Used commercial gear - Hammer Strength and Life Fitness

Guys, I have the opportunity to pick up some used commercial gear.

There is a Life Fitness power rack for sale for $1,350 - this one is branded Life Fitness, but I think that their gear is actually Hammer Strength looking at the website. This rack has gun racks inside the cage. No provision for racking outside of the rack (front has no gun racks or hooks). It has weight storage on the back, kind of like the Muscle Motion commercial rack. The chin up bar is basically two handles. I can't attach a pic as I don't have rights to yet.

I could also pick up a 45 degree leg press by Hammer Strength for around the $2k mark.

What are people's thoughts on this equipment. I suspect that power rack is perhaps a bit overpriced for a used unit. I know Hammer Strength is supposed to be very good quality equipment though...

Hammer strength was designed by Gary jones and was the leverage equipment.
life fitness bought hammer.

It's probably a 3 or 4 grand rack, not a bad deal but you're paying for the name.

Do you really need commercial grade quality at home? It's nice to have but there's usually a compromise between quality and cost at some point

White_Lie said:

It's probably a 3 or 4 grand rack, not a bad deal but you're paying for the name.

Do you really need commercial grade quality at home? It's nice to have but there's usually a compromise between quality and cost at some point

Click to expand...

Well I've been considering spending pretty much the same price on a Barbarian Line Commercial rack and had been also thinking about the Muscle Motion Commercial rack which is a similar price too. I'll get the measurements of the rack and maybe even go have a look at it in person. One advantage it it happens to be massively tall is that I might be able to do military press inside the rack (I'm 6'3") which I can't in most others.

I just did some quick searches on leg presses and was getting the idea that non-commercial ones aren't that great. I'll have to confirm it's actually Hammer Strength, but perhaps that's not the worst deal if I can get the price down a bit.

To be honest, I've never used a leg press in my life. I do squats but am limited without squat racks until I get my power rack. I believe squats will be my primary leg movement, however I'm interested in the leg press as I have quite long, lean legs that I'd like to add a bit more mass too.

One consideration about getting a leg press though is perhaps I won't have enough weight plates for it. This might be a tough question, but what are some rough ideas of what kind of weight is needed on a leg press. If it's any help at all, I've been lifting for a couple of years and I currently bench 90kg for 3 sets of five or six, do about 60kg on military press for about four sets of six or seven, deadlift around 130kg for a few sets of five or six. As I said, I can't add any weight to my squats as I don't feel safe doing the clean and jerk and then placing the bar behind my neck, so I stick to 70kg and pretty much just do about four sets of ten or more. I used to do dumbbell lunges (I think around 30kg each?) for sets of ten but stopped as I believe they were aggravating my knee injury.

You'll need 200+ for the leg press. You might not start on that but you'll be pressing more than that in no time. Probably got enough weight there to get you started but you'll be adding/buying plates in a short time frame IMO.

We've got a HS rack in our work gym, it's very tall. Plenty of guys do OHP/push presses in there that are over 6 foot.
Otherwise put the J hooks on the outside, provided you've got enough room.

Well, I went and inspected the equipment personally and these are my thoughts...

The power rack is massive (2.44m high) and has mostly welded joins which means it is too big to get through any regular doorway/entry. This does not suit my needs so I will stick to either the Barbarian Line rack or the Muscle Motion "commercial" rack.

The leg press was not actually Hammer Strength but was extremely heavy duty and worked very well. The range of motion was good (I am 6'3" with long legs) and I don't doubt that this thing would not last a lifetime such was its solidness. But the thing is a monster and it too will not fit through any kind of doorway other than a garage door. While I like the idea of having a leg press, I think I'll wait until after I've been doing heavier squats inside my power rack before getting a lighter quality one that can be taken apart and will therefore fit inside a room. Not sure what good options there are though as not many people seem to be interested in leg presses for the home gym. Does anybody know of decent home gym options for leg press? I've heard the Powertec one ($1,200) is not suited for taller people. My leg workout would basically be squats followed by leg press then hamstring curl and calf raises (maybe also the odd inclusion of leg extensions too). Failing having a leg press I suppose different variations of squat to target quads more could also be incorporated.

I am thinking of picking up a preacher curl (free weights) and seated calf raise though. These weren't nearly as solid as the leg press - especially the calf raise which seemed slightly flimsy. However if I can get these very cheap they could be useful as I don't really feel confident doing seated leg raises with a barbell. Or I was thinking though that perhaps with a power rack it might be easier if using a calf block for the height and then having the spotter bar set slightly lower so one could move feet down from the block which would rack the bar on the spotter arms. This would make it easier with a heavier weight perhaps. Maybe I should try that movement again.