Might as well post my exeriences lol.
Currently I have
*Force USA commercial power rack - although it's good, it's also got a HUGE footprint which in half a double garage becomes an issue if you want more than 1 person training at a time. if I had my time again I would have gotten squat stands or a half rack
*Iron Edge 20kg Olympic barbell - no complaints here, you get what you pay for (sub-$200)
*15m Power Ropes - a bit like the rack, handy when you have the space, useless when you don't lol
*Iron Edge ex display power sled - see above
*8kg Iron Edge Olympic training bar - good for the ladies and overhead/bench pressing to start with, no essential for a guy unless they can't snatch a 20kg barbell
*Olympic Hammer/triceps bar - picked it up for $40 at a sale, mainly gets used for hang clean + presses. again, not essential if training on your own
*Olympic ABC diamond trap bar - very good for teaching people to deadlift or doing jump shrugs (bit simpler than a straight BB), but again, not essential if training by yourself
*With the power rack I got pairs of 2.5, 5, 15, 20, 25kg rubber coated plates and 4x10kg. Should have gotten pairs of 2.5, 5, 10, 15kg then 6x20kg
*Muscle Motion adjustable squat box - one of the few things I've bought that has more than paid itself off lol
*Muscle Motion adjustable DBs - 4 handles and about 60kg worth of plates. no complaints except sometimes the plates come a bit loose but it's not much of an issue at all
*ABC standard DB handles + some standard plates - these were my old mans and the plates are all in lbs but I managed to make up a pair that are 19.8kg or something like so I call them 20kg lol. Also have some old iron 5.5kg DBs
*I have pairs of Iron Edge 41" bands in every colour except blue. I mainly use them now to do shoulder dislocations, band pull aparts and hip thrusters (no more benching after my last adventure lol)
*about 20kg worth of lifting chain - got the 6kg ones from GymDirect then added some on with chain from Bunnings but went to small so there's a fuckload of chain and not much weight
*a slightly bent ABC olympic U-squat bar that will probably go up to Sticky at some stage
*a standard ABC cambered bar I got at a garage sale. Will probably make some homemade olympic collars to put on it using left over 50mm pipe from when I (attempt) to make farmer's walk handles
*both the single ab wheel and the double ab wheel from Iron Edge
*some small change IE plates (5s,2.5s and 1.25s)
*a few leftover KBs (4kg pair, 6kg pair)
That's the main stuff, at other stages I have had
*an assortment of bumper plates from IE, think Adamklam took some 20s, a couple of others from here took some 10s and maybe some 20s, then Trent (Ceffo) took the rest
*a Force USA bench and Olympic BB that Andy bought
* pretty much every KB known to man, half of which I had pairs of, that are on their way to PTC brisbane
*safety squat bar
If I had my time again:
*Squat stands
*proper flat bench press
*ABC power bar
*IE premium bumpers (weren't out at the time I got my first set of plates) 2x10,2x15,2x20,4x25 to start
*Adjustable KB
*Adjustable DBs
That ^ would be if I was only planning on training by myself or with a mate, not training other people. Will say I would have been much better off getting the Top Squat device rather than a SSB as in limited space keeping things as small (size wise) as possible is a lot more important than the vast expanses of a factory/warehouse
Own:
- Muscle Motion Commercial Rack
- Muscle Motion Commercial Flat Bench
- ABC Powerlifting Bar
- 300kg of Avanti and gymandfitness plates
- Muscle Motion 40kg Rubber Adjustable Dumbbells
- Muscle Motion Tricep Bar (replacing for EZ Curl)
- Muscle Motion Close Grip Attachment
In the future I plan to ditch the latter 3, buy a set of kettlebells from gymdirect and bumpers from ABC. This will be a while though as I don't have the space for it in my current house.
Brands
- Muscle Motion
- Australian Barbell Co
Opinions
- I really like Muscle Motion stuff. Sometimes if wish they were designed closer to the powerlifting stuff that comes from Elitefts (closer pin spacing, wider benches) but for the price it doesnt leave me sleepless. This is high quality stuff.
- ABC are very pricey, particularly taking in postage from Melbourne, however they're high quality. I'd only buy bars and bumpers from them, anything else is too much $$$.
- Aussie Kettlebells are a company I'm yet to deal with (being based in Melbourne) but they seem to make some good stuff.
Equipment Made
- Dumbbell handles. Didn't turn out well.
Pics
Oli, right now the Iron Edge bumpers are much better value than the ABC ones.
For the price of a pair of ABC 25s you can almost buy a complete IE set
