Home gym essentials.

[gowerpower]

Ok so, its done. I'm getting a home gym.

I'm asking all of you that have one, what are some essentials?

I'm thinking

Power Rack
Incline/flat bench & bench press station
Olympic barbell.
Weight Tree
I'm thinking dumbells too... but holy hell getting a big set would be so expensive.

Help me out guys. Provide links if you can too!

ps, i know this thead has prolly been made a zillion times, but searching "home gym" didn't yield anything specific, so please don't flame!

[fadi]

Good luck with the home gym I want to get one once I buy a house.

Here is a link for what you may need:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/brewster6.htm

[t_dot_porkchop]

if you have a rack...why would you need a bench station?

i saw this AWESOME rack...had dip bars, lat pull, chinup bar....EVERYTHING! one of these, plus an adjustable bench, some weights and you are set. oh yeah, rubber floors and mirrors, stereo and something for cardio!

[NaturalProfessor]

a set of 125 pound power blocks - a power rack - a squat bar - a short straight bar - a universal bench(incline,flat,decline,vertical) - 800 pounds of plates - 3 plate trees - 2 inch thick rubber mats - ez-curl bar - preacher bench - dip & chin station - inversion boots - good lighting - a couple of big mirrors - low & high cable machine station...

[j_db69]

as for dumbbells, get the small bars with the screw on collars at walmart for like $5 each. Then go to a sporting good place that sells used equipment and get some weights for it, much cheaper and easier to store than regular dumbbells.

[nattybber]

i have a home gym myself and the best peice of equipment that i have and use almost every night is my smith machine, since you will be working out at home theres a good chance you will be by yourself so try to get a smith machine, mine cost about $700 but it is worht every penny you can get an attachment for the chin up bar plus it has all teh notches on teh outside of the machine for teh free bar to rest if you decide to use the barbell one night instead of teh smith machine. Here is pic of my home gym I have a leg press too but it is on teh same end of the garage as the pic is taken from

http://oldschoolbodybuilding.com/ind...pe=post&id=304

good luck

[dyeguy1212]

The think rubber mats are an essential. you may think "nah, I dont need those, I'll just rack the weight or set it down lightly" but trust me itll save your weights, and your floor in the long run. Great investment.

[dobermaxx69]

wanna hear somthing funny?

the entire floor area of my home gym is tiled...

[dyeguy1212]

hey theres a good idea /end sarcasm

[Builder101]

Posters of women surrounding it = good motivation trust me

[Nooklear]

I think one of the most important things about home gyms, at least for me, is keeping it neat. I, for one, hate working out in a messy gym. It makes it harder to focus on the one exercise when theres alot going on. Instead of just keeping plates on the floor, get a plate tree. If you have dumbells, either keep them against a wall or in a corner, or get a rack for them.

If you can't afford a whole set of dumbells (I wish I could), maybe get some small dumbell bars and some plates for it. For me, I just use a standard size bar with standard sized plates for dumbells. That way I just add more weight instead of having to buy a new set of dumbells when I need them.

And unless you feel like running around the house or going for a jog outside, I would get something for cardio. I have a cheap treadmill and an elliptical. I use the elliptical way more than the treadmill, but thats just because the treadmill sucks and whenever I land a foot, the track skips..its a great way to lose your balance and fall on your ass...

[gowerpower]

Thanks for the help guys. I'll summarize.

Flooring - a must i agree.
2 Extra Large mirrors - (i already have one)
Power Rack - with attatchments
Universal bench - (flat, incline, decline, vertical)
2 Weight Trees - (why would you need 3? 1 Tree for 45's, 35's, 25's, one for 5 10 and 2.5)
Powerblocks - link?
Straight Bar + Olympic Bar -Correct me if i'm wrong, straight bar is.. 30 pounds? Olympic (used for squats and bench) is 45?
EZ curl with preacher station - just cause i WANT it.

