My own home gym evolution (part 2)

[alexthaman]

As all the pictures from my home gym old thread are not working anymore (https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...hp?t=152623083), i will be posting here the important stages of evolution of my home gym of the past 7 years and the future upgrades i will do in the future. If you have any questions, jusk ask them and i will be more than happy to answer.

As a side note, for every newbies out there that want to build a great home gym, as you will notice as you will read my home gym evolution thru this thread, i have changed a lot of equipment that i have bought, for the main part, new. That means i have lost a lot of money all the way in this process. So, BE PATIENT! BUY USED EQUIPMENT! for the most part, you won't loose as much money this way. From now on, except from pieces i may not be able to find used, i will buy only used stuff.

Let's start by the beginning.

I began 7 years ago, I followed the guide lines for newbies here on forum.bodybuilding.com so i bought:
- Ironmaster with add-on kit dumbbells
- Keys fitness power rack with lat pulldown
- Keys fitness fid bench with preacher curl and leg curl extensions attachments
- Olympic barbell with 300 pounds of olympic plates with weight tree

6 months later I added:
- Leg press/hack squat by Northern lights
- Flat and incline bench
- 200 pounds olympic plates
- Elliptical Sportop E7000

[alexthaman]

Three years later, scooring kijiji (Canadians Craiglist) i found a Powertec Multi System that came with 300lbs olympic plates and a few hex dumbbells (not pictured). I bought a kit of Nautilus selectech which by the way I hated more than everything (unstable and poor quality) because i was tired of unscrewing the ironmasters all the time... I finished the basement in the mean time so it is much more cleaner than before...

[alexthaman]

After that, I think that this is when I became an equipment junkie....

In 2010 i added:
- 13 horse stall mats
- 3 4x5 mirrors
- Sole F80 treadmill
(Sorry no pics)

In 2011, I have sold almost everthing i had at the beginning:
- sold the powertec Multi System
- sold the Keys power rack and Fid bench
- sold the Stamina bench
- sold the Nautilus selectech
- sold the leg press

To upgrade it with in 2011:
- Bodysolid functionnal trainer GDCC210
- Rogue Bar
- Body solid pro lat pulldown SLM300g-3
- Body solid leg curl extensions Glce-365
- Powertec 3x3 power rack (commercial)
- Powertec bench (commercial)
- Ironmaster bench (Kijiji)
- Powertec Hyper extension
- 2 powertec dumbbell racks
- completed my 5-80 hex set (already had 25-30-40-50-70 from the kijiji package with the Powertec Multi System)
Northern lights seated calf (Kijiji)

Added in the winter of 2012:
- Bodycraft HipSled f660
- Bodycraft Jones Club
- Atlantis GHR (kijiji)
- Atlantis FID bench (kijiji)

[alexthaman]

July 2012: My wife annouces me that we are waiting our second son and we will need the basement for kids... Oups! the basement is full of equipment. I climbed the stairs and went in the garage... 12x25 one car garage (300sq ft). The basement was actually near from 450 sq ft. but was irregular, had a lot of doors so there was a lot of space I could not use down there. So bottom line is: move the most part of the gym in the garage and leave the cardio room in the basement. The garage was already insulated attached to the house, the walls were already covered with sheets of gyproc and the floor had a 6 inches slope from side to side and a drain in the middle and lots of materials too.



Being in floor installation business i decided i would level the floor and make a sweet garage gym, not a dusty and wet garage gym, no, a finished looking like inside the house home garage gym. So I began working, mudding the walls, building a floor on top of the current floor, built a wall to hide the garage door, installed new lighting, built a stone wall and painted all the walls and ceiling. Two months later, everything was finished and ready to go. I moved all the equipment upstairs which took me the complete weekend. To celebrate the new gym a decided i might order some new equipment!

So i ordered the following:
- Rogue trap bar
- Rogue multi grip bar
- Rogue gun rack
- Cap black 5foot curl bar and black 5 foot straight bar
- Texas power bar

Sold my standard barbell plates and bought new 1120 pounds of rubber plates made by the same company that makes TKO plates but called ProFitness, i wanted ivankos revolver but they were 2 1/2 times more expensive so I passed...

January 2013: I got tired of my hex dumbbells kit with the powertec db racks so... I sold them! Needed new dumbbells... Bought brand new York welded pro style dumbbells 10-150lbs with 4x2.5 plate mates and Hoist three tiers db rack

[alexthaman]

A few months later, i have upgraded my pro-fitness plates by Ivanko revolvers.

After that, I have upgraded the Powertec Commercial bench for an Atlantis b-177 bought new from Atlantis.

Then, i have sold the Powertec Commercial rack for a custom Mech6 half rack (which is sad i have not met him before).

[alexthaman]

As i have said before, i moved my home gym from my basement to my garage for two years to make more room for the family. After two years, we decided to build a room above the attached garage so we could do the kids room up there. So the basement was free again and with all the work that was going to happen in the garage (to build the room over it) i have decided to move the gym to the basement.

Also added a custom Mech6 sissy squat

The basement as a play room:



The basement in construction:

[alexthaman]

And the gym pictures

[alexthaman]

After that in the next few months:

- Replaced the Bodysolid plate loaded prone leg curl/extension for a Bodysolid Commercial selectorized seated leg curl/leg extension

- Mech6 modified the bodycraft smith machine to add a set of uprights to the front. He also built a reverse hyper rack attachment, dumbbells spotters and monolift hooks.

