We need the wall mounted Athena tested!!!!

Biggest issue from a product management and marketing standpoint is the complexity of options and overlapping features. This is a classic MBA marketing problem that freezes customers in place and they end up buying nothing for fear of choosing the wrong thing and painting themselves into a corner

I figured it out. PR5000 + athena + weight upgrade. No center rear lat attachment. I can do pulldowns on one of the side trolleys and use a Prime prodigy lat seat + pin attachment to slap on weight plate if needed.

I think a good option is the Athena + heavier stacks + Prime Fitness lat seat + Prime Fitness low row foot plate. You have a functional trainer and now a pull down with great set and knee brace, and a low row with the cable height where you want it, and a great foot plate that you can use while sitting on your bench. If you’re strong, you’ll need to use a GymPin to add weight to the stacks, until Rep comes out with really heavy stacks for the Athena. I have an imported rack and the Prime seat and low row foot plate both fit in the holes.

Great production! Has your team considered a secondary channel or a playlist that features Sam explaining how to put together some of the pieces you review?

I’d like to see more talk about the 4 post Athena option on the PR 5000 for space savings!… especially in regards to how other uses of the rack would be limited or aided by this option.

Love to see a review of the wall mounted athena. Thanks

Even when they were teasing these before launch, Athena coupled with a selectorized lat pull low row was what seemed most appealing. What I'd really love to see someone try is to see if you can mount an Athena on Rogue, Titan or Sorinex racks to see if it can be done

Would love to see comparison between buying a half rack and functional trainer vs a full rack with cable attachment. Cost differences, pros and cons to each. Would also love to see recommendations on luxury, best bang for the buck and budget friendly options. Love the videos you throw out. Very in-depth and entertaining

As an Ares owner, I have to agree that the standard setup for the low row isnt great... HOWEVER I love it with a pair of D handles instead of the bar connector. Idk why but that setup just feels fantastic and the bar provided is meh

I have a pretty week equipped home gym (rack with many attachments, functional trainer, elliptical, air bikes, dumbbells, manybarbells etc). This rack attachment is by far the best value for money I have spent compared to everything else I own. It’s not even close. Very well built, genius design, so many uses, very impressed. This guy is light years ahead of the big boys in ingenuity, value, etc. this is a company to watch. Can’t wait to see what else they come out with!

I have the Ares. I bought it when it went on preorder. I love it. I do agree that the low row could have been designed better. But, I make do.

You know your winning as a company when coop is arguing which is the best rack mounted functional trainer and they're both yours. I'm glad I went with Rep two years ago. I think they're only going to continue to close that gap between rogue and the rest of the market

Would love to see a 1:1 comparison between the Rep Ares and the Prime HLP Prodigy Selectorized rack

Great video. I think REP is creating a new Belt Squat attachment and the Ares will be more useful with the heavier weight stack.

I ordered the Ares on a PR5000 a week ago and it's supposed to be delivered any minute. Just waiting on R&L shipping to show up so I can spend the next two days unpacking and asSAMble everything haha

I got dual selectorized Athena. I just do lat pull downs on one of the stacks. If I wanna add more weight, I put weights on the resistance band part. Also, the gym pin 30" d handle can attach both weight stacks together. I can pick the perfect height for seated rows with the gym pin. And lat pull downs up to 220lbs without using any plates on the resistance band portion. And with the athena, someone can still spot me in the power rack if a friend comes over.

The Athena is undoubtedly my dream gym, wish I had $5000 to spare😭 Love your channel Coop.

For the Ares, why not use individual handles for the two connection points for low row and/or lat pulldown? I would actually prefer individual D-handles for a low row to get a good stretch at the bottom and then squeeze the scapula together at the top. If you only like single bars for low rows, then I understand the disadvantage.

Got the PR-5000 + Ares. Best rack configuration available for a power rack hands down. You don't really show it, but your feet only really get in the way if you adjust the post all the way out AND use a single pull point. Otherwise, it's a non-issue for your feet if you're using it with the post recessed OR using both pulley points. Got two options to make it work.

My other gripe with the Ares is when using the Kabuki Transformer Bar on settings that cause the handles to push forward. The two weight stack guide poles get in the way. I prefer to squat off the center columns, so that is what I put the Transformer Bar there.