Ok and i live in Victoria BC canada, just in case you guys had any suggestions for canadian places to shop online or even local places. THANKS!

[gowerpower]

bump?

[Poobah]

If you can get a good power rack that also has a upper and a lower pulley.. your laughing.. other wise you'll have to add those eventually.... Gets you all the great back exercises... Seated rows, lat pulldowns, etc.. etc.. Plus you can also utilize any number of a cable exercise.

As for db's... I've been doing some thinking... Powerblocks, are good, and they are bad... I figure for weight that you can handle, they are fine, since your probably not going to twist your wrist handling them in the cage setup they have... So for me, I'd like to have a set of 90lb powerblocks. that I can use for most exercises... and for warm ups leading in to heavy db bench presses.. where I'd simply switch to olympic db's that I'd have ready at 100lb, and it would only take seconds to add 5 - 10 pounds too... etc. Now if I fail, I can always drop the weight without fear of breaking my wrists. And in the future, when I can say that 120 pounds is easy to handle, I can always up grade my powerblocks. It's a workable idea at least.

As for your bench, you definately want to spend some money on a good one here.. something that will take the abuse... Keep in mind you can get decent preacher curl attachments that is interchange able with the leg extension attachment... so you could kill 2 birds with one stone there...... which brings me to this next point.

Alright you got the rack.. which is great.. cause that means you can do BB squats, the king of leg builders... As well as standing calf presses.. the king of calf builders... Your on your way. But if your get the preacher attachment, instead of a station... I'd so much rather get a Leg press sled.... which will give you the second part of a killer leg work out, that incidently will allow you to do some seated calf presses aswell.

[AZIronMine]

When you have limited space, a combo machine or home gym, combo rack, or combo bench is great. If you have the space available, it might be more advantageous to acquire individual components. I find that individual components (benches, etc.) allow greater range of motion.

If cost is a factor, I'd look at used equipment. In the states, there is a retail outlet known as "Play It Again Sports". They sell new and used equipment. I've purchased both from them, and in most cases I can negotiate the price.

Sports Authority sells new and you can find a bargain during sales, but I find them to be a bit expensive outside of a sale.

I also buy quite a lot over the Web. Several good sites ("New York Barbells" being one), but you have to watch out for freight, which is a killer lately due to fuel costs.

[gowerpower]

space is not an issue. I'm not sure the exact measurements of the room but its an empty garage. Large enough for 2 cars to squeeze in, but its used as a 1 car garage with storage.

Ok i've got good ideas now. Can you guys now provide some links to good gym equipment websites?

[AZIronMine]

Originally Posted by gowerpower

space is not an issue. I'm not sure the exact measurements of the room but its an empty garage. Large enough for 2 cars to squeeze in, but its used as a 1 car garage with storage.

Ok i've got good ideas now. Can you guys now provide some links to good gym equipment websites?

Hey Gowerpower. Here is a site that I've used.

http://www.newyorkbarbells.com/
They sell new equipment.

Here is the store locator for Play It Again Sports. I've purchased both new and used from them.

http://www.playitagainsports.com/fra...torefinder.asp

Let me/us what you decided to get. If you want more ideas, take a look at the pics of my home gym. It is in the garage too.

http://www.azironmine.com/2488/2728.html

[_SaVvY_]

i would near enough kill, and probably would (depending on the person) to be able to have a home gym like that - power rack - 1000lbs of olympic weights - leg press and calf raise machine - bench - id be happy for years

[SuperCelebs]

how much does a cheap power rack cost? just something that gets the job done.

[AZIronMine]

Originally Posted by SuperCelebs

how much does a cheap power rack cost? just something that gets the job done.

Least expensive that I've ever run into was $99 (a home built one from someone that Play It Again picked up at one time). I also had run into a new one there that had not moved for quite a while and it worked its way down to $299. Unfortunately, I am out of room in my garage gym, so I had to pass on it. Someone picked it up a couple of months ago. I would suggest that these are low end of the spectrum examples of pricing.