Official Home Gym Building Thread

I've seen this bench on ebay brand new for £50 delivered. States capacity as 300kg.

What is the difference between this and other branded benches from say bodymax which cost many times the price for the same capacity?
 
That bench looks very similar to the strength shop bench i paid £170 for, which is rated at 300kg.

But after looking at the pictures in more detail, there are several elements that are different and would decrease the capacity some what.

The connections to the rear base is a single bolt instead of two with an additional plate spreader.
The seat and back are connected with a single bolt instead of two individual bolts.
The padding looks smaller and narrower.
The leg attachment on the front look like it doesn't have the additional plate spreader on the back of the connection, the padding also looks thinner and cheaper

You also don't know the quality of the metal used or the thickness, this could play a big part in the strength of the bench

I'd say that the bench looks better than some of the cheaper bodymax etc branded benches rated at around 180-200kg (Just by design). But I wouldn't trust it with much more than around 180kg, without seeing it and using it for a while

For £50 delivered it looks really good in comparison to the bigger brands, just depends on the capacity you require really. If you need a 300kg bench you will need to spend more money.
 
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Just had my gym matting, plate tree and plates delivered. Only took 2 weeks!!!

Anyway hopefully i'll be able to quickly set up tonight and have a quick upper body session.

I've been struggling at my old gym since the new year (still a member until the end of next month) with motivation due to it being too busy and people annoying me. Maybe also because i knew I was leaving and wanted to train with my own stuff.

Can't wait to start making some proper progress again.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
That bench looks very similar to the strength shop bench i paid £170 for, which is rated at 300kg.

But after looking at the pictures in more detail, there are several elements that are different and would decrease the capacity some what.

The connections to the rear base is a single bolt instead of two with an additional plate spreader.
The seat and back are connected with a single bolt instead of two individual bolts.
The padding looks smaller and narrower.
The leg attachment on the front look like it doesn't have the additional plate spreader on the back of the connection, the padding also looks thinner and cheaper

You also don't know the quality of the metal used or the thickness, this could play a big part in the strength of the bench

I'd say that the bench looks better than some of the cheaper bodymax etc branded benches rated at around 180-200kg (Just by design). But I wouldn't trust it with much more than around 180kg, without seeing it and using it for a while

For £50 delivered it looks really good in comparison to the bigger brands, just depends on the capacity you require really. If you need a 300kg bench you will need to spend more money.
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Thanks. I find it confusing though.
I'm not sure how one can really "get a feel" of how much capacity a bench takes though. If it states 300kg...who are we to argue? I'm not sure it's sufficient for people to be told "spend as much as you can" because it automatically assures you of a bench that can take what it states. Bit of a mindfield with all this stuff really and getting "good quality". What is good quality? Branded? Possibly. What about an unbranded bench that costs a grand? Difficult as a consumer to know what to buy. I like to see where my money goes and with gym equipment it's hard to see. I get some stuff, like weight plates with rubber over bare metal etc.
 
So finally got set up last night and a quick workout in. Need to get used to the rack and the best way to set up for certain exercises (wish I had the head room for a proper cage), but went ok.

Before and after pics can be found here: http://s396.photobucket.com/user/1983_dew/library/GYM


I've decided I want a set of dumbells, obviously the proper adjustable one would be best but start from around £300. I'm thinking about just getting some olympic plate loaded bars for the time being and see how they go. Can anyone recommend a good quality set of these? also an EZ bar?

The strength shop ones will set me back £150 for both bars and collars, whereas the powerhouse fitness (Bodymax) ones are only £100, though It works out even cheaper on amazon. There doesn't seem to be much difference in them when looking at the pictures. Reviews on Amazon seem to vary quite a bit too. So a bit of advise would be good.

I'm leaning more towards ordering off amazon, as it'll be easier to return if they are rubbish
 
Darryl_1983 said:
So finally got set up last night and a quick workout in. Need to get used to the rack and the best way to set up for certain exercises (wish I had the head room for a proper cage), but went ok.

Before and after pics can be found here: http://s396.photobucket.com/user/1983_dew/library/GYM


I've decided I want a set of dumbells, obviously the proper adjustable one would be best but start from around £300. I'm thinking about just getting some olympic plate loaded bars for the time being and see how they go. Can anyone recommend a good quality set of these? also an EZ bar?

The strength shop ones will set me back £150 for both bars and collars, whereas the powerhouse fitness (Bodymax) ones are only £100, though It works out even cheaper on amazon. There doesn't seem to be much difference in them when looking at the pictures. Reviews on Amazon seem to vary quite a bit too. So a bit of advise would be good.

I'm leaning more towards ordering off amazon, as it'll be easier to return if they are rubbish
Click to expand...

I'd personally bite the bullet and try to get a set of Ironmasters or equivalent. Will be a PITA swapping Olympic plates about all the time.

Your set up looks pretty good, albeit a bit cosy. :p
How do you find pulling the bench out of the way to do squats?
 
mrthingyx said:
Nice gym! Did you get a permit for removing all that ivy? :D
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Yeah it was pretty bad, the picture actually makes it look better than it was. I've not properly sorted the issue out as it's growing over the roof and through the gap between the wall and the roof, but i'll sort it out in the spring when the weather is a little better.

