Equipment Crew- Part IV

[Deep-Voiced-One]

My equipment brain logic tells me that I can use the "savings" from not going with the Rogue to justify something like the Powertec leg press, because $1300 - $700 = $1399, or something.

Yo Murph, 10% off Labor Day weekend sale on the Powertec website if you wanted to claim the leg press.

Thanks for the heads up, picked up the Ultimate Row Handle.

No prob, good you got to score a discount on it. Looks like a cool attachment.

[thedickus]

Titan Fitness has their single post competition flat bench on sale through noon on Sunday for $99.97. No coupon code, just flash sale price, close to half off if anyone is looking for a flat bench. Can't remember if Titan charges shipping or not, I know IronMaster doesn't.

[murphyreedus]

Yo Murph, 10% off Labor Day weekend sale on the Powertec website if you wanted to claim the leg press.

Not a machine I ever thought I would own, but someone was getting rid of a Powerline vertical leg press, so I am giving it a whirl. I will say, despite the obvious cheaper construction, lack of adjustability, and stupid safety design, I don't hate the feel of the movement itself. The Powertec is not off the table and is still what I'd go with if I buy new, but if a heavier duty vertical leg press shows up on the used market I might have to bite.

[C123C]

Looks like the spam is under control? Hoping. Haven't been around much due to schedule but when I've checked it's been out of hand. Board looks clean and hoping it stays.

Just started a strength phase recently so gym will be getting better and more focused use. No new adds since the FTX a couple years ago. Always pondering more bars (Marrs or maybe an American Barbell Power Bar - shiny) but more a luxury/whim than any kind of need as I have plenty.

Hope you all are well.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Not a machine I ever thought I would own, but someone was getting rid of a Powerline vertical leg press, so I am giving it a whirl. I will say, despite the obvious cheaper construction, lack of adjustability, and stupid safety design, I don't hate the feel of the movement itself. The Powertec is not off the table and is still what I'd go with if I buy new, but if a heavier duty vertical leg press shows up on the used market I might have to bite.

Right on! I never messed with vertical leg presses much myself, but they're a popular old school option and usually show up somewhat affordable on the market and if, or when you do go new the Powertec is really tough to beat.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Looks like the spam is under control? Hoping. Haven't been around much due to schedule but when I've checked it's been out of hand. Board looks clean and hoping it stays.

Just started a strength phase recently so gym will be getting better and more focused use. No new adds since the FTX a couple years ago. Always pondering more bars (Marrs or maybe an American Barbell Power Bar - shiny) but more a luxury/whim than any kind of need as I have plenty.

Hope you all are well.

The forums been staying real clean for a bit which is good and there seems to be a resurgence in posts little by little. AB's stainless steel bar offerings are nice and I like their smooth sleeves better than Rogue's ribbed ones, I've been curious how the bite on the AB's Chewy Bar's knurling is, the Elite Power Bar has a nice grip yet more passive knurling.

The Marrs Bar has been excellent to use and real comfortable to squat with...if I had one knock towards it it would be storing it, or if you train inside the rack with it along with a bar for other movements on the other side of the rack depending on the distance between the uprights it could eat up a bit of space in there other than that it's a solid bar and a daily driver in my routine.

[Mech6]

The Marrs Bar has been excellent to use and real comfortable to squat with...if I had one knock towards it it would be storing it, or if you train inside the rack with it along with a bar for other movements on the other side of the rack depending on the distance between the uprights it could eat up a bit of space in there other than that it's a solid bar and a daily driver in my routine.

lol, I think some of you get a bit spoiled . One advantage of using conjugate (max effort) for so long is you get used to changing out bars every session. I literally rotate 8 bars regularly just for squatting:
duffalo bar
squat bar
regular power bar when I use the harness
ssb
giant cambered bar
transformer bar
spider bar
rogue cb4

If I were you I'd just take the bar out of the rack when done using it and not worry about storing it in there.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

lol, I think some of you get a bit spoiled . One advantage of using conjugate (max effort) for so long is you get used to changing out bars every session. I literally rotate 8 bars regularly just for squatting:
duffalo bar
squat bar
regular power bar when I use the harness
ssb
giant cambered bar
transformer bar
spider bar
rogue cb4

If I were you I'd just take the bar out of the rack when done using it and not worry about storing it in there.

I'm so cramped of space in the garage that it's my only option...it's bad enough that most of my speciality bars have to be butted up against the wall at angle when not in use and the Marrs Bar would be an absolute nightmare to store that way lol.

[radrd]

I'm so cramped of space in the garage that it's my only option...it's bad enough that most of my speciality bars have to be butted up against the wall at angle when not in use and the Marrs Bar would be an absolute nightmare to store that way lol.

I'm still finding that hanging it from the ceiling is my ideal solution. It's entirely out of the way when not in use and standing on a plyo box to get it down is no big deal.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I'm still finding that hanging it from the ceiling is my ideal solution. It's entirely out of the way when not in use and standing on a plyo box to get it down is no big deal.

I think you and Mech have the right idea with storing the Marrs Bar higher, I was looking at these Darko anchors that are lined with UHMW (a bit pricey, but might be a good storage solution in tight spaces).

