Official Home Gym Building Thread

Hello guys

I want to convert my garage into a gym, something like this :

gym_garage_london.jpg


How much do you think it should cost / something very basic ?

Thanks and regards
 
i think you need to look through this thread from first post to the last, all of your questions have already been answered.

what are the dimensions of that room?

also how long is a piece of string? how basic do you want to go? why do you want a home gym? what are you trying to achieve? how dedicated and motivated are you? how long have you been going to the gym for? have you ever done weights before and for how long?

the minimum for a home gym is usually around £1K, unless you go second hand, then £500+.

any more basic than that, then you would be better off just joining a gym tbh if your at all serious.

read the whole thread, then come back with your questions.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
where do you live? i know someone with a spare olympic bar and some spare weights.

failing that, gumtree and ebay for second hand stuff.

what are you looking to do with it and do you have any other equipment?
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I'm in Bristol. I have been scouring gumtree and ebay for awhile now but don't seem to be able to find anything semi decent for any realistic price.
 
hurfdurf said:
I'm in Bristol. I have been scouring gumtree and ebay for awhile now but don't seem to be able to find anything semi decent for any realistic price.
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olympic bar and 80kg of weights should set you back £150

http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk...grip_olympic_weight_set_7ft_bar_/12593_p.html

probably need to add on postage too, but second hand, your probably only looking at saving, £20-£30 tbh.

olympic plates sell second hand for a minimum of £1 per kg usually.

its only £150, just buy them brand new, like i say second hand will save you £20ish.
 
I've been terribly busy for the past week and going to be busy for the next 10 day's also. not done a workout in like a week either so my home gym isn't getting much use, I have a busy life the reason why i opted for the home gym option rather than paying for a monthly membership and not going.

For the people who were looking at the cheap Bodymax CF375 rack, i would say don't bother, after looking into it, it's honestly cheaply made.

The best rack to get for under £500 is the powertec.

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=134266561&p=676228571#post676228571

this thread sums up that the CF375 cannot even handle 50KG being dropped on it apparently, I would not personally want to rely on something that cheap.

the CF475 is the bare minimum i would go for, but tbh the powertec would be worth the extra.

it's worth searching on bodybuilding.com forums before purchasing anything, more than likely someone on there has asked all the same questions.

as said in the OP if you buy cheap you will get stung, home gym equipment for the proper stuff is expensive, i would not risk buying inferior equipment to save a couple of hundred pound, you would be better off going to a commercial gym if money is an issue.

so from now on i will try my best to re-enforce the above statements, buying cheap will end up hurting you a lot more, than your wallet will for buying decent stuff.

do not be tempted by the cheap options.
 
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Mansize_tissue said:
I and a couple of others on here as far as I know have the CF375 and it's a perfectly competent power rack. In fact I'd highly recommend it.
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have you ever tested the pins? the rack is supposedly decent it's the pins which have the problem.

if you could replace the pins for cheap, it could be a decent cheap option. but i honestly would not trust it after reading the reviews on bodybuilding.com.

care to provide some pics of your equipment? so me and other's can have a wee look? as far as i am aware only 2 people have posted pic's of their home gyms in here lol
 
I currently have a weights bench (cheapy York all-in-one thing) and a running machine in the garage.

I'm looking to bring this inside the house into the spare room.

I want to get a decent bench, rack with lat attachement etc. Is this the best product around?
http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk...ttachment_and_utility_bench_2011/13549_p.html

The weights I use at the moment are only standard size (up to 80kg) - would I be able to still use these until I fund an olympic set?
 
AndrewNR said:
I currently have a weights bench (cheapy York all-in-one thing) and a running machine in the garage.

I'm looking to bring this inside the house into the spare room.

