Official Home Gym Building Thread

[nellyville]

Haha course you can. You'll be able to do at least 3 different exercises for every bodypart (maybe with an exception of legs) using dumbbells. What sort of training have you done in the past?

 

[MARKMAKAVELI]

Me and gym buddy did an 8 week beginner program using just various machines.

We're now 4 weeks into our 2nd 8 week program. Again just using the machines but doing pyramid weights til failure. Pec fly, seated row, lat pulldown, chest press, shoulder press.

Don't do legs, I know we should. I play football twice a week for cardio.

 

[nellyville]

Well if youre wanting to move away from machines which id say is a good move id just do a basic split. Back and bi's, shoulders and abs, chest and tri's. With just dumbbells you can do more or less everything. Bent over rows, vertical raises, shoulder press, chest press, bicep curls, arnie's, fly's, tricep pushouts...plenty others I cant remember the names of haha!

 

[Psycho Sonny]

On a budget of zero...

Can you get results just using an adjustable bench and a load of dumbells? (we already have)

Prisoners tend to do ok?!

it depends on the weight of the dumbells tbh, the bigger they are, the more potential for results.

for example i have 2.5kg - 45kg dumbells in 2.5kg increments, therefore my potential is only limited by my genetics.

if i had 2.5kg - 25kg then i would be limited by my dumbells tbh not my genetics.

 

[nellyville]

Well heres some photo's of my little wooden gym! The photo's show progress from the start at the end of October to a few weeks ago...

The shed was my partners dads who was going to skip it as the floor and roof were rotten so I rescued it from becoming fire wood and there began the gym project. Its 15'x10' which isnt big but will be just enough for what I need. The only thing i wish id done differently was made the roof higher as its only 7'2" at the peak of the apex which means I cant get most machines in. The floor is 5.5t of whacked hardcore, 2t of whacked sand then 1.5cu m of pea gravel based concrete with 24mm interlocking gym flloring which came out of an LA Fitness in Preston lol. The mirror is 2 8' x 2'8" sliding wardrobe doors i got for nowt, stripped down, bonded and framed. I got given 3 but one was totally cracked so got tipped, one of the 2 i used is cracked in the corner but im not gonna worry about that!

Anyway hers the pics...

 

[Psycho Sonny]

nice set of dumbells, what weights are they?

do you have any olympic weights or do you just use the dumbells, i only see 3 plates from your photos?

 

[nellyville]

Yeah the dumbbells are canny like, got from 7-50's, missing a 42.5 and a 27.5 iirc. But they were a good price so snapped the blokes hand off! I do mainly use dumbbells for the majority of exercises but thought I better get an olympic bar and plates for squatting and deadlifting. Got an olympic ez bar aswell so ill use that for upright rows, skull crushers, curls etc. Plates I have so far are 2x25, 2x20, 2x10, 4x5 and 2x2.5, keeping my eyes open for another couple 10s and 20s though. Picked up the chin and dip station cheap knowing id have to shorten it but I dont think im gona have the room for it once I get the multi press rack across the back wall...decisions decisions!

 

[Psycho Sonny]

up to 50KG wow, seriously impressed, i knew by the pictures it would be a lot.

mine are 2.5kg to 45kg, im missing 42.5kg and that is all i think.

i got mine for a good deal too second hand.

a pity the roof isnt a foot taller all round, it would have made a world of difference. is it something you could do at a later stage?

nice setup though, looks like you have spent a lot of time/money on it. appreciate all the pics, gives members more ideas of what they can do with their space.

im loving the mirrors as well.

 

[nellyville]

Nah I dont think im going to bother altering the roof tbh, itll do the job as it is really. Ive lost a lot of floor space with the rack the dumbbells came with so that might be something I alter in the future, a more space friendly rack. Id ideally like to be able to fit some sort of pulley machine in there, like the single cable tower type with a high and low attachment. Doubt I ever will though. Im gona say that once I get the multi press rack, the full build including actually doing the shed and base will of cost about £1.5k.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Nah I dont think im going to bother altering the roof tbh, itll do the job as it is really. Ive lost a lot of floor space with the rack the dumbbells came with so that might be something I alter in the future, a more space friendly rack. Id ideally like to be able to fit some sort of pulley machine in there, like the single cable tower type with a high and low attachment. Doubt I ever will though. Im gona say that once I get the multi press rack, the full build including actually doing the shed and base will of cost about £1.5k.

including the equipment? wtf? how did you manage to get it all so cheap?

i bought my dumbells second hand and they cost roughly £1.5K on their own. never mind all the other equipment, iv spent probably £4K so far and the garage conversion is going to end up costing roughly £10-15K when it gets done this year.

