York Fitness – the Complete Guide

Complete York Fitness Guide

York Fitness Weights, Fitness Machines and Exercise Equipment

York Fitness is headquartered in the UK, and has a rich history – having started out as two separate companies in the US and Canada. Many people know York Fitness primarily for their Weights and Strength Training equipment. These days, they are far more diverse. Boxing gear, exercise machines including elliptical trainers and bikes, plus a commercial gyms division make this company a powerhouse among fitness equipment brands.

This page provides a complete overview of York Fitness weights, machines and accessories.

Update: Looks like the recent supply chain issues hit York – their fitness machines (treadmills and so on) are all ‘unavailable’. I will keep a close eye, and update this page when they return.

York Fitness Equipment GuideFirst below you’ll find a table showing their best-selling products (according to Amazon.co.uk rankings). After that I have broken down their key offerings into the following types.

  • York Fitness Weight Training: Free weights, benches and home multi-gyms are covered in this section.
  • York Fitness Exercise Equipment: Exercise bikes, elliptical trainers and other cardio equipment.
  • York Fitness Boxing Equipment: The infamous range of accessories and training devices.
  • York Fitness Accessories: Everything from gloves and support belts, though to some novel and unique widgets can be found here.

Table: Best Selling York Fitness Equipment 2021

Links in this table go to the different views of the York Fitness Store at Amazon.co.uk

Dumbbells and Barbells from York Fitness

York Fitness Free Weights, Bars and Sets

Weights are the core of the York range. Cast iron or vinyl weights, many different bars and all-in one sets.

Free Weights ListBars + Accessories
Weight Benches and Multi-Gyms

Weight Benches and Multigyms

Weight benches from York range from simple adjustable units to some impressive pieces with leg presses, racks and preacher pads included.

York Incline BenchBench + Rack Unit
York Home Fitness Equipment

Exercise Machines - Treadmills, Bikes + More

You'll find some higher spec home exercise equipment in the York range. Rowers, bikes and treadmills are all popular choices.

York TreadmillsRowing Machines

 

Highlights of the York Fitness Equipment Range

York Fitness Strength Training:

York Fitness Free WeightsFree Weights: York are specialists in weights, with a selection to rival any other manufacturer out there. You can buy everything from plain circular lumps of iron, to hexagonal dumbbells, vinyl dipped weights, bars of all shapes and uses, kettlebells and accessories.

Here is an overview in each category, along with a link to amazon.co.uk – where York have their own store. Many of these items come with free delivery (perfect for weights!).

Barbell Weights: Most of these fit on a standard 1 inch bar, so unless otherwise stated you’ll need to double check if you are using a 30mm bar. You can get everything from 1kg to 25kg weights. The lighter ones come in packs of 4, with 2 individually packed the standard for the heavier versions. I have to say that some of the buyer comments for the 10kg weight discs in particular are very funny!

You can choose gold coloured vinyl discs too. These come in packs of up to 20kg at a time, and are naturally wider than their iron counterparts.

York Cast Iron WeightsThese weights are excellent value. You’ll get even better value if you buy a bar / weight set together. Options include dumbbell sets, barbell sets – and even bench / weights / bars combined.

Check this page for a listing of the popular free weight options.

This page is your best bet for the bars / weights together

Dumbbell Options: In addition to the standard 30mm bars with either the gold vinyl or cast iron weights, you can get standard dumbbells with a variety of finished. These include hexagonal designs, dipped vinyl (I like the bright blue ones), and the stunning chrome designs too. This is a strong area for York Fitness, you can check out the different options on this page.

Bars: Some of the best-selling items in the York Fitness store are the regular bars. There are a lot more options besides the standard ones. Here is a list:

  • York Fitness Spinlock Bar: This is the standard barbell from the York range. Chrome plated steel, 2x spinlock collars included, takes 1 inch weights up to 125kg.
  • York Solid Tricep Bar: This takes 1 inch weights and weights in at 6kg, solid steel bar, chromium plating and excellent feedback.
  • York Spinlock E-Z Curl Bar: This bar is strategically curved so it can be held in a comfortable position. Comes with 2x spinlocks and features zigzag grips.
  • Standard 1” Dubbell Bar: Comes in a choice of 14 inch or 16 inch lengths, includes anti-slip grip and spinlock collars.

Mark’s Tip: When you view these items from the York Fitness store at Amazon.co.uk, scroll down a bit. You will see a section labelled ‘Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought’. This shows the free weights that go with each bar – a quick and easy shortcut to getting everything in one go (and delivered to your door!).

Weight Training Accessories: It is the small details which make all the difference when it comes to lifting. York use their years of experience to offer key items like gloves (different sizes for women / men), collars for your bars, mats, belts and wrist / ankle belts.

