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My home gym plans. Please rate.

O

Oli

Member
G'day guys,

If you've ever lived in Newcastle you'd know that most of the gyms are terrible - one of the best gyms in town doesn't even have a solid floor.

So I've been saving for a while working at woolies to build a home gym. I bought an avanti squat rack/FID bench and olympic barbell set a few years from workout world back but their capacities aren't high and I'm finding working without a decent power rack difficult.

I've done a lot of research and have made a home gym plan. It needed to have the following:

a) Powerlifting (though I'm not competitive) is something I enjoy and will do long term so the equipment needs to be quality.

b) This is my parents house, things need to be space efficient (this outrules the 200kg muscle motion sumo rack and an extensive list of equipment).

c) A reality is I'm a uni student for another 4 years and I work at Woolworths. Whilst buying quality is important it needs to be realistic - no custom made toronto racks.

With this in mind I've been thinking:
- Powertec power rack
- Ironmaster Superbench
- Olympic barbell set (decent power bar, 300kg of rubber coated plates including fractional plates made from chain and a pair of spring collars)
- Weights tree (to keep mum happy)
- Horse stall mats from Bunnings


Apart from that I won't lift with anything but chucks, an outbak belt, chalk and my Ipod.

Whats everyone's opinions? I've been a little concerned about the capacity of the rack - I'm already squatting 170~ and expect to be doing 200+ over the next few years.

Sorry for the long winded response :p
 
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katie said:
Gday Oliver, if I'm not mistaken I recognise your name from a fitness subforum... BOS??

The_Hulk (Adrian) knows a lot about gym equipment. Have you also read PTC's love letter to his new power rack?
Click to expand...

Yup, thats me. Small world :p

I've had a look at PTC's rack (the muscle motion?) and was hung on buying it for a while. Problem is it has a 65" deep base and is 200kg, which, whilst it makes for one sturdy rack, doesn't make it an economical choice for my parents downstairs rumpus.
 
Aah, I don't know a great deal about equipment so I'll leave it for others to comment on. However, very nice squat! Be sure to poke around the threads here, you'll find quite a few are similar to you in strength.
 
katie said:
Aah, I don't know a great deal about equipment so I'll leave it for others to comment on. However, very nice squat! Be sure to poke around the threads here, you'll find quite a few are similar to you in strength.
Click to expand...

lol no problem. And PTC's love interest is 200kg! :p

Thanks for the compliments, there also seems to be a lot of raw lifters on here which is great too.
 
I have been wanting to get a home gym for awhile now and have been looking into power racks. The one I set my mind on is the cheaper muscle motion rack, it has the same chin handles as the 200gk monster but much smaller, built to hold 320kg.
http://www.gymdirect.com.au/item/MMPR-Power-Rack/498.htm

The only thing stopping me is postage to Perth is about $130, trying to source one locally but no one seems to stock muscle motion in perth.

PS
Its also build for olympic bars so its wider than most racks, this is the main reason I want this one
 
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Your plan is basic and really good, you have everything you need. I would only add a chin bar and dip bars.

Dont worry about the rack not holding the weight, I use them where I work and I dont know anyone who could squat more than they hold.
 
The powertec is good but at $1490? The muscle motion at $595 is much better value for money in my opinion, even if I was spending that much, the 200kg rack that is in PTC would be the one I would choose (if room was not an problem, which it isnt for me).
Does the powertec come with lat attachment? Not really needed for the powerlifting exercises, that could be what the extra cash is supplying

Not trying to sway your decision oliver, but $895 is a lot of money to save! That could buy your weight set
 
NPR said:
Your plan is basic and really good, you have everything you need. I would only add a chin bar and dip bars.

Dont worry about the rack not holding the weight, I use them where I work and I dont know anyone who could squat more than they hold.
Click to expand...

That's really good to know about the capacity. As for the chin and dipping bars - they come with the rack :D

eaglebay said:
The powertec is good but at $1490? The muscle motion at $595 is much better value for money in my opinion, even if I was spending that much, the 200kg rack that is in PTC would be the one I would choose (if room was not an problem, which it isnt for me).
Does the powertec come with lat attachment? Not really needed for the powerlifting exercises, that could be what the extra cash is supplying

Not trying to sway your decision oliver, but $895 is a lot of money to save! That could buy your weight set
Click to expand...

lol, its cool man. I'm trying to get as many opinions as I can!

The Powertec retails for $790 w/o the lat attachment (and I reckon if I kiss Sam's ass he might chuck in a belt for free :P), so the difference isn't too substantial. Also with Powertec having done the rounds for years and having a pretty solid reputation I think its worth the extra $200.

I used to like the cheaper muscle motions but this video put me off ('muscle motion power rack dip attachment' on youtube). Watch how much it shakes.

I'm very sorry if I've come off disagreeable.
 
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Oliver04 said:
I used to like the cheaper muscle motions but this video put me off ('muscle motion power rack dip attachment' on youtube). Watch how much it shakes.
Click to expand...

The rack does shake a little in that vid with the dip attachment.
The reason is because the flooring it's on is not solid, it's only a chipboard floor on steel C-purlins which span about 6m, so even just walking on the floor has movement.
This small movement is amplified alot when considering the height of a power rack.
Also, there are no weights loded on a barbell to further stabalise the rack.

An even stronger and more stable way to do dips is to simply set up the safety bars at a suitable height and then run a couple of other bars across them to use as your dip bars.
Then you can vary your width to suit too.
 
The Hulk said:
The rack does shake a little in that vid with the dip attachment.

The reason is because the flooring it's on is not solid, it's only a chipboard floor on steel C-purlins which span about 6m, so even just walking on the floor has movement.
Click to expand...

G'day Adrian,

Apologies for knocking your rack, I didn't know about the floor.

I know thats what my squat rack does at home and it makes it sketchy as.
 
Dude I train at home but have a 4 bay shed full of stuff.

Have a look on ebay at used gymnasium equipment. I have REAL gym stuff. Titan, Magnum etc. This stuff lives forever. You may need to redo cables, bearings or pulleys now and then but the heavy duty megga thousand dollar stuff is cheap second hand.

I have a mad titan decline pec dec that has a huge weight stack, cams, bearings etc but upholstry was scrappy. $450 Buy it Now. I risked it but dude you have never felt your lower inner pecs flex like this mad thing makes em do. At the top of the rep when elbows together there is amazing tension in the fully contracted position. Flies feel like crap to me now.

You can always get same money back as you paid. add a spray can or 2 and you could make a proffit.

Take your time. It may take a year to get all the best bits but dude you can own industrial gym quality used stuff for less than the cost of fitness store crap.

No comparison!!

Best

Rob
 
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Oliver04 said:
G'day Adrian,

Apologies for knocking your rack, I didn't know about the floor.

I know thats what my squat rack does at home and it makes it sketchy as.
Click to expand...

No Problem,
The Powertec is obviously a good rack too, going by how many have been sold around the world.
 
vader-nator said:
Dude I train at home but have a 4 bay shed full of stuff.
Click to expand...

i just bought a house with a double garage and i cant wait to set it up as a gym, ive got a squat rack and some kettlebells already, gonna get some more kettlebells, some rubber matting, weight rack, and dip bar to start off with. its going to good deadlifting on concrete instead of floorboards lol
 
hyjak said:
i just bought a house with a double garage and i cant wait to set it up as a gym, ive got a squat rack and some kettlebells already, gonna get some more kettlebells, some rubber matting, weight rack, and dip bar to start off with.
Click to expand...
PTC #2? :cool:
 
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