Perfect timing! Dual Athena 93” in stock. Gotta decide if I’ll get more use out of that setup than spotter arms and leg roller (oak club and rogue).

The Ares is the Rep flagship now and I think all the future attachements that implement the cables will be designed around it. Will likely work on the others too, but not as well

See I actually like my Ares low row since I predominantly do single arm cable rows. Now I can do both at once 😃

I wanted all of the bells and whistles when I built my REP rack, but their plated loaded lat/row attachment works perfectly fine.

Great review! I would love a video about how to best accomplish Ares-like functionality in a Rogue rack. A lot of your viewers have Rogue racks, and are jealous that Rep has innovated so much. You talked about this a bit in your Coop squat rack video, but how does something like the Rhino + Surplus Strength UPS compare to the lat pulldown and low row of the Rep systems? Is there a way to get a functional trainer in there space-efficiently? Are there other methods that you'd recommend? I'd also be curious to hear you speculate about what you think is coming from Rogue, since a bunch of people seem to be selling their Rogue gear and getting Rep instead. As a customer, it does sort of feel like Rogue is asleep at the wheel / constantly playing catch up, and I wonder if that's because they've become complacent or whether they just stopped focusing on the home gym market in favor of the commercial market.

I think another decent issue is the band pegs. In my opinion the ares should have come with an easy way to attach pegs. I think the center mount low row would be much better for rowing than the low row on the ares. Also, love the compactness on the back for the ares, but if you're not getting wings for your rack, the plates will stick out almost as far as the center mount stack anyways. I'm very happy with my ares but if I waited another 3 months I think I would've ended up with your top configuration (athena+plate low row+stack upgrades). The dual bottom handles definitely have pros too (hamstring curls, etc). Its tough. Both have a ton of functionality and have their pros and cons... don't think there's a wrong choice.

Gymandfitness in australia have said they are stocking the 93” pr5000 with ares attachment. This is giving me sleepless nights in anticipation. I have watched ur review about 974 times 😅

So glad this dropped today as I weigh my options!

Perfect timing. I have the Athena in my cart because I have the lat low row.

Both look like absolutely sick products! The question is when will these bad boys be available internationally (i'm from Australia)? I note REP are now partnered up with Gym and Fitness Australia but no Athena or Aries line products? I'm a big believer of buy once, cry once and these just nail all requirements with an ideal footprint (unlike the force usa myrack which is available here). Keep up the great work GGR Team!

Would really like the Prime Prodigy rack with height extension to enter the chat…. Give us what we want Coop! 😊

I hate the low row on the ares. I use a method where I use the two front pulleys plus a bench as the low row alternative. Works so much better.

They should attempt to design lever arms that accept cables.

Before the Athena came out, I was dead set on the Ares. But I’m leaning more towards the Athena now with the in rack spacing considerations for benching & squatting. Luckily I live near the PA showroom so I’ll give both a try!

Love the channel. My Athena is to be delivered Tuesday!

Add in option for belt squat off that center stack and it would be truly mind blowing 😮

My Athena arrives on Sunday. I am stoked

I actually prefer the dual attachment points on the Ares low row. The adjustable pulleys on the front uprights don't go as low as I'd like (the cross members get in their way), so for some exercises (especially ones where I have a cable attached to my feet/ankles), the attachment points being almost on the floor is really nice. It's also really nice when I have the safeties installed and can't easily slide the front adjustable pulleys down without removing the safeties. Or for super setting at two different heights and with two different attachments.

I bought the PR5000 and Athena with single lat pull-down/low row and all upgraded stacks. Took advantage of the Black Friday 10% off to buy a new AB52000 2.0 and about 1,000lbs of weights. I’m excited for it all. Then of course bought the Force USA hack squat/leg press

Nice. Could you please give a review on Rep's Apollo Half Rack one of these days? That one has very minimal information on the internet. Thank you.

Ultimately I went with the selectorized lat low row and will buy the athena later. That low row would just bother me too much for the amount of money I’m spending. Also, me and my wife could use the athena and lat low row at the same time unlike with the ares. To me the extra price is worth it

Nice comparison Coop! Would love to hear your thoughts on the Straydog Strength ATR Functional Trainer as a option?

I'd love a review on the Fray fitness functional trainer power rack combo!

I actually prefer the ares, Id use the two lower or upper pulleys for my lever arms resistance.