York Fitness Weights Benches

When it comes to benches, you have a lot of choices these days. Some people prefer a simple flat bench with separate rack. Others go for incline benches with leg curls and safety bars attached. York has you covered here, and remain one of the most popular choices when it comes to benches for home use. Here are two examples of what they can offer:

York Incline Weight BenchIncline Weight Bench: The best-selling bench from York, this is simple, solid and comfortable. The max recommended weight of 200kg is plenty enough for most home users too. There are 5 positions, and even a dumbbell storage rack underneath. There is no rack built in with this bench. I recommend you go to the amazon.co.uk product page, and check out the ‘Bought Together’ section. You’ll find a versatile rack and barbell / weights set which are frequent choices. Having them all delivered in one go saves a lot of hassle too.

B530 Heavy Duty Incline and Decline Bench: This unit does have a rack, as well as some leg press potential. There are 4 positions for the backrest and the seat has 3 positions. Once again the maximum weight is 200kg, with the big advantage here being that you do not have to buy a rack separately. Many buyers have left positive feedback for this bench, and you will see that a bar / free weights are often bought together with this unit. Check out this product page for the details.

B540 Heavy Duty Combined Barbell and Squats Bench: This item nicely solves any issues with needing a separate squats rack. This is a premium weights bench, and as York state in their blurb, it is incredibly versatile. You’ll be combining incline, leg presses and the potential for a (separately purchase) arm curl pad – with a squat rack. If you need to know just how robust this item is, the 250kg max weight advice should give you all the info you need! I recommend checking out the gallery for this bench, for the price you are getting a lot of value.

 York Fitness Multi-Gyms

York Perform Multi Gym: Traditionally York have been more focused on benches and accessories when it comes to their strength training products. Their new multi-gym, the ‘York Perform’ looks very impressive for the mid-range price tag. This includes a 100kg weight stack, and Y shaped stable frame. The list of exercises is extensive. From the description, York have made sure that you can switch exercises quickly and easily without needing to stop and adjust each time. You can see the impressive picture gallery on this dedicated product page.

York Fitness Exercise Machines

York Fitness are not only about lifting, their exercise equipment is very popular – with budget and mid-priced items in several categories. You’ll find best-selling treadmills, rowing machines, elliptical cross trainers and steppers. A big positive about York machines is that they are solid and robust. You know you are not going to get a flimsy ‘no name’ product when you choose a manufacturer with so much history in the weight training sphere.

York Fitness Exercise Bikes

There are two types of exercise bike in the York range. The ‘Active’ models, which are aimed at beginners, and the ‘Perform’ models, which have better specs and a slightly bigger price tag. All of these bikes look smart, and as you’d expect from a company with years of weights / gyms experience – these are solid and reliable items.

Here are 2 of the best-selling exercise bike models:

York Fitness Exercise BikeYork Active 110 Exercise Bike: This is a lower mid-range bike aimed at beginners. There are some nice added features, including a pulse sensor in the handlebars and a fitness test function. You get 8 levels of magnetic resistance. This exercise bike looks great, with black hardware with a green trim. At the time of writing it had a discount on the RRP at amazon.co.uk too – check out the dedicated product page here.

 

York Perform 210 Exercise Bike (pictured): A better spec’d model, which has 32 levels of magnetic resistance and (according to the maker) “… offers users of all ages and abilities a challenging and effective workout.” There are plenty more positives, including a 3-color LCD screen and pulse sensors. This is more rounded in the design than the Active 110, though still looks great. Some very positive feedback for this bike. Check the spec, gallery and that feedback for yourself on the dedicated amazon.co.uk product page.

 

 

York Fitness Treadmills

York Active TreadmillYou’ll won’t find budget-end treadmills in the York range (if you want a bargain treadmill, I recommend the popular HomCom motorized instead). Their models include the Active 120 and newer Perform 220. Both have mid-range price tags, and some pro-level specs. A key feature of both models is the auto incline. This gives a big boost to the versatility of your run, instantly increasing the intensity. Compare this to manual incline machines where you have to get off and on again…

Some solid feedback for these machines – to go with the big specs.

Check out:

Active 120 Treadmill via this product page.

Perform 220 white via this product page.

 

York Fitness Rowing Machines

There are two rowing machines which catch the eye from York. The one I would love to own is the R301 Platinum Rowing Machine. This is a mid-range (getting towards higher end) rower, though the design is wonderful. You can check out the way the screen juts up on almost industrial looking supports on the dedicated product page gallery here. This is more than just a well designed machine, there is a combined air / magnetic resistance mechanism, and smooth Kevlar drive belt action. Very good feedback so far for this item.

