Gornation Premium Parallettes Review (MAX, ACTIVE and PRO)

As big fans and long-time users of Parallettes, we’ve classed Gornation as number one in our previous review of The 10 Best Parallettes Bars in Calisthenics. Spurred on by our satisfaction with Gornation’s products, we’ve decided to put all three Parallettes they have on offer to the test. In the past, Gornation has proven time and again to deliver high-quality calisthenics equipment. Our expectations are high for this German company and although they’re not the most expensive option out there, we’ll be expecting value for our (and your) money. That is why we’ll be absolutely ruthless with our review of the premium line of Gornation Parallettes.

Our Expectations

As we previously stated, our expectations are very high. We were excited to receive all three pairs of Gornation Parallettes in the mail (which luckily all came the same day in one package so we could get right to it). Gornation utilizes somewhat higher prices than other manufacturers, so we fully expect that the added quality is reflected in this price. We’ll be using the Gornation Parallettes to their fullest potential with some:

• Handstand push-ups
• Push-ups 
• Diamond push-ups on 1 parallette
• L-sit and dips
• Pike push-ups
• Frog stands
• Tucked planches

The Handstand Push-Ups will put our full weight right in the middle of the wooden grips, which are structurally their weakest points. That will be a good test of their integrity, along with Diamond Push-Ups using only one Parallette. Doing dips means the Parallettes are behind you and we’ll see if they are stable enough to use effectively. 

Of course, we’ll also be looking at comfort and the general fit and finish of each product and whether or not it is up to par with the price we paid for them. Before we start, we should mention the extra’s you can expect when buying any of these Gornation Parallettes. These are the carry-sling, 3 meters (almost 10ft) of Calisthenics tape and 2 rubber replacement feet.

Gornation Premium PRO Parallettes

Gornation Premium PRO Parallettes

10% off with our code: CWW10

Get it here:

gornation.com

• 50cm long (19.68 inch)
• 25cm wide (9.84 inch)
• 10cm high (3.9 inch)
• 3.8kg combined (8lb, 6oz)

The moment you lift the Gornation Premium PRO from the package you go like: “It’s heavy”. With 3.8kg (8 pounds and 6 ounces) combined and packed into something hand-held, it almost feels like a light dumbbell. You place it onto the ground and it just sticks. Not that you can’t lift it up, not that kind of sticking. But side-to-side movement is practically impossible without lifting the Parallettes up from the ground in some way or another. So, we weren’t worried about slipping right off the bat. 

The wide base, which formed a perfect rectangle, made toppling not a problem either and we felt confident doing handstand push-ups without the fear of a Parallette slipping or toppling (either of which could result in serious injury). The Parallettes held up great during all of our exercises, never moving even an inch without us meaning to do so.

The handles felt great and just the right girth for all of our hands. With a diameter of 40mm (a little over 1.5 inches) they were sturdy and didn’t bend the slightest. We felt confident enough to do not only daimond push-ups on 1 parallette but also handstand push-ups with just 1 Gornation Premium PRO. That puts all of the weight on the center of the wooden handle and we thought it would at least bend a little bit. But it didn’t, it stayed rigid and straight throughout the exercise.

The wooden handle didn’t disappoint when it came to grip and comfort either. We chose to use these Parallettes barehanded, with a light dab of Liquid Chalk to keep the sweating to a minimum. That worked excellently and our grip felt rock solid through the whole set, regardless of what we were doing. We could have used the tape as well and in hindsight we should have, since it’s part of the package. Their choice of high-quality milled and polished birch wood though is the ideal choice for the job. Especially for the price you want quality wooden handles.

All-in-all we’d say these are the go-to option for your Home Gym or bringing them in a (large) bag to your local gym. Fit and finish are excellent, the choice of material with wood for the handle and strong, powder coated tubular steel for the base is top-notch. We thoroughly enjoyed all our exercises and expect these Gornation Parallettes to last us a lifetime, if not longer.

Gornation Premium MAX Parallettes

Gornation Premium MAX Parallettes

10% off with our code: CWW10

Get it here:

gornation.com

• 50cm long (19.68 inch)
• 35cm wide (13.8 inch)
• 30cm high (~1ft)
• 5.7kg combined (12lb, 9oz)

With the higher MAX Parallettes we really got off the ground and skipped over the normal push-ups and dips. To accommodate for the higher center of balance, the MAX Parallettes are wider at the base than the PRO Parallettes. Despite that, they are equal in length. So, if you’re bringing a big sports bag they might still fit regardless. Of course, stability is key here so we looked into that in particular.

They won’t slip on the ground thanks to their rubber feet, but what about toppling? We tried leg-ups and handstand push-ups. Especially leg-ups were a test here because you’re applying a rotating force with your legs which will one way or the other translate into a perpendicular force to the base of the Parallettes (in other words, will have a tendency to push them over). None of our efforts, even when doing rapid, powerful leg-ups managed to even produce a hint of movement in the MAX Parallettes, however. 

The same wooden handles as the Gornation Premium PRO are used here. Since they are equal in length (50cm), there was no difference between the PRO and MAX. Neither bent in the slightest while doing our fully inverted exercises. We again chose to go at it barehanded with a little bit of chalk and that was sufficient. 

