BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus – The Best Budget Nordic Combo In 2024?

Last updated on December 14th, 2024 at 07:06 pm

Go back in time and you had to own a flat Nordic Curl Bench and a dedicated Back Extension machine. But in 2023, the home gym market exploded with combo units that had regressions with different angles promising to blow up our backside and bulletproof our body. The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus is one of those units, and it is the biggest budget option on the market in this category.

It has been mixed into my training for the past several months to get a feel for what I like, and don’t, as I test out all of the options on the market to find the best Nordic Combo machine for a home gym.

Lets dive in!

There are a handful of discount codes floating around for BaseBlocks but I’ve never been able to get them to reply to an email or chat. If you buy anything from them, try Code – Simonster10 for 10% off

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Transparency Note

The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus was actually purchased by Freak Athlete, for me, for the sake of a comprehensive review and comparison. They knew people were asking for me to cover all the Nordic Combo machines, they wanted to support that process, so they purchased it for me. As always, the goal is for anything I review to be honest and transparent no matter how it arrives into my gym.

Currently I do not have an affiliate or code with BaseBlocks.

BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus Overview

This is the fourth Nordic Combo Machine unit in my gym, alongside multiple Hip Thrust options and back extension units over the years. So I have experience with folding units, machines that do a LOT, machines that do very little, machines over $1000 and machines under $200. Being a 6ft 260lb lifter, I often have concerns of the robustness of budget options. But we enjoyed and still use the Booty Sprout regularly.

My stance is typically that budget items get a little break. Like when I reviewed the AboveGenius bench. That thing was under $100, so I didn’t have the same expectations as a fully decked out $1000 bench from REP or Rogue. BUT, it still needed to be safe. It still needed to perform. It still needed to be a viable option in a home gym. So in this review I’m going to cut the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus some slack for shaving several hundred bucks off compared to the competition. But it won’t get a stamp of approval if it falls apart, if it can’t perform its basic movements, if it overall doesn’t belong in a home gym.

Exercises

I want to call this out, as a couple of the Nordic Combo Machines do a lot of exercises. The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus only does Nordics and Back Extensions. It has several incline regression angles, so that is helpful. But just an FYI, these aren’t Apples to Apples with a couple of the other units. I’ll try and be fair to what this is, but note if you are looking for hip thrusts, GHRs, and more, you are currently reading the wrong review.

Assembly

The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus gets shipped in one box, that is inside another box. You open the boxes and the unit is almost entirely assembled. 4 bolts and 4 nuts are added to attach the footplate to the unit, and you are done.

This was the simplest and most straightforward unboxing of just about any piece of gym equipment I’ve ever used, and especially compared to the other four combo units. My Prime Fitness bench came MOSTLY assembled as well, but this was a HUGE box with a wood pallet and more. Since the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus is so lightweight, they are able to get this done without getting too creative or adding extra heft to the shipping. Even as someone with a full assortment of wrenches, ratchets, sockets, and tools… I enjoy less time spent assembling. Big win here for the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus.

Specs List

• Brand: BaseBlocks
• Made In USA: No
• Dimensions: 47” x 20” x 16”
• Vertical Storage Dimensions:
• Weight: 54lbs
• Suitable Athletes: All ranges
• Finish: black powdercoat
• Weight Limit: 330lbs
• Assembly: ~5 minutes
• Additional Notes: 5 angle adjustments
• Return Window: 100 days to give it a shot, and return if it doesn’t work for you (less the cost of shipping)

Build and Construction

The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus, as mentioned, is the budget option at under $400. You can see some of that come to life with a few of the specifics like how thick (or in this case, thin) the steel is. This might be the thinnest piece of gym equipment I have in my entire gym. And remember, this is what your entire body is resting on, four of these “legs”. You can see that this translates into two things.

First, is the weight of the unit itself. It weighs just 54lbs. The Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD weighs in at 105lbs, the Shogun NORD-EX weighs 126lbs, and the Tib Bar Guy Nordic Back Extension Machine V2 weighs 100lbs. So this is almost HALF of the other comparable units. And remember, the Shogun also only does Nordics and Back Extensions.

Second, is the weight limit. This has a total weight limit of 330lbs. Remember that I weigh somewhere around 250lbs depending on what side of a diet I’m on, and that gives me roughly 80lbs of breathing room. More than enough for Nordics since I don’t do them weighted currently, but probably far from ideal for back extensions as I’ve regularly done these with 80lb dumbbells.

I had my wife get on the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus and she immediately got off saying it didn’t feel comfortable or safe. Not a good start. I will say that in my months of testing, nothing broke off, nothing bent, and overall nothing fell apart. So kudos to BaseBlocks for staying in one piece even under some heavy testing.

Pads

The padding is actually not that bad. It isn’t the greatest padding I’ve ever used, but it is well within the realms of usable, and especially in a budget consideration, I have no complaints here.

