Official Home Gym Building Thread

[uncle_rufus]

Haha maybe! I really wanted to get the Bulldog Zero 1 Cable Pulley because it's so ridiculously small footprint it would be perfect for my garage as it's already so small and cramped... Expensive bit of kit though at £955 but I put myself on the waiting list - it came up the other day - "now available to buy! £1075" I kind of don't want to get it now on principle

 

[jsmoke]

Just built myself this bench.

 

[GR63]

Just built myself this bench.

That is really nice. Great job. If I had decent tools I could be tempted to build

 

[Kreeeee]

Not sure if the images will display here. I have been fitting a garage gym over a while now. I posted in here when I was mostly using bodymax stuff but tbh it wasn't the best of quality. I had their half rack and high low station which was all a bit flimsy.

What I have now will hopefully last me a long time and allow for quality sessions, happy building!

Iron Master dumbbells are the best, I love mine. No other adjustable dumbbells are quite like the real thing.

 

[jsmoke]

That is really nice. Great job. If I had decent tools I could be tempted to build

I mean that's not me in the video but I copied this design. And you don't need many tools.

Battery drill.
4.5mm and 5mm wood drill bits.
Hand saw.
Hacksaw
Measuring tape and pencil.
10mm spanner.

Really simple.

 

[Skidder]

How heavy would you be happy to go on that bench?

 

[LiE]

I’d be more worried about sliding off !

 

[ahenners]

Anyone bought weight plates from muscle squad? Looking at the Tri grip rubber ones. I did want the Mirafit hex plates but the 2.5kg and 5kgs are out of stock currently and getting impatient waiting for them to come in. Open to suggestions as long as quality decent and a similar rubber 2" plate.

 

[LiE]

Finally the leg attachment for the bulldog gear 2.0 bench is available to pre-order.

https://bulldoggear.com/collections/adjustable-benches/products/ab-02-leg-attachment

 

[Freefaller]

Everything I have read suggests huge benefit to resistance as you age. I am 46 and lifting only a few years but so glad I do. I do cardio stuff as well.

Indeed I'm stronger / fitter in my 40s than I was before - not sure what happened? maybe more focus and realisation that exercise is more effective if you're disciplined.

 

[Syla5]

Iron Master dumbbells are the best, I love mine. No other adjustable dumbbells are quite like the real thing.

i dont know, my powerblocks say otherwise

 

[Kreeeee]

i dont know, my powerblocks say otherwise

They’re not bad, but there are exercises that you can’t do properly with them such as decline pullovers and goblet squats.

For a home gym the exercise diversity of each tool is critical. I can also use the ironmaster weights for my adjustable kettle bell.

 

[Dominic-Toretto]

Does anyone have any recommendations for gym flooring?
I have 50m² that needs covering, which will have various bits of equipment on.
I can see bulldog gear offer a 20mm 1x1m rubber tile for £40 -> which would be £2000 total, anyone know of anywhere that is decent quality but cheaper?

40-50%, but then it’s a small space. Low 40% and into the 30s gives diminishing returns. Below 50% rust would take a very long time to form, below 40% pretty much never. I leave it on all the time, the hydrostat does its thing. It actually doesn’t seem to run very often.

Which one have you ordered? Does it have a pipe you can run outside? I’ve insulated the pipe and it takes the water into the garden.

The only time I override it is when I start a workout, so that it switches on and prevents any build up.

Should everyone run a dehumidifier in their home gym? Can rust still form if equipment is indoors?

Bulldog Gear Mammoth lite rack arrived. Really pleased with the final result - I wasn’t as pleased when it arrived mid meeting this morning rather than the agreed afternoon slot. Pull-up bar just about fits when set to the right height. I managed to neatly adjust the raised deadlift platform down to 20mm where the feet extend into it. The feet aren’t as wide or long as I measured, so the impact on the deadlift platform is minimal.
Tried out the pull-up bar, it’s absolutely solid, not even a wobble. I think I’ve worked out whether the J-pegs and catchers need to go for each workout. Will leave my unused plates on the base to stabilise it even more.
Edit: this rack is amazing. @LiE you were right, the pull up bar adds a lot of stability. I didn’t expect it to be so heavy and well built, bulldog sure make a quality product. Hopefully I won’t need to buy anything else for a while.
Edit 2: it’s great to not have to walk out as far unlike my previous rack that had the feet in the way. It also feels safer if I need to bail. I’ve set the uprights one hole back from the recommended position to give me a fraction more space and to add a fraction more stability. Not even the slightest wobble.

