Pic's and discussion of your "Home Gym"

[Malve1]

Wider space? There's no difference in width between a squat rack and a power rack.

Somehow I had it in my head that the cages were narrower. Thanks. Never the less, the squat rack will work well for our needs. Interestingly, I could have done without either but my wife really wanted a squat rack. I suppose I should be grateful for that.

[LadyLore420]

Closing on a home soon(USA) and looking to expand my garage gym into the basement. I want to buy this item:



It's less than $900 with shipping and meets everything I want besides a barbell and a cycle for some thunder thighs.

Trying to figure out if it's better to build a weight lifting/deadlift platform to do olympic weightlifting on or to just pad the cement floor. I don't lift heavy, most I've ever pulled is 300 and I won't be dropping more than 100kg from overhead anytime soon.

Has anyone fiddled with a home exercise cycle connected to a stater or an alternator to produce power? I'm doing a solar roof and will have the grid set up to accept extra power. There's no youtube videos I can find on connection something like this to your home grid

So very excited to finally get my first bit of land with my name on it. Wooot!

[rlundregan]

Closing on a home soon(USA) and looking to expand my garage gym into the basement. I want to buy this item:



It's less than $900 with shipping and meets everything I want besides a barbell and a cycle for some thunder thighs.

Trying to figure out if it's better to build a weight lifting/deadlift platform to do olympic weightlifting on or to just pad the cement floor. I don't lift heavy, most I've ever pulled is 300 and I won't be dropping more than 100kg from overhead anytime soon.

Has anyone fiddled with a home exercise cycle connected to a stater or an alternator to produce power? I'm doing a solar roof and will have the grid set up to accept extra power. There's no youtube videos I can find on connection something like this to your home grid

So very excited to finally get my first bit of land with my name on it. Wooot!

Congrats on the new digs!

Assuming that you are using bumpers for Oly moves and deadlifts, you should be OK with laying stall mats on the floor. You might consider a layer of 3/4 inch plywood under the mat if you occasionally drop a deadlift.

[LadyLore420]

Congrats on the new digs!

Assuming that you are using bumpers for Oly moves and deadlifts, you should be OK with laying stall mats on the floor. You might consider a layer of 3/4 inch plywood under the mat if you occasionally drop a deadlift.

Isn't ply wood cheap and won't it warp and make the footing uneven?

[rlundregan]

Isn't ply wood cheap and won't it warp and make the footing uneven?

Have you tried to pick up and carry a stall mat? They weigh about 100 lbs.

The plywood might warp a little over time, but not as much as you think, especially with a 100 lb chunk-o-rubber sitting on it.

I guess the bigger problem with that plan would be to make sure that the stall mat would be "slick" enough for you to do Olympic moves on it. That would present a problem with some of my mats, and not with others. It depends on what Tractor Supply Company happens to be stocking at the moment.

I suppose that you may want to build a platform if the rubber would be too grippy.

[AttyGuy]

Closing on a home soon(USA) and looking to expand my garage gym into the basement. I want to buy this item:



It's less than $900 with shipping and meets everything I want besides a barbell and a cycle for some thunder thighs.

Wait, what is this piece of equipment?

Congratulations on the new home and on building a home gym. If you have the room, and can do it right, you'll be so glad you did.

[LadyLore420]

Wait, what is this piece of equipment?

Congratulations on the new home and on building a home gym. If you have the room, and can do it right, you'll be so glad you did.

It's a unilateral quad extension. I love a deep quad burn more than anything else and nothing beats total exhaustion of each individual leg. It's like bicep curls but for lower body! So few gyms have them but whenever I'm at a new gym and they have one I just sit there and do drop sets till I can't walk. Srsly these things rock. Then when you've done all you can possibly do and 5lbs per leg feels too heavy, you go and do some snatches and sit at the bottom every rep summoning the will power to bounce out the hole. Like srsly you won't discover your dirty mouth till you try squatting after a quad burnout.

Who squats a ton of weight but loves quad extensions? ----> this girl.

I would seriously be typing this on a laptop on that machine if I had it. A throne fit for a squat queen if there ever was one.

