The BulletProof Fitness Isolator – Adaptable but Flawed – 2024 Review

Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 01:26 pm

From the very first day I saw the BulletProof Fitness Isolator, I was intrigued. Then BulletProof kept dropping more and more exercise options, set-ups, and really cool stuff. It became an instant top of the list item for me to check out.

Today I’ll show you why you might want to add the Isolator to your home gym. As well as why you might want to skip it.

Transparency Note

BulletProof was kind enough to send the Isolator our way. We’ve been tinkering with it for the past several months. As always, there was never any deals made to say anything but my own honest opinion. Hopefully that comes through.

BulletProof Fitness Isolator Video Review

BulletProof Fitness Isolator Specs

It is a rack attached unit that aims to fill the gaps in a home gym. Everything from leg extensions and leg curls, to inverse curls, back extensions, preacher curls, and a ton more. Take a quick glance at their Instagram and you’ll see a laundry list of exercise options. The basic function is fairly straight forward.

The BulletProof Fitness Isolator runs off this base piece. It attaches to your rack and holds in place with two hitch pins, and a little bit of compression to reduce the wobble. This base unit is really meant to stay on your rack permanently but can be taken off with some adjustments. It has a slider in the back so it can move up and down the rack. It weighs over 45lbs, which is both a pro and a con (more on that later).

Customer Feedback

To add to that, BulletProof has taken in a lot of customer feedback since the original launch. I for one sent them measurements of the difference between the hitch pins they originally used, and the hitch pins that fit the racks just a tad bit more snug. They’ve since upgraded those. They’ve added additional attachments, shims, long lever arms, and even launching a stand alone tower for the BulletProof Fitness Isolator.

What Comes In The Box?

Our Experience With The BulletProof Fitness Isolator

I’m going to highlight what we found using the BulletProof Fitness Isolator, but land on one key piece. I don’t believe this is the answer for everyone, but very likely is the PERFECT addition for some.

Build Quality

The overall build of the BulletProof Fitness Isolator is robust, sturdy, and incredibly well thought out. You can tell that they use this themselves, have beaten it up over time, and improved it in a huge number of ways. So many companies skimp on powder coats, upholstery, adjustments, and more. We don’t have that here. It isn’t perfect mind you, but it is one of the more well built items I’ve handled. And the creativity on how the attachments go in with the hex port is great. Truly, I can’t state enough how well BulletProof did in putting together a very well rounded package.

I mentioned before that the base unit was over 45lbs by itself. This means it can be very stable and supportive, with Bulletproof essentially saying there is no weight limit to the unit. The downside, is that moving a 45lb brick up and down the rack is rough.

And you have to move that up and down the rack, get it into place, and lock it in with a hitch pin. Then you need to tighten the screws to remove the wobble. Lets say you hook up a few attachments, load it up with weight, and then realize you need to lower it a peg, or worse… raise it a peg! You are going to have to unload the entire thing, take off all the attachments, loosen the knobs, move it, and set it all up again.

Permanent

Because the unit is meant to be permanently stored on the rack, you are now the happy owner of a post on your rack that is dedicated to the BulletProof Fitness Isolator. Maybe not entirely, but think this way. If you have a j cup, or set of Mutant Metals Snap Back Rollers on that same post, you’ll have to disconnect those to move the Isolator up and down the rack. Have a pair of safeties? Same thing. It needs freedom to work up and down the rack post.

So you now have this large piece on your rack, forever. You are going to really need to think through that, and how your rack is set up and the space available, before deciding if this will work in your space.

Creativity

What’s cool is that you can get really creative. Happen to have something like a REP ARES? They can work together. You can connect them in various ways and make some awesome home gym set-ups. I could see this pairing with a Prime Fitness Single Stack, and being able to use the cable functions with the weight horn, and do some pretty unique stuff. With BulletProof continuing to offer add ons and updates, I see the BulletProof Fitness Isolator as something that could continue to be updated into the future.

They have added a decent amount of exercise videos onto their YouTube page as well, including set-up videos to help you get creative and reduce that learning curve time of trying to find the right fit. And I can say that their rollers, pads, and all the attachments and pieces are VERY nicely made. I expect in a home gym environment to see these in use for years to come.

