just fine.

Attachments

French Fitness includes like 19 different accessories and attachments and to be honest, I don’t feel like listing them all down here at the moment.

To summarize: all of the clips, J-hooks, safety bars, and pulley handles you’ll need are included.

But I do want to talk about a few key attachments in particular.

The FSR90 comes with a set of adjustable dip handles, allowing you to perform dips at varying widths of grip, which is nice.

It also comes with a vertical leg press attachment that allows you to use the Smith bar as a leg press machine- again, pretty cool.

A landmine station is included, allowing you to perform all kinds of rotational and explosive moves with the barbell.

But my favorite part(s) are the Jammer Arms.

The Jammer Arms are pretty unique to French Fitness and they allow you to perform a wide range of lifts and presses using weight plates, but with the added stability of having them attached to the frame.

They remind me a lot of the Hammer Strength machines I used to use at Gold’s.

They’re hare to explain, so you should check out the video if you aren’t sure what they are. But they add a ton of workout options to a gym that already offers a ton of exercises to choose from.

Overall, the FSR90 comes with all the included accessories and handles you’d expect from a quality all-in-one gym, but it’s their Jammer Arms that are the real star of the show.

Warranty

French Fitness backs their FSR90 with the following warranty:

• 10 year parts
• 1 year labor

I’m assuming anything relating to the frame falls under that 10 year parts warranty (which it should based on their warranty info), so I think this is a pretty solid guarantee.

Force offers a lifetime guarantee on their all-in-one gyms, but they only offer 2 years on their pulleys.

French Fitness is basically only offering 10 years on their frames, but also 10 years on their pulleys and cables- which is a pretty good trade off I think.

Ten years on parts for any product is pretty impressive in my book.

A year on labor is pretty standard operating procedure regardless of price.

Overall, I applaud French Fitness for their generous warranty.

Final Thoughts

Ok, that about does it for French Fitness’ FSR90.

I think it’s pretty safe to say this gym has a lot to offer with regards to workout variety. With a Smith machine, a functional trainer, and a squat rack there isn’t much you can’t do with this gym.

Especially when you include all the accessories and those Jammer Arms.

Plus it comes with a multi-grip pull up bar (I’m pretty sure I forgot to mention that earlier).

I like that it comes with dual weight stacks for the pulleys and I think it’s backed by a pretty awesome home warranty.

And the weight capacities are pretty good too.

The biggest drawback I see is that there’s nothing sleek about this gym whatsoever- it’s big, bulky, and not particularly attractive looking.

It’s not as sleek or as impressive as the Force USA combo gyms, but it doesn’t cost as much either.

But you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover right?

True, but my point is that this thing takes up a lot of floor space.

Overall though, I think the FSR90 is a very nice machine (if you’ve got the floor space) and easily one of the best all-in-one home gyms for the price.