Official Home Gym Building Thread

Posted a few months ago about my desire to get some equipment for home use (first floor flat).

I've been training for the last three+ months properly and am starting to see some decent gains but I'm starting to get close to using up my 20KG of total weight with my dumbbells (what can I say, I'm a weakling).

I've got a bench already, how easy would it be to get a barbell and some kind of rack, how big are these things?
 
Gigabit said:
Posted a few months ago about my desire to get some equipment for home use (first floor flat).

I've been training for the last three+ months properly and am starting to see some decent gains but I'm starting to get close to using up my 20KG of total weight with my dumbbells (what can I say, I'm a weakling).

I've got a bench already, how easy would it be to get a barbell and some kind of rack, how big are these things?
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1" barbell and basic rack can be nice and compact. 2" olympic bar is not normally referred to as compact. There is kit for all requirements nowadays.

In other news, my smelly stable mats have now been washed thoroughly with "Green Gloop". I will know once they dry out whether the smell has gone or not. If it has, they're filling out the rest of the garage floor. If it hasn't, they're getting sold on!
 
Cadder said:
1" barbell and basic rack can be nice and compact. 2" olympic bar is not normally referred to as compact. There is kit for all requirements nowadays.

In other news, my smelly stable mats have now been washed thoroughly with "Green Gloop". I will know once they dry out whether the smell has gone or not. If it has, they're filling out the rest of the garage floor. If it hasn't, they're getting sold on!
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Any recommendations?
 
Gigabit said:
Any recommendations?
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What kind of space do you have? I have read the Mirafit M2 being mentioned a fair bit in this thread.
My bar, EZ bar and DBs are 2" olympic and I have a Body-Solid rack like this - https://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk/body-solid-commercial-multi-press-squat-rack-1.html

But I have converted my single garage into a gym.

If you really want to save space maybe some of those adjustable dumbbells and a basic adjustable bench would get you started. Only a page or so back in this thread and someone has bought and reviewed a set from ebay.

Give a rough size of the area allocated for your gym and I'm sure others in this thread will give you some pointers. Will the gym be going on wooden/suspended floor or concrete? Or other?
 
Gigabit said:
Any recommendations?
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I would recommend getting a bar with 2 inch collars, you can get ones shorter than the full size 7 foot bar. See here https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-2-olympic-barbell-weight-bar-4ft-5ft-6ft-7ft.html

Still quite cheap and will be rock solid, allowing you to use quality 2 inch plates

Dumbbells are an option but you can leave the bar on the bench, so it wouldn't really take up any more space.

E; Mirafit are generally well priced, you should take a look around their site. Their cheaper racks would probably be perfect for you e.g. the M1 squat rack for £120 would work well for benching without breaking the bank or being as large as higher end racks https://mirafit.co.uk/strength-equipment/squat-racks-stands.html
 
tbyeah said:
It's tough, there's always a tradeoff. With a fixed set there's the space and cost consideration, and with any Flexbell replica there's the durability doubts. Plus both have quite large jumps in weight.

I've been looking at the Bowflex 1090 replicas which are around £300-400 a pair, which I like because of the small weight graduations (around 2kg per dumbbell up to 40kg) but they are absolutely MASSIVE. No idea how much that would bother me
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I really like my Ironmaster dumbbells with the extra weight add on. They’re the only adjustable ones I’ve seen that have the same size and feel as traditional dumbbells.

They have 1kg increments and the plates can also be used for an adjustable kettle bell and other adjustable Ironmaster equipment.

The only disadvantage is that they take a long time (15 seconds) to make changes in weight.
 
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Combat Fighter said:
Was your mats brand new or had they been literally used by a horse before, hence the smell?
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First batch were bought from someone who bought new and only used for gym. They were fine after a quick clean.

Second batch were bought from someone who bought from a stables. By the looks, these have been used for a good while in stables.
 
Combat Fighter said:
That’s Ok then as I was looking at getting some horse box mats, but I’ll be buying them brand new.
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Apparently brand new they have a stink to them too. That overwhelming new rubber/chemical smell. I watched a few videos while trying to find out the best way to clean mine, and they say just leave new mats outside for a week or so and they'll release the smell as they expand contract with the temperature changes throughout the day.

Saving a few quid buying used horse mats is not the way forward in my opinion. I learned that from experience.
 
Mine smelled when I first got them and I did absolutely nothing to air them out our anything like that just put them down in the garage. It smelt a bit rubbery for like a week or two and that was it now you can't notice anything
 
Bought a pair of origin dumbbells last year 26kg each.

I need more weight.

Started doing some DB incline bench and shoulder press recently. The titty pump just feels so good on incline DB compared to incline BB.

The quality of the origin set was top notch, they were the pro set and now they only do 44kg+. I need something around the 30 mark.
 
Finally got my leg press, managed to squeeze it in to the garage..... :)

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tbyeah said:
Went for the 32kg Flexbell replicas, I'm happy with them so far

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They feel more solid and beefy than I expected and the stand is rock solid. The black bits at the end of the silver rails being plastic is not ideal, but all the plastic feels very sturdy
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Now you have had these a little while how are you finding them?

I’m tempted to get a pair myself, just wondering on the durability of these if you drop them.
 
Combat Fighter said:
Now you have had these a little while how are you finding them?

I’m tempted to get a pair myself, just wondering on the durability of these if you drop them.
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I haven't tried dropping them but they feel durable. Definitely happy I bought them overall. It's not hard to avoid dropping really, even if you are completely finished after a set you can lower them down somewhat gently and not take the risk
 
How do people rate the Mirafit M1? The M3 seems rather overkill for me, but I'm putting in a gym at our new house. I've got a bench and bar/plates, and want somewhere for squatting/pressing. I'm squatting 110KGs atm.
 
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