Not All Sunshine

Unfortunately, the creativity can be a burden. The lever arms are cool that you can adjust in a ton of ways, but what I typically find with a LOT of options, is you can struggle to find the right one. You get paralysis by analysis and just kind of stair at it, trying to figure out if you need to lower the weight peg, or adjust the starting position, or something else.

Pair that with the fact that you need to hook up multiple pieces to the BulletProof Fitness Isolator for each exercise, and you start losing time in your workouts dedicated to setting it up. The ease of use of a bench with a leg attachment is that the set up time is seconds. The set-up time for the Isolator is in the minutes range. You can 100% get faster at this over time, and the above library of videos is HUGE. But I am a snob when it comes to set up time. I’ll choose the easier set-up option 99.9% of the time.

I mentioned the additional attachments and the longer lever arm. All good stuff and they unlock new options. But it also means you are paying for MORE stuff, storing MORE stuff, and having to figure out the right connection, set-up, and angles for MORE stuff.

What Rack Do You have?

I mentioned that you can bring a box or bench or other item up alongside your rack and use it with the BulletProof Fitness Isolator. Well, kind of. I have a deadlift platform which my rack is attached to. This makes it VERY difficult to get a bench or box or anything in a good spot. I also have barbell storage fairly close to the back side of my rack, my Inspire FT2 on one side, and bigger items like the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD to the sides which again gets in the way of doing some of the more unique options with the BulletProof Fitness Isolator.

Stability

I mentioned that the BulletProof Fitness Isolator was heavy, and the goal was to be stable. If you have a solid 3×3 rack, the shake, the shimmy, the wiggles all but go away. I’ve had this confirmed by a number of people who own them. And if you do have a 3×3 rack, I’m betting it is weighed down with plates and not bolted down. So now you have more room, an even floor, and can slide in a good adjustable bench, box, or other add on and get to work.

For us, with a 2×3 rack on a platform, we have a LOT of shaking. To be fair, my rack shakes side to side with my hands, let alone me sitting on a bench attached to the rack. So the BulletProof Fitness Isolator really starts to lose some of the functionality, stability, and awesomeness if you have a 2×3 rack, opposed to a beefier 3×3.

Storage

The attachments I have take up about half of a mass storage unit shelf. And if I was planning to use this multiple times a week for a long time, I’d want a better storage option than this.

Overall Performance

Ok, let’s step back from the negative issues I have with the unit due to my rack, platform, and space. Does the BulletProof Fitness Isolator work well for the intended exercises and options they demonstrate? Yes, and no.

The BulletProof Fitness Isolator to me feels like a cheat code for home gym hacks. Instead of having to rig multiple leg rollers, cut lever arms to size, add weight pegs, and move a ton of stuff around to make things “work”, you have the BulletProof Fitness Isolator. It is a self contained unit that receives the most common rack attachments for setting up hacks and work arounds in the home gym space.

Some exercises feel good. Preacher curls are basically EXACTLY like a preacher curl machine, actually they might be better with all of the adjustments you can make. Leg curls and leg extensions are doable and function well enough. I’ll take my bench with attachment any day of the week, but it works much better than NOT having those as options. And some of the other “out there” stuff like mimicking lat pulldowns, rows, and more, just never felt right. The range of motion was limited, the strength curves were off, and the set up was less than ideal.

But at the end of the day, you are still sitting on a rack attached seat with rollers on a leverage arm. I’ll say that all of the above would be negated if I didn’t have any other option. I’d take all of it before I’d take no options in my space.

Wrap Up

The BulletProof Fitness Isolator is a very creatively designed and highly functional piece of home gym equipment that will unlock a HUGE assortment of options in your space, and has the ability to forever be added onto with new cool pieces. It is built robustly, with VERY well done details, at an exceptionally affordable price.

But in my books I have yet to see a rack attachment that outshines any other options. This is the KING of home gym hacks, but at this point in my home gym journey, I’m not much of a hacker.

Ultimately, you have to figure out what your gym looks like, your goals in terms of exercises and options, and what that means… Will you have the space for dedicated pieces like commercial equipment from Prime Fitness? Maybe you have your rack and a couple key dedicated machines? Or maybe your space is tight and fitting anything but that rack is challenging.

For my space, the Isolator just isn’t a huge win. The 2×3 rack, the platform, the fact I have other pieces like my functional trainer, and more just makes it a large 45lb brick on my rack.

But for you? Well… the decision is yours… So choose wisely!

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