Home benches

[jack sparrow]

My gym membership is going to run out in Nov, and I'm not gonna renew...instead I'm gonna build a home gym. I see lots of advertisements in the musclemags, but don't really know where to start.

Any suggestions?

 

[Studdg]

Garage sales are a great starting point. My old roommate got a great bench and weight set for cheap that way.

 

[bassman]

Power Rack w/chin up attachment, good bench, olympic barbell, 300lbs of olympic plates.

That would be a good start. Some fitness stores will offer the above as a package.

 

[redguru]

My gym membership is going to run out in Nov, and I'm not gonna renew...instead I'm gonna build a home gym. I see lots of advertisements in the musclemags, but don't really know where to start.

Any suggestions?

New York Barbells

Great site, decent prices. If nothing else, will give you ideas of what the costs involved will be. I went back to a gym, because the cost of AC in my garage was higher than a gym membership.

 

[bignate73]

i agree on the nybb site. good stuff for decent prices. as for weights, best bet would be to find them at a sporting goods store. they usually have a cheap package deal for 300lbs. weight is weight so you can't go wrong. if you try to order them online, shipping will eat you alive.

 

[HaZaRDouZ]

this is where the old saying goes "you can never know enough people". A few of my buddies know how to weld, one of my friends made himself a BADASS olympic bench and a nice ass squat/power rack with pullup bar. basically if u got a friend that is good at welding, you can make this happen for CHEAP.

 

[anotherbutters]

Keep your eye out on ebay. A lot of it's the cheap plastic weights, but you occasionally get a good bench and set of oly plates when someone's moving house and no longer has the space. I picked up a good bench and 300lb of weights for about half of retail.

 

[musketeer]

Power Rack w/chin up attachment, good bench, olympic barbell, 300lbs of olympic plates.

That would be a good start. Some fitness stores will offer the above as a package.

This would be my call. Add a couple of olympic size dumbell handles (or powerblocks up to the max weight if you can afford). Perhaps some angled dipping bars and make sure that the bench is adjustable.

Get propper flooring put down (2" rubberized matting) and get a BIG mirror that does not distort.

Lighting is important because it affects your mood - they should be bright but not bare or glaring.

I recon that if you get quality stuff, all of the above will run you $1500-3000 depending on how you shop around, but discount the cost of membership for a few years, and you quickly see the sense. I loved training at home because you can control the atmosphere completely and also dont waste time on the commute.

 

[Guinness5.0]

What kind of budget? I could link some pretty kickass stuff but most of it's kinda pricey (I like to daydream about the home gym I'm gonna build when I buy a house )

 

[Cynical Simian]

Power Rack w/chin up attachment, good bench, olympic barbell, 300lbs of olympic plates.

That would be a good start. Some fitness stores will offer the above as a package.

I'm really happy with this setup (with a PowerTec Utility Bench and Power Rack) so far. You can get PowerTec stuff with free shipping from quite a few online equipment stores. Try to get weights/bars locally since shipping costs can be pretty high if you buy online; garage sales or stores like Play It Again would be good bets for cheap used sets. If you prefer regular dumbbells to adjustable ones, Play It Again (again) or The Sports Authority are probably the cheapest options.

 

[jack sparrow]

What kind of budget? I could link some pretty kickass stuff but most of it's kinda pricey (I like to daydream about the home gym I'm gonna build when I buy a house )

Probably in the neighborhood of 1500-2000 or so, lots of good suggestions on this thread...I'll be looking into all of them over the next couple of weeks. One cool thing is, the mirrors were free...my buddy just gave me two 3x6 & 1/2 foot mirrors that used to be closet doors...theres a few chips on the edges, but that aint a big deal.

Red, I never thought of that aspect of it....something to think about.

 

[Guinness5.0]

http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?cid=167

Check out the 'build your own rack' part. Also, th GID rack combo is what I had my eye on, but it's around 2700 (fuggin sweet though).

 

[H_T_]

bro, are you in GR? i forget. but i know there are some local distributors in mich. wate-man is one....

 

[mayhems]

a decent set of dumbbells, at least 2 sets of 45s 1 set of 35 1 of 25 2 sets of 10 1 set of 5s

a power rack and a good adjustable bench is all you'll need to start out.. also a dip bar could be very useful

 

[AhMadKooL]

check out this sight for the basic equipment:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/matt38.htm