Your flooring looks great! Where is it from?

 

[uncle_rufus]

Does anyone have any recommendations for gym flooring?
I have 50m² that needs covering, which will have various bits of equipment on.
I can see bulldog gear offer a 20mm 1x1m rubber tile for £40 -> which would be £2000 total, anyone know of anywhere that is decent quality but cheaper?

Try Arkmat - I got a bunch of 6x4' mats from there for about £30 a piece - they do either 12mm or 18mm and I went with 12mm as it was cheaper, seems not to be wearing too badly so far (though I saved a few offcuts to make some cheap drop-pads for where I do deadlifts, just to avoid wearing holes in the floor at that spot!)

 

[LiE]

Does anyone have any recommendations for gym flooring?
I have 50m² that needs covering, which will have various bits of equipment on.
I can see bulldog gear offer a 20mm 1x1m rubber tile for £40 -> which would be £2000 total, anyone know of anywhere that is decent quality but cheaper?

Are you sure the entire gym needs to have rubber flooring? The majority of my home gym is carpet tiles and matting in the heavy lifting area. Carpet is so much better in terms of cleaning and warmth. Floor work is lovely too on carpet.



These are 15mm and look decent - https://www.blkboxfitness.com/products/blk-box-anti-slip-tile-1mx1mx15mm

Should everyone run a dehumidifier in their home gym? Can rust still form if equipment is indoors?

For the cost, I just leave my dehumidifier running in the home gym to keep humidity controlled. If your home gym has heating and proper insulation you may be ok. What you don't want to happen is your metal equipment to get very cold then you come into for a workout and all of the humid air starts condensing all over stuff.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Should everyone run a dehumidifier in their home gym? Can rust still form if equipment is indoors?

I suspect if you have a really well built building then you may be ok, but then again even our house gets condensation on the windows in the winter, so the risk is still there.

For the cost, I just leave my dehumidifier running in the home gym to keep humidity controlled. If your home gym has heating and proper insulation you may be ok. What you don't want to happen is your metal equipment to get very cold then you come into for a workout and all of the humid air starts condensing all over stuff.

Same, mine is set to keep the humidity below 50%, usually closer to 30-40%. It comes on a lot more in the summer, but I don’t really notice anything on the electricity bill. It’s worth it to keep my equipment free from rust. The pipe that runs to the outside means I never have to empty it either.

 

[Syla5]

They’re not bad, but there are exercises that you can’t do properly with them such as decline pullovers and goblet squats.

For a home gym the exercise diversity of each tool is critical. I can also use the ironmaster weights for my adjustable kettle bell.

No problem at all with pullovers or goblet squats!

 

[ahenners]

Seen a few people in here mention Olympic Dumbbells a while ago.... Looking at the Mirafit ones, you guys got the 10cm or 17cm sleeve versions? Concerned the 17cm might be too long for certain dumbbell work.

 

[Kreeeee]

No problem at all with pullovers or goblet squats!

I couldn’t get on with single dumbbell versions of those exercises due to the weird 2 additional bars the powerblocks have.

Maybe adjusting my technique to use those 2 bars as a makeshift kettlebell would have worked. As I didn’t need 2 sets of adjustable dumbbells, and the IMs went much heavier and were closer to normal dumbbells, I sold the powerblocks for an insane profit during lockdown.

Seen a few people in here mention Olympic Dumbbells a while ago.... Looking at the Mirafit ones, you guys got the 10cm or 17cm sleeve versions? Concerned the 17cm might be too long for certain dumbbell work.

I also have a set of these, something like 30cm total length per bar. They’re good to start with as they are cheap and you can just chuck on your Olympic weights, but certain shoulder and chest presses were very annoying with them. I still keep them around for heavy rows and super setting with exercises using the IMs.

 

[ahenners]

I also have a set of these, something like 30cm total length per bar. They’re good to start with as they are cheap and you can just chuck on your Olympic weights, but certain shoulder and chest presses were very annoying with them. I still keep them around for heavy rows and super setting with exercises using the IMs.

Thanks - The 10cm sleeves look like they should be better at the expense of being able to fit less weight on. But they seem like a good solution to not needing a stack of dumbbells which take up space and able to reuse the weight plates elsewhere on a bar.