Should I do this?

Indulge me people. I got a nice bonus from work and decided I'd buy something for myself, something that I want but don't necessarily need.

So I've been thinking of buying a Vulcan Rack II from Ironmind and - here's the biggie - 187kg Training Set from Werksanusa. Even considering the Eleiko Training Set from IM for about the same price. Sure I could get away with a 300lb set from the local sporting goods store, but this is an indulgence type thing

Keep in mind I lift primarily at the gym, for some reason that's always been funner for me. Still, If I got something like this I'd probably want to lift at home more. Also, my employer is subsidizing at a swanky club here in Seattle, although I haven't toured the facilities yet I'm sure it'll be a step up from Bally's.

So whaddya think. We have room in the garage. My wife thinks it'll gather dust but I just think it's a cool thing to have. Heck I might even build a platform and I can think of worse ways to spend 3K

I wish I could help but I'm having a similar dilemma myself. I've had occasional days when it's been inconvenient or impossible to get to the gym and having a bar and a couple of hundred kilos at home would be handy. When I couple that with the facility of being able to practice things like OH squats it becomes tempting to have some home workout options.

Making a platform and getting some bumper plates would make it convenient to practice Oly lifts without some gym owner waiting for you to drop his precious weights on his even more precious floor.

It's a tough call once the cost gets into the several hundreds especially when you know it's an occasional-use toy but it'll probably last a lifetime. Make sure you get a good-quality bar.

Yeah, it's not so much the stuff, like I mentioned I can cobble together a home gym for a few hundred and call it good, for my purposes. It's partly the fact that I'd be buying 'the best' even though I'm just a weekend warrior, and spending 10x the price at that. In fact I'd venture it's like being a short fat white guy who can't shoot or dribble and spends $200 on basketball shoes and an authentic Jordan 23 jersey OTOH, this is my main hobby so why not make an investment, right?

blut wump said:

Make sure you get a good quality bar.

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Yeah I have to check but I assumed both Werksanusa and IM bars are pretty sweet. I'd be anxious to try them, not that they'd but 20lbs on my squat but I wonder if it's true that you'd be 'spoiled for life'.

Oh yeah, shipping is like $400! Midwest BB has free shipping here in the US and they have a bumper set for $599. Found a couple other places too that have Eleiko bumpers w/free shipping but they sell them only in pairs so when you add up a set it's almost as much as IM.

The bars I keep looking at are rated for 1500 pounds whereas the one that typically comes with the sets I've found are usually only rated for 700 pounds. You don't want the springiness you'd get trying to deadlift 500 on a 700-pound-rated bar or trying to walk out a bendy bar from your squat rack.

I've come close to ordering a couple of times and then seen the cost of shipping.

The rubber plates sure would be nice to play with when doing the oly lifts. Those metal plates make an aweful lot of noise when dropped Go for it man. You can build your own platform real cheap and you are set.

Perp

Well, I took the plunge and ordered a weight set of 205Kg with a cheap 20Kg bar and a Powerline squat rack/stand. The bar was almost free with the discounts on the weights for buying a set and I can get higher-rated bar later. A decent spare bar for curling is always handy, right?

All for a shade over £300 (~$575) which qualified me for a free adjustable stepper that I can use as a box for box-squats.

perp69 said:

The rubber plates sure would be nice to play with when doing the oly lifts. Those metal plates make an aweful lot of noise when dropped Go for it man. You can build your own platform real cheap and you are set.

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Now that's what I'm talking about Perp

The bars I keep looking at are rated for 1500 pounds whereas the one that typically comes with the sets I've found are usually only rated for 700 pounds. You don't want the springiness you'd get trying to deadlift 500 on a 700-pound-rated bar or trying to walk out a bendy bar from your squat rack.

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Yeah those 700lb rated bars just won't cut it And the bumpers should be great for touch 'n go deads.

blut wump said:

Well, I took the plunge and ordered a weight set of 205Kg with a cheap 20Kg bar and a Powerline squat rack/stand. The bar was almost free with the discounts on the weights for buying a set and I can get higher-rated bar later. A decent spare bar for curling is always handy, right?

All for a shade over £300 (~$575) which qualified me for a free adjustable stepper that I can use as a box for box-squats.

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Hope I wasn't a bad influence - what's the squat rack like? Similar to the IM one?

Pretty similar squat stand except that the vertical range is slightly different and the Vulcan also lets you vary the width.

Actually your post gave me thought to Google for squat stands and I found a place where I could get all of the above for £3 less than I had been looking at for just the bar and plates. Basically, a free squat stand and free box/stepper. Now I'm agonizing that I didn't get bumper plates but they were way more expensive.

A home gym consisting of a power rack + barbell/bumper set is indispensable if you have any sort of a "busy" life. I couldn't feasibly lift w/out it.

I can't help much b/c you've already looked at midwestbarbell, which was going to be my suggestion. For anyone that cares, a place called Gill is selling ridiculously cheap bumper plates. $75/pair, not including shipping. http://www.gillathletics.com/GillItemView.aspx?FSID=WT2820