Official Home Gym Building Thread

uncle_rufus said:
The main reason imho to get a full height rack rather than the one you listed is that it's much nicer returning the bar to j-hooks on tall uprights than it is trying to replace it into those upward pointing hooks. Imagine you've just done a massive squat set that's really taken it out of you - on a full height rack you can just walk the bar in until it hits the uprights then lower it onto the hooks, on the first one you linked you'd have to shimmy forwards and then try to carefully line it up with the hooks etc. More likely to mess up, more likely to injure yourself etc.

If you don't want (or have space for) a full rack though you could get a half one - I have the Mirafit M210 half rack
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Thanks, this is the sort of stuff I was after that I felt I was missing :cry:

I have space for the full rack, only thing is I am one person and don't really have anyone to help - can it be assembled by one person?
 
Dominic-Toretto said:
The M3 Power rack is far better for benching due to it having west side spacing which will allow you to perfectly place spotter bars.
Do you already have a bench and barbell?
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Thanks. The M3 rack looks like the one I'll get

I don't have a bench yet, perhaps buy the M3 bench too? https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-adjustable-weight-bench.html

I do have a barbell (this one: https://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.u...ast-iron-tri-grip-weight-set-6ft-bar-wtwk0545)

If that isn't compatible with the rack (do you know?), I guess I'll buy this too: https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-6ft-international-olympic-barbell.html
 
jb7 said:
I have space for the full rack, only thing is I am one person and don't really have anyone to help - can it be assembled by one person?
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Possibly, will be far far easier with 2 people though. If you are mounting it to the floor you could stand up one side first and mount it to the floor, and then put the central bars on, and stand the other side up and bolt it together.

jb7 said:
Thanks. The M3 rack looks like the one I'll get
I don't have a bench yet, perhaps buy the M3 bench too? https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-adjustable-weight-bench.html
I do have a barbell (this one: https://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.u...ast-iron-tri-grip-weight-set-6ft-bar-wtwk0545)
If that isn't compatible with the rack (do you know?), I guess I'll buy this too: https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-6ft-international-olympic-barbell.html
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That bar won't fit. You will need a 7ft bar.
I would not recommend that bench either. If your budget allows I would go with this bench: https://bulldoggear.com/products/adjustable-bench-2-0
Are you going to be performing any Olympic lifts? If not and you will just be squatting / deadlifting / benching then get a power bar which will have less whip and deeper knurling IE:
https://www.thegymrevolution.co.uk/index.php/atx-ram-bar.html
or
https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-20kg-...MI3J6h9bOw8wIVjbbtCh2HoADjEAQYASABEgJk_PD_BwE
or if you aren't that fussed about knurling or whip of the bar and want something decent on a budget
https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-m3-7ft-20kg-olympic-barbell-black.html
 
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Dominic-Toretto said:
Possibly, will be far far easier with 2 people though. If you are mounting it to the floor you could stand up one side first and mount it to the floor, and then put the central bars on, and stand the other side up and bolt it together.


That bar won't fit. You will need a 7ft Olympic bar.
I would not recommend that bench either. If your budget allows I would go with this bench: https://bulldoggear.com/products/adjustable-bench-2-0
Are you going to be performing any Olympic lifts? If not and you will just be squatting / deadlifting / benching then get a power bar IE: https://mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-20kg-...MI3J6h9bOw8wIVjbbtCh2HoADjEAQYASABEgJk_PD_BwE
If you want a higher quality bar lookup the "Rogue Ohio Power Bar"
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Thanks. I don't plan on bolting down, which means the M3 rack might be out of the equation (does bolting matter?). The M200 rack doesn't say I have to bolt that down

Whats better about that bulldog bench compared to the M3?
 
jb7 said:
Thanks. I don't plan on bolting down, which means the M3 rack might be out of the equation (does bolting matter?). The M200 rack doesn't say I have to bolt that down

Whats better about that bulldog bench compared to the M3?
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You don't have to bolt down the M3 if you get the rear stabiliser bar.

The bulldog bench compared to the M3 is:
Zero gap between the seat and the pad when flat benching
More heavy duty / commercial grade
Higher quallity
Will feel much better when lifting heavy loads compared to the M3
 
Dominic-Toretto said:
You don't have to bolt down the M3 if you get the rear stabiliser bar.

The bulldog bench compared to the M3 is:
Zero gap between the seat and the pad when flat benching
More heavy duty / commercial grade
Higher quallity
Will feel much better when lifting heavy loads compared to the M3
Click to expand...

Thank you. Final question from me:

I will need to get a 90cm wide M3 rack, to fit the stabiliser bar (thats fine, I have the space)

But what height do I get?

Height of my ceiling = 236cm
My height = 5 foot 10 (178cm)

I am thinking of getting the 208cm height M3.. is this OK?
 
jb7 said:
Thank you. Final question from me:
I will need to get a 90cm wide M3 rack, to fit the stabiliser bar (thats fine, I have the space)
But what height do I get?
Height of my ceiling = 236cm
My height = 5 foot 10 (178cm)
I am thinking of getting the 208cm height M3.. is this OK?
Click to expand...