 

[nellyville]

Well got another bargain yesterday! All well used but does same job dont it!? 5ft olympic bar, spring collars, 2x2.5kg cast iron plates, 4x10kg and 2x15kg coloured polygonal rubber (whats left of it!) plates......60 quid!! Happy days. So thats 210kg (2x25, 2x20, 2x15, 6x10, 4x5, 4x2.5) of olympic plates, 7ft & 5ft olympic bar, a 4ft olympic ez bar, 2 oldschool 2.5kg locking collars and 2 spring clips ive got for £240 altogether!! Love bargains me haha.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Well got another bargain yesterday! All well used but does same job dont it!? 5ft olympic bar, spring collars, 2x2.5kg cast iron plates, 4x10kg and 2x15kg coloured polygonal rubber (whats left of it!) plates......60 quid!! Happy days. So thats 210kg (2x25, 2x20, 2x15, 6x10, 4x5, 4x2.5) of olympic plates, 7ft & 5ft olympic bar, a 4ft olympic ez bar, 2 oldschool 2.5kg locking collars and 2 spring clips ive got for £240 altogether!! Love bargains me haha.

£1 per kg is normal rate for second hand olympic plates, i managed to bag plates for just less than £1 a kg even in scotland, where deals are impossible to find

 

[nellyville]

Well I was pleased with it! Olympic bars normally go for 30+ and rubber encased plates always fetch more, especially polygonal ones. Anyway thatll do me weight wise for the next year, still need the multi press rack though. Shortening the dumbbell rack before the weekend hopefully too...and might chop the top off the chin dip station and just use id for dips and leg raises.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Well I was pleased with it! Olympic bars normally go for 30+ and rubber encased plates always fetch more, especially polygonal ones. Anyway thatll do me weight wise for the next year, still need the multi press rack though. Shortening the dumbbell rack before the weekend hopefully too...and might chop the top off the chin dip station and just use id for dips and leg raises.

yeah £1 a kg is good, the minimum you can get brand new ones for are roughly £1.50 per kg excluding postage, i think, it's been a while since i checked. so slightly under £1 per kg is a good deal. you wont lose money on them that's for sure.

i managed to get a 7ft olympic bar for £10 (rusty as hell) and i managed to get a olympic weight and bar stand (slightly rusty) for £20. i painted the weight stand, yet to do the bar though, as it is a spare tbh, i dont actually need it, but for £10 i couldn't say no, it does need a lick of paint though as it is quite rusty, not too bad, but enough to stop me from using it anyway, so when my gym get's fully kitted out, i will need to paint it so it doesn't look out of place.

work should start on my home gym in 2 months time i think, it has to be ready before mid july at the latest. the whole garage is being torn down, made larger, having a shower and toilet added in the corner, fully floored, insulated, heated, the lot.

i dont think i can afford proper mirrors, i know you can get small mirrors from IKEA/ARGOS for like £6.49 each

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/30081740/

do you think i could buy 10 of these and either just stick them up like that or remove the frame then put them on the wall?

im thinking if i do it this way, i can buy a few mirrors every month, rather than shell out £100 on a proper mirror. money will be tight as the whole extension is going to cost a bomb, having the kitchen extended too, as well as a bedroom and en suite above the new gym and then the attic converted on top and possibly extended into another bedroom.

so we will have an additional 2 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms and a new huge living area (which will be used as a gym) until we move home in say 5 years time.