There are some lower budget rowers appearing under the ‘Quest’ name. At the time of writing these do not have much in the way of buyer feedback, so I’d prefer to wait before listing them here. You can see all of the York Fitness rowing machines on this search results page.

 

York Fitness Boxing Accessories

You’ll find popular punchbags, mitts, gloves and head guards in the York range. Some come in sets, for example you can get a punch bag and mitts together. Strangely, you’ll need to get the fixing bolts and hardware separately – though once again you will find the right item in the ‘commonly bought together’ section at Amazon.

Punch bags come in durable synthetic leather finish, and are heavy enough to take whatever blows you might give them! The free p&p from amazon.co.uk is a real help here. As with the weight sets, you really do not want to be taking these home manually.

Here is the link to the range of boxing equipment in the York Fitness store at amazon.

 

Accessories from York Fitness

There is plenty more in the range of fitness equipment from this company. I will not describe all of the accessories and extras here (this page is already long enough). Here is a flavour of what is available, with links to articles elsewhere here at Fitness Review for more information.

You’ll find rubber mats and gym flooring options in the York range – this is a more important consideration than many people realise. Using both weights and exercise machines can take a toll on your floors. A rubber mat has the added advantage of dampening any noise.

Plastic steps (for aerobics type workouts), abs twister devices, gloves, straps and even a wearable heart rate monitor are available in their amazon store!

 

About York Fitness – Interesting History of this Company

History of York BarbellWith so many new brands coming and going, the 75 year history of this company is an outlier in the world of fitness equipment. York Fitness is a trading name, with the original York Barbell the entity behind the name. The original company was founded in the US way back in 1932. Their focus was on Olympic weight lifting.

While the US company focused on weight lifting, their Canadian subsidiary made the move into the many different types of fitness equipment you see in their range today. This was a success, and in 2004, the two companies merged into a single unit.

York have a long list of sports teams who use their products. In the UK, there are several high profile Rugby teams – including Northampton Saints, Harlequins and Saracens. In the US the Washington Redskins and LA Lakers both use York gym equipment for training. You can see the full list of partners on the York Fitness website.

Finally, this company are active in the community. They support initiatives to train young athletes on both sides of the pond. Again, details of this can be found on their main website.

 

Rivals: Who Competes with York Fitness?

It is a compliment to the breadth of equipment that York offer that there is no single rival brand in all of the categories. Instead there are competitors for the fitness machines, weight lifting gear and boxing accessories separately.

Weights: I would rate Marcy as the number one rival when it comes to benches and accessories. There is a lot of overlap in the product range. When it comes to benches in particular there are some budget-end rivals, for example We R Sports have a fairly wide range. There are 1001 names you have never heard of when it comes to bars, weights and accessories. These are innovative small outfits who get generic items imported, and then ‘brand’ them. You can find some value with these, though the service / follow up will never be as good as with an established brand.

Fitness Machines: The best alternatives depend on which machines. I would rate the JLL Treadmill range the closest to York. These are similar specs and similar price brackets – and are also popular items. Again, there are many more rivals, some of them are budget (think Confidence Fitness, HonCom), others are aimed at the more serious runner (for example NordicTrack). For Rowing Machines, buyers looking for similar specs should check out the popular V-Fit Rowers.

 

Summing Up: Is York Fitness Equipment Right for You?

In today’s competitive market for gym equipment, reputation is key. With more than 75 years of experience, York Barbell (York Fitness!) has built a solid reputation for robust and effective equipment. With price ranges in the same bracket as ‘no-name’ fitness brands, I prefer to go with the company which has earned trust over a number of years.

You’ll find a lot of equipment in a lot of different areas of fitness in their catalogue. I can’t say there will be the perfect item for every reader, though you’ll be surprised at how well most people’s needs are covered.

Here is the table from the top of the article again, this covers the main types of equipment offered by York Fitness. If you do not see what you need in this list – click this link instead to check out the full Amazon.co.uk York Fitness Store.

 

Here is that table again – the best of the York Fitness range!

Dumbbells and Barbells from York Fitness

York Fitness Free Weights, Bars and Sets

Weights are the core of the York range. Cast iron or vinyl weights, many different bars and all-in one sets.

Free Weights ListBars + Accessories
Weight Benches and Multi-Gyms

Weight Benches and Multigyms

Weight benches from York range from simple adjustable units to some impressive pieces with leg presses, racks and preacher pads included.

York Incline BenchBench + Rack Unit
York Home Fitness Equipment

Exercise Machines - Treadmills, Bikes + More

You'll find some higher spec home exercise equipment in the York range. Rowers, bikes and treadmills are all popular choices.

York TreadmillsRowing Machines