Who is behind the brand
GORNATION GmbH is a company in Münster, Germany, run by Philipp Hülsdonk, selling calisthenics equipment since 2015. The site claims more than 400,000 customers and 7,000 reviews, and the brand says it develops its products with professional athletes and world champions, without naming them. It also runs the Athlete Insider podcast, with more than sixty athletes as guests. On the scene, it is the organizer of the Calisthenics Cup at the FIBO fair in Cologne, every year since 2024. Few European brands are this visible.
What they make
The catalog covers a full setup from one shop. Parallettes are the largest family: the Premium Parallettes Pro are the low pair, 10 cm high with a 40 mm beech grip 38 cm long on a 50 by 25 cm base; the Max raise the same grip to 30 cm; the Active shorten it to 15 cm for the bag. Two plainer pairs round it off: the all-beech Wooden Parallettes, 30 cm long and 11.5 cm high, and the steel Metal Parallettes, 65 cm long and 40 cm high. Silicone push-up bars close the series.
For pull-ups, the range is the widest I know of: two wall bars (Medium at 90 cm wide, Large at 115 cm), a Multi bar that mounts to the ceiling or the wall, three door bars (the telescopic Extend-it, the Hook-it that hangs on the frame, the Uni that screws in above a door) and a 2.26 m freestanding station with squat rests and a dip extension. The Premium Dip Bars are a 90 cm steel station, the Static Bar an 85 to 115 cm adjustable bar for holds. The rings are birch, 18 cm across, with 4.5 m marked straps. A dip belt and latex bands in four strengths finish the list.
What sets Gornation apart is that almost every product page publishes its numbers: dimensions, weight, load rating. Where the products are made is not stated.
What to check before you order
For parallettes, the question is height: 10 cm with the Pro for planche and handstand work, 30 cm with the Max to get under the bar, 40 cm with the Metal for dips. The Active share the Pro’s grip in a short version on a 24 cm base: less margin in handstand, but they fit in a bag. For a wall bar, the number that matters is the distance from the wall: 60 cm on the Medium, 75 cm on the Large. For muscle-ups, take the Large. For a door bar, measure first: the Extend-it needs a frame 74 to 90 cm wide, the Hook-it a frame that sticks out from the wall by 1.5 to 2 cm and is 12 to 21 cm deep.
What you cannot check from the product page: delivery times, absent from the shipping page, and the place of manufacture. The push-up bars have no published load rating, everything else does.
The practical side: 4.90 euros of shipping in Germany (free from 75 euros), 7.90 in the EU (free from 100), 9.90 in Switzerland and the UK in their currency, duties included. Returns within 30 days, shipping paid by you, refund within 14 days. Two-year warranty on the product pages. A 10 m roll of grip tape ships with every pair of parallettes.
Who it suits
Someone who wants numbers before buying and a full setup from one seller, with a pull-up bar for every kind of home. The freestanding station is an answer for renters who cannot drill.
It is not the brand to choose if you want documented local manufacturing, or the cheapest pair: on wooden parallettes, the small French and Polish brands sit below it.
My tests
I have not tested a Gornation product to the site’s protocol yet. I own a pair of Gornation parallettes, taller and wider than the Caliathletics Mini, which is the comparison point in that test: more stable in handstand thanks to the wide base and the long bar, but pads that slip more on parquet with wear, and wood that needed grip tape. A full test will come when a pair goes under the caliper.
