Official Home Gym Building Thread

It looks cool, but unless your an elite powerlifter, spending that amount of money on a cage is a waste of money to me.

I've decided i'm going to order myself the Strength shop power cage next week.

https://www.strengthshop.co.uk/equipment/squat-stands-cages-blocks/power-cage.html

It rated at 400kg, and comes with band hooks top and bottom, dipping bars and pull up/chin bar.

It also just fit's in my garage with it being 2050mm high with the pull up bar reversed. So i'll not need to cut and redrill anything.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
It looks cool, but unless your an elite powerlifter, spending that amount of money on a cage is a waste of money to me.
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All relative really. If you have the money then why not. Just like spending £1000 on a fridge instead of £250; they'll both just keep food chilled but one may look better/be made better/offer more etc.

The Hammer Strength one linked doesn't look like it has pegs for bands and the Barbarian one just looks like the one I linked but to my eyes doesn't look as nice. :) However it looks better built, higher weight rating and the weight holders do look nicer.

Although I don't think there will be many people testing either of the racks' 400kg and 600kg ratings. I guess you'd have to drop a 250kg or 350kg squat or something from quite a height to damage them.

This looks best IMO (a mixture of the Barbarian and the one I linked, only better than both) - a pair of pegs can be added for £25.00.
http://www.thegymrevolution.co.uk/i...r-racks-and-cages/atx-monster-power-cage.html
 
I understand what you're saying, but it's not really the same thing. The guy your recommending these racks to has only ever trained using machines from what i gather from the above post.

No doubt they are excellent cages, they're cool to look at and i'm sure most of us would love some of these cages if we had the money/space for them. But A £2000 power rack designed for elite level powerlifters is a bit of a silly recommendation in my eyes.
 
I agree with you. :)

To 99% of lifters (even more so if you're a beginner) a £500 rack will be just as useful as one for £2000.

I doubt he'd ever use the pegs/bands either too.

But if he doesn't care about the cash then it's nice to link to stuff that most of us either can't afford, don't have the space for or have some sense not to waste money on. :)
 
So decided to go for the strength shop bench,

this lot from the fitness super store
Body Power Heavy Rubber Gym Mat (182 x 121 x 1.7cm) BPMAGMAT 2 £119.98
Body Power 145Kg Rubber Encased Tri-Grip Olympic Set BPOSRTG145 1 £299.00
Body Power Olympic Weight Tree

and Bodymax CF415 direct from amazon, didn't want to deal with powerhouse as their customer service and delivery time apparently is not the best. Really wanted a power rack but I cant fit it in hight wise

Just need to finish boarding the rest of my shed and I'm good to go :)
 
I'm very happy with my SS bench, it's as Solid as any commercial bench i've used.

With the CF415, it'll likely come with a damaged box (both of mine came with bits falling out the box). Just make sure you check it before signing, and sign for it as damaged if need be.

I've got the same mats too, though i'm now looking at adding some cheaper ebay mats the same size and almost half the price.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
I'm very happy with my SS bench, it's as Solid as any commercial bench i've used.

With the CF415, it'll likely come with a damaged box (both of mine came with bits falling out the box). Just make sure you check it before signing, and sign for it as damaged if need be.

I've got the same mats too, though i'm now looking at adding some cheaper ebay mats the same size and almost half the price.
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Cheers, will make sure I check it out, will have a look on the bay to as I need some more matting but not as heavy duty.:cool:
 
Hey guys have been browsing the thread and a lot of different options mentioned.

Brief rundown:
Have had an all in one York Barbell bench for couple of years, moved into a new flat with a nice sized spare bedroom (14ftx11ft) and started a routine as well as a general increase in food intake with a friend and 3 months later have been doing it 3 times a week consistently. Problem is now i've maxed the weight of the barbell set that came with it and have decided to invest a bit as i'm enjoying it and have seen some benefits already, the barbell is only 1" and not sure what its rated to but it only came with 45kg so needs to be replaced. I'm wanting to go olympic standard simply for easier 'upgrades' when needed. I'm only 5'7 and currently weigh about 56kg with the aim of a slow increase to max about 70kg so think the 180kg equipment i've seen around will last me for a long time. I don't want to spend loads but also don't want to buy a set of cheap stuff from Argos again. I think £600 is reasonable amount to spend and wanted to know if there was anything worth considering more than this:

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/deluxe-strength-package.php

It's been mentioned a few times and I think it would suit me fine but any glaring issues i've missed?