Now I’m not a snob in padding like I am in some other areas. I want the pads to be comfortable, perform well, and demonstrate that they will last a long time. I think this will do its job to keep things comfortable enough to perform the exercises you need. I didn’t find at any point that the padding was too thin, compressed too much, or otherwise wasn’t doing its job.

Footplate and Rollers

There is only one set of rollers. This is the same on some of the other combo units, but in my experience it is less ideal than having two. By having two your feet can be much more locked in and stable. More stability means more strength and a better contraction. More strength means more reps, and more gains.

The footplate is also too small. My feet are bigger than the plate itself, and my toes hang off the back end in use. This is uncomfortable and again, not as stable as it could be. The footplate is also extremely thin like the construction of the body itself. I can bend the footplate with my bare hands, which is concerning for long term use.

Take a look at the picture on of the back with the wheels. Getting in and out of position can be troublesome with the placement of the wheels. They are RIGHT in the way. And with such little room to work with in the beginning it is even more noticeable.

The last piece to the puzzle? The footplate isn’t level with the rollers and the rest of the unit. I’m not sure that this creates a HUGE issue, but it speaks to an overall lack of quality assurance. You can see my floor is pretty dang level, and the footplate is WAY off.

The Pins Don’t Pin

To lock the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus into the flat position, it uses two detent pins. The problem is that the two holes these need to go through do not line up well. I have had periods of time where I couldn’t get the pins into the holes and thus couldn’t safely store this anywhere.

I found that I often have to sit on the unit itself, to force it into position, and then proceed to put the pins through.

Storage and Mobility

The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus stores vertically, kind of. You can technically stand it on its back side, but it has to lean against something. This is for two reasons. First is because it is so light, it doesn’t have enough HEFT to be stable. Second, is because the backside of the footplate has the ends of the screws sticking out. These are flat, but it means the unit is resting on them, which results in not much surface area in contact with the ground.

The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus comes with wheels on the backside as well as a handle on the front side to help with movement. Unfortunately, I’ve found a couple issues here. The handle is literally UNDER the front end of the pads, so it is rarely the first thing you would grab to lift the unit. The wheels on the backside are fairly small.

If you are taller like me, and you grab anything but the handle, you raise the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus up off the wheels and it bottoms out. If you need to go up and over anything, or navigate anything but a straight space, I found it was easier for me to just bear-hug it and move it into place. Obviously a win for the lightweight build, but I consider this a workaround opposed to a feature.

Nordics

Back in the beginning of 2024, I managed to get my first fully flat Nordic Curl. I did this by means of doing daily Nordic Curls and using the regressions to get there. Now I’m able to do a flat Nordic Curl without a warm-up, and I’m progressing towards a Single Leg Nordic Curl.

So the regressions for the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus are crucial in my opinion for the majority of athletes to incorporate Nordic Curls into their programming.

We have 5 total angle options ranging from flat to 45 degrees. I actually think the adjustment mechanism for the Nordic Plus is pretty creative. It adjusts quickly, locks in place, and is easy to use without needing any tightening. Arguably this is a smoother experience than the rest of the Nordic Combo Machines which heavily use pop pins that have to be loosened, adjusted, and tightened.

Nordic Curls are often a fairly explosive exercise out of the bottom. You lower down under control, likely have a short pause at the bottom, and EXPLODE up. This quick turn around requires whatever Nordic Bench you have to be fairly stable. It likely needs to be heavy enough, long enough, and overall built well to keep the bench firmly on the ground. Otherwise we risk injury, damaging the equipment, and as we know a lack of stability means a lack of demonstration of strength. So we likely can’t get everything out of the machine we want.

For bigger athletes, the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus is both too short and too light to do its job in the flat position for Nordic Curls. You can see how far over the front of the machine I am at the bottom, and as we saw in the picture above, my upper body is carrying a decent amount of weight. This thing just didn’t stand a chance.

What About The Angles/Regressions?

The 45 degree angle works as well as the next step down (you can see in the clip below). When I get to the middle of the 5 angle adjustments is when I start to have troubles and you can see me give up.

Because the pad is so short, and there is flex in the unit (watch it bend under my weight on the rep I miss), with the poor footplate and roller design, I lose all ability to do Nordics from here. In fact filming this hurt my knees. Keep in mind, just yesterday I was able to do a SINGLE Leg Nordic Curl on each leg at 30 degrees on the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. And I’m not able to do a two legged one here at roughly the same angle.

The brace holding the angles isn’t exactly the most robust option I’ve seen. While the angles are locked in place, the entire BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus still has WAY too much movement in the majority of regression positions.

100%, if you are a lighter and shorter athlete, this MIGHT work for you. But for me, this is a no go.

Back Extensions

I love me some 45 degree back extensions. They are an easy way to get in some extra posterior chain work after heavy deadlifts. My wife does them as well nearly every week. So I am very happy that the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus included these in the build.

