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Older guy starting home gym, advice wanted

Pappy O'Daniels said:
Thanks Woody. I had a look at the ABC site. It's really a horrible site with the typical Aussie lack of attention to detail. Nobody in the US (where I spent 10 years recently) would buy from a site that put this as the total info on the barbell:



Notice the spelling mistake ("DIAMETRE"). Notice the ALL CAPS. Contrast the objectionably brief description above with the sort of details provided about bars in the US


You can tell me that this does not matter, and that the ABC bars are great nonetheless, but for me, confidence in the manufacturer is essential, especially when I'm asked to drop $400-500 on what is, after all, just a small piece of steel.

One feels that if they don't give 2 hoots about the website, how much do they care about the bars?
Click to expand...

i have a abc barbell, it's well engineered which is priority I couldn't give a shot about their website
 
Thanks for the comment, Big Mick, but due to the abovementioned concerns about the total lack of information about the characteristics of standard bars, I'll just pay the $100 extra (it's not much) for the oly bar.

Looking at some other weightlifting forums, I was amazed to see that just 9 years ago people were talking about cheap Chinese bars as all having hex bolts in the ends, no visible bushings (looking from outside the sleeve) etc. Now all that has changed. The $160 bar I am looking at has snap rings, visible brass bushings etc. They have come a long way in a short time by imitating the good bars. And now they are underselling them by 50%.

Fortunately the technology for making a good bar is not rocket science, just good steel, proper heat treatment and attention to details.

i have a abc barbell, it's well engineered which is priority I couldn't give a shot about their website
Click to expand...

That's fine, but the manufacturer should also take heed of what consumers like me think. We don't like neglected websites with no information, and we won't buy products sold like that.
 
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You can thank crossfit for that. Prior to the rise of the 9 headed dragon, the only people using barbells were gym rats. Now every wannabe crossfit mother of the year is down in some box doing a WOD. So, more sales, more competition. That said, the gap between cheap and world class is still bars is still considerable.

That rack and bench setup looks nice. Mebbe post some pics once its all together.

And don't forget that Rippatoe has a vested interest in Rogue. Their all purpose B&R bar is named after him.
 
I suspect we're in a period where the traditional bar makers are feeling more and more pressure from the Asian products. From what I can see, there is a very considerable markup on the traditional bars. Videos like this tell you why, but the quality of the underdog is improving:
 
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Did for years in my late teens, then got hepatitis and had to stop, and then life got hectic and I never had time. Now finally I have time again
 
Timeah said:
I'd honestly look to get in contact with a guy by the name of Brooks Kubik. Or in the least read up on his stuff
Click to expand...

I now have his book called "Dinosaur Training". Enjoyable stuff. It's a 1.1 MB PDF file if anyone wants it. No copyright in the publication. Sample:

Dinosaur training is basic training the way it used to be done before steroids, arm-chair theorizers and commercial interests got things off track- It is like General Patton's philosophy of war: "simple, direct and brutal." It is rugged, it is tough, and it is demanding. It also is incredibly result-producing. Dinosaur training will be very familiar to some readers, particularly those who are well versed in Iron Game history. It is not "modern" and it is not new. However, there are many aspects of dinosaur training that run the risk of being lost forever in the face of all the glitz and glamour systems publicized and followed by modern lifters. Some aspects of dinosaur training already have been lost or nearly lost, and that makes the job of pulling things back together enormously difficult. As Goethe said. "Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again."

Dinosaur training involves several inter-related principles. Fundamentally, it is a system of strength training. STRENGTH IS EVERYTHING IN DINOSAUR TRAINING. To be a dinosaur, you must literally become obsessed with the idea of adding more and more weight to the bar in every exercise you do. You must revel in the battle against heavier and heavier poundages. You must view the acquisition of raw, pulverizing power and brutal strength as your most important physical goal.

