Caporegime
- Joined
- 21 Jun 2006
- Posts
- 38,372
Hey Guys
Looking to build a home gym (finally). Wanted to ask if any of you guys know anywhere selling weights cheap? I know they can be found second hand, but also wondered if any of you had any links to a good site (theres loads with big fluctuation in prices).
Starting the stronglifts routine, so want to have a decent setup and would rather spend a bit more to get what I need (rather than buying a 'kit' and then it having too little weights and buying addons - in the long run costing me more).
Looking forward to 2011 gym wise. Thanks
edit:
Looking at a 50kg set and thinking about that, is that suitable for now or would you reccomend getting a 100kg set? (100kg set is like £180! theres got to be some cheaper than that?)
weights are expensive, you should be aiming to pay no more than £2 per kg brand new and as little as £1 per kg second hand. second hand is the only way to go if you want cheap weights, i recently acquired 190kg for £180. sure they need painting, but thats a £20 outlay to make them look brand new again. So call it £200 for 190kg of brand new looking plates (after paint).
50kg wont do, you cant even squat or deadlift properly with that. the minimum you should be looking for is 150kg, i can tell by you even suggesting 50kg, you either dont have a clue or your heart isn't truly in it. otherwise you would know how much weight you need.
i have over 400kg of weight, the max ive ever used for 1 lift would probably only be around 150kg, but im hoping to improve that drastically. the extra weight comes in handy when using different bars (ez curl or barbell) or a lat/pulley attachment.
also with a home gym, i found that olympic dumbell bars were a waste of money, due to how unsafe they are. when you get to larger weights, using them for bench press, etc. the size of the weights involved means you cannot trust spring collars to stop the weights from sliding off (if you do down this route spend heavy on some clamps, bulldog ones are supposed to be good, but there's probably others too). otherwise this then means you need a set of ironmasters with add on kit (£600) or a full set of dumbells (1-45 kg) is like £2,000 brand new. to do any serious dumbell work.
so take into consideration whether or not you want to do dumbell work. and then you may realise the cheapest option (dumbell bars) although it may be all you can afford, it can be dangerous/unsuitable.
building a home gym aint cheap, you need to be committed and be prepared to buy decent equipment.
look here http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=26 for at least a week or two reading various threads to soak up some knowledge on what is good and what isn't, be aware though there are a lot of idiots on that forum as well as decent people.
the best and cheapest way to set up a home gym would be:
semi decent rack (1000 lbs capacity) with the option to buy a lat pulley attachment in the future, to keep starting costs low if your struggling, i can personally recommend the powertec one, it comes with adjustable dipping bars and a chin/pull up bar also.
decent bench - you cannot skimp on this, get a commercial one if possible, body solid or gymratz are both solid picks (i have both).
horse stall mats - £30 a mat , for the exact same matting gym stores sell for £60
olympic bar's and weights - second hand is the way to go and re-paint them if neccessary
dumbells - ironmasters (expensive) or standalone set (extortionate), you may be able to get standalone fixed dumbells cheaply second hand, if you keep searching on a weekly basis for months. i doubt you will ever find ironmasters second hand in this country only america.
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