I love the idea and look of this. Super slick. But whenever I price out doing it, I look at my plate-loaded Titan system (rack, lat/row attachment, two pulley towers), that I pieced together for ~$1000 pre-pandemic, and I just can't justify it. Weight stacks continue to be the great separator. I'd love to be able to move a pin and go. But I'm not going to drop thousands, replace all my attachments, deal with selling my stuff via CL/FBM, and disrupt my training just to look cool and save a few seconds each workout.

The Ares and the Athena are both awesome, but for my personal training the lat pull-down / low row is all I need

Woud love to see an Ares vs Rogue Rhino comparison!

If you just get the center lat pulley and not Athena, are you just giving up cable flys? What other exercises would you be missing?

Y'all be crazy not to go with the Ares. Those duel cables on the bottom are priceless if you use them effectively

Love this! The PR5000 and the Ares in my future. Also, I got an email back from REP regarding the handles that come with each of the units. They are now a stainless steel knurled handle rather than that plastic crap.

Hey Coop! Love the content! Please, please, please if you get a chance try to do a review on the Bulletproof Fitness Equipment Isolator - looks like a potentially game-changing rack-attachable piece for a home gym! 💪🏼 hopefully you can test it on racks like these to see if they work well with the cable systems

I'd like to see a demonstration of adjusting the j cups and other attachments around the cables.

Strong work Coop

Coop still my go to for these comparos... Still torn but leaning towards just spending the extra $700 for the Athena. Over the life of this, i feel it will be worth it. Affiliate link click coming!

I was originally going for the Ares, but thanks to you, I have changed my decision to the Athena. Can you please tell me the dimensions of the rack that you installed the Athena on? What is the depth between the side posts on your rack in the video. Thanks very much.

I would like a review on jacked up fitness all in 1 smith/functional trainer and review on atlas strength all in 1 with jammer arms.

Both awesome squat rack functional trainers, for me I'm going to buy the Athena ONLY, because of my space, I need to be able to move thru the rack. The Ares will not allow me access to rear of my garage (two car linear garage with different heights) freely move front to back. REP IS BLOWING THE ROOF OFF ROGUE. Rogue needs to step it up and fast. I'm buying almost everything Rep instead of Rouge.

Very well done. I would LOVE to hear Coop’s feedback, as he’s in a unique position with these manufacturers, as to where he thinks Rep’s innovation leaves Rogue and whether Rogue should start similarly innovating **their existing customer base** (critical) to prevent market share loss.

Great comparison!

So as someone who already owns a PR 5000 with a plate-loaded center pully system, who's been waiting for the selectorized upgrade, the decision was going to be based on cost rather than functionality - love 'em both. But Coop, you've got me all indecisive now! - Athena looks to be the better bet for me. Thanks for all the work you and the team do, sir!

Freaking great video.

Thanks Coop! Super helpful as always. Definitely leaning towards the Athena for my home gym. But- have you ever heard of Hudson Steel? They make a very similar functional trainer/cage which they sell out of a distributor fitness store near me in NJ. Their price is about 15% cheaper and build quality feels super solid in store. Next to zero information about them online has me a skeptical..

Thanks for confirming my decision. :)

Question, what if I go with a single sided Athena instead of the dual? What are the benefits of having both sides of the functional trainer? Or is a single sided one just as good?

Ares looks maybe better only with the addition of the non Rep aftermarket center pulley that’s available which is another $200. Also, Ares doesn’t have band pegs and might make incline and squatting inside cramped. Athena dual stack setup can do lat pulls with a double eyelet lat bar connecting both cables. Also seen someone do lats on the Athena and use the dip bar to keep thighs down. Athena might be hard for seated rows I guess. Ares takes up less depth than the lat high low row But sacrifices space inside.

I'm a little confused when he keeps talking about the incline bench downside. I don't see an issue? There's not enough room for a spotter behind you when benching in the rack but you can just bench off the front bars right? Or use the safeties. Wouldn't it be the same problem with any bench angle. Not just incline? Someone help me out here lol

They need to simplify the configuration process. I am not seeing the Athena with center mounted weight stack?

Amazing video! 👏👏

Most of the athena options are back order now in Canada, I guess that ares will be the to go option for them in the futur.