They have two styles, the anchor style up top...

https://darkolifting.com/products/the-barbell-anchor

Or the dock style as a single, or double hook...

https://darkolifting.com/products/the-dock-5-8in

I'll probably still go with some spotter arms for the outside of the rack, but these might help with the switching around and tightness in the rack.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I gotta say this new bar from BWTG looks awesome with all its versatility...

https://www.blackwidowtg.com/Viking_..._p/vhs-bar.htm

[TheDude8734]

I gotta say this new bar from BWTG looks awesome with all its versatility...

https://www.blackwidowtg.com/Viking_..._p/vhs-bar.htm

Been a fan of BWTG for a lonngg time - haven't had the budget to buy anything from my longstanding wish list, but I will at some point.

[Samraiwise]

Please welcome these new crew members!...

78 TheDude8734
79 radrd
80 Deep-Voiced-One
81 grumpytude
82 thedickus
83 C123C
84 EricAtl
85 murphyreedus

As to how these names were selected - I went through the public nominations from about a year ago and eliminated anyone who hadn't posted to some Workout Equipment thread over the past year.

Where have you been my old friend, missed you so much!

[KBKB]

Where have you been my old friend, missed you so much!

I haven't been posting here much, but I've still been physically active, or at least am trying to be.

During the early years of the pandemic, I did a lot of solo hiking, at one point averaging 10 miles a day over a 100 day period - that was for a local 100 day challenge. The challenge was do hike 100 miles in 100 days, which, if you think about it, is pretty easy. That's only one mile per day. I did 1024 miles in 100 days. I didn't hike every day, so hikes on some days were over 10 miles. I think my longest day hike during that challenge was 16 miles.

I also purchased a new mountain bike, a 2023 Ibis RipMo. So I've been doing some mountain biking too, though a lot less than I used to. (There was a time where I would ride most days of the week, averaging 15 miles per day.)

But, unfortunately, I've had some recent problems with my health. Early this year, I was hospitalized for a pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the blood vessels going through the lungs). So much of 2023 so far has been dealing with the aftermath from that event. I'm still mountain biking, but I'm also on blood thinners now, so I have to be really careful. I'm also still walking / hiking. Over the hot months here in central AZ, I've been mainly walking, perhaps averaging 5 miles a day. When the temps cool down some more, I'll do more mountain biking.

[murphyreedus]

Has anyone picked up a set of these LeMaster plates?

Can't decide if I'd laugh too much every time I put more plates on and the poor guy's richard shrunk a little more.

https://lemasterbarbell.com/product/...es-45lbs-pair/

Early this year, I was hospitalized for a pulmonary embolism (blood clots in the blood vessels going through the lungs). So much of 2023 so far has been dealing with the aftermath from that event.

Sorry to hear that, glad that it sounds like you're recovering.

[murphyreedus]

spider bar

Did you end up building one?

[Mech6]

Did you end up building one?

Yes I did. Took my old rackable cambered bar (made myself but basically same as rogue or titan models), welded 2x 1-1/8"OD x 15" handles on it and bought a kabuki foam and vinyl sleeve "replacement kit" for their transfomer bar to make the yoke. Works fine. Thanks to all who helped with dimensions and such. I'll answer questions if needed.

[Greybird2]

Has anyone picked up a set of these LeMaster plates?

Can't decide if I'd laugh too much every time I put more plates on and the poor guy's richard shrunk a little more.

https://lemasterbarbell.com/product/...es-45lbs-pair/




Sorry to hear that, glad that it sounds like you're recovering.

I kind of like those plates

[C123C]

lol, I think some of you get a bit spoiled . One advantage of using conjugate (max effort) for so long is you get used to changing out bars every session. I literally rotate 8 bars regularly just for squatting:
duffalo bar
squat bar
regular power bar when I use the harness
ssb
giant cambered bar
transformer bar
spider bar
rogue cb4

If I were you I'd just take the bar out of the rack when done using it and not worry about storing it in there.

Going to just admit that storing the Marrs bar is a point of resistance. With my SSB in my vertical 9 hole...it will require something else. While I'm at it, yeah I've become a bit of a bitch about changing bars. Sucks but that's where I seem to have arrived at sadly. Originally I wanted to have 2 racks in my gym just for this (I think it was JItaliani who did that, I know he has a lot of your stuff, haven't talked with him in ages but we've met up and hung out, need to get back in touch). Anyway, due to limiting dimensions I went with a Rogue 6 post with enough hooks and safeties to run a station up front but still not perfect for this.

Anyway - hope you and everyone else are good. I dropped some weight over the past two years (on purpose - want to stay under low 240s now) and trying to push on my lifts some as I have some good margin before hitting my weight threshold.

[Mech6]

Going to just admit that storing the Marrs bar is a point of resistance. With my SSB in my vertical 9 hole...it will require something else. While I'm at it, yeah I've become a bit of a bitch about changing bars. Sucks but that's where I seem to have arrived at sadly. Originally I wanted to have 2 racks in my gym just for this (I think it was JItaliani who did that, I know he has a lot of your stuff, haven't talked with him in ages but we've met up and hung out, need to get back in touch). Anyway, due to limiting dimensions I went with a Rogue 6 post with enough hooks and safeties to run a station up front but still not perfect for this.

