Home/Garage Gym for Resistance Training

caesar

Folks,

I went back to the gym the other week but I'm not banking on them staying open, and I'm not big into training without proper weights—tried it—didn't last. Even if gyms remain open, the local ones in the west here are expensive for what they are (compared to the UK). And all in, I haven't been training half as much as I was pre-March—feeling it on all fronts.

Going to bite the bullet and buy equipment for a home/garage gym. Emptied the shed. It won't be the warmest but that's what warmups are for :pac: I couldn't see a specific thread on it, so here we are.

I looked into a few months back, and it still seems like a minefield with stock levels, shipping times, and unsurprisingly fabrication companies started selling plates etc. giving us more options No doubt a flood of equipment will be available in a few months at way lower prices. I've already seen some gyms were selling off equipment to make space in light of social distancing. Others are likely to shut up shop and sell off stuff and then there's the post-COVID sell-off from people. But, I don't fancy waiting months anymore to get back training properly.

From reading the other threads, I reckon a few more are on the fence about building a home set up. So, I've rounded up a few links—albeit based explicitly on the set up I'm after.

Those of you who've already gone down this route, if you have anything to share, then please do.

It's either I try to do it cheapish (but safe) or I go to the other end of the scale and invest in semi-commercial grade /decent quality. The low-end "home" gym grade equipment seems flimsy as...so not going near anything rickety. I would sooner buy what I need from the steel fabricators—which I am seriously considering.

On doing it cheap but not flimsy front, I toyed with the idea of doing my own Buff Dudes style build and making some concrete weights like so, but if it didn't happen in the past six months, it's not going to now.

Keeping my set up simple in terms of equipment. I'll add in a decent set of quick adjustable dumbells down the line, but for now, getting the fundamentals covered.


Equipment on my shopping list

• Squat rack or Power cage (veering towards a power cage for safety and versatility reasons...a lat pulldown/cable pulley would be a massive addition, though a half rack with storage is tempting. Power cages with storage are over what I would spend)
• 20KG Olympic barbell
• Solid bench (ideally adjustable)
• 100KG weights plus: For now, I won't need more than 140kg and even at that'll 140KG would only be for deadlifts. I don't have a preference for steel/iron v bumper plates. Not worried about noise and even if I go the bumper route I'll likely pick up some horse mats to protect the concrete floor. I don't do Olympic lifting so won't be dropping weight from a height.

Here's the fun bit, the potential options.


Fabrication guys (Cheapish route)

The Weight Stand Company—UK
Mace Muscles—UK
Powerspec / Power_Spec IG Page—NI
CMC Fabrication/ CMC Fabrication Facebook Page—NI

:cool: Has anyone tried these or have any opinions? I appreciate weight accuracy might be an issue, but I can live with that if going cheap. They seem more durable than the low-end stuff being churned out by some of more well-known brands. The sizing of the plates and the weight of the bars might be out of kilter with the norm, but it's a tradeoff I might be willing to make.


Retailers—I've linked to ranges or specific packages/options that fit what I need. It's the more expensive route and will have to play the stock/ delivery waiting game. Would prefer not to mix and match

Exerciseequipment.ie—ROI (it's a Shopify site and possibly a new(ish) company as found it via Dondedeal rather than a Google search)
Gym Direct main site / Gym Direct Donedeal (at least it seems like the same company)—ROI
Mcsport.ie—ROI
Strengthandfitness.ie—ROI
Strengthshop.ie—ROI
Fitnessequipmentni.co.uk—ROI
Again Faster—UK
Mirafit—UK

:eek: Plenty of options there, though what's in stock throughout this week will limit my choice. Has anyone tried these or does anyone have any opinions? Mirafit looks good but wondering about the quality. Which leads me on to.

*Brands: I've a good handle on ones in the US market from youtube videos: Rouge, Ivanko, Titan, Rep, Fringe, Eleiko, Troy, Cap. But, I've no idea on how the likes of HIT, Jordan, Bolt or Primal Strenght I see mentioned on a lot of Irish sites stack up?


Other Donedeal / Adverts.ie Trade sellers without their own websites / social media (as far as I can see)

Andy here isn't listed as a private seller but has a few bits (weight plate and bar). He seems to be selling items from Againfaster.eu as the item descriptions are pretty much a copy and paste from their site —NI
Gymless—ROI

Aside from these...

The only other option is snapping up something from a private seller(s). Still, most of what I've seems like junk that's been pulled out of sheds during home clear-outs and stuff that was chruned out in March and April that people regretted buying. It's also hard to get what I need altogether, though not completely averse to buying from different private sellers. I've already trawled through Donedeal and Adverts. Meaning I do have a few bits shortlisted from these but wanted to get some thoughts here first.


Questions

Is there any of the above I should steer clear of or any strong recommendations in favour of the above options? Be that brands, retailers, donedeal options or specific bits of equipment.

With some of the options being UK based would Parcel Motel with pickup at a depot be out of the question (given the weight involved).