Yep, a little obsessed. The lulz is real.

[EctoPhil]

You guys have plenty of space and awesome equipment! I'm limited by both and on a budget So I've made a ghetto cable crunch machine with a climbing pulley and ropes: total cost was 33 euros.




It's not as smooth as I'd like it to be and I need to work on the form -probably need to raise the handling ropes a bit- but it works. I think.

[Squats49]

Panoramic view of current spare bedroom setup:

[THErunCMD]

Looks good Squats! Great use of a spare room if I do say so myself!

[BuildingMAS]

Nice setup Squats; would you mind sharing the width/length of that room? I think I have a similar amount of space and would like to fit a similar rack in it. Thanks.

[nnclark11]

How do you like the scorpion bench? Worth the space it consumes? You feel it hits the core differently?

[Squats49]

Nice setup Squats; would you mind sharing the width/length of that room? I think I have a similar amount of space and would like to fit a similar rack in it. Thanks.

Room is about 10 x 12

[Squats49]

How do you like the scorpion bench? Worth the space it consumes? You feel it hits the core differently?

I'm still getting used to it (just moved it in) but would need to know what you mean by differently to really answer the question well- In general, I do find stability ball work to have that unique stabilizing component to it (go figure) so, yea, I guess so....I had a GHD the last 3 years that I did like but I wasn't crazy about (due to pad shape) and with limited space I believed that the scorpion would be more compact and also more versatile so I traded the ghd for it.

[Malve1]

Still waiting on some equipment and deciding what's next:

The squat rack has arrived.

[vonschnapps]

Closing on a home soon(USA) and looking to expand my garage gym into the basement. I want to buy this item:



It's less than $900 with shipping and meets everything I want besides a barbell and a cycle for some thunder thighs.

Trying to figure out if it's better to build a weight lifting/deadlift platform to do olympic weightlifting on or to just pad the cement floor. I don't lift heavy, most I've ever pulled is 300 and I won't be dropping more than 100kg from overhead anytime soon.

Has anyone fiddled with a home exercise cycle connected to a stater or an alternator to produce power? I'm doing a solar roof and will have the grid set up to accept extra power. There's no youtube videos I can find on connection something like this to your home grid

So very excited to finally get my first bit of land with my name on it. Wooot!

I train during the winter on a stationary set-up with a power meter. For a good workout I'm in the 220-250 Watt range, for a time trial I'm in the 300-350 watt range average, and that's only for about 30 minutes. Dont' know what it would take to 'charge' or transfer power to your grid, but it could save you the cost of using one light bulb for an hour!

[BuckeyeROC]

It's been a few years since I updated my home gym pics. I've since moved twice, including building our newest house. I've added some items since then, too.

Highlights:

-Hammer Strength Rack
-Hoist 4165 adjustable 1,000 lbs. rated bench with preacher curl and leg attachments
-Original Rogue Bar
-Sole E25 elliptical
-Body Solid Ab Bench
-Body Solid 3 tier dumbbell rack
-Rubber hex dumbbells with contoured handles (10-35 in 5 lbs increments)
-T-bar Row on the Weight Tree
-Universal machine for Olympic plates with various attachments
-Olympic Dumbbell handles
-Power Hooks for dumbbells
-Olympic Curl bar
-2 Cap 45 lbs barbells
-Assorted Rogue and Lock-Jaw collars (the Lock Jaw Elites are very nice)
-Inzer Forever Belt - 2 prongs
-Ironmind Dip Belt
-5 Captains of Crush - Trainer through #3 (I use up to #2, but haven't even opened #3 yet)
-Fat Gripz
-2 sets of APT straps (1 set that I haven't even used yet)
-Horse Stall Mats for flooring

[BuckeyeROC]

Cont..

[g8rlaw]

I have been building my home gym for about a year now. It has been a fun project. I would say I that I have amassed a pretty good gym in that amount of time. My favorite piece of equipment is my Yoke (not shown below). I would have started doing this sooner but my wife and I did not have a garage.