Cheers.
 
Richeh said:
Hey guys have been browsing the thread and a lot of different options mentioned.

Brief rundown:
Have had an all in one York Barbell bench for couple of years, moved into a new flat with a nice sized spare bedroom (14ftx11ft) and started a routine as well as a general increase in food intake with a friend and 3 months later have been doing it 3 times a week consistently. Problem is now i've maxed the weight of the barbell set that came with it and have decided to invest a bit as i'm enjoying it and have seen some benefits already, the barbell is only 1" and not sure what its rated to but it only came with 45kg so needs to be replaced. I'm wanting to go olympic standard simply for easier 'upgrades' when needed. I'm only 5'7 and currently weigh about 56kg with the aim of a slow increase to max about 70kg so think the 180kg equipment i've seen around will last me for a long time. I don't want to spend loads but also don't want to buy a set of cheap stuff from Argos again. I think £600 is reasonable amount to spend and wanted to know if there was anything worth considering more than this:

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/deluxe-strength-package.php

It's been mentioned a few times and I think it would suit me fine but any glaring issues i've missed?

Cheers.
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I been looking into power racks for the last couple of weeks, and looking for reviews on various models and brands.

In doing that i've seen a number a threads on forums about the eBay packages, mainly the Ryno package (cage, lat attachement, bench, dip bars etc) for about £300. On looking this morning i noticed a package by Bolt which looks exactly the same for £209. Might be worth investigating them two a little before you decide to go ahead with the above.

A set of plates and bar from either fitness superstore or powerhouse with 100Kg should be an additional £180, so quite a potential saving.

The bodymax package should be fine though, it's rated at 250kg so should be more than enough for 99% of gym goers. I'm not a massive fan of that style of bench, it's needlessly complicated and not that strong, but as you're quite light and not lifting massive weights it should last you a number of years still
 
Richeh said:
Hey guys have been browsing the thread and a lot of different options mentioned.

Brief rundown:
Have had an all in one York Barbell bench for couple of years, moved into a new flat with a nice sized spare bedroom (14ftx11ft) and started a routine as well as a general increase in food intake with a friend and 3 months later have been doing it 3 times a week consistently. Problem is now i've maxed the weight of the barbell set that came with it and have decided to invest a bit as i'm enjoying it and have seen some benefits already, the barbell is only 1" and not sure what its rated to but it only came with 45kg so needs to be replaced. I'm wanting to go olympic standard simply for easier 'upgrades' when needed. I'm only 5'7 and currently weigh about 56kg with the aim of a slow increase to max about 70kg so think the 180kg equipment i've seen around will last me for a long time. I don't want to spend loads but also don't want to buy a set of cheap stuff from Argos again. I think £600 is reasonable amount to spend and wanted to know if there was anything worth considering more than this:

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/deluxe-strength-package.php

It's been mentioned a few times and I think it would suit me fine but any glaring issues i've missed?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

Can you afford a couple hundred quid more?

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/premium-strength-package.php

45kg in more weight, better bench, better rack.


It wont take long before you're deadlifting or squatting 100kg, so you'll need to buy more anyway. 45kg will probably cost around £100.
 
Decent weight rating - though not keen on lack of knurling on the centre section of the bar. You need to check the flex of the bar - if you do Olympic weightlifting having a bit of flex can be helpful. I prefer powerbars but with the centre knurling.

Try it out and see how you get on with it. :)
 
Has anyone ordered from or heard of B-Mac Strength?

They seem to have a lot of equipment which is the same as the Strength Shop stuff.

I've placed an order for a T-bar platform as it was only £30 (Same as the SS one which is £60).
 
AndrewNR said:
Can you afford a couple hundred quid more?

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/premium-strength-package.php

45kg in more weight, better bench, better rack.


It wont take long before you're deadlifting or squatting 100kg, so you'll need to buy more anyway. 45kg will probably cost around £100.
Click to expand...

This

Don't like the look of those spotter bars on the CF375. I have the Bodymax CF475 with optional weight stack and lat/low pulley. Go for that.

Absolutely fantastic bit of kit and will last you forever.
 
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