Show us your Home Gym

[Big Mick]

I have just spend the last 3-6 months setting up my home gym in the rumpus room of our home, I have luckily kept my old Gym equipment stored away in the back of the garage, my missues been onto me for years to get rid of the rubbish, as she called it from my teenage years. This stuff is old but very solid and has now been restored to better than new.

I have a Samson Barbells Power rack/lifting frame, and a Samson Barbells flat bench press, I have recently repainted and recovered them, and made some thick lifting bars to suit. I still have the old Samson Cast steel plates which are just fine by me. Also have a basic Samson Barbells Plate tree to hold the spare plates and I made a basic dumbell rack to hold a few dumbells

I set up a mat area with a large punching bag where I train my kids in martial arts, and scoured eBay for cardio equipment, and ended up with a York Treadmill and Rower for myself and a Cross Trainer and Bike for the missus at bargain prices.

I even repained the room bright orange, to match the orange on the York cardio equipment, and most recently (two days ago) bought and fitted four large (1850x1250) wall mirrors.

The reason..... because I hate commercial gyms, I hate the testosterone, I hate the posers, I hate the wankers, I hate waiting for equipment, I hate driving to the Gym, I hate driving home from the Gym, I hate the atmosphere, I hate Gym fess, I hate....... You get the idea.

Anyone else here train at home????

Please share your gym set ups here and if possible post up some photos, I will post some up as soon as I work out how to get them on here.

 

[Bench Polkov]

Do a search, there's already a home gym thread somewhere.

 

[Shrek]

hey Mick,

Have a look here

http://ausbb.com/workout-equipment/12841-workout-equipment-what-do-you-own.html

http://ausbb.com/workout-equipment/11865-my-garage-gym.html

http://ausbb.com/workout-equipment/13023-post-pics-your-home-gym.html

 

[Big Mick]

Thanks for the links some very interesting set ups there.

Some of those threads go back a while, I think this can be another one

Will try and upload some photos of my home gym, I believe it's pretty good, have put a lot of work into building it, trying to make it look good as well as being functional.

I think I want to build a lifting platform now after seeing some of these other set ups.

 

[sookie]

I tried putting my power rack in the kitchen. The mrs did not agree but having it in the rumpus is just as good!

Good stuff

 

[Big Mick]

Here we go, I think I have worked out how to post up some photos.

Here is my home gym, it's set up in the rumpus/games room at the back of our house. I have painted the walls, and have also painted the training equipment, some of which is over 20 years old, I think I got the bench press when I was 17, and the Power Rack when I was 22. Used to only train weights to supplement my martial arts training. I made all the bars myself from steel bought from 'Easy Metal'.

My power rack:

My bench:

Home made dumbbell rack, need more dumbbells:

Weights tree with traditional Samson Barbells plates, these were cast in Sydney in the 80's and 90's, and were bought by myself direct from the foundry where they were cast in Rydalmere:

Matted Martial arts training area, large kick bag bought on eBay and mats from 'Clark Rubber', kick and focus shields from Century Martial Arts, I currently train both my kids in Martial Arts:

The entertainment System, genuine Apple speaker box no longer made or sold, brilliant sound for my little ipod:

TV and DVD wall mounted for when the missus and sometimes myself does her cardio:

We also have a heap of YORK cardio gear I picked up on eBay over the last 18 months, I wanted the rower and tread mill, the missus wanted the Cross trainer and bike. Bought for a fraction of new price, just got to be patient:

After training and starting to do dead lifts etc I have been considering building a lifting platform here, as I am a bit worried about the floor tiles any advice on how to do this, as I have no idea....might start a thread about it, also want to get some heavy duty rubber gym floor mats to cover the whole weight training area wall to wall pretty much like I did with the jig saw mats in the kids training area:

Hope you like, would love to see photos of simple and complex set ups, love the old hardcore garage gyms some people train in, reminds me of the old boxing gym I used to train in 20 years ago

 

[DKD]

I would definitely get the rubber mats...you don't want to crack those tiles.

 

[beez]

Looks pretty good Mick. here's a platform that looks easy to make, might do it myself when i have space for it. Building an Olympic weightlifting platform for a home gym by Randall Strossen - IronMind

 

[Grippy]

Nice setup mate. What size tube are the homemade bars, they look more than the usual 28mm or whatever it is? They look like slippery suckers to hold onto without knurling.

 

[Shrek]

Very impressive Mick

 

[Big Mick]

Nice setup mate. What size tube are the homemade bars, they look more than the usual 28mm or whatever it is? They look like slippery suckers to hold onto without knurling.

They are heavy bars I made after reading 'Dinosaur Training' many years ago, they are made up of a standard sized solid centre bar made from high chromium steel round bar (to suit the standard type plates) and I then got some steel tube to slide over that and got another larger tube to slide over that and weld it all up.

The bar I use for dead lifts, military press, straight bar bell curls, bent over barbell rows measures about 43mm in diameter.

My squat bar measures about 45mm diameter.

My bench press bar measures about 50mm in diameter

I have never planned it like that, it's just they were made at different times, and the materials I could source at the time dedicated the size, bench press bar was the first to be made, and its the perfect size for me.

Squad bar was made later after I bought the power rack (about 15 years ago), and the dead lift bar was made only about 2 months ago as I was sick of unloading and moving the squat bar to do other exercises.

Noticed today that the bar is a bit hard to hang onto when doing dead lifts, and my weights are still pretty low at the moment, but I guess thats the point, increasing grip strength.....my forearms seem to be pretty strong.

 

[The Hamburgler]

Looks pretty good Mick. here's a platform that looks easy to make, might do it myself when i have space for it. Building an Olympic weightlifting platform for a home gym by Randall Strossen - IronMind

I will find the picture (and explain a bit more) later but there is a better way to make a lifting platform

 

[Big Mick]

Thanks, much appreciated, hoping to make one soon, really worried about the tiles after todays workout, I think this worry is holding me back a bit.

 

[Rambodian]

shite, awsome setup!

 

[TheGiftToLift]

Mick - what's your monthly membership rate??

 

[Big Mick]

Haha, had a few of my friends ask me the same question, hoping in the future after I achieve my own goals to do a PT course and help others to do the same, so the set up will come in handy.

Will be ordering some proper heavy Gym mats in the next few month to protect the tiles as well as building a proper lifting platform for dead lifts, etc...

I used to teach Karate and Kick Boxing years ago, but want to get back into it soon teaching on a personal PT style level, have been training my kids, both of whom are doing Tae Kwon Do classes as well, as I believe its great for kids (Tae Kwon Do), they don't get hurt, learn the basics and learn stretching.

 

[jchen]

Looks great Mick.

You will need more plates shortly though

 

[beez]

I will find the picture (and explain a bit more) later but there is a better way to make a lifting platform

that'll be good thanks. hoping to make one soon

 

[sookie]

bee, can you help building me a dead lifting platform also? I have no clues when it comes to building stuff with my hands.

Sweet setup Big Mick!

 

[The Hamburgler]

Alrighty I can't find the picture . . . lol but I will try explain as best I can, and post some hand drawn pictures up as well.

The methods suggested are certainly viable, however I spoke to a chippy at work and he suggested something a little different.

Basically if you go to a timber joint or big hardware store eg Bunnings, they have that structural stuff with the yellow strap down the edges (well at least one edge). I think they