Fitting out a home gym

soc$

Trying to move on from my rather tempest like last foray into posting I was wondering if anyone had any advice on where best to look for equipment for fitting out a home gym.

To set some background and without going into too much boring detail - in terms of training I'm used to being told what to do and when so have had the liberty of not having to think too much but those days are (unfortunately) over (i.e. no more high level competition so no more free training venues).

With this in mind I now have the opportunity to achieve different goals with my gym work - build more lean muscle and more strength without having to worry about structuring a program to peak at certain times in a season. For that I'm working with a PT. Primary goals will be to focus on upper body (within reason) to balance out with lower body.

To help I would like to fit out some equipment at home as currently with work and other new commitments I struggle to complete the requisite sessions.

I'm thinking along the lines of free weights with a decent bench & squat rack, a pull up bar, and a piece of low impact cardio equipment (was thinking spinning bike or x-trainer).

Any pointers on best places to source equipment would be welcome - or any suggestions on type of equipment to get would be welcome.

The room should be 10ft x 10ft in size.

Thanks in advance

COH

http://www.irish-lifting.com/


Power-rack
Adjustable bench
Olympic bar + weights

TommyKnocker

Hi There

There is a guy who posts on this forum from time to time, his forum name is Mickk and he own the company Irish Lifting. A number of folks who post here have bought home gym equipment from him and all have been very happy both with the service and equipment purchased AFAIK.

Check out the site and see what you think and sure you could drop him a PM if you had any questions.

Mod Note: Please keep transaction discussions, prices etc (should you decide to buy from Irish Lifting) to PM and off the forum

M

grimloch

If you're deadlifting and you don't want your floor getting banged up, don't forget to budget for some special flooring or mats.

I think some of the lads here managed to pick up some mats for fairly cheap, hopefully they'll poke their heads in.

baz15

I am also looking to buy some gym equipment and I found this pull up bar in argos

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9237661/c_1/1|category_root|Sport%2Band%2Bleisure|14419152/c_2/2|cat_14419152|Home%2Bgym%2Bequipment|14419293/c_3/3|cat_14419293|Fitness%2Baccessories|14419308.htm

Im just wondering if anyone has this bar and if it is any good?

I am looking for something to use for pull ups and would prefer if it would not do any damage to the door

Thanks in advance for any tips

TommyKnocker

Hi baz

The Argos chin-up bar is not bad and will do, but honestly the one that Irish lifting do if much better. I know that it is twice the price, but IMHO it is worth it.

You will notice that the Argos model has 1 bar that goes across the door and 2 bars that stick out (model on photo is using these). So you can do narrow grip pull-ups which target your biceps mostly or semi wide pull-ups/chin-ups which target you back.

The Irish Lifting model has extra grips available so you can do proper wide grip pull-ups/chin-ups. It really sturdy and I use mine at 77kg and have not damaged my door.

You can see the Irish Lifting pull-up/chin-up bar here for comparison.


Best Regards,

M

the drifter

grimloch wrote: »

If you're deadlifting and you don't want your floor getting banged up, don't forget to budget for some special flooring or mats.

I think some of the lads here managed to pick up some mats for fairly cheap, hopefully they'll poke their heads in.

i picked up an 8x4 stable mat ( yes its a mat that goes on a stable floor) for 70 notes...ive also heard you can walk into smyths toy store and get play room mats which do a pretty decent job

ray jay

a couple of phonebooks will do the trick too

baz15

B-Builder wrote: »

Hi baz

The Argos chin-up bar is not bad and will do, but honestly the one that Irish lifting do if much better. I know that it is twice the price, but IMHO it is worth it.

You will notice that the Argos model has 1 bar that goes across the door and 2 bars that stick out (model on photo is using these). So you can do narrow grip pull-ups which target your biceps mostly or semi wide pull-ups/chin-ups which target you back.

The Irish Lifting model has extra grips available so you can do proper wide grip pull-ups/chin-ups. It really sturdy and I use mine at 77kg and have not damaged my door.

You can see the Irish Lifting pull-up/chin-up bar here for comparison.


Best Regards,

M

Thanks for reply.

So how exactly does the irishlifting one work? Is there any screws or anything because I dont understand how they stay in place

Mellor

baz15 wrote: »

Thanks for reply.

So how exactly does the irishlifting one work? Is there any screws or anything because I dont understand how they stay in place

Just the self weight and lever effect

TommyKnocker

baz15 wrote: »

Thanks for reply.

So how exactly does the irish lifting one work? Is there any screws or anything because I dont understand how they stay in place

It works exactly the same way the Argos one does. It just has more hand hld options available then the Argos model does.


M

soc$

Thanks for the replies - I got a couple of small bits from irish-lifting before - wrist straps and the like.

Good idea on the mats - I'd like to be able to drop weights without damaging the floot or the weights (biggest downside of regular gyms and best thing about training in places like DCU high performance). Would the mats be sufficient for dropping the bar after a clean?

the drifter

the stable mats are about an inch thick and iove put 2 sheets of plywood under them....unless your cleaning 200kg...you should be fine!

forgot to mention they can be got from co-op stores....or ive seen them on done deal for cheap....if you can get rid of the smell :P