Unfortunately, they left out a lot of the finer details that most of the Nordic Combo Machines offer.

First, is that there is no way to adjust the length of the pad. This means that if your foot to hip length isn’t perfectly aligned to their design, you are stuck with a lackluster movement. For shorter athletes, this means bending at the waist instead of the hips. For taller athletes it means having your thighs rest on the edge of the pads and having to control the pivot from your hips. Neither is a good feeling movement.

In the above you can see, the footplate to end of pad clocks in at ~35 inches. My foot to hip length is closer to 41 inches. A full 6 inches off of where I would set the pad if I could adjust it.

Second, is the ability to get a full range of motion. While there are some limitations with all of the combo units, the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus has the MOST limitations. Here is me trying to do a bodyweight 45 degree back extension. Not even close. The other units have problems with using additional weight such as a barbell or large medicine ball, but they all are good to go for bodyweight work.

Third, is the cut-out for the man pieces. You know, the Man Hole, the Genitalia Void, the Dick Divide, the Penis Pocket, the Ball Bag Breach, the Cock Chasm, the Guy Gap. Most back extension machines have a cut out section to accommodate those with a penis and testicles.

I assume no one at BaseBlocks has ever seen said parts before, because their solution was this square removable piece. When I first went to use it my wife asked “What about your dick?”. I texted a picture to my dude Adam at Garage Gym Lab and asked him “Who has a pancake dick?”.

Yeah, not the best design choice. Add in that you have to unscrew this piece and it is clearly an afterthought of a design. Swing and a miss!

Overall, back extensions on the BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus technically work… if you are a female, who weighs less and doesn’t lift much weight, and has a foot to hip length of exactly 35 inches.

Other Options On The Market

There are currently five Nordic Combo Machines on the market targeted at home gym owners.

First up is the Freak Athlete Nordic Hyper GHD. This was the first one that showed up in our gym and started the entire process of reviewing all of them. It is about double what The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus costs, depending on what sales they have going on, but comes in a few hundred bucks shy of the Shogun NORD-EX. It also includes multiple additional exercises.

Check out the review here.

The Shogun Nord-EX

The next one is the Shogun Nord-EX. This is the most expensive and premium offering between the main offerings out there. You could buy two The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus and have some change leftover. That said, it is arguably the most aesthetic of the options. On top of that, they really thought through the finer details of the laser engraving, stainless steel pieces, even the instructions are FANTASTICALLY done.

Check out the review here.

The Tib Bar Guy Nordic Back Extension Machine V2

The Tib Bar Guy’s Nordic Back Extension Machine V2 released in early 2024 and comes in just north of The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus but takes a lot of HEAVY influences from the Freak Athlete model. Their model adjusts in a similar fashion, sets up for Hip Thrusts the same, and has a ton of exercise options. It is leaps and bounds out of the same league of the Shogun NORD-EX in terms of refinement and aesthetics.

Check out the review here.

Nordstick The Nordbench

New to the scene in late 2024, is the Nordstick The Nordbench. It recently arrived in my garage and I have the initial write-up with pictures and specs.

Save 10% on the new NordBench and all NordStick products w/ Code: GML10S

The Nordstick Nordbench clocks in REALLY close to the Tib Bar Guy price, and depending on discount codes and details might end up being THE budget option. They have some unique features including a wall mount, squat wedge, and more.

Check out the initial write-up here.

Will one be better than the other?

This will come down to the features, build, price, and performance. And ultimately the one you pick will take YOUR needs into consideration, and choose the right Nordic Back Extension combo machine for YOUR home gym.

Overall Thoughts On The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus

I LOVE THIS THING! Just kidding. If you read the review you probably already know my stance here. If there was nothing on the market today except for flat nordic benches and this, I MIGHT recommend it. But in my opinion, $400 is way too much for this. It doesn’t work well for Nordic Curls, it doesn’t work well for Back Extensions, it has an overall bad design in a number of ways, and is missing a lot of things that just about every other option on the market would offer you.

If you happen to be a shorter female who only wants to do bodyweight Nordics and Back Extensions and you fit the right dimensions, then MAYBE I could see you buying this. Being lighter than the rest of the options makes for easier mobility, it could likely hide away in a closet or under a bed, and be a compliment to something like a Booty Sprout. In that very specific example, go for it. Otherwise, I would 100% save your money and buy one of the other options on the market.

I’ll leave you with this fun one…

Wrap Up

I’m not a fan, and I don’t think the vast majority of people should buy this compared to everything else available. And hopefully my notes above can help you decide if this is the right addition for your home gym, or not.

💲Want to buy a BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus for your own home gym? Use this link. I don’t have a discount code, but I found this one when I bought mine – Code – Simonster10 for 10% off

📌Want to see what I’m going to review next? Check out the Review Pipeline!

🏅 Own a home gym? Like to save money? Check out my full list of discount codes.