A comparison of the Athena, prime prodigy or Straydog atr would be awesome.

I lost it at the beautiful mind algebra segue.

I am looking to get one of these this year but I have a basement gym with an 80 inch height restriction. I had to carve out a little bit of the ceiling beams in order to fit my current squat rack in there. So Looking at both it looks like the Athena lat pulldown adds 3.3 inches to the height where as the Ares only adds 1.2 inches. Doesn't seem like much but when you have to cut into a beam without your house falling down it matters. I would love the single pulley for low row but if it is actually that tall I don't think it would work :( Also you should do a video of putting together the best gym with height restrictions for people that don't have all that height in a garage!

My ares just came in thanks to your reviews.

Can you compare both of these in 4 post form? Trying to figure out which would be best with minimal footprint.

Anyone have any idea if these will work on a Rogue rack?

Please review the Get RX’D functional trainer.

Good god. As much as I try to- given the similarities of Athen and Ares name - I keep forgetting which is which! Need to review again and again. More name differences- I know is silly - would help though

I would love to see rack/functional trainer combos compared across companies so I can see which one is the best

I would like to see a review of the bodycraft rft compared to these

How well do either of the low rows (standalone or via the Ares) work as a belt squat? And I don't mean using the rep belt squat attachment...I mean just standing on the rear base stabilizer just above the pulley (or pullies for the Ares).

I'm curious how the Athena goes with weight plate storage on a 16" extension.

I love my ares, although I do hate the low row so much that I really don't use it

I have the pr5000 6post with ares and love it

I got the Ares and absolutely love it. No regrets at all

Hey Coop one of your best reviews! Been debating which version to get. Can you comment on the plate loaded center lat pull-down. Pros/cons? Love the new set up.

I have the Ares with the PR-5000 and I agree that the low row is a pain. I think a banana attachment for the row pulleys would help though instead of the current heavier and cumbersome bar that one has to attach a close grip row handle.

Before I watch the video, I just wanna say I've built up the Ares on my PR4k. It's one of my favorite purchases I've ever made for my home. I've got a very high level of versatility in a relatively small space (maybe 9'x9' during workout, more as I move items in & out like the bench). Highly recommend if you've make enough moneys and are already committed to working out anyway.

My hesitation with the Athena is that the center of my rack is now occupied, and I have to now bench outside the rack and add spotter arms, AND I cant use mirrors to watch myself when doing squats, unless i turn around and face outside the rack and mount a mirror there, which doesn't work in my space. The problem with the Ares is that the stack is too light. So maybe plate loaded Ares would work for me?

I’ve been thinking about the options myself.

If money was no object, I'd pick the Athena absolutely. Cable low rows are an essential back training exercise for myself and I don't want my feet to interfere with that "banana" mechanism.

For the low row I wish they had an option for a pulley on top of the RBS.

Am I missing something. I don't see how to order the Athena with a center mount lat pull down and low row in there website.

Why can’t you just use a long bar like the GymPin multi bar to connect the pulleys on both sides of the Athena to do lat pulldowns?

So you're saying that the new rear base stabilizer makes it so you can actually use the incline bench inside the rack? What bench do you think fits well without having too much footing off the back to get in the way with the low row and rear base stabilizer?

Ares in UK cost 4000 pounds which equates to 5000 thousand dollars

What's the point of the lat/low row, Can't you do that on the front upright?

Hmm, you guys think a single-sided selectorized Athena, or the center selectorized lat pulldown, would be a better purchase? Also if I were to purchase the single-sided Athena, I may check if the Rogue lat seat may work...

I have the Rep PR 5000 and Ares extra weight stack. I have only used my low row with unilateral D-handle rows. (Rep Fitness sent me some better D handles for free instead of the crappy plastic ones they originally sent with the Ares.) I also have a stand alone Elite FTS Lat machine that I do my low rows with. I have never tried using the low row 2 hand cable attachment on the Ares? I suppose you are correct it may get awkward with that bar attachment in the way? I suppose I should try it at some point? Also I can do Incline Chest Press (Barbell) inside my Power Rack, I just use my Griffin Fitness Monolift attachment and I can do incline presses fine, at least low incline presses.

For anyone wondering or not being able to make a decision someone already made an attachment for the area that solves “the feet hitting the cables” and sits adjustable in height so it’s even better