I tested the viral Fittle Box for two months, and now all my friends and family want one
Prettier than a Peloton and more practical than a rusty set of dumbbells – this might be the best thing I’ve ever tested as a fitness writer
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Your support makes all the difference.Move over air fryer, my house has a new talking point. And while I might be biased as a fitness writer, I think it’s infinitely cooler than any kitchen gadget going.
The Fittle Box is a sleek and stylish chest which sits innocuously under my living room window. But inside lies an entire home gym, complete with adjustable dumbbells, a barbell, 55kg of Olympic weight plates and an exercise mat – everything I needed for a comprehensive home workout.
I’m always sceptical of new and trendy exercise tech, but in my eyes this product knocks it out of the park by going back to basics (adjustable free weights are the bread and butter of effective strength training) and looking good doing it. Given the brand’s recent viral social media posts, the internet hive mind is inclined to agree.
It’s not a passing fad either. Since I was sent the Fittle Box for testing, there’s rarely been a day when I haven’t used it for something, whether that’s a strength training session, HIIT circuit or just some light prehab work to protect my joints. Starting at £1,045, it’s far from an impulse purchase, but for the right person I think it could be a worthy investment. Find out why below.
Fittle Box: £1,045, Fittle.fit
The Fittle Box is an all-in-one home gym containing an exercise mat, four adjustable dumbbells, one adjustable barbell, eight Olympic quick-lock collars and 35kg or 55kg of weight plates (depending on whether you pick the “base” option or more expensive “plus” package). This is all neatly presented in a stylish and subtle box, which marks a nice change from the usual home workout aesthetic of clunky exercise machines and dumbbells cluttering up the spare room.
Should you buy the Fittle Box?
My favourite thing about the Fittle Box is that, unlike so many viral fitness products before it, the brand doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel with a revolutionary new way of exercising. Instead, it champions tried and tested exercise methods (lifting weights), and does so beautifully.
The box looks fantastic, earning the approval of my art director partner, who labelled it “beautiful to look at both inside and out”. As a result, it now has pride of place in the living room – not that you’d ever know there was a whole gym hiding in there.
Every time I revealed it to friends and family members, they were shocked to find an array of bars and plates inside, before quickly asking where they could buy one. One notoriously hard to impress relative even whacked the box on their optimistic Christmas list.
The Fittle Box streamlines your training too; it cuts out commute times to and from the gym, and it’s incredibly quick to set up. I loved how everything has its place, so I don’t have to rummage through a heap of rusty bars and weight plates to find what I need – an all too common occurrence in my current home gym (read: shed).
The quick-lock collars are far more efficient than the spinlock ones you find in most adjustable dumbbell sets, and the box doubles up as a weight bench for dumbbell chest presses, step-ups and the like. This broadened the scope of my home workouts, making them more fun – variety is the spice of life, after all. And, if you’re short on ideas, the Fittle website has a decent bank of follow-along “support”, “sweat” and “strength” classes.
I also preferred the Fittle Box to other all-in-one workout benches I’ve tried, including the market-leading Technogym bench. High praise, considering Technogym’s excellent credentials.
The (more expensive) TechnoGym bench has three resistance bands, some knuckle weights and five sets of dumbbells which max out at 10kg. It’s presented smartly, but seasoned lifters will find these provisions too light to challenge them during heavy compound moves like squats and deadlifts.
The Fittle Box’s adjustable free weights allow you to choose from a much wider selection of resistances, catering to all fitness levels and allowing people to apply the progressive overload principle (the key to successful strength training) by incrementally increasing the weight they’re lifting over time, in line with their growing strength levels.
But is it just a novelty item? I’ve tested a lot of new fitness tech, and there are myriad products I’ve used a handful of times before resigning them to the bottom drawer of my desk. My main concern going into this test was that the Fittle Box would suffer a similar fate, living out its days as an overqualified bench.
However, I quickly realised there was nothing to worry about, and was surprised to find just how much I used it. Despite being a regular gym-goer, it was incredibly helpful for squeezing some movement into busy days, doing some prehab work in front of the telly or catching up on some bits I’d missed from my weekly training plan. I also loved that there was plenty of weight to play with, so most exercisers will be able to create a dumbbell heavy enough for a brutal set of Bulgarian split squats.
My partner reaped the benefits too, finding the Fittle Box had everything she needed for an all-inclusive at-home exercise routine. There were only two notes we came up with. Firstly, while handy for adding cushioning to the top of the bench for chest presses, the exercise mat was too narrow to be much use for floor work, yoga and Pilates. And secondly, even with wheels on one side, the box was pretty tricky to manoeuvre, particularly when it had all the weights inside.
But these two minor gripes don’t change the fact that I think this is a fantastic product, delivering style and substance in equally impressive doses. The real worst thing about it is that I have to give it back.
Read more: I trained like Anne Hathaway for a month, and the results surprised me
The verdict:
In summary, the Fittle Box is brilliant. At more than £1,000, it’s also expensive and (unless you’re especially flush) it might not be worth it for those who already have a membership to a nearby gym. But if you struggle to find time to exercise, or don’t get on with a bustling gym environment, it’s an elegant solution to both problems. Unlike your average clunky exercise bike or Transformer-esque adjustable dumbbells, it will actually improve the look of your home too.