Dinosaurs believe that strength is developed by working with barbells, dumbbells, bags, beams and barrels. Forget about all of the pretty chrome plated machines at the local spa. They weren't necessary 50 years ago and they are not necessary today. More importantly, they are counterproductive.

Dinosaurs train incredibly hard. Many follow the "high intensity" training approach espoused by Dr. Ken Leistner and others. Some follow the time-tested and time- honored breathing squat program popularized by Hise, Berry, Rader, McCallum and more recently by Dr. Strossen in SUPER SQUATS. Others use multiple sets of low reps with heavy, heavy poundages. What all dinosaurs have in common is this: they squeeze every last drop of effort out of their bodies on every heavy set they do. They work so hard that to work harder would be impossible. They drive themselves far beyond the outer limits of mere effort. Their training sessions are barbaric, brutal, and homeric.

Some dinosaurs train so heavy that they use single reps in their training. That's right - they regularly and consistently, week after week, without any "conditioning" programs, "peaking" cycles or "periodization" use weights so heavy they can only do one rep. Hardly anyone trains that way anymore because the research scientists have "conclusively established," that single reps do not build size or strength. Besides, none of the modern-day "champions" do singles! But wail a minute. Forget about the pencil neck with the slide rule, the pie-charts and the eight week study of half a dozen college freshmen. Forget about the "champion" who owes his size to a pill bottle and a hypodermic needle. Go back to our roots. Look at how guys did it before the days of steroids, science and bull crap. They did singles! There was a time - and it wasn't all that long ago, and it was well documented by contemporaneous accounts - when the biggest and strongest men in the world did lots and lots of heavy singles in their training.

How can the trainee of the 90's discount a training system that - a mere 50 or 60 years ago - produced scores of drug free supermen?

Dinosaurs train without wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps, super suits or bench shirts. Why? Because this type of "support gear" is intended to REMOVE stress from the joints and muscles you are trying to exercise. Our goal as dinosaurs is to impose as much stress as possible on our bodies. The body responds to stress by growing bigger and stronger. Why sabotage your training efforts by using artificial aids that make your training EASIER when your goal should be to make your training HARDER?
Click to expand...
 
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Hi Pappy-O, & welcome!

I've had heaps of fun accumulating my weight collection, from Gumtree and other second-hand places.
This is a good time of year for hunting, as there are all those un-wanted Christmas presents, and New Years resolutions growing spider-webs in the shed.
I have to restrain myself now, as I've accumulated more iron than I could ever lift - and for tiny amounts of money.
I've given away my first bench, a few bars, and all my concrete weights, and upgraded with much better stuff that other people were practically giving away.

I generally agree with Big Mick, that a weight is a weight, and also think that if your ambition doesn't go past an 80kg bench, then any old bar will do.
Also, plates with 1-inch holes are much more common than Olympic plates.
However, it looks like you've got your heart set on an Olympic bar, so best of luck!
 
I like how this stuff never really declines in value either.
Paid 350 for my first lot of weights/bars etc. Including a 50 dollar home made squat rack that i still use.

Sold the weights/bars for 400 lol.
Thought I'd try my luck....and after a few low ballers, got a no questions asked offer on my asking price.

(Then spent 900 on nicer bar and plates - haha)

Tim.
 
yes, I'm sure the weights I was using back in the 1970s are still being used by someone, somewhere. :)

Bought some dumbbells and a strap from Aldi this morning. Dumbbells are 1"-holed, but fine for dumbbell work. Much cheaper than the typical Aussie outlet sells them.
 
Pappy O'Daniels said:
yes, I'm sure the weights I was using back in the 1970s are still being used by someone, somewhere. :)

Bought some dumbbells and a strap from Aldi this morning. Dumbbells are 1"-holed, but fine for dumbbell work. Much cheaper than the typical Aussie outlet sells them.
Click to expand...
Nice. How much weight per db?

Tim.
 