Because of my passion for training and wanting to build my home gym, I started a company that delivers functional equipment, apparel, and full size supplements on a monthly bases. The equipment are things like foam rollers, abmats, Kettle bells, but it helps you build up the small equipment that you can take anywhere. (sorry for the plug). strengthcrate.com

Those chains look really thick. 3/4"? 1"? May I ask where you got them and how much they were?

[EricAtl]

I have been working my way thru this great thread, starting at about page 100, now on 176. There are just some incredible home gyms. I posted some pics in the Legendary thread and someone embedded for me. Today I added a Water Rower. Great rower, except there is a very annoying scraping noise from the clutch mechanism for the strap under the top plate. We'll see how customer service handles this. I'll post more when I get a rubber floor installed and when my Legend lat/ low row comes in.

[mmobley]

Very nice set up!

[ElrondHubbard]

Hi, folks. Hope this is the right thread...

I've been on a very tight budget since I started working out last October. All I had to begin with was a lightweight bench, an EZ-curl bar, and 250 lbs of standard plates, all stuff that my wife salvaged from various places when she used to clean up abandoned rental properties. Needless to say, squatting was out of the question. But I did make great progress in everything else, and blasted right through my beginner goals.

A couple of months ago, I finally got a straight bar and decided to try squatting. But there was no place to lift off from, and as weak as I still am at the overhead press, getting a significant load on my back was impossible. Finally I found some pictures of homemade wooden power racks, and decided to try my hand at one. I finally have one that works, and a heavier-duty bench to go with it. It's built almost completely of leftover wood and pipe from a previous construction project I did over the last few years. I spent a total of maybe $50 dollars on supplies, including primer.

I have no garage and no basement, so my workouts are outdoors by necessity. I do have a patio that's roomy enough, but since there's nothing to anchor the top of the rack onto, I figured I'd have to make it sturdy on the top and bottom.

powerrack.jpg

I put the EZ-curl bar on top of the rack for pullups. It works great for that.

pullupbar.jpg

My first of two main mistakes were making the rack just a little bit too wide once the metal corner strips were installed to protect the wood. I built one end of the rack with 2 x 6's glued and screwed together, and the other end, the part I'm using with my standard bar, made from 4 x 4 pieces. The inner width is the same for both. If I ever get an actual Olympic-size bar and plates, I'll shift everything to the 2 x 6 side.

My second big mistake was making the whole thing just a little too short to do overhead presses inside the rack. That's not too big a deal, though. I made a couple of brackets that I can hang on the side of the rack to set the bar at the right height for an OHP liftoff.

ohp_brackets.jpg

I've been using it for a week, and having safety bars at the right height makes a huge difference in my confidence. It allows me to push harder and be willing to risk failure, and I've already started seeing improvement in every lift I do from it. I had never squatted before in my life before now, and I'm really looking forward to finally getting some leg development. So far it feels very strong, and doesn't wobble or slide when I push the weights into it.

Anybody have any ideas, suggestions, for other exercises I could do with it? I feel like I can do a more complete routine now, although I'm going to stick with the basics for a while yet.

[eoakland]

Hi, folks. Hope this is the right thread...

I've been on a very tight budget since I started working out last October. All I had to begin with was a lightweight bench, an EZ-curl bar, and 250 lbs of standard plates, all stuff that my wife salvaged from various places when she used to clean up abandoned rental properties. Needless to say, squatting was out of the question. But I did make great progress in everything else, and blasted right through my beginner goals.

A couple of months ago, I finally got a straight bar and decided to try squatting. But there was no place to lift off from, and as weak as I still am at the overhead press, getting a significant load on my back was impossible. Finally I found some pictures of homemade wooden power racks, and decided to try my hand at one. I finally have one that works, and a heavier-duty bench to go with it. It's built almost completely of leftover wood and pipe from a previous construction project I did over the last few years. I spent a total of maybe $50 dollars on supplies, including primer.

I have no garage and no basement, so my workouts are outdoors by necessity. I do have a patio that's roomy enough, but since there's nothing to anchor the top of the rack onto, I figured I'd have to make it sturdy on the top and bottom.

Attachment 7820741

I put the EZ-curl bar on top of the rack for pullups. It works great for that.

