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12 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Body Solid GCEC340 Cam Series Leg Ext Curl Machine Feb 08, 2010
By Junius Maltby
The Body Solid GCEC340 machine is sturdy, and it feels sturdy when using it. I had to phone a Body-Solid sales representative in order to find out what the weight capacity is for it. He told me that it can hold 400 lb of weight plates plus 200 lb of the user's body weight, for a total of 600 lb. Why in the world is this information not included with the machine?
Some of the assembly was difficult. Before explaining, I should note that the Body-Solid web site contains a PDF file of the owner's manual, although it is missing the assembly diagram. But it does show the hardware and parts illustration sheets, which you might find helpful in understanding my explanation of the difficulty. Part G contains a piece of metal (let's call it a dowel, for lack of a better word). The dimensions of the dowel are 3/16" x 1/4" x 2". I had to pry the dowel out of part G in order to be able to insert part G into parts D9, D, B, and F. Prying it out was difficult, and it took me some time to figure out how to do it. It also took time to figure out that prying it out was necessary or even possible.
Here's what contributed to the difficulty: The assembly diagram shows the dowel already separated from G, and the dowel is represented by a line only 3/16" long by 1/16" wide, barely larger than the dashes that link each part in the diagram. And the dowel is not labeled in the diagram, nor is it shown in the hardware and parts illustration sheets. It should have been labeled as a separate part or piece of hardware, and it should not have been inserted into G at the factory, in my opinion!
After inserting part G into parts D9, D, B, and F, I had to hammer the dowel back into part G, with the assistance of a nail set, in order to get the dowel all the way into the slot. Nowhere in the instructions was this procedure explained.
Regarding usage: In order to get one's left leg under the corresponding upper leg pad, the upper leg pads (as a single unit) need to be removed. After sitting down, then the upper leg pads can be inserted back into the machine. This is an inconvenience because it slows down a workout when doing leg curls, assuming you wish to stand up between sets to stretch and/or to alter the number of weight plates on the machine. (The upper leg pads are not needed for leg extensions and can be removed for this exercise.)
The "pop pin plunger" for the upper leg pads needs to be unscrewed by about one and one-half turns in order to raise, lower, or remove the upper leg pads. I'd much prefer it if the pin could be fully pulled out and reinserted while the pop pin plunger is fully screwed in.
For leg curls, it is necessary for me to remove (or nearly remove) the upper leg pads so that I can get my legs onto and off of the lower leg pad. I like the thickness and firmness of the lower leg pad; most likely it won't ever hurt my shins when doing leg extensions. Also, the handle bars are well positioned for me. (I am 5' 10" tall.)
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Eh, not bad. Jun 24, 2011
By giljr
Theres a few things I must mention that may or may not tick potential buyers off. If your a serious lifter or trying to get serious or just strong this machine may not be for you. Advertised 400 lb capacity but you may find it difficult to actually load up 400 pounds because the bar is too short where you load plates. Also when your lifting around 160 lbs the entire machine starts 'walking', meaning with every rep it moves forward a bit. I have to load around 150 lbs under the seat near the back of it to keep it in place. The seat is NOT adjustable which at first isnt bad but soon you'll realize you most likely will not be in a good position to really put a hurting on your quads or maybe your hams. Now as for the leg curls, its not really like lying leg curls at all, as stated in another review it will take some getting used to. Im especially not pleased with this position for hitting the hamstrings. Lying leg curls are much more effective at targeting them, standing leg curls as well. I guess this is just for someone to keep up with staying in shape, if thats really the case it isnt worth the price. I purchased it for serious workouts but aside from the weight capacity it has it just doesnt cut it. Other than that, its a smooth operator, quality is definitely there and its easy to assemble. It really is great just not for serious training sessions or athletes. I own 5 pieces of body-solid equipment and thats because the company is huge and is everywhere you look. They have pretty OK prices on some stuff, quality is always there but their customer service needs a BUNCH of improvement. If your one of those types that need a company to be there for whatever reason all the time, body-solid isnt that company. Thats something I never cared about but when I needed to know something about their equipment they just seemed not to care. Pretty important too, the weight capacity. This should be stamped on the friggin machine for safety but instead you have to either ask around or browse threw endless websites that sell it and hope they posted it or that someone who reviewed it found out and posted it. Even if you call you may be in for a surprise, some questions of mine were answered and some not.
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 great machine Jan 29, 2009
By Glen Castleberry
"glen43"
Like most everything else from bodysolid this is a good solid piece of equipment ! ive had mine about six mo's love it use it every wk! its smooth and very stable ! i like the seated leg curl better than lieing down too ! nearly as good as the 1500 commercal one at the gym . highly recommend .
Good machine for the money Sep 27, 2011
By C. Boyd
I bought this machine about a month ago and put it in the gym at my place of work. It gets used well. So far it has held up pretty good. It seems to be solidly constructed. One thing is that the assembly instructions leave much to be desired.
3 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 Caution when using this item Jul 21, 2010
By Jason Kraus
I would highly recommend going to the gym and using the right machine for exercising your legs. I made the mistake of getting this machine and now I have damage to my knee that may be permanent. This machine appears to put pressure on the wrong part of your knee, which resulted in serious injury to my cartilage. I've been out of commission for two months, only after using this machine twice.
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