I Tried Amp, the AI Strength Training System — and It May Replace My Gym Membership

For someone who writes about fitness for a living, my own home gym set up is, in a word, pathetic. I’m talking one set of adjustable dumbbells, a motley tangle of resistance bands, and my favorite yoga mat. By supplementing with outdoor runs, a gym membership, and studio workouts, I make that sad assortment of at-home fitness equipment work — but if you were to ask me about my dream setup, I’d show you a picture of Amp.

Amp

From

$1,795

$1,795 at ampfit.com

Amp ($1,795) is the newest addition to the world of smart fitness equipment, and it’s unlike anything I’ve tried before. At first glance, you might think you were looking at a very fancy, high-tech coat rack; it’s a sleek silver column, with a single arm that hides its cable. The minimal design disguises an absolute workhorse of a strength-training machine, with the ability to take you through upper-body, core, and lower-body workouts. But the truly impressive part about Amp is its intelligent algorithm, which learns from your performance and adapts to your needs, fitness levels, and goals.

Amp is available to reserve now for a $99 deposit, which will be used toward the total price once the machine is available and earns you a complimentary year of the app subscription; the actual machine is expected to start shipping in early 2025. Luckily I had the chance to preview the training system. Keep reading for a deep dive into my experience, and whether I think Amp is worth the splurge.

Immediately upon seeing Amp, I was into how simple and unassuming the machine looked. Mounted to your wall, you could easily miss it — and if a guest did notice the minimal, silver column, they’d be more likely to be intrigued than appalled.

That said, the aesthetic is really just the cherry on top of an incredibly functional and user-friendly design. I’ve found that sometimes smart fitness gear can come with a steep learning curve; it can be so high-tech as to be needlessly complex. Amp, however, is intuitive. One knob controls the arm’s height and angle and a second lets you adjust the weight (up to 100 pounds); the different attachments clip in and out of the arm with ease. There’s even a little table where you can rest your phone so you can easily see the accompanying app as you workout — and it charges your phone at the same time.

But what stood out most to me about Amp was the functionality of the workouts. For example, Amp offers several different smart modes, during which your weight adjusts automatically to deliver a certain benefit. In Band mode, for instance, the weight becomes heavier during the concentric portion of a workout to mimic what it’s like to use a resistance band. The Drop Set mode takes some weight off whenever you pause for three seconds during a workout, which lets you complete a set without having to take a break to remove weight.

My favorite part of the demo was a gamified challenge. In it, I was asked to “catch” droplets of water as I performed a bicep curl. The game was motivating and encouraged me to lift heavier, for longer, than I otherwise might have during the last set of a workout. It helped me stick to a pace — quick lower, slow raise — that maximized muscle engagement.

The system is also designed to learn from your workouts and use that info to create a customized experience. That might mean suggesting a lower-body workout if it notices you’ve done only upper body for a few sessions in a row, or helping you progress by suggesting progressively heavier weights.

I only used Amp once so I can’t speak to how well the system adapts to your fitness level and goals over time, but I did get a preview of it “learning” my weight capabilities during the single workout I tried.

It’s also first and foremost a strength-training machine. It works with a huge number of trainers, and there are Pilates or yoga workouts available as well as more classic strength sessions. But it’s not meant to be a cardio machine.

Amp is best for anyone looking for a premium home workout system. It’s great for beginners or more advanced fitness levels alike.

At $1,795 with a $23 a month subscription cost, Amp is an investment. But it’s so functional, and the workouts are so well-designed, that I absolutely think it’s worth it. It could easily replace a gym membership.

Rating:

★★★★★

Mirel Zaman is the health and fitness director at PS. She has over 15 years of experience working in the health and wellness space, covering fitness, general health, mental health, relationships and sex, food and nutrition, spirituality, family and parenting, culture, and news.