Building a home gym

Jocksy

Good idea or not? I use the gym quite a lot as it is and would be at the light bodybuilding end of things. Was jsut thinking of getting some proper equipment, bench, squat rack, bars, plates and dumbells. Cost doesnt seem to be as much an issue as I thought. Anybody go down this road. By the time I take into account myself and the girlfriends gym membership we could actually be saving after a year or so of use.

justsomebloke

I have to say if I had somewhere decent to put it I would just build my own, I decent power rack with dip and pullup station, incline/decline bench and a decent oly set with plenty of extra weight and you are pretty much set bar any cardio equipment you need

rubadub

Definitely a good idea. I have very little outlay. I only copped on last week that I can do dips using the landing on my stairs, and pullups with no fear of added weights. I have a chinning bar and push up stands.

You can pick up plates & bars second hand easily, and is not like they will be broken or have no warranty! most lads I know bought weights at one time and very few use them. The resale value will be the same too if you do give up or go back to the gym.

Mickk is a member here who could do you a good deal, don't know if his online shop is up yet but you could pm him.

You will easily save money in a year, take into account transport costs to & from the gym. Also you can cook your meals etc straight away after a workout, relax straight away before & after.

RaiseTheBlinds

great idea,.........
i got a tiny room out the back of the house , which manages to hold a bench and heavy plates,.... a heavy bag, a double ended bag, which goes up when the heavy bag comes down,......... and a chin up bar in the doorway.
get yourself a skipping rope and a little motivation/disipline and your absolutely flying

so handy,.... sometimes i just pop out for 5 minutes before eastenders starts or whatever,...and its plenty to keep you in shape.
only thing im lacking is a leg workout,..... have been threatening to go sprinting for ages,...but cant muster the motivation yet.

OfflerCrocGod

RaiseTheBlinds wrote:

only thing im lacking is a leg workout,..... have been threatening to go sprinting for ages,...but cant muster the motivation yet.

Buy a top notch bicycle and use that to get around to close by places - especially with the better weather coming on. Don't buy some crappy Y-frame one buy a proper shaped road bike.

BrianD3

If you can afford it and have the space, go for a full power cage with chin up bar. I believe the chin up bars in cages can take a lot more weight than a doorway mounted bar and are generally less crappy and easier to use.

Remember that no matter what sort of cage/rack you get the width of the Olympic bar will be 7 feet and you'll need another couple of feet clearance on top of that. You'll also need space outside the cage for doing deadlifts etc.

I assume you live in a house than you own and not say a rented aprartment. I dont think the latter is suitable for a decent home gym

Probably best to locate your gym in a ground floor room anyway. Rubber mats for the floor are a good idea too. I have heard of people using rubber "stall mats" that they bought from agricultural shops

BossArky

I would be keen on one day setting up a room at home with a decent gym setup.

However, one of the things I enjoy about the gym these days is getting out of the work and home environment to meet some other people and generally change the scenery.

The_Bullman

BrianD3 wrote:

If you can afford it and have the space, go for a full power cage with chin up bar.

Sorry to have to ask - but what range of exercises can you do with a power cage? From what I seen on a search in the net it can be used for squats and deadlifts.

Is there an advantage over a squat rack?

I ask because I've never seen one. In the few gyms I've been to there hasn't been one.

I found this link which may be helpful for anyone thinkin of building a home gym

BrianD3

Bullman, I had a big post typed out about the benefits of power cages but lost it due to an ESB cut Anyhow, cages do not really benefit full ROM deadlifts and you can't do Olympic lifts in them. But for just about everything else, a full cage is a big help and you can do a lot more than you can do with a squat rack.

If you have a bench, cage, barbell, enough weights and somewhere to do Olympic lifts you have enough equipment to become an absolute beast. Whether you actually become a beast or not is then up to you But there are literally thousands of huge and strong guys around the world who train in power cages in their basements and garages and rarely/never set foot inside a gym.

Hanley

A cage is infinately better than a rack. Rack's a too restrictive and I've never come across one whichh has decent hooks to squat out of. Also, you can do all your benching in a cage since you're not limited by unadjustable spotter catches. In a cage these can be lowered to just below your bottom position so you can go to failrue without the fear of being crushed alive.

If I was setting up a home gym, here's what I'd have;

Power Rack (aka cage) with chin up attachment
A good olympic bar and 300kg of weight
Adjustable flat/incline/decline bench
Olympic dumbbell handles (or maybe a cheap pair of standard dbell handles with plates to make up 50kg per hand, argos seems like a good bet for those)
Plate loaded cable machine with high and low pulley

I don't think there's much else I'd need at all....

Pat4780

Hi there
Im looking to buy some weight plates, squat rack etc?Anyone selling?!

t-ha

Hanley wrote:

If I was setting up a home gym, here's what I'd have;

Power Rack (aka cage) with chin up attachment
A good olympic bar and 300kg of weight
Adjustable flat/incline/decline bench
Olympic dumbbell handles (or maybe a cheap pair of standard dbell handles with plates to make up 50kg per hand, argos seems like a good bet for those)
Plate loaded cable machine with high and low pulley

Good list - the only thing I'd add to that is some crazy beasts of guys to come around and train there too. Man, I would love to have the space for a descent garage gym.

t-ha

Pat4780 wrote:

Hi there
Im looking to buy some weight plates, squat rack etc?Anyone selling?!

Search for 'mickk' and PM him.

stevemc08

Im lookin for a second hand cage in Dublin if anyone has one to get rid of
Cheers steve

unregged.

In before the lock.