My own home gym evolution (part 2)

[C123C]

Looks great. Platform came out especially nice. Nicely done video tour as well.

[alexthaman]

Looks great. Platform came out especially nice. Nicely done video tour as well.

thanks, the platform was a pain to level, it is 2 inches high on one side and on the floor on the other side...
I am no videographer for sure but i thought it might bring a better experience with some commentaries and descriptions. Even if my english is not the best, it is better than a video with no sound... I have posted a lot of pictures but a video is better to see the flow and more details

[gym62richard]

thanks, the platform was a pain to level, it is 2 inches high on one side and on the floor on the other side...
I am no videographer for sure but i thought it might bring a better experience with some commentaries and descriptions. Even if my english is not the best, it is better than a video with no sound... I have posted a lot of pictures but a video is better to see the flow and more details

I really enjoyed your video walk through, my partner also enjoyed listening, she loved that French accent.

[Mech6]

I really enjoyed your video walk through, my partner also enjoyed listening, she loved that French accent.

lol. I've heard way worse, especially where Alex and I actually live. Not the most urban area.

[AlexMarry]

All are waoo, I was also planning for the same. But due to some reasons, i was unable to execute that plan. But after seeing your gym images i finally decided to execute it. Thankx Buddy

[alexthaman]

The latest evolution of my own home gym has finally come to an end.

I have bought a magnum lat pulldown/ low row combo MG-946 to replace my bodysolid combo.

Fully refurbished it. Sandblast and new powder coat. Ordered new stickers and new parts to replace the damaged parts. Added some plastic between stack plates as they were metal on metal, made it a silent stack. Brand new upholstery from Atlantis as the original ones from Matrix (they have bought Magnum) were +500$. Matrix replacement parts are way too expensive by the way and the delays to receive new ones are crazy, 2 months for stickers and plastic parts...

All in, it came to the same price that what i had for my bodysolid combo when i have sold it.

[Greybird2]

Really nice! I like the way that one is designed. Longer seat for low rows, and looks like a nice stretch for pulldowns. How is it compared to the Body Solid?

[alexthaman]

Really nice! I like the way that one is designed. Longer seat for low rows, and looks like a nice stretch for pulldowns. How is it compared to the Body Solid?

Honestly, it is day and night. I would say that the bodysolid pro club lat pulldown/mid row slm-300g3 that i had was more an high end residential unit and this one is a full commercial unit. The only thing i dont like about this one are the guide rods for the weight stack and the weight stack itself. The rods are 5/8 in diameter, i dont understand why companies use less than 1 inch. Atlantis uses 1 inch and their weight stacks are unbeatable. Bodysolid stack was using 3/4 rods but they were closer together compared to the magnum so the stack was more unstable. I also prefer the knee pads of magnum vs the rollers from bodysolid. It uses more floor square footage as it has a longer seat.

[alexthaman]

Finally, the last upgrade of my Bodycraft smith club. Bought it new from Bodycraft in 2012. In 2014, I added a set of upright in front to stabilize it and to make it a half rack so i could do my benching out there. In 2016 added another uprights set in front to use my dumbbell spotters on the uprights on the back with the counter balance. But i did not have enough space in front to bench out there so i was always benching between both uprights sets which was a pain to move the bars in and out.

So i decided to remove the front uprights, move them to the back of the smith and use them for plate storage. Pretty happy with the end result. But this thing was a money pit. Probably the most expensive piece of equipment of my whole gym

2012 version


2014 version


2016 version



2020 version

[Greybird2]

Do you still use the smith part of that rack? I always wondered about that horizontal movement. Is it worth having or just meh?

[alexthaman]

Do you still use the smith part of that rack? I always wondered about that horizontal movement. Is it worth having or just meh?

Honestly, I never use it. I use the up and down as a regular smith but i never use the front to back movement. You can lock it so it does not move. I would say that for someone who does not have any rack, it would get used. But with all the equipment i have, i never see any use for it... Maybe for lunges...

[thedickus]

Honestly, I never use it. I use the up and down as a regular smith but i never use the front to back movement. You can lock it so it does not move. I would say that for someone who does not have any rack, it would get used. But with all the equipment i have, i never see any use for it... Maybe for lunges...

I've never used a Smith machine that had the horizontal plane like that, but I agree. I couldn't see much use for it except for lunges. To me it does away with what I feel is the main benefit of the Smith machine and that's just to focus on the up and down fixed plane and getting into the groove and pounding out the reps. Even on bent over barbell rows on my Smith, I kind of rock my body back on forth and concentrate on the contraction, but I suppose it would be good on bent over rowing also.

[MajorTendonitis]

Dam that is bad@ss !
Liking your store wall idea also . How do you like the leg /hack squat press ? I’d like to invest in one ,but they all seem too small

[alexthaman]

Dam that is bad@ss !
Liking your store wall idea also . How do you like the leg /hack squat press ? I’d like to invest in one ,but they all seem too small

Which leg hack squat press are you talking about... the bodycraft?

[grumpytude]

I always get the itch to buy gym equipment when I look at yours, I need to stop looking at it.
good job as always.

[C123C]

I always get the itch to buy gym equipment when I look at yours, I need to stop looking at it.
good job as always.

Same issue. All the silver/black color scheme, Mech6's stuff, and solid décor too. Top tier setup in every single metric I can think of.

