Official Home Gym Building Thread

LiE said:
Did you order the M18 bolts?
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I haven't yet. Trying to find the right ones (i.e. the length) and how many I need. I guess now would be the time to order them.

uncle_rufus said:
I don't know how Bulldog justify £180 for a pair of spotter arms... the Mirafit M2 arms were £60 and they are absolutely solid, there really can't be that much of a difference. Either way I suppose you get something that's going to last but still
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LiE said:
They are pricey but they are top tier quality. 80mm is thicc.


Mira is £100 for 60mm. https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-safety-spotters.html
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Bulldog does seem pricier than much of the competition, but the build quality is absolutely solid. It looks solid and its had a good test too!
 
LiE said:
Yep, I found that the bolts have a couple mm play in them which causes the upright part of the rack to move. What I did was upgrade 2 of the bolts on the side I dip. The holes are 18mm and the bolts are m16 spec. I got 2 m18 bolts from Accu.co.uk

https://www.accu.co.uk/en/full-thread-hexagon-bolts/19375-SEBF-M18-140-A4

https://www.accu.co.uk/en/hexagon-nylon-locking-nuts/7954-HNN-M18-A2

https://www.accu.co.uk/en/flat-washers/72475-HPW-M18-A2


Make sure you have a 27mm socket to get these nice and tight.

https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001SFUNGM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_95NPFb3ZH4NHV

Top 2 are the big boys. Stops it from leaning towards you significantly.
tOX3vMD.jpg


You can see me using it here, 33s in.
https://youtu.be/sUFDPCy9jJM
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Quoting my post with the bolt info.
 
We're literally having a gym built, or a garden room more specifically and I've started worrying it won't be big enough.

Is there any free software that someone could recommend so I could map out the floorplan and poor the footprint of a bike/treadmill and weights to see if it fits?
 
matt100 said:
We're literally having a gym built, or a garden room more specifically and I've started worrying it won't be big enough.

Is there any free software that someone could recommend so I could map out the floorplan and poor the footprint of a bike/treadmill and weights to see if it fits?
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How big is it?

Sorry not sure what software you can use.
 
It depends what you want to get in there I guess, the minimum is a treadmill and a decent bike but ideally a mat for her and weights for me, I think it just about fits but not sure.

We could also go a bit bigger but then it wouldn't sit centrally...
 
tbyeah said:
Mine is 2.5m x 3m all in and works fine, no folding rack either :)
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Do you have a rack, bench and treadmill in the space ?

matt100 said:
It depends what you want to get in there I guess, the minimum is a treadmill and a decent bike but ideally a mat for her and weights for me, I think it just about fits but not sure.

We could also go a bit bigger but then it wouldn't sit centrally...
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Are planning to have a barbell and rack or just a bench and dumbbells?
 
My space is 2.5.x3m and I fit the squat rack, deadlift platform, bench, landmine, heater and dehumidifier in there. Wouldn’t fit anymore though. The small size does make it easy to heat and dry both quickly and cheaply.

If I were planning out a space I’d probably just make some 1x1m squares to scale in excel and then drop some shapes on there based on the dimensions of the objects you wish to add. Probably more technical ways of doing it though :p
 
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LiE said:
Do you have a rack, bench and treadmill in the space ?
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I've got a rack, bench, and a huge kettlebell storage rack i got for free in there at the moment. Not sure how the footprint of a treadmill compares but I'll be adding in a Concept 2 and that will fit in fine.

Got a heavy bag/pulley mount above the rack as well, I've been as economical as possible :p

E: a bike AND treadmill may be a push in my space, but 4x3m I believe it would be doable
 
LiE said:
Are planning to have a barbell and rack or just a bench and dumbbells?
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No plan tbh, I'd like to get as much flexibility as possible, ideally a bar and bench setup of some description.

Ref the dropping shapes on excel I think that's where it'll get to hence the ask on software to be more precise and be able to move stuff my 90 degrees easily
 
When I was planning out my Gym I used GIMP (open source version of photoshop if you've not heard of it)... Just use 1 pixel per mm... create a new layer for each object allowing you to move things around and rotate them easily

My garage space is only around 2.5x2.5m but there's a little extra space outside of that which is enough to fit the spin bike in and provide a spot to wheel the bench into if I need it out of the way for deadlifts/squats. So far have a rack but planning to get a compact cable station as well soon
 
matt100 said:
No plan tbh, I'd like to get as much flexibility as possible, ideally a bar and bench setup of some description.

Ref the dropping shapes on excel I think that's where it'll get to hence the ask on software to be more precise and be able to move stuff my 90 degrees easily
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With a rack you’ll want to wheel the bench out into a space outside the rack when not bench pressing. I’d allow about 2m depth for a rack. A Olympic bar is 2.2m so you can fit this within the 3m width but that does mean you can’t really put anything either side of the rack. This is where a folding rack can be great, opening up the space for the bench when you don’t need the rack.


Here’s my rack in my 3m wide log cabin. It’s 5m long but I don’t have all of that 5m. I couldn’t fit cardio equipment in there unless I use up to about 4.5m.

DSCF8991.jpg


There’s a 2m carpeted area in front of the rack that I use for any lifting outside the rack. You could probably squeeze a rower in there and still have room for the bench to be manoeuvered and used.
 
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Yeah that's a different kind of fitness to what I'm going for :)

Either way, straight outside this morning to speak to the guys building it and we're making it more like 5 x 3 :p
 
Still trying to work something out with my rack... I've now turned it so that it's facing lengthways at the end of the garage, as I suspected the garage floor had a bit too much of a sideways slope to it the other way. And I was right, it did - positioned at the end the rack is a lot closer to level. But not actually quite level still... Mechanics isn't really my strong suit so - if I loosen some of the bolts would I be able to carefully push it to be more level and then tighten them back up again? It's not off by much but it's enough to irritate me! I just can't see how it won't pull to be off-level again as the bolts are tightened each time (or maybe I'm wrong?)

In other news just got a notification from Mirafit and managed to snag the black + chrome women's bar, my wife will be pleased :)
 
Hey all,

First time setting up a home gym, everything is out of stock but I won't get my house & garage until May anyway. Got a semi-decent budget because I managed to persuade the Mrs its an investment (and she can have a yoga section)... I've seen a lot of Bulldog, Origin and Mirafit posts, I wanted to know your opinion on the ATX cages from Gymrevolution? I looked at the Strengthshop Riot Rack, its thicker steel but I don't think that it will really matter (?), and the lat pulldown system seems a bit clunkier on the back, and there isn't a brace for your legs. I'm restricted on height (2.2m max). Not sure how decent the built in lat pulldown is, having read your comments you turned me off the stackweight. Hoping you can share your wisdom with a novice!
https://www.thegymrevolution.co.uk/index.php/atx-power-rack-prx-720-pl-lat-pulldown.html
https://www.strengthshop.co.uk/riot-power-cage.html
 
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