 

[nellyville]

Sounds like a lot of work for a house youre not planning on staying in very long??
As for those mirrors I defo wouldnt go with them, if youre wanting to do mirrors cheap either use wardrobe doors like what I did, or ikea do small frameless square ones, about 8'' each. They can be butted up to look bigger.
Im sure you can get big 8'x4' gym mirrors on eBay for under £100 though.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Sounds like a lot of work for a house youre not planning on staying in very long??
As for those mirrors I defo wouldnt go with them, if youre wanting to do mirrors cheap either use wardrobe doors like what I did, or ikea do small frameless square ones, about 8'' each. They can be butted up to look bigger.
Im sure you can get big 8'x4' gym mirrors on eBay for under £100 though.

current house is far too small, we need the extension today, we cannot wait any longer. in a few years time when we sell some of our property we can afford a much bigger home.

plus all the work and space is going to add value to the home, more than what we put into it, so it's a win/win situation. we get the space we need now and we also make some extra cash when we sell.

 

[BennyC]

Probably be shifting my iron-masters as for the meantime I have joined a local gym. I am keeping my powercage and oly plates & bar for squatting & deadlifting. The DB's just aren't getting any use.

So if anyone is interested drop me a PM

 

[Indigo]

Where do people buy there second hand weights from?

I've looked on gumtree but it all seems to be complete rubbish and just those cheap crappy plastic york weights.

I'm after cast iron weights (not olympic) and discs 10kg or above to add to my current setup. Have no idea where to look though as they don't seem to be that cheap new at all, £30 for 2x10kg is the cheapest I've found.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Home gyms are a nice idea, but they're a pipe dream for most. If you follow SB's advice, and its certainly good advice, you'll be spending thousands. Plus you need the room with a decent floor.
I'd love to have one, but i have to make do with my heavy duty bench (flat/incline/decline, preacher and leg attachment), my Selectable DB's and x-trainer......oh and Kinect! (cue the flaming).

The other thing is i always thought i'd be happier training at home, so eventually after years of mulling it over i bought the kit above.
Now i can hardly motivate myself when i get in from work. So i need to get back to the spit'n'sawdust meatlocker down the road to get my ass in gear for my August wedding.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Probably be shifting my iron-masters as for the meantime I have joined a local gym. I am keeping my powercage and oly plates & bar for squatting & deadlifting. The DB's just aren't getting any use.

So if anyone is interested drop me a PM

how much mate? im in scotland though

Where do people buy there second hand weights from?

I've looked on gumtree but it all seems to be complete rubbish and just those cheap crappy plastic york weights.

I'm after cast iron weights (not olympic) and discs 10kg or above to add to my current setup. Have no idea where to look though as they don't seem to be that cheap new at all, £30 for 2x10kg is the cheapest I've found.

you need to constantly look at gumtree depnds on your area tbh, up here in scotland it took me years of looking on a regular basis to find decent equipment, ebay is also the other place to look, those 2 are your best bet or even ask local gyms if they are selling their old equipment or when they are to give you a call/txt, i managed to get a lot of mine from a commercial gym which had closed down due to the recession.

Home gyms are a nice idea, but they're a pipe dream for most. If you follow SB's advice, and its certainly good advice, you'll be spending thousands. Plus you need the room with a decent floor.
I'd love to have one, but i have to make do with my heavy duty bench (flat/incline/decline, preacher and leg attachment), my Selectable DB's and x-trainer......oh and Kinect! (cue the flaming).

The other thing is i always thought i'd be happier training at home, so eventually after years of mulling it over i bought the kit above.
Now i can hardly motivate myself when i get in from work. So i need to get back to the spit'n'sawdust meatlocker down the road to get my ass in gear for my August wedding.

try a pre workout supplement, drink it as soon as you get in, it takes effect after 30 minutes and you will be running into the home gym.

also who is SB?

it doesn't need to be a pipe dream for most, i know at least 2 of my close friends have home gyms, although i do have an affluent social group.

also motivation is really your own personal battle with yourself, if you can be bothered going to a gym, why cant you be bothered to use your own? to me that doesn't make sense. but i do realise some people have poor motivation.

i havent used my home gym for about 3 months mainly due to the weather here in scotland, today was my first day back, my feet were frozen after i got back in the house, i had to wear 2 pairs of gloves, joggies, underarmour, t shirt and a hoody, yet i was still freezing whenever i stopped for a rest.

hopefully i wont be too sore tomorrow but i have had a long break, but i'll be going in the gym again tomorrow, but i am extremely motivated now and have set myself some goals which are not going to be failed this year.