Super inspirational Alex.

[Greybird2]

If I lived near Quebec, i would have to hire Alex to re-model my house.

[Markype]

That thread gave me a boner.

[MajorTendonitis]

Which leg hack squat press are you talking about... the bodycraft?

Yes,that’s the only one I noticed . Ok I see you also bought another one and had it modified . Great idea enlarging the foot plate

[alexthaman]

Yes,that’s the only one I noticed . Ok I see you also bought another one and had it modified . Great idea enlarging the foot plate

For the Bodycraft F660, it is not a bad machine, as far as combo leg press/hack squat, in my opinion, it is the best out there. The linear bearings are smoother than regular wheels on the Bodysolid and Northern lights (these are the only ones i have tried so far) and it has a really small footprint. It also has a pad for donkey hack squat or donkey calf raises.

On the other side it does have a lot of flaws: no enough ROM on the hack squats, you cant go to full bottom bolow 90deg, on the leg press it has a small footplate, there is also a weird grinding noise coming from the linear bearings. You can’t do calf raises on the leg press because of the guide rods and the block is not on the perfect spot on the hack squat platform so it really hurts the knees and the feet doing them out there.

With my experience with gym equipment, all combo machines have so compromises. You can’t have a machine that is perfect for 2 or more completely different exercises. I have had 2 combo lying leg curl/ leg extensions, 1 combo seated leg curl/ leg extensions, a pec dec/rear delt and this leg press/ hack squat and i there is always at least 1 of the 2 exercises that is far from being perfect.

I think it is best to miss one exercise than having it with poor mechanics... i mean if you have only the room for 1 machine, you should choose either a leg press either a hack squat... or make room to buy both like i did

[alexthaman]

2020 has been the most challenging year for most of us. Sometimes, the misfortunes of some make the happiness of others. A lot of gyms were forced to shutdown, for some time or forever. The gym equipment market has exploded like never before. Here is the list of my 2020 home gym evolutions:

- Rogue TB1 Trap Bar ➡️ Prime fitness Trap bar with 3 handles kit
- Hoist RPL-5356 hack squat/deadlift ➡️ Powerbody PowerCore Elite Hack squat
- Hoist RPL-5403 Dual action leg press ➡️ Atlantis C-201 Pivot Press
- Powerbody Leg extension/prone leg curl ➡️ Atlantis PE-106 lying leg curl
- Bodysolid Pro Clubline Lat/Mid Row ➡️ Magnum Lat/Low Row MG-946
- Rogue SB-1 Safety squat bar ➡️ Kabuki Transformer bar
- Assault Classic air bike ➡️ Concept 2 rower model D
⬇️ Bodycraft F660 leg press/ hack squat
⬇️ Hoist HD-3900 Pec fly/ Rear delt
⬆️ Kabuki Kadillac bar
⬆️ Kabuki Shoulderok
⬆️ Rogue deadlift bar
⬆️ York rack platform
⬆️ Bodycraft smith club storage pins and update

and a few pictures of the new stuff

The Assault air bike is gone, the Concept2 rower arrived


Rogue TB1 gone, Kabuki Transformer to replace


Added the Kabuki kadillac and storage for the smith/rack


Bodysolid Lat pulldown/mid row gone for Magnum Combo


Hoist Hack squat/deadlift gone for Powerbody Hack squat


Powerbody leg curl/ext gone for Atlantis prone leg curl


Hoist Leg press gone for Atlantis pivot press


Coming in 2021:
concept 2 Bike Erg
concept 2 Ski Erg

I wish everybody a good 2021 and I hope everything comes back to normal!

[matrix563]

Very nice
On spread

[alexthaman]

[EricAtl]

Even better, enjoy your new pieces.

[Steinway53]

Wow fantastic ! I was on that Atlantis prone leg curl a couple of months back....smooth ! Pivot press looks awesome ! All their stuff just epitomizes class. Congrats and enjoy !

[Greybird2]

Does Mrs. Alexthaman worry about being replaced with a newer, flashier model with better features?

[C123C]

Very nice. Your upgrades never let us down for inspiration. I wonder how the Atlantis Pivot compares to the Rogers or Pendulum pieces. Have you ever used those and any thoughts?

I'm pretty much done these days but I have one more piece in mind. Either a functional trainer or a one of the leg pieces mentioned above.

[alexthaman]

Does Mrs. Alexthaman worry about being replaced with a newer, flashier model with better features?

No not even a chance for that! I don’t think any other woman would let me spend that much money/time into this home gym!

[alexthaman]

Very nice. Your upgrades never let us down for inspiration. I wonder how the Atlantis Pivot compares to the Rogers or Pendulum pieces. Have you ever used those and any thoughts?

I'm pretty much done these days but I have one more piece in mind. Either a functional trainer or a one of the leg pieces mentioned above.

Ive never used any of these pieces. Here in Canada near Montreal there are not many gyms with anything other than Hammer, Cybex, Hoist or Atlantis. With Atlantis being in Montreal, a lot of gyms buy local from them!

A functional trainer is pretty nice, very versatile piece of equipment, it is one of my gym’s center pieces!

[grumpytude]

more great stuff. I like the concept rower- not sure I have the space for it- but have been eyeing their bike, which seems to be out of stock everywhere at the moment.
congrats!