Official Home Gym Building Thread

Some recent additions to my gym. £40 for the dip bars and £50 for the bench. The bench is a beauty. So much better built and solid than my old york flat/incline/decline bench. Also added another 85kg to my weight plates too, so i've got over 250kg in plates now.

file_name_26542.jpg

HeavyDutyInclineDeclineBench_0.jpg

GLDA1_Leg_Developer_Attachment_for_GFID31_2-750x750.jpg
 
Last edited:
Kimi said:
Oh shes slammin'

That bench looks good for 50 quid, was that brand new?

My dipbars should be here this week
Click to expand...

No, second hand of course. I would never even think of buying new gym equipment unless i can buy new for a tiny bit more than used, simply isn't worth it imo. They're still £270+ new for the bench and leg developer attachment.
 
Last edited:
Bench and weights arrived yesterday.

Sorry about the poor pictures, taken on iPhone

d180ee98.jpg


ea91be77.jpg


Also bought the heavy matting it stands on.

The olympic bar itself weighs in at around 15kg!!!!

So I now have Punchbag, Treadmill & Bench & weight set.

Now need your advice on a routine.

I'm training to lose weight initially.

I usually run Mon, Wed, Fri mornings 8.5k each of those days and I'm on a calorie deficit each day.

What do you guys recommend?
 
I'm looking to sell my CF475 rack with pulley and dip bars. And also have a Bodymax bench to shift too. Can set something up in the classifieds if anyone is interested? e-mail in trust.

Not getting any use now that a DW opened up locally!
 
SMlFFY said:
Ok, so I actually benched pressed more that I thought then. Nice one. :D:D
Click to expand...

That doesn't look like a 7ft bar, but it could just be the pic throwing me off. Have you measured the length? Many are 6ft and those are 15kg usually.


EDIT: or maybe it is 7ft, lol. I'm not sure. :p
 
I've got a Powertec utility bench like that with my rack. I'd take those handlebar things off though, they just get in the way. I think they are for holding when you are using the leg curl attachment. Where do you squat?
 
Morba said:
That looks horribly small, at least for my liking!
Click to expand...

Ye I agree. You need a nice but of space. Some thing you can feel comfortable in. We ended up using our basement which pretty much covers 30m2 and that's more than enough for us. One thing people need to consider when building a home gym is why they're actually doing it. There are many different reasons, maybe you want to create a safe environment to exercise, or maybe even just a relaxing quite atmosphere? either way just make sure you do it right!!!
We got found a really good price on a gym floor from floor mats UK, click here to check it out. We pretty much lay this stuff right across our gym and then carpet on top of that. It's perfect for my power rack!
 
SMed said:
That doesn't look like a 7ft bar, but it could just be the pic throwing me off. Have you measured the length? Many are 6ft and those are 15kg usually.


EDIT: or maybe it is 7ft, lol. I'm not sure. :p
Click to expand...

I think (and I'm not saying this with any degree of certainty) that:

5ft = 15kg
6ft = 18kg
7ft = 20kg

Thats what I've been told in the past. When I bought my 6ft I was told it was 18kg.
 
BennyC said:
I'm looking to sell my CF475 rack with pulley and dip bars. And also have a Bodymax bench to shift too. Can set something up in the classifieds if anyone is interested? e-mail in trust.

Not getting any use now that a DW opened up locally!
Click to expand...

Have decided to put my oly bar, tree & 240KG cast iron plates up for grabs too. Realistically not going to get used with the new gym opened up.
 
Just researched this whole thread during the last 3 days. Found a ton of info about setting up my home gym.
I had no idea about matting and never thought it necessary previously.
Already got some basics covered. I got the tri grip oly weights up to 135kg, which should last me a year, an olympic bar and olympic dumbbells. I looked at the dumbbell options and I don't want to spend a few thousand on a set or 475 on ironmasters. The olympics dbs are the best option for me as they're cheap and relatively safe. The only movement I wouldn't do with them is pullovers, which I don't do anyway. So it's not an issue.
Thanks to this thread I'm certainly going to get the powertec rack and lat attachment. I would have gone for the bodymax 475, but going through this thread convinced me it's worth the extra to buy the powertec.
I saw in their catalogue that there's a new lat tower for 2013, so I'll hold off on that until then.
What I'm not certain of is the bench. I would go for the powertec but it's only rated to 600lbs. I weigh 96kg, so I can see a few years down the line when I get my bench press up I'll outgrow this bench. I don't really fancy buying a £240 bench then having to buy another one two years later.
So I'm thinking of either going for the ironmaster superbench or the body solid GFID71. I believe they're both rated to 1000 lbs, so either one will last me a lifetime. One thing that puts me off the body solid is that its legs appear to be exactly where I would place my feet when doing a bench press.
The only piece of equipment I'd really miss from the going to the gym would be the leg extension, which I plan on getting next year after getting the basics sorted.
I found that retail for a nautilus plate loaded leg extension in America is $1700, which is very reasonable, but doesn't help me in the UK. Not sure if nautilus has a dealer over here, but if they did it would probably be £1700.
I did find this one
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Powerline-P...F6YG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349365512&sr=8-1
Which is apparently rated to 275lbs

and this one
http://www.bodysolid.co.uk/Body-Solid-CAM-Series-Leg-Extension--Curl-GCEC340__p-133.aspx

which is rated to 400lbs

I read a few unflattering reviews about the body solid unit on bodybuilding.com. Apparently, it lunges forward when you put a lot of weight on it.
Has anyone tried one of these leg extension?

The final piece of the puzzle, and the most frustrating one for me, has been matting.
I'm starting to give up and think I might just get the £60 ones from fitness superstore.
I found these stores that sell mats, but I'm not sure if they would be decent quality.

http://www.ukfitnesssupplies.co.uk/...y-Rubber-Gym-Mats-pack-of-8-tiles_Tile-1m.htm

http://www.polymax.co.uk/rubber-matting-and-flooring/gym-mats/force-rubber-sport-gym-mat
http://www.polymax.co.uk/rubber-matting-and-flooring/gym-mats/rubber-fitness-interlocking-mats
http://www.horsematsplus.co.uk/special-offers/
http://www.floormats.co.uk/gym-mats
Thanks in advance
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom