Arnold Classic, Speediance Bugs, and a Public Correction

The Arnold Classic remains the premier destination for anyone immersed in the world of iron and innovation. Walking the floor this year, the energy was as palpable as ever, serving as a hub for strength athletes and tech enthusiasts alike. However, for me, this year’s event was less about the new hardware and more about clearing the air. It’s rare that a weekend provides both a moment of personal accountability and a clear look at the growing pains of a major fitness tech player like Speediance, but that is exactly what happened.

The Public Correction: Greg Doucette and the Turkesterone Comparison

During the event, I had a brief and somewhat pointed interaction with Greg Doucette. For those who follow the channel, you know I’ve previously cited Greg as stating that his Turkesterone supplement was essentially equivalent to 20 mg of Anavar. This was a point of contention for me because, having used Anavar at 20-25 mg during a previous cutting phase, I knew how potent that compound is. While Anavar worked for me in terms of strength retention, I disliked the systemic feeling it produced, eventually opting for a standard TRT approach instead. The idea that a natural supplement could match that potency seemed—and still seems—highly improbable.

However, after a long drive back from the Arnold, I felt the need to verify my own claims. Using AI to scan through hundreds of hours of Greg’s past content, I finally found the specific clip I had misremembered. I discovered that I had fundamentally misrepresented his words. Greg did not say Turkesterone is 20 mg of Anavar. What he actually stated was that he is a "hyper-responder" to Anavar, saying that just 20 mg makes him "blow up" or gain significant size and strength. He then claimed that he experienced a similar "hyper-response" to Turkesterone.

The distinction is subtle but vital. He was describing his own personal physiological reaction to two different substances, not making a direct pharmacological equivalence between them. I was quite abrupt with him at the booth based on my misinterpretation, and I want to publicly apologize for that. In the world of fitness commentary, accuracy is everything. While I still have my reservations about the marketing of natural anabolics, being fair and precise with the words of others is the only way to maintain "Signal" in a world of "Noise."

Speediance’s Software Struggles: The Pilates Problem

Shifting from personal corrections to technical ones, we have to talk about the recent state of the Speediance ecosystem. Speediance has been aggressive with their software updates lately, rolling out a new dashboard that aims to streamline the user experience on the Gym Monster and the newer 2S models. While the new interface looks cleaner and feels slightly faster, it has introduced a set of problems that highlights a disconnect between the marketing department and the engineering team.

The most glaring issue is the massive push for the new Pilates feature. Upon booting up the machine, users are greeted with large, high-resolution advertisements for Pilates workouts. On the surface, this is a great addition to a functional trainer. However, there is a significant catch: the hardware required to actually perform these workouts—the Pilates kit—is nowhere to be found. It’s not on the website, it’s not on Amazon, and there is no clear ship date for current owners.

Promoting a feature that is physically impossible to use because the accessories haven't been released yet is a frustrating UX choice. It creates a "vaporware" feel for a product that users have already paid thousands of dollars for. When you combine this with the fact that the Pilates tab is prominent in the software, it feels like the UI is being used more as an internal billboard than a tool for the athlete.

The Gen 1 vs. 2S Divergence

We are also seeing a growing gap in how these updates perform across different generations of hardware. On the Gym Monster 2S, the dashboard is relatively fluid. On the original Gym Monster, however, many users (myself included) are noticing that the Pilates feature isn’t even functional yet, despite the advertisements. This suggests that Speediance is moving toward a "mobile phone" model of software updates, where older hardware is eventually left behind or becomes a secondary thought. For a large-scale piece of home gym equipment, users expect a much longer lifecycle and more consistent support across generations.

Persistent UX Bugs and Testing Gaps

Beyond the Pilates rollout, the general stability of the Speediance UI remains a concern. It seems that with every "fix," a new quirk is introduced. Recently, the scrolling physics on the main menu have become erratic. Sometimes a flick of the finger sends you to the bottom of the list; other times, it barely moves. We are also seeing issues where buttons that were previously moved or optimized in a past update are suddenly reverted or broken in a new patch.

This suggests a lack of rigorous regression testing. When a company is iterating as fast as Speediance, they risk alienating their core user base by making the machine feel "fidgety." The Gym Monster is an incredible piece of hardware with world-class resistance motors, but the software layer often feels like it's still in a beta phase. To truly compete with the likes of Tonal, Speediance needs to slow down the marketing of new features and focus on the polish of the existing interface.

Final Thoughts

The fitness journey is as much about mental clarity as it is about physical output. Correcting my misunderstanding of Greg Doucette’s comments was a necessary step in ensuring this site remains a source of truth. As for Speediance, the hardware remains some of the best in the industry, but the software strategy needs a pivot. We need less advertising in our dashboards and more stability in our workouts. If you're looking to buy the Pilates kit, my advice is to wait until you actually see it in stock; don't let the software ads convince you it's ready before it actually is.