We are a similar height and I got the 208cm version so that when doing weighted pullups I can just grab on to the bar rather than having to jump up to it, or step on something to reach the pull up bar. The downside is that I cannot do standing overhead presses inside the rack but I don't normally do that anyhow....
Not sure how close your head would be to the ceiling with the 208cm when performing pullups.
 
Dominic-Toretto said:
We are a similar height and I got the 208cm version so that when doing weighted pullups I can just grab on to the bar rather than having to jump up to it, or step on something to reach the pull up bar. The downside is that I cannot do standing overhead presses inside the rack but I don't normally do that anyhow....
Not sure how close your head would be to the ceiling with the 208cm when performing pullups.
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If I get the 236 version mate, can I adjust the pullup bar lower?
Can't you take the pullup bat off when doing overhead presses?

I'm thinking of getting the M3. Not sure whether to go 60cm or 90cm
 
aoaaron said:
If I get the 236 version mate, can I adjust the pullup bar lower?
Can't you take the pullup bat off when doing overhead presses?

I'm thinking of getting the M3. Not sure whether to go 60cm or 90cm
Click to expand...

You probably can adjust the pullup bar lower, they sell additional ones too.
Are you planning on floor mounting or free standing with rear stabiliser bar?
 
Dominic-Toretto said:
You probably can adjust the pullup bar lower, they sell additional ones too.
Are you planning on floor mounting or free standing with rear stabiliser bar?
Click to expand...


I've decided to go for something like this:

https://www.ironking.uk.com/shop/sr-fb70/
https://bulldoggear.com/collections...moth-lite-wall-mounted-folding-rack-short-red

Just seems to make way more sense from a space perspective. Also I used my friends MIRAFIT power cage a few months ago (didn't realise it was the same brand) and it wasn't that secure. Especially for dips using the extension, it was pretty bad. I am going to assume if the wall mounted racks are secured properly, they should be as good as being bolted down as the brick wall will be supporting the weight

And of course I can fold it away when not in use and still use my garage for more activities like boxing and sparring.

my garage is about 5x6m so I do have a bit of space but when measuring up the rack AND the barbell, it was taking over the space loads :(
 
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Well, my 18 floor connectors arrived. 18 *packs* of 7 :p

Edit: an hour and a half later I’ve clipped the entirety of the floor together (other than one join under the base of the squat rack). Incredibly tricky, would have been easier to do at the start. No gaps, seems solid, we’ll see how it goes.
 
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The Chemist said:
PXL-20210727-224802273.jpg


In hindsight I should have gone for a full rack and not the half foldable as it's a faff to fold away and since installation I've never needed to put away. Waiting for my shelf unit to come this week so I can tidy up the weights off the floor
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Mate this looks epic..! How is the foldable for support etc.?
 
aoaaron said:
Mate this looks epic..! How is the foldable for support etc.?
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I also have a foldable one although I mounted it direct to the brick wall in the garage so didn't need those runner things Chemist has. It's great though, has very little movement in it even doing toes to bar or kipping pull ups. Mine is 20mm or so up off the flooring, I have 160kg of weight and even with the bar on fully loaded I can still slide out the shims I have under the feet relatively easily so it only drops a few mm under stress. I'm very impressed with it.
As The Chemist says though, I bought it so I could fold it away. Had it 8 months and folded it once and that was only to clean garage out a few weeks back. Nice to have option I suppose.





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LiE said:
I have the 20kg standard oly bar and it's been great. I presume the power bar just changes the knurling position and maybe the flex?
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It’s thicker at 29mm, knurling more grippy, doesn’t flex much (whip) and the collars don’t rotate as easy.

Basically from what I can tell it’s better for what I want to use it for such as benching, squat etc.

https://mirafit.co.uk/amp/mirafit-20kg-power-bar.html
 
Vandle said:
I also have a foldable one although I mounted it direct to the brick wall in the garage so didn't need those runner things Chemist has. It's great though, has very little movement in it even doing toes to bar or kipping pull ups. Mine is 20mm or so up off the flooring, I have 160kg of weight and even with the bar on fully loaded I can still slide out the shims I have under the feet relatively easily so it only drops a few mm under stress. I'm very impressed with it.
As The Chemist says though, I bought it so I could fold it away. Had it 8 months and folded it once and that was only to clean garage out a few weeks back. Nice to have option I suppose.





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I can't see the photos mate, can you show them again?
I'll likely be folding it away after every single workout as the only place I can put the cage is due to garage runners is near the first door opening to the garage so I'm happy with that.
I'm thinking of getting mine from Iron Kings.. well I will be getting mine from there as they offer custom heights which is awesome.


Has anyone got suggestions on flooring please? I don't like dark black flooring so I was looking for some grey rubber flooring but I can't find any, anywhere. I have levelling compound but the flooring is holding up my entire build.

I want flooring like these guys have:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSsMN0Cwryk
 
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