Spare room gym-budget limited

castaway_lady

Totally sick off rubbish gym options within driving distance and the problem getting outdoors in the evenings so Im attempting to assemble my own spare room gym. So given that average gym membership here is 500+ a year thats my upper budget. My space is also tight,the room is a typical box room, about 10x8ft.

So im after advice on optimising it and getting cheap equipment.
I've got a manual treadmill, 6, 8,10kg kettlebells from lidl, a skipping rope, a mat, swiss ball.

So i think i need another cardio machine, maybe a turbo trainer for my bike? Some weights and a bench with a bench press stand.

Are you lifting heavy weights in general? if you're lifting heavy weight, then probably best to get an olympic bumper set from the likes of D8 fitness or such. Issue you face there is it'll eat up your budget fairly swiftly (but you'll probably never outgrow it).

Assuming that's not the case:


Then an Argos weights+bench set, and 60kg of cast iron weights will cost less.

You can get 12x5kg cast iron plates for €82.50 at the moment (so 60kg in total)

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9003187/Trail/searchtext%3E5KG+CAST.htm



Then you can get a bench with a few accessories attached (lat tower, etc) for €150:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9237269/Trail/searchtext%3EWEIGHTS.htm#sohdr3

You can also take advantage of the offer on that page, of €15 off the 50kg weight set that has a barbell and dumbbells.

So effectively, you get a bench with bench press, lat tower and preacher pad accessories, a barbell, two dumbbells and 110kg of weight plates for €300. Not too shabby.


Halfords have foam mats that you can throw on the floor, for €10 per pack of 6. You'd probably want to buy, say, two sets of these, to put under the bench/weight plates rather than risk damaging or scuffing the floor (it wouldn't be necessary to cover the entire floor).

http://www.halfords.ie/workshop-tools/garage-equipment/garage-essentials/rolson-6-piece-floor-mat-set-120-x-180cm


I don't know the first thing about turbo trainers, but to my uninformed mind, you can get one from Amazon with a decent set of reviews, for just under €100.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnetic-Trainer-Cycling-Optional-Healthline/dp/B005K2N9L0/ref=sr_1_2?s=cycling&ie=UTF8&qid=1451825004&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=turbo+trainer&psc=1




So that'd be a fairly well equipped space, coming in under budget. The real problem you are gonna face, of course, is the space. This is a picture of a shed in my garden with weights gear in it:

http://s30.postimg.org/ix3flzzsh/IMG_4311_1.jpg


That measures (roughly) 10.5ft front to back, and 11.5ft wide. If you swapped out the squat rack for your treadmill, and put the bike/turbo trainer where the dead space is in my gym, you could probably fit everything in okay, but I'd say you'd need to remove the bike/turbo trainer when not in use, as you'd have no real floor space otherwise. (that's also been photographed with a wide angle lens, so may look a bit bigger than it actually is).


Anyway, they're just my ideas on what you could get.

caviardreams

I'd throw in a few powerbands / resistance bands - decent ones - you could probably pick up a set of 3 or 4 for around €50 - actually they have a great offer on in D8 fitness at the moment on a set of 6 , much cheaper than I got mine
http://www.d8fitness.com/product/budget-band-set-x-6/

Loads of exercises you can do with them.

asteroids over berlin

i actually built a gym out in my shed, 10 x 8 space.

I initially bought a bodymax bench and 6ft oly bar but sold these as i wasn't happy with the holders - bit dangerous when benching and the bar was too short - grip.

I now have:
York squat stands
womens olympic bar (6ft but shorter sleeves, same grip width as a 7ft bar)

bodymax plates 180 KG (i got with the 6ft bar)

bodymax adjustable dumbells 32.5 kg.

then some 8kg, 10kg, 12kg, 15kg for bicep curls/triceps, shoulders etc etc

I also bought a body max cf810 dual adjustable cable machine

Schwinn spinning bike

Everlast body bag

---

Got all this over the year, statrted with the squat stand, oly bar and 32.5kg adjustables.

I fcuking love it, a little cramped but i manage, i usually train early morning but obviously i can train at any time now
Motivation has grown more and more (initially i was concerned training at home as i tried it before and usually got distracted but was training in the living room with dumbells ).

The key is to have a secluded area with the equipment your happy with - i cannot emphasize enough the "equipment your happy with" which you can call the gym. You will then succeed.

Outlay to date is approx 2k. My westwood membersip was close to 1k a year, i was a member for 12 years




Who wants pics ha

I should add, i got the squat stands and womens bar (160) in D8 fitness, quite reasonable, the squate stands (110) are great for benching and squats etc and have handy plate holders. Also the 2 chicks in D8 fitness are little gems

Good luck and enjoy

asteroids over berlin

lol i just spotted your username!!

exiled in the kingdom

lidl are doing good range of stuff this week

eire1

asteroids over berlin wrote: »

i actually built a gym out in my shed, 10 x 8 space.

Who wants pics ha

I should add, i got the squat stands and womens bar (160) in D8 fitness, quite reasonable, the squate stands (110) are great for benching and squats etc and have handy plate holders. Also the 2 chicks in D8 fitness are little gems

Good luck and enjoy

I want pics, sounds great.