Anyway - hope you and everyone else are good. I dropped some weight over the past two years (on purpose - want to stay under low 240s now) and trying to push on my lifts some as I have some good margin before hitting my weight threshold.

Marss bar seems like a pain to move/store but I'll tell you nothing is worse to get in and out of a rack than an 80 lbs spider bar, especially if you have to grab it from the side of the yoke, with the damn handles digging into you. First world problems...
For storage, all of my bars are in single row vertical storage, along a wall. You just have to tetris them in there so they fit. As an example, the ssb is next to the cambered bar so the yoke from the ssb fits in the "gap" left by the camber of the other bar. It really wouldn't work in a 3x3 holder like you have. The trap bar is on the floor behind the water heater, lol, because, well, it's a trap bar. I use it twice a year.

[murphyreedus]

but I'll tell you nothing is worse to get in and out of a rack than an 80 lbs spider bar, especially if you have to grab it from the side of the yoke, with the damn handles digging into you. First world problems...

I don't even remember which spider bar I sent you dimensions on, but the first spider bar I had was 70 or 80 pounds, and a PITA to move in and out of the rack. My current Edge Fitness spider bar is right around 45 pounds and feels even lighter when moving it around the gym. I had to weigh it when I first got it because I didn't think there was any way it was close to the advertised 45 pounds.

Originally I wanted to have 2 racks in my gym just for this (I think it was JItaliani who did that,

I did this for quite a while. Originally it was because my wife was lifting at the same time and we'd always be in each other's way, but now 95% of my lifting happens on my lunch break (WFH job), so the more I can have staged ahead of time, the better. Devoting that much real estate to racks (plus the clearance needed to load and use a 7' bar) sucked, though, and I'm happy now with my single rack + spotter arms setup.

I have 3 9 bar holders spread across the gym, and store most of my bars and log in them. I only squat once a week during the non-Winter months, so whatever bar I'm squatting with usually sits in the rack all week. I set up my Ultra Pro rack with spotter arms/hooks on the front, so I can do any "off hooks" pressing there. The 9 bar holders are definitely not as convenient as wall gun racks for specialty bars, but I like that I don't need to leave 7-8' of real estate open in front of them to be able to move things in and out.

Someone needs to come up with a rotary/lazy susan bar rack, so I can be lazy and put my bars in however I want, and just spin the rack to bring the bar i want to the front.

[murphyreedus]

I kind of like those plates

I do as well - they look pretty good with a nice paint job on the dude, too. Their blemished plates are 13% off, not sure if that's enough of a discount to risk it though.

[josephdanial]

You need a good rack, a bench, and a 300-lb Olympic weight set. Now, what was your question?

[urbanlifter]

If anyone has been on the lookout for the illusive 5lb Rogue plates to go with your DD's, they are back I stock today! I've been checking on them for a long while, finally snagged a couple pairs.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

If anyone has been on the lookout for the illusive 5lb Rogue plates to go with your DD's, they are back I stock today! I've been checking on them for a long while, finally snagged a couple pairs.

I seen that lol, luckily I got two pairs of the 5s a ways back...funny enough they still never stocked the 2.5 lbs to complete the sets and yet they had the smaller fractional plates in stock not too long ago. It's a very dicely set to complete!

[urbanlifter]

I seen that lol, luckily I got two pairs of the 5s a ways back...funny enough they still never stocked the 2.5 lbs to complete the sets and yet they had the smaller fractional plates in stock not too long ago. It's a very dicely set to complete!

Dicey indeed! I had to get a pair of 2.5lb plates from Strength Co, they pair pretty nicely with the Rogue set. Just happy to get the 5's, maybe in 30-40 years my complete set with Arnold 45's will be ultra rare LOL

[Michiganian]

So... I'm back to pondering a Rogue Echo Bike again

The thing just calls to me, for some reason. I think part of it is I want some variation in my cardio, as I have with my lifting. I'll just wait for one to show up nearby on FB Marketplace or CL and go check it out.

Or maybe a Schwinn Airdyne AD7 if one of those shows up nearby at the right price.

That is unless the IM SuperBench Pro v2 goes on sale before that happens, in which case that'll probably be my next upgrade--which will pretty much blow my gym upgrade budget for the rest of the year.

[RestoringTally]

I've been mostly lurking for the past year or two. It is good to see familiar names posting.

My workout space is all filled up, so I have not bought anything lately. I am using as much of my equipment as possible, though.

I recently did Lyle McDonald's PSMF diet and lost 16 lbs in a few weeks. Eating more normal now and maintaining. I feel much better.

[urbanlifter]

What's up RT, good to see you are still hanging around!

[Michiganian]

Just reached out to the guy with the "FML" Rogue Echo Bike advert. Asked if it was still available and the price negotiable. Still don't know if this is the way I want to go. Figure the only way to know is actually try one.

I think if I try it, like it, and we can reach a reasonable compromise on his asking price I'll snag it.