Alternative home gym equipment

[EddieEdwards]

Hello All

I've not been on for a while, just in the process of trying to recover from some R/C problems!

Time off has given me some time to consider my gym options for the new year renewal and I'm seriously tempted by a home gym. It'd need to be in my garage, so space is relatively tight and a full cage could be probelmatic.

I've looked at some of the half cages and the body solid multi press, but they are bulky, the catchers look relatively small and, to be honest, I just don't see how almost £400 can be justified. With this in mind, I got thinking of alternatives and wondered whether any of you guys had ever considered steel trestles like these? My mate is a plasterer and uses these and they are sturdy laterally too, so I don't see a safety issue. STEEL TRESTLES - Frog Power Tools I was thinking perhaps trestles, along with the marcy SR50 squat rack and you got all you need for bench/ military/ squats?

What do you guys think? Am I missing something, or have I just saved some cash potentially?!

Cheers

Eddie

[Dolphinski]

Have you got a bench and weights already?

[EddieEdwards]

No, not yet Dolph. My gym membership runs to year end, so I'm looking at options.

[elmo322]

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Hello All

I've not been on for a while, just in the process of trying to recover from some R/C problems!

Time off has given me some time to consider my gym options for the new year renewal and I'm seriously tempted by a home gym. It'd need to be in my garage, so space is relatively tight and a full cage could be probelmatic.

I've looked at some of the half cages and the body solid multi press, but they are bulky, the catchers look relatively small and, to be honest, I just don't see how almost £400 can be justified. With this in mind, I got thinking of alternatives and wondered whether any of you guys had ever considered steel trestles like these? My mate is a plasterer and uses these and they are sturdy laterally too, so I don't see a safety issue. STEEL TRESTLES - Frog Power Tools I was thinking perhaps trestles, along with the marcy SR50 squat rack and you got all you need for bench/ military/ squats?

What do you guys think? Am I missing something, or have I just saved some cash potentially?!

Cheers

Eddie

Hey,

I have just set up a home gym, I have an Olympic lifting platform (total cost of £130), squat stands with spotter catchers (£100), free bench with incline/ decline and adjustable uprights(free off a friend), Olympic bar rated to 300kg(£50), 140kg of weights (free from work), commercial gym mats (free from work), precher curl (free from work). Well worth forking out the money though, think about training whenever you want and even using better equipment than some commercial gyms.

Those steel trestles look okay, lots of different things you can use like that such as blocks of wood at varying height for deadlifts and homemade TRX systems etc. You can buy cheap chain links too for presses and squats etc.

[MJ.23]

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Hey,

I have just set up a home gym, I have an Olympic lifting platform (total cost of £130), squat stands with spotter catchers (£100), free bench with incline/ decline and adjustable uprights(free off a friend), Olympic bar rated to 300kg(£50), 140kg of weights (free from work), commercial gym mats (free from work), precher curl (free from work). Well worth forking out the money though, think about training whenever you want and even using better equipment than some commercial gyms.

Where did you get an oly lifting platform for so cheap? Most people are forced to make their own.

[elmo322]

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Where did you get an oly lifting platform for so cheap? Most people are forced to make their own.

I did make it, took me 2 days. Commercial are arouind 800-900 + and there is not much difference between homemade and professional apart from asthetics. Obviously it depends on how you build it, I used 5 sheets of 9 ply, two stall mats, wood glue, wood screws and varnish. I will get some pictures soon and post them. I am going to get a weights tree from the strength shop and make some blocks to deadlift off using wooden pallets.

I would of prefered to get a power cage but I wouldn't of fit in my garage because of the ceiling height and the roof is made of asbestos so wouldn't want to risk breaking it or scraping it.

[mathewstaci]

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I did make it, took me 2 days. Commercial are arouind 800-900 + and there is not much difference between homemade and professional apart from asthetics. Obviously it depends on how you build it, I used 5 sheets of 9 ply, two stall mats, wood glue, wood screws and varnish. I will get some pictures soon and post them. I am going to get a weights tree from the strength shop and make some blocks to deadlift off using wooden pallets.

I would of prefered to get a power cage but I wouldn't of fit in my garage because of the ceiling height and the roof is made of asbestos so wouldn't want to risk breaking it or scraping it.

Great job! I would like to make my own oly lifting platform, could you tell me more details briefly about making your oly lifting platform at very low price. Looking forward to your response and also pictures!!

[elmo322]

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Great job! I would like to make my own oly lifting platform, could you tell me more details briefly about making your oly lifting platform at very low price. Looking forward to your response and also pictures!!

well just follow many of the examples on you tube like this one: How to Build a Weightlifting Platform - YouTube (this guy has a bit of an annoying voice). I did mine differently to incorporate my squat stands to also fit on the platform, so at one end I have a cut away section.

I originally got horse stall mats but couldn't be bothered to cut them and go through all that hassle so I sent them back and I cut pieces of commercial flooring to fit and sprayed it black. It saved me a lot of money mainly because I got the flooring free, I also got some pallets (free) off a building site and used them to increase the height of the squat stands to the correct height I needed for the safety bars. I will post up some pictures this week.

[mathewstaci]

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well just follow many of the examples on you tube like this one: How to Build a Weightlifting Platform - YouTube (this guy has a bit of an annoying voice). I did mine differently to incorporate my squat stands to also fit on the platform, so at one end I have a cut away section.

I originally got horse stall mats but couldn't be bothered to cut them and go through all that hassle so I sent them back and I cut pieces of commercial flooring to fit and sprayed it black. It saved me a lot of money mainly because I got the flooring free, I also got some pallets (free) off a building site and used them to increase the height of the squat stands to the correct height I needed for the safety bars. I will post up some pictures this week.

Thanks for your response! This helps me a lot. Looking forward to your pictures.

[elmo322]

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Thanks for your response! This helps me a lot. Looking forward to your pictures.

Will get some posted asap