Where do you go if you want to buy weights?

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
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Where do you go if you want to buy weights?

I wanna pick up a bench with a rack for a barbell, maybe a leg curl/extensions attachment.
A barbell handle
A pair of dumbell handles
2 45lb plates
2 25lb plates
4 10lb plates
4 5lb plates
4 2.5lb plates

Any idea how much this might cost, or where to get it?

I figure if I set up some weights here I can do that while I watch TV instead of nef endlessly.

Get more muscles, get less fat, and it'll be easier to do them if I have them at home, and cheaper overall since I won't be able to use the cheap gym at school.

I'm not looking to do this *now*, I've got no cash, but when I get my own place after I grad, I figure a weight bench is the first useful piece of furniture to buy, and I have no idea where to get it. Anyone know, and have a rough price estimate?
 
Apr 5, 2000
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Any sporting goods store. Oshmans has a pretty good back to sale going on now, you may want to check them out. And I think I read all their clearance sporting equipment including benches and stuff are an extra 20% off - you might wanna stop by there. They usually have a 110lb weight set including barbell and 2 dumbbell handles for about $39.99. (Standard size, not olympic unfortunately)

Extra weights usually run about $.49 per lb, so buy the 110lb weight set first and then buy the additional plates you need later. (I'd pick up 2 25's or 2 50's)

The bench itself - a decent one with an inclining/declining bench, leg extension, squat rack, and lat tower will run about $149-$200.
 
Apr 5, 2000
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Originally posted by: axelfox
weight store...10 cents a pound

What weight store is this? I've never seen plates that cheap...the absolute cheapest I've seen is $.39 per lb which were kind of crappy

http://www.oshmans.com/product/index.jsp?productId=864840&cp=710956.1170115.1170136&parentPage=family

This is a pretty good one for the price - it's the one I'm looking to replace the one I have now since I'm on the verge of exceeding it's current weight limit. It's not near the quality of the ones you workout on at gyms (obviously) but for the beginner/middle of the road weight lifter I see no reason to go to a gym.
 

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
13,640
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50cents a pound is fine. That's cheaper than I expected.

I wouldn't mind an olympic bar...but I can probably survive without.

The benches are a little more expensive than I thought, but not to bad. I can deal with it.

The garage sales is a good idea though...I'll have to look into that.
 
Apr 5, 2000
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For a beginner you may want to get a "beginner" bench - the one I have now was only $99 on sale at Oshmans about 2 years back. (Has squat rack, leg extension, inclining/declining bench, lat tower) It's held up pretty good but like most cheap weight benches it doesn't support a lot of weight. (It's taken me 2+ years to come close to exceeding the weight limit though) Go into a store and try them out - get something you'd feel comfortable using, not just what has the most gadgets/features.
 

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
13,640
1
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I'm not exactly a beginner. Of course I'm far from a pro either. Kinda intermediate.

Up until last august I was in pretty steady. I've taken a year off, and have fallen rather badly out of shape. But I've picked up again in the last months, and plan to go steady in the gym at school. After I graduate in April, I'm going to need something else. Assuming my plan goes well, by the time I look into getting my own gear I'll have been in the weights for 9months or so.

What's the limit on a beginner bench? I'm 280 pounds, and can get up to pretty heavy weights, especially in the squat when I'm in good shape. I don't mind the idea of a beginner bench, it's not some kind of silly pride thing, but I don't want to end up buying a bench that won't get any use after a couple months.
 
Apr 5, 2000
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Depends on the bench. Most "beginner" benches are like (guestimating) 250 for squat rack/bench pressing, 200ish for the leg extension, 200ish for the lat tower. The one in the picture supports up to 1000lb (although I don't know the breakdown of what).

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you were a newb or anything. :D
 

bigrash

Lifer
Feb 20, 2001
17,648
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There's a Modell's by my house, so that's where I buy all my weights and other sports equipment. They only have stores in the northeast though.
 

Noriaki

Lifer
Jun 3, 2000
13,640
1
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Originally posted by: RagingBITCH
Depends on the bench. Most "beginner" benches are like (guestimating) 250 for squat rack/bench pressing, 200ish for the leg extension, 200ish for the lat tower. The one in the picture supports up to 1000lb (although I don't know the breakdown of what).

Sorry, didn't mean to imply you were a newb or anything. :D

That's cool I didn't take offense or anything ;)

250lbs could probably do me...I did over 300 in squats (actually it was over 350 I think...) when I was in the football crew workout plan. But I probably don't need to do that for general fitness. 250+me should be alright...I don't work out for any specific thing, I just do it for general fitness, so I should be okay with taht.