Only around 11kg, but I have spare 25mm plates lying around to make up for it. Chroming is good, no rust or chips, nice knurling, plates are well painted and weight slightly more than stated (suspect it's the thick enamel paint that causes it). Collars have useful rubber or silicone gaskets for keeping the plates unmarred, also spare gaskets supplied.
 
I rate my muscle motion bar.
Still yet to grab a curl bar...want one though. Also want a thick bar, but figure ill just make one of those.


Tim.
 
Pappy O'Daniels said:
I now have his book called "Dinosaur Training". Enjoyable stuff. It's a 1.1 MB PDF file if anyone wants it. No copyright in the publication. Sample:
Click to expand...

[Dinosaur training is basic training the way it used to be done before steroids, arm-chair theorizers and commercial interests got things off track- It is like General Patton's philosophy of war: "simple, direct and brutal." It is rugged, it is tough, and it is demanding. It also is incredibly result-producing. Dinosaur training will be very familiar to some readers, particularly those who are well versed in Iron Game history. It is not "modern" and it is not new. However, there are many aspects of dinosaur training that run the risk of being lost forever in the face of all the glitz and glamour systems publicized and followed by modern lifters. Some aspects of dinosaur training already have been lost or nearly lost, and that makes the job of pulling things back together enormously difficult. As Goethe said. "Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again."

Dinosaur training involves several inter-related principles. Fundamentally, it is a system of strength training. STRENGTH IS EVERYTHING IN DINOSAUR TRAINING. To be a dinosaur, you must literally become obsessed with the idea of adding more and more weight to the bar in every exercise you do. You must revel in the battle against heavier and heavier poundages. You must view the acquisition of raw, pulverizing power and brutal strength as your most important physical goal.

Dinosaurs believe that strength is developed by working with barbells, dumbbells, bags, beams and barrels. Forget about all of the pretty chrome plated machines at the local spa. They weren't necessary 50 years ago and they are not necessary today. More importantly, they are counterproductive.

Dinosaurs train incredibly hard. Many follow the "high intensity" training approach espoused by Dr. Ken Leistner and others. Some follow the time-tested and time- honored breathing squat program popularized by Hise, Berry, Rader, McCallum and more recently by Dr. Strossen in SUPER SQUATS. Others use multiple sets of low reps with heavy, heavy poundages. What all dinosaurs have in common is this: they squeeze every last drop of effort out of their bodies on every heavy set they do. They work so hard that to work harder would be impossible. They drive themselves far beyond the outer limits of mere effort. Their training sessions are barbaric, brutal, and homeric.

Some dinosaurs train so heavy that they use single reps in their training. That's right - they regularly and consistently, week after week, without any "conditioning" programs, "peaking" cycles or "periodization" use weights so heavy they can only do one rep. Hardly anyone trains that way anymore because the research scientists have "conclusively established," that single reps do not build size or strength. Besides, none of the modern-day "champions" do singles! But wail a minute. Forget about the pencil neck with the slide rule, the pie-charts and the eight week study of half a dozen college freshmen. Forget about the "champion" who owes his size to a pill bottle and a hypodermic needle. Go back to our roots. Look at how guys did it before the days of steroids, science and bull crap. They did singles! There was a time - and it wasn't all that long ago, and it was well documented by contemporaneous accounts - when the biggest and strongest men in the world did lots and lots of heavy singles in their training.

How can the trainee of the 90's discount a training system that - a mere 50 or 60 years ago - produced scores of drug free supermen?

Dinosaurs train without wrist wraps, elbow wraps, knee wraps, super suits or bench shirts. Why? Because this type of "support gear" is intended to REMOVE stress from the joints and muscles you are trying to exercise. Our goal as dinosaurs is to impose as much stress as possible on our bodies. The body responds to stress by growing bigger and stronger. Why sabotage your training efforts by using artificial aids that make your training EASIER when your goal should be to make your training HARDER?
Click to expand...

Your post above has truly inspired me Sir, so thank you very much for sharing it with us here.
 
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