The Gornation Premium MAX Parallettes are again great for the Home Gym situation where you want to take your Parallette action airborne. They’ll be a little clumsier to take with you to a gym, however.

Gornation Premium ACTIVE Parallettes

Gornation Premium ACTIVE Parallettes

10% off with our code: CWW10

Get it here:

gornation.com

• 24cm long (19.68 inch)
• 16cm wide (9.84 inch)
• 12cm high (3.9 inch)
• 2.4kg combined (5lb, 5oz)

The Premium ACTIVE Parallettes are about half the length of its larger brothers in all dimensions but one, in other words they are Gornation’s mini Parallettes. It is slightly higher than the Premium PRO, so again stability was the first thing which came to mind. Especially since they’re lighter, we could see them slipping away more easily as well. Despite our best efforts though, we could not make them slip or slide across the floor (even intentionally) without having to lift up the entire thing.

That brings us to the second part, toppling. We tried doing leg-ups and that’s where things got weird. It feels less stable but you’re fine. You can do all of the exercises we did safely but you can feel that there’s a pivot point that is nearer to your body than with the PRO or MAX. That was to be expected, of course and we’re sure that we’re suffering from conformation bias at this point, anyway. We already tested the PRO and the MAX so we expected a good grip and no bending in the handle. Seeing as they’re all of similar build, we know the ACTIVE will be inherently less stable due to its dimensions. But this feeling was certainly exaggerated since, in practice we had no problems doing any of the exercises we mentioned.

The handle is big enough to fit even a large hand. Since they’re a bit higher off the ground, enough room is left for the bigger hand to firmly close around the grip without worrying that your knuckles chafe the ground. Strength-wise, since the handle is shorter and there is about as much steel supporting the ACTIVE as there is on the PRO, you should be good. The Premium ACTIVE Parallettes are virtually indestructible when it comes to Calisthenics and are loadable to 350kg (770lbs) when using both of them in conjunction.

For more confidence while doing explosive, inverted exercises we still recommend the PRO or MAX Parallettes. Confidence in your ability to execute your technique properly is one of the most important (but sadly also overlooked) aspects of a safe exercise. Without confidence, you’ll start thinking of too many things that could go wrong instead of focusing on good posture. 

For all other techniques, the Premium ACTIVE Parallettes are excellent. They’re also more compact, so you can take them with you to your gym or on your vacation more easily.

Gornation Premium Parallettes Set

Gornation Premium Parallettes (Complete Set)

10% off with our code: CWW10

Get it here:

gornation.com

• 2x Gornation Premium PRO
• 2x Gornation Premium MAX
• 2x Gornation Premium Active
• 3x 3m Calisthenics tape (~30ft in total)
• 2x Carry-sling
• 2x Performance Wrist Wraps black
• 1x Calisthenics Wristband
• 1x Street Workout Wristband
• 1x Planche Wristband
• 1x Calisthenics Sticker
• 1x Mobile Sticker, 1x Postcard

We’ve reviewed all of the premium Parallettes by Gornation and we liked all of them for various reasons. We made the silly decision to buy each set independently because we thought there might be differences in product delivery or content of each package. If you like all three as well, don’t be like us and spend too much money. The Gornation Premium Parallettes Set has all three pairs and comes with all the additional contents included and more.

General thoughts about the Gornation Premium Parallettes

Before we could start our tests, we had to put the Gornation Parallettes together first. It took us about 5 minutes to assemble all 3 of them using the manual provided. Anyone should be able to unpack and assemble them in no-time. Of course, it is Gornation so we had high hopes to begin with. Although most of these hopes were rewarded, if the expectation is too high you can only go downhill from there. 

We believe the rubber feet will be the weakest link. As the part which contacts the ground and must stop all side-to-side momentum (slipping) constantly, they’ll be under constant stress. Although they felt high-quality and very dense, our bets are on this part to wear out the soonest. It’s important to keep them clean and stored properly. 

The high-quality birch-wood really makes a difference here. It not only looks good; it feels good too. From a distance you can already tell that this is a quality product, just from the contrast between the black powder coat and the lighter wood color of the handles. With all around excellent fit and finish we couldn’t really hope for much more out of a pair of Parallettes. Is the price high? Let’s say there’s a point where adding more to a simple product doesn’t make the product better. We think Gornation has reached that pinnacle point. They shouldn’t make it more expensive and they should keep the Parallettes the way they are.

Conclusions, Final Thoughts & Discount Code

The premium Gornation Parallettes are of high-quality, comfortable when in use and extremely durable and confirmed all our biases and stereotypes about German engineering in a good way. Our only gripe is their size, which is big. Even the smallest of three, the Gornation Premium ACTIVE is still 24cm in length (or 9.5” in Freedom Units). Taking them with you, especially when the luggage room is limited, may be problematic if you’re trying to haul the MAX or PRO variants.

We loved doing our calisthenics exercises on them though! Once you grip that wooden handle, sanded to a satin finish yet not entirely smooth and you just feel how the Parallettes lay rock solid on the floor, you get that urge to start doing push-ups. We love them and we’ll keep using them. Above we posed the question if the price was too high or not and we answered that the quality was just right to justify it. But really, if you’re going to be using them regularly anyway then they’re a bargain. 

With our Gornation discount code CWW10, you get a 10% discount on all Gornation Parallettes anyway, and all other Gornations products by the way.