Speediance First Thing to Do: Immediately Change This Setting!

I recently saw a question on Reddit from a Speediance owner that immediately caught my attention. They were frustrated because their workouts weren't progressing the way they expected. The device was turning off the weight as soon as they hit their rep target, cutting their sets short and completely breaking their progressive overload.

After watching the thread, I realized the first answer given was actually making things worse. The real solution? A single setting that fundamentally needs to be different from what Speediance ships with.

The Setting That's Wrong By Default

When you unbox your Speediance, set it up, and run through the strength assessment (which is under your profile image), the device configures itself with default settings. Most of these are fine. One is not.

Here's what you need to change immediately:

• Go to Settings
• Select Training Preferences
• Find Unlimited Sets and turn it ON

That's it. But don't let the simplicity fool you—this is a game-changer.

By default, Unlimited Sets is OFF. This means the Speediance releases the resistance the moment you hit your target rep count. If you're programmed for 12 reps, rep 13 never happens. The machine immediately moves you to your next set, even if you still have gas in the tank.

Here's why that's a problem: if you're programmed for 12 reps but can actually hit 15, your weight is too light. The whole point of adaptive resistance is that it calculates your 1RM and adjusts accordingly. But if you're capped at 12 reps every workout, you're never giving the device the data it needs to properly recalibrate your strength.

With Unlimited Sets turned on, here's what happens instead: You hit rep 12. The counter keeps going. You push through to rep 13, 14, 15. You get fatigued. Then the weights turn off. The device now knows you're stronger than it thought, and next workout, your weights increase accordingly.

This is how progressive overload is supposed to work.

Why This Should Be the Default

I'm not alone in thinking this setting is fundamentally broken. On Tonal, Unlimited Sets is the default. It makes sense—why would you buy an adaptive resistance machine and then manually cap your own potential?

The description even says it clearly: "Exceeding target reps enhances your 1RM and muscle endurance." It's literally telling you that going beyond your target is beneficial, yet it's disabled by default.

There is one caveat: you can't pause for long periods between reps. The Speediance will wait on you partway through a set, but once you're near the end, it expects you to keep moving. This is similar to how Tonal works, though Tonal is stricter about it.

Eccentric Mode: Speediance vs. Tonal

Another area where Speediance makes interesting choices is eccentric mode. If you've used Tonal, you'll notice a meaningful difference in timing.

On Tonal, eccentric mode activates at the top of your rep—when you're locked out. On Speediance, it activates when you start to lower the weight. This small difference matters for safety and feel. Speediance gives you a moment to prepare for the increased load, rather than hitting you with it unexpectedly.

I actually prefer Speediance's approach. If I'm fatigued at the bottom of a rep, I can pause briefly before eccentric mode kicks in and really taxes my muscles.

My Eccentric Training Philosophy

Here's how I personally train on the Speediance, and why:

Eccentric Mode (maxed out): I crank this to nearly maximum. The reasoning is simple—heavier eccentric loading creates more muscle damage and hypertrophy stimulus while being safer than heavy concentric loading. I'm lifting with a lower weight but resisting a much heavier weight on the way down, controlling it for a three-count.

Chains Mode: This progressively increases weight as you move through the concentric portion. If your goal is pure strength rather than hypertrophy, chains mode might be the better choice. It forces you to handle heavier loads throughout the entire range of motion.

One bug I've discovered: when you max out eccentric mode, the Speediance doesn't account for that added resistance in its 1RM calculations. After running the strength assessment, I had to manually dial back my weights on every exercise. It's not ideal, but it's not a dealbreaker if you're consistent with your training style.

The Warm-Up Hack

Here's something I figured out that might save you some headache: how to program proper warm-up sets that scale off your 1RM.

The trick is in the presets. You need to use one of the three goal presets (Gain Muscle, Stamina, or Strength) because those are what tie the weight calculation to your 1RM.

For warm-ups, I use this formula:

• Set goal to Stamina
• Set weight to 20 RM
• Set reps to 13
• Set rest to 30 seconds

Mathematically, this means you're working at your 20-rep maximum while only doing 13 reps—leaving you about 7 reps in reserve. That's essentially a warm-up set, but it automatically scales as your strength changes.

For working sets, I switch to Gain Muscle with 12-13 reps at 1RM. Progressive overload then happens naturally through the Unlimited Sets feature I mentioned earlier.

A Note on Freelift Mode

I want to address something that came up in the Reddit thread. Someone recommended just using freelift mode and doing everything manually. My honest take? At that point, you bought the wrong device.

If you want to track everything manually, manage your own progressive overload, and keep spreadsheets, the Voltra might be a better purchase. It's a compact device that hooks into a squat rack and provides adaptive resistance without the screen and automation.

The whole point of buying a Speediance (or Tonal) is to eliminate the spreadsheets and let the machine handle the programming. It can do everything you need—it just requires learning the settings properly.

Final Thoughts

The Speediance is capable of serious workouts if you take the time to configure it correctly. That Unlimited Sets setting should absolutely be on by default—it fundamentally breaks progressive overload when it's off.

Turn it on. Use the Stamina preset hack for warm-ups. Experiment with eccentric mode if hypertrophy is your goal. And stop taking advice that tells you to ignore the very features that make these devices worth buying.

The machine can do the work for you. You just have to set it up right.