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Anyone have a home gym?

OILFIELDTRASH

OILFIELDTRASH

Lifer
Membership is up at the end of the month at my gym. Cheapest rates I've found are $50 a month for my wife and I. I'm thinking of getting my own equipment. What kind of equipment do you have and recommend? I know for sure I'll need a squat rack. Not sure what I can do for bench as its pretty dangerous doing bench by yourself.
 
Home gym = no hot chicks to look at = fail

Everyone I've ever known that bought some kind of home gym equipment used it twice and sold it at a garage sale 10 years later.
 
Might want to post this in Health and Fitness subforum, a lot of people over there have home gyms.

I just have a best fitness olympic bench and 1 straight and 1 curl olympic bar. I have 2 barbell bars that I don't really use. For squats I just use the uprights on the bench, they can be extended high, but it's not safe, you are better off with a rack if you have the room. I bench by myself, but I just don't go past weights I struggle on. I'll increase my reps and do lower weights until I'm comfortable on moving to the next weight.

I just recently bought some pads to put down on the floor, you might want to consider that, I was scratching our floor.
 
Dman8777 said:
Home gym = no hot chicks to look at = fail

Everyone I've ever known that bought some kind of home gym equipment used it twice and sold it at a garage sale 10 years later.
Click to expand...

I've been working out off and on, mostly on, for 15 years now. I'm not selling gym equipment after using it twice.
 
Wyndru said:
Might want to post this in Health and Fitness subforum, a lot of people over there have home gyms.

I just have a best fitness olympic bench and 1 straight and 1 curl olympic bar. I have 2 barbell bars that I don't really use. For squats I just use the uprights on the bench, they can be extended high, but it's not safe, you are better off with a rack if you have the room. I bench by myself, but I just don't go past weights I struggle on. I'll increase my reps and do lower weights until I'm comfortable on moving to the next weight.

I just recently bought some pads to put down on the floor, you might want to consider that, I was scratching our floor.
Click to expand...

I have a workshop not being used. No worries on space or floor.
 
Get one of those squat rack / bench hybrids with safeties. A pull-up bar/dip station is also nice to have.
 
i have a home gym system in my garage that my bro-in-law gave me since it was gathering dust in his basement that has:

bench
bench press/squat stand
lat pulldown station
leg extension/curl station
olympic weight plates (2x44#; 2x33#; 2x22#; 2x11#; 2x5.5#; 2x2.75#)

i also have the following assorted items (also in the garage):

olympic bar (for some reason the home system didn't have one)
jump rope
2x15# bumper plates
2x10# olympic plates
pullup bar
rings
aerobic steps
rubber mats
50# kettlebell

i don't do any benching since i don't have any safety catches. i do mostly crossfit workouts. most of the equipment above was given to me as gifts. the only things i bought myself are the olympic bar for $60 on CL, rings for $10 at ikea and rubber mats.

EDIT: i forgot to add i have a 20# medicine ball my bro made for me out of an old basketball and sand.
 
Last edited:
Check CL.

I bought a squat rack, and roughly 400lbs of weight for $200. New prices seemed to be a bit more than double that.

Bought a bench for $80 from a local sports store, and I'm set.

As for safety... any time you lift alone, you should only do what you are capable of. If you need to do max reps of something, either enlist the help of an SO or friend. Personally, I am not trying to be a power lifter by any means. If I have trouble at a particular weight that gives me concern about the next lift, I simply stop and reduce the weight.

I suppose it really depends on your goals. If you are trying to max out on everything you do, you might want to find a reliable lifting buddy. If you're simply giving yourself a good workout within normal means, you should be fine with your own equipment working out alone.
 
TecHNooB said:
Get one of those squat rack / bench hybrids with safeties. A pull-up bar/dip station is also nice to have.
Click to expand...

seconded. most racks have a crossbar at the top to do pull ups on so i would personally skip buying a specific station.

you can run outside. ride a bike outside. swimming is the hard one to do without a pool thanks to weather.
 
mvbighead said:
As for safety... any time you lift alone, you should only do what you are capable of. If you need to do max reps of something, either enlist the help of an SO or friend. Personally, I am not trying to be a power lifter by any means. If I have trouble at a particular weight that gives me concern about the next lift, I simply stop and reduce the weight.
Click to expand...

actually if you get bumper plates you can always dump the bar depending on the exercise you're doing. eg - front/overhead/back squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatch, jerk, press (assuming of course that you're working out in your garage or basement or outside and not on a wooden floor).
 
I have all my own equipment. Been doing it for years now. You dont have any excuses when all you have to do is walk into the next room to workout.
 
I had considered it, but I don't quite have the space for a power rack.

Though it depends on what you want to do, a good start would be a power cage and adjustable bench. You can set up the adjustable bench inside the cage and bench press in there.

For olympic lifts, you can build a platform, like so.

For protecting the floor, horse stall mats are generally recommended as being durable and cost effective. You can generally pick them up from farm or tractor supply companies.

A concept 2 would be nice too, if that's your thing.
 
blackdogdeek said:
actually if you get bumper plates you can always dump the bar depending on the exercise you're doing. eg - front/overhead/back squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatch, jerk, press (assuming of course that you're working out in your garage or basement or outside and not on a wooden floor).
Click to expand...

This is also an excellent point.

Obviously such plates would be minimal help in a benching scenario, but for other lifts, a great idea.

I would think as long as your bench rack had multiple pegs, you could get the weight onto shorter pegs if you were to get stuck; though personally I would stick to benching weight that I am able to lift. It is extremely foolish, IMO, to perform a max rep of anything without a spotter. If you're doing actual repetitions, you should know when your muscles have had enough...

... which reminds me, I can't seem to count the number of times some jack ass in a gym loads up the bar, lets the weight down, and proceeds to push it up with about 10-20% involvement from the spotter. The spotter, IMO, should only have his hands under the bar in the event that the weight starts to drop back down mid-lift. He is there to spot, not lift. If he is pulling up with any amount of force, you're not capable of the weight being lifted and should reduce the amount. And yet numerous times I have seen the same person struggle with the first rep, and drop it down for second. In any case, none of this stuff should be considered in a home gym without assistance, let alone with a spotter.
 
My home gym consists of the following

1) Big screen TV
2) Workout DVD
3) Exercise mat
4) Iron Gym Total Upper Body Workout Bar (for sit-up and pull-up)
 
mvbighead said:
Obviously such plates would be minimal help in a benching scenario, but for other lifts, a great idea.

I would think as long as your bench rack had multiple pegs, you could get the weight onto shorter pegs if you were to get stuck; though personally I would stick to benching weight that I am able to lift. It is extremely foolish, IMO, to perform a max rep of anything without a spotter. If you're doing actual repetitions, you should know when your muscles have had enough...
Click to expand...

agreed. i never do bench at home. i'll only do bench at my friend's gym where i can get a spot.
 
as an alternative to what i posted above i guess i should also post my wife's exercise equipment:

soft,light dumbbells
exercise ball
p90x knockoff dvd
 
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One of these and running everyday is all you need.
 
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