- Added:
- Hoist standing preacher curl cf-3555
- Hoist seated calf raise rpl-5363
- Hoist back hyper cf-3663
- Powerbody prone leg curl/leg extension combo
- And a few bars, cable attachments, and more

[alexthaman]

[alexthaman]

2016 updates:

- replaced the Bodysolid FT for a Mech6 custom FT (the best piece of all my gym)
- added an assault air bike
- added the complete set of maxagrip handles and the prime ROT8 handles
- added two uprights to the front of the already modified smith machine

[alexthaman]

And now, 2017... I am finally finishing my garage again and it will become the legs room.

This is how the garage looked like a few days ago with the damages done by the add-on over it.



And even if it is not completed yet, still lots to do, but a deal on kijiji popped up and i could resist. So, I already have bought

- Standing calf raise Hoist RPL-5405
- Tbar row Hoist CF-3661
- Leg press Hoist RPL-5403
- Flat chest press Hoist RPL-5301
- Hack Squat/ Deadlift Hoist RPL-5356

Also bought a brand new set of 550lbs of Ivanko revolver plates. This will bring my total to 1720lbs Ivanko OMEZH revolver plates to have enough plate as i will split them in two room (on their way)

The hack squat/deadlift and chest press are in storage, I have put my half rack/ reverse hyper in pieces for the moment and stored it so i could install the Tbar, leg press and standing calf. The gym is pretty packed up for now, but as soon as the gym is completed, it will be a lot better. But i am still able to workout by then.

[alexthaman]

I will post pics as my garage gets on it's way to completion... Now the demolition is over, the material is all in there ready to be installed... I am starting the build on next monday and should be done quickly as i need to empty my storage (which is my trailer and i need it to work) and i can't wait to use my new equipment!

[Domicron]

this is a man who's not ****ing around when it comes to building a gym...

[a7stringkilla]

I cant wait for the pics when the family's entire living area is the garage and basement, and the rest of the house is the gym. Thats gonna be epic!

Looks great man, especially with the way the room is finished. Very inspirational. And that Mech FT may be the best one in existence.

[dragon360]

absolutely insane. I love the FT. You seem to really like the Hoist gear as well.

[thejosef]

Still is, and will always be, my favorite home gym on here. Thanks for sharing the start to 'finish.' Phenomenal job with picking equipment, finishes, and space management. That grey rock/tile wall is such a nice accent.

[alexthaman]

absolutely insane. I love the FT. You seem to really like the Hoist gear as well.

I don't ''love" hoist gear more than other brands but I like having matching stuff, i already owned a few pieces and when the 5 machines showed up in mint condition, i could not pass.

I also hate having to ask 2-3 people to help me take down a machine in my small staircase to get to the basement gym. I would feel so terrible if someone hurts himself when helping me with this. Just to take my atlantis GHD (all welded in one piece) to the basement by myself, i broke one door glass, made 2 big holes in the gyproc in the staircase and finished by letting it go and it crashed at the bottom of the stairs lol.

Hoist equipment is all bolted together, the heaviest part is under 100lbs in all the machines i have. So i can take everything down by myself. Anyway, with all the modifications to my gym, basement, garage and basement again it is way better this way.

So Hoist machines are a really good option for someone like me. I will do a long review for each piece i own when my gym is all set.

[litljay]

this is a man who's not ****ing around when it comes to building a gym...

This!! Gaw dam

[alexthaman]

I cant wait for the pics when the family's entire living area is the garage and basement, and the rest of the house is the gym. Thats gonna be epic!

Looks great man, especially with the way the room is finished. Very inspirational. And that Mech FT may be the best one in existence.

My wife is already over her head with the basement and garage so no more room except if i move to another house! And it is not for now with all this weight! And yes, Mech6 FT is such a nice piece, too sad he stopped because i would have liked him to build a Mech6 plate loaded seated row.

[alexthaman]

Still is, and will always be, my favorite home gym on here. Thanks for sharing the start to 'finish.' Phenomenal job with picking equipment, finishes, and space management. That grey rock/tile wall is such a nice accent.

Thanks man! Being a tile contractor, i love doing stone/ ceramic walls. I will do something great in the garage too!

[alexthaman]

this is a man who's not ****ing around when it comes to building a gym...

I may know how to build a gym or it is just an obsession... but who cares!

[n1nja3]

Wow! I am using up my first post in these forums just to say I'm in awe of your home gym!

[congore]

You got it baddd man!!! Equipment addiction is hard to shake. Love the gear and the set up. I'm predicting a new house soon to fit more gear. No way you gonna stop.

[cwcmac]

Amazing gym Alex. The equipment and weights are awesome but I havent' seen a run down of all the bars yet

[DVG93]

wow, this is an incredible setup! What kind of ceiling is that in your basement? Is it some sort of fancy drop-ceiling?

[SomeDudeAtHome]

Man your set up is incredible. I love the dedicated leg space! Can't wait to see the finished product.

[alexthaman]

Amazing gym Alex. The equipment and weights are awesome but I havent' seen a run down of all the bars yet

As for bars I own
- texas power bar
- rogue bar
- ivanko obx-20
- ivanko obz-55
- ivanko obz-40
- Rogue MG-1
- Rogue safety squat bar
- Rogue trap bar v1
- cap deluxe staight 5ft bar
- cap deluxe ez 5ft bar

Ivanko collection:

[gym62richard]

Always loved the old thread, thank's for updating everything. Your attention to detail is second to none, great equipment set in an aesthetically pleasing space, who could want for more.

[horsediente]

Dude must have multiple kidneys to sell on the back market. . . .

Awesome gym, and makes me shameful of my modest setup!!!!

[horsediente]

But seriously. My kidneys hurt reading this thread.