AndrewNR said:
I'd personally bite the bullet and try to get a set of Ironmasters or equivalent. Will be a PITA swapping Olympic plates about all the time.

Your set up looks pretty good, albeit a bit cosy. :p
How do you find pulling the bench out of the way to do squats?
Click to expand...

To be honest I'll probably not use them that much, certainly not to the extent that swapping weights will be a massive issue anyway. Obviously the ironmaster type would be better, but i'm not in a position to spend that much money until maybe next year now after the start up cost. These would just need to last me until then, so was thinking £50 might not be a bad investment for the extra variety it would add.

The bench isn't that heavy, so it's not too bad moving it, But I might switch it around a little, it only leaves about 6 inch of space either side of the bar if i move it around 90 degress, so i'd need to be accurate with my lifts.

I'm just looking at building myself a freestanding pullup and dip station at the minute, because i've got limited height it'll make things easier to get right if i just build it myself
 
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Darryl_1983 said:
The strength shop ones will set me back £150 for both bars and collars, whereas the powerhouse fitness (Bodymax) ones are only £100, though It works out even cheaper on amazon. There doesn't seem to be much difference in them when looking at the pictures. Reviews on Amazon seem to vary quite a bit too. So a bit of advise would be good.

I'm leaning more towards ordering off amazon, as it'll be easier to return if they are rubbish
Click to expand...

Do you mean a pair of Oly dumbell bars and collars for £100. Sounds a lot to me?
 
GSVBagpuss said:
Do you mean a pair of Oly dumbell bars and collars for £100. Sounds a lot to me?
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No, dumbell bars, proper fixed collars to suit and an EZ Curl bar, I may have added a dipping belt actually to get to them prices.

The dumbell bars are £26 each with the collars, so £52 delivered. But they don't look that great in the pictures. But then the strength shop ones look similar and are £30 each plus £7 for the collars (plus postage cost) so more like £80+
 
Glaucus said:
For those who built a "shed" to house it. How much did it cost, how many metered squared is it, do you have insulation etc?
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I'd say you'd probably want a shed that is about 10 ft x 10 ft or at least 10 ft x 8 ft. A bar is 7 ft wide so you'd want 10 ft to feel comfortable IMO then obviously space the other way to move the bench/keep plates etc.

I'd say the shed will be at least £700, £200+ for insulation then you need to look into decent bases/roof etc.

I'd say £1,500+ for anything worth having.

Edit: I'd say you will definiately need insulation. In my garage it gets cold and I'd imagine a wooden shed is a lot worse. Even in the garage I wear a thermal top; grabbing the bar for the first lift is always fun for my hands. :)
 
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If it's going to be unheated I probably wouldn't bother with the insulation to be honest, in the winter its not going to make much difference, it's still going to be freezing in there regardless until your body temps rise.

It might help in the summer though, if it's in direct sunlight, but again it'll probably not have a massive affect.

You can buy ready made sheds, for the prices noted above, I assume these have lightweight floors though, so you'd need to do something with that.

Best route long term IMO would be to cast a reinforced concrete raft slab, and construct a proper timber frame structure with plyboard lining and clad to suit the appearance wanted (or Blockwork and render). It'll cost 2-3 times the above figure depending on how you source materials and how much you can do yourself. But it'll last 10 times longer at least and it can be designed to suit your exact needs.

You may also need planning permission depending on area, height, and location, etc
 
Atm just wanted to get idea of price. Looking at buying a flat. Which wouldn't have a spare room.
I would probably build it myself from scratch anyway. Maybe put underfoot electric heating in. But that's all far into the future. Just wanted rough cost ideas.
 
You could quite easily spend over 10k-15k building something worth investing in. However I'd say to allow for a minimum of £5k for a cheapish build.

There are many garage build logs on the internet, that list building cost, almost all go over budget. But these may give you a better idea of the cost, as size and structure will be very similar i expect.

I did look into knocking my garage down and building a cheap lean to structure on the side of my house in it's place. But estimated cost were well over £2k and that was building off the existing slab and only 3 sides (plus using existing garage doors), I'm pretty sure I will have missed out £100's if not £1000 worth of materials, etc. But As we're planning on selling up and moving in the next year or two it was decided it wasn't worth it.

Our Next house will have either a proper space already in place, or an areas to build something and a budget set aside to build it.
 
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Got my squat rack on Saturday :) happy face.
 
NIce. Very nice.

Finished (almost) my home gym update... finally gotten round to pinning down the wooden floor boards (they were screwed down originally) with some battening around the edges.

Potentially looking at building my own squat stands because can't find a nice solution to my current squat rack problem (size, utility (being able to do certain movements, cost, etc.)... we shall see if this happens, or if I just buy a CF415 like everybody else. :D
 
I wanted the CF415 but couldn't find anywhere to ship it over here, so went up to decathlon and got that one. I need to go up again tonight as the bar we have is the spin on bar, which doesn't fit all the new weights we have, by about 2mm. I will get a longer bar too, as I find in the squats this one is too short for the rack, which is really awkward in the mount.
Being in the basement, it's never going to be pretty, but I think I'm going to get some tunes down there and mount some mirrors to check form etc.
 
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