I want to get a decent bench, rack with lat attachement etc. Is this the best product around?
http://www.fitness-superstore.co.uk...ttachment_and_utility_bench_2011/13549_p.html

The weights I use at the moment are only standard size (up to 80kg) - would I be able to still use these until I fund an olympic set?
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that is certainly not the best around, if you want the best around it would most likely cost several thousand pounds.

that is the best value for money product though, it is solid and should last you a lifetime and probably more, it is what I recommend everybody should purchase. I own a previous model, this model has better spotter bars. I may try and get the new spotter bars somehow in future.

you cannot use a standard sized barbell with the rack (bar needs to be a minimum of 7 foot).

you cannot use standard plates on the lat pulley (will only take olympic).

therefore you can use a 7 foot standard barbell with the rack (if there is such a thing).

i recommend you just save up a bit more cash and get the olympic set at the same time, phone them up, haggle on the price or get them to throw in something for free, you can always get a discount if you phone.

im very busy atm and only have access to the internet after 11.30pm and im busy all day up until then, so i may not reply to any further questions you have straight away, but i suggest you read through this thread, if you have not already done so.
 
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that is certainly not the best around, if you want the best around it would most likely cost several thousand pounds.
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Yes, sorry I should have been clear; I meant to best value - I don't have the cash to spend over a £1,000 on one!

you cannot use a standard sized barbell with the rack (bar needs to be a minimum of 7 foot).
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That's quite annoying, trying to flog 'heavy' items on the 'bay is a tad annoying.

Thanks for your response, I will see what places offer the powertec and olympic weights etc and try to haggle. I've used Fitness-Superstore before and they seem pretty good.
 
AndrewNR said:
Yes, sorry I should have been clear; I meant to best value - I don't have the cash to spend over a £1,000 on one!



That's quite annoying, trying to flog 'heavy' items on the 'bay is a tad annoying.

Thanks for your response, I will see what places offer the powertec and olympic weights etc and try to haggle. I've used Fitness-Superstore before and they seem pretty good.
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fitness superstore are powertec's official UK distributor you wont find them anywhere else.

dont bother with trying to post your standard stuff, pick up only, and advertise on gumtree first then ebay. you will have to flog it dirt cheap though, because it's basically stuff for noobies, it's not in demand.

fitness superstore are very good, it may be on backorder though so may take several weeks to arrive from america. so bare that in mind when you order.

also you will need matting i recommend strength shops mats.

your looking at £1500 basically when you add up the package, olympic weight set and decent matting.

worst comes to worst and if you want to get rid of your standard stuff because you no longer need it and nobody wants to buy it, sell it to a local scrap metal dealer.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
have you ever tested the pins? the rack is supposedly decent it's the pins which have the problem.

if you could replace the pins for cheap, it could be a decent cheap option. but i honestly would not trust it after reading the reviews on bodybuilding.com.

care to provide some pics of your equipment? so me and other's can have a wee look? as far as i am aware only 2 people have posted pic's of their home gyms in here lol
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Pictures here. The most I've ever had supported on the pins is 150kg, and about 180kg on the spotter bars. Both were fine at those weights, but then you never really know when you're reaching a piece of equipment's capilities until it fails!
 
Seems like my order is finally on its way (bench was out of stock) so have ordered 3 of the mats from Strength Shop - wasn't expecting the £20 shipping but then again these things are heavy so can't complain! :)

Hopefully pictures soon! :)
 
Psymonkee said:
Seems like my order is finally on its way (bench was out of stock) so have ordered 3 of the mats from Strength Shop - wasn't expecting the £20 shipping but then again these things are heavy so can't complain! :)

Hopefully pictures soon! :)
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shipping is the biggest problem with all gym equipment, i have no idea how the big stores keep their costs down, that's why when buying mats it's usually better off getting as many as you need as if your short, buying again really pains as the postage drives the price up by so much, rather than just ordering in the first place.

i needed to help the delivery guy carry it all from the truck to the garage, his huge truck wouldn't fit up the drive and it was too heavy to push his trolley jack thing up the slight hill in the drive so the only option was to carry it all one by one after we got it half way up and put the brakes on.

it was tiring and some of the stuff was extremely heavy. a workout in itself. make sure you have the mats layed down before building and you will be better off opening the mats up outside and shaking them as mine were sandy.

also make sure you have someone to help you, it will take 3 times as long doing it yourself and my instructions weren't the clearest and im sure some of them were even wrong lol.

oh and you may also want to buy some silicon lubricant for your pulley and wd-40 to spray all metal if its going in a cold garage to help prevent rust through the winter months. i normally spray mine every few weeks during winter.

you can see by my re-furbed dumbells in their original state what cold and damp can do to them.
 
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