16 years old - building a home gym

[FMCMuscle]

I am interested in building a home gym in my garage. Right now I have a bench, and a power tower (dips, pull ups, etc). I am out growing the bench and I can lift all of the weight I have in some exercises (deadlifts, squats). For Christmas I received a lot of money, and I was looking to spend $500 (max) on doing this. I have looked around and think a nice new bench, a sumo rack, and an Olympic barbell and weight set would be all I need to continue sculpting an aesthetically pleasing body! In you guys' opinion, will I be able to find all of these things on my budget? Using all tools in my disposal - newspaper, craigslist, etc. Any suggestions and what not would be greatly appreciated.

[AaronCF]

Craigs List is your best friend right now. Watch it closely, pull the trigger on EVERYTHING you need in one listing. $500 will more than do it.

Be patient.

[buffbrown21]

Craigs List is your best friend right now. Watch it closely, pull the trigger on EVERYTHING you need in one listing. $500 will more than do it.

Be patient.

2nd this.

[FMCMuscle]

Craigs List is your best friend right now. Watch it closely, pull the trigger on EVERYTHING you need in one listing. $500 will more than do it.

Be patient.

Alright. And do you think I should buy everything from craigslist? Not buy anything new...? Just by looking around on BB.com and other sites, racks can cost over $1000!

[buffbrown21]

Alright. And do you think I should buy everything from craigslist? Not buy anything new...? Just by looking around on BB.com and other sites, racks can cost over $1000!

Buy as much quality stuff used from craigslist as you can. There is really no need to buy new, imo.
I have found some incredible deals on CL and obviously, at the cost, you can get much much more.

[deseee]

check my sig

[eb02z06]

The only REAL must haves in my opinion:

Rack of some sort with spotter bars
Adjustable bench
Olympic bar and weight set, clips/collars
Ab/Dip/Pull up station

Nice to haves:
Dumbbell set with rack
Preacher curl attachment or standalone
Leg press
Leg extension/curl
Mirrors (Home depot or CL)

You can do a lot of great routines (5x5s) with just the 'must have' equipment listed above. And hell YES to shopping exclusively on craigslist. Check out my home gym thread - 90% of that was from CL. Took about 2 months to gather everything. Good luck and have fun.

[HardKore79]

With only $300, I have picked up two weight sets in the past. Both included a very nice power rack, nice benches and a ton of weights with it. BUT, you have to be patient to get the deals.

[FMCMuscle]

check my sig

Thanks, that looks helpful.

The only REAL must haves in my opinion:

Rack of some sort with spotter bars
Adjustable bench
Olympic bar and weight set, clips/collars
Ab/Dip/Pull up station

Nice to haves:
Dumbbell set with rack
Preacher curl attachment or standalone
Leg press
Leg extension/curl
Mirrors (Home depot or CL)

You can do a lot of great routines (5x5s) with just the 'must have' equipment listed above. And hell YES to shopping exclusively on craigslist. Check out my home gym thread - 90% of that was from CL. Took about 2 months to gather everything. Good luck and have fun.

I feel the same way. I have the tower already for dips, pull ups, abs and that has been awesome. I think all I need for me to look as good as I can is a bench/rack to squat along with barbell and weights.

With only $300, I have picked up two weight sets in the past. Both included a very nice power rack, nice benches and a ton of weights with it. BUT, you have to be patient to get the deals.

Cool, I will continue to be vigilant on CL. I need to clean up the garage anyway so I will have plenty of time to scout.



Thanks everyone!