Attachment 7820771

My first of two main mistakes were making the rack just a little bit too wide once the metal corner strips were installed to protect the wood. I built one end of the rack with 2 x 6's glued and screwed together, and the other end, the part I'm using with my standard bar, made from 4 x 4 pieces. The inner width is the same for both. If I ever get an actual Olympic-size bar and plates, I'll shift everything to the 2 x 6 side.

My second big mistake was making the whole thing just a little too short to do overhead presses inside the rack. That's not too big a deal, though. I made a couple of brackets that I can hang on the side of the rack to set the bar at the right height for an OHP liftoff.

Attachment 7820781

I've been using it for a week, and having safety bars at the right height makes a huge difference in my confidence. It allows me to push harder and be willing to risk failure, and I've already started seeing improvement in every lift I do from it. I had never squatted before in my life before now, and I'm really looking forward to finally getting some leg development. So far it feels very strong, and doesn't wobble or slide when I push the weights into it.

Anybody have any ideas, suggestions, for other exercises I could do with it? I feel like I can do a more complete routine now, although I'm going to stick with the basics for a while yet.

i love the wooden rack, it looks awesome, very hardcore =) the fact that you are able to workout outdoors is a major plus, love the view, it looks like you have some nice canyons/mountains in the background. keep up the good work. rep'd

[ElrondHubbard]

i love the wooden rack, it looks awesome, very hardcore =) the fact that you are able to workout outdoors is a major plus, love the view, it looks like you have some nice canyons/mountains in the background. keep up the good work. rep'd

Thanks, eoakland. Working out outdoors is usually very pleasant, especially considering the past winter here was pretty mild. You got to do it pretty early in the day during the summer -- today's forecast is for 110!

And yeah, the mountains are pretty spellbinding!

[AttyGuy]

Dude, that is awesome. You mentioned it might be too wide, but you can always narrow it. As for exercises, what more do you need besides bench, squat, deadlift, press, and pullups? Maybe some arm curls and some dips. . . .

[ElrondHubbard]

Dude, that is awesome. You mentioned it might be too wide, but you can always narrow it. As for exercises, what more do you need besides bench, squat, deadlift, press, and pullups? Maybe some arm curls and some dips. . . .

Thanks, man. Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out a way to include dips. I don't think I'm that advanced yet. My curls equivalent is coming from chinups. I do two sets of those after three sets of pullups. Just last week started doing them weighted, adding about 25 pounds. That's intense.

I have to say that using this rack I have so much more confidence it really does help me progress. Without the fear of failure and dropping the weights I can push harder and try to get that extra rep that before I wasn't sure about. It's working, and I'm psyched. Even the stuff that doesn't use the rack, like deadlifts, I find I'm hitting harder.

[deiphid]

Moving suuuuucks... this is 2 of about 5 van or trailer loads, and I'm still not done. Any fellow home gym owners feel my pain?



Brand new OM series Ivankos showed up to brighten my mood while at the same time adding to the workload lol.

[Stasher1]

Moving suuuuucks... this is 2 of about 5 van or trailer loads, and I'm still not done. Any fellow home gym owners feel my pain?

I'll be doing the same thing in a few weeks, if everything goes well. My house is sold and I have until 7/24 to get out, but we're having issues with the "new" house. Not looking forward to the move, to be honest.

[Domicron]

Thanks, man. Yeah, I'm still trying to figure out a way to include dips. I don't think I'm that advanced yet. My curls equivalent is coming from chinups. I do two sets of those after three sets of pullups. Just last week started doing them weighted, adding about 25 pounds. That's intense.

I have to say that using this rack I have so much more confidence it really does help me progress. Without the fear of failure and dropping the weights I can push harder and try to get that extra rep that before I wasn't sure about. It's working, and I'm psyched. Even the stuff that doesn't use the rack, like deadlifts, I find I'm hitting harder.

imo if you have the space, and it looks like you do, just build yourself a small little dip station. or maybe hang some olympic rings and do olympic ring dips.

[ElrondHubbard]

imo if you have the space, and it looks like you do, just build yourself a small little dip station. or maybe hang some olympic rings and do olympic ring dips.

I never thought of hanging rings. Now I'm thinking!