And I doubt I'll ever do that much in Bench. Benching my bodyweight is more than I ever need to be to able to do ;)

Thanks for the tip :)
 

billandopus

Platinum Member
Dec 29, 1999
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I second the garage sales.

After 15 years in the weight game and being connected up the wazoo with people in the industry I can safely say that your best best for a overall Olympic setup with benches and all that would be through your local buy-and-sell or through garage sales.

Even a good friend of mine who is a manager of a Fitness Depot has recommended the buy-and-sell or garage sales before coming to him since free weights, even the cheap free's, have almost no profit margin built in. They make their money on the treadmills, universal gyms, trendy stuff etc.

The main reason is this:

Many people get into the fitness and weight lifting kick and are usually cyclical in nature. People move into different phases of their lives and/or move from house to house or house to condo or parent's house to condo ... all that kind of stuff. In short, people's lives change and you wouldn't believe the amount of people who all of sudden view their basement gym/free weight collection as being non-essential. Many people, in trying to get rid of hundreds of pounds of weights and equipment, will sell cheap as long as they know someone is going to put their equipment to good use. It's up to you to find these people and it's not that hard.

If you want to buy from a store many places will offer an Olympic set totalling usually around 300-350lbs with or without olympic bar for an attractive price (relatively). An olympic bar setup is nice because you can do all your compound movements with an oly bar and be done with it. If you are really worried about space and clunkiness then I would suggest looking into some PowerBlocks which is an integrated dumbell system that work real well but are relatively expensive.

A note about benches. Cheap benches are problematic because they may not be of good quality/imbalanced/poor ergonomically. I would strongly suggest trying before buying because some benches are quite wide and may not feel right for you. Those nice benches at the gyms that everyone takes for granted are NOT the ones that you will typically be buying from the fitness stores because they are actually quite expensive. Buyer beware. Also look for one that will incline (more importantly) and decline (less importantly) and possibly add attachements if you so desire.

If I may suggest, in the meantime while you are waiting for a change in scenery, do tons of ab crunches and pushups and leg lunges. If done for 45 mins 4-5 times a week faithfully for 4-6 months I GUARANTEE you that you will look awesome. Well, make sure you take care of your diet/nutrition and get enough sleep and be stressfree. You don't have to have weights because you really have all you need. I have a friend who for various reasons categorically refuses to participate in gyms and weight training from an equipment perspective. He does huge amounts of the abovementioned stuff and he looks great! He looks better than the majority of the schmoes at the gym AND he doesn't have to fight for parking, pay dues, pay for equipment and take the time to work out of home. He slays the girls at the beach I tell you. Guys come up to him and ask him about his "routine" and they can't believe it.

But I have to say, doing stuff at home is kind of boring. I'd rather be at the gym for the community feel and for the equipment that I don't have access to at home like squat racks, power racks, deadlifting weights and all that.

I'm starting to babble. Good luck.
 

Jfur

Diamond Member
Jul 9, 2001
6,044
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for the best deal, check the classifieds. a little patience will save you big $$$. I buy weights at a local store called Heavy Metal (specializes in this type of equipment). If they don't have what I need, I grudgingly go to Sports Authority.
 

Spamela

Diamond Member
Oct 30, 2000
3,859
0
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for me, going to a health club is much cheaper.

otherwise,
garage sales - look in the newpaper classifieds in a large city.

the best investment is a pricey power rack (aka cage) & an olympic bar.

a local sports shop has an olympic bar + 300 lbs. of weights for $89 (you wouldn't want to use the bar for lifting much more than that, though).

a good (new) bench is around $400 - you don't need any stinking leg curl attachment with a power rack.
the racks on the cheapo benches are too narrow & won't handle olympic bars safely.

also look here for the classified ads link.
 

billandopus

Platinum Member
Dec 29, 1999
2,082
0
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Originally posted by: Spamela


a good (new) bench is around $400 - you don't need any stinking leg curl attachment with a power rack.
the racks on the cheapo benches are too narrow & won't handle olympic bars safely.

also look here for the classified ads link.


Yow! That seems a tad expensive. I've used decent basic benches with incline, decline and attachments for dips and front leg extensions and some other stuff for somewhere in the ballpark of 160-200 bucks or so. You should be able to get almost a whole free weight and bench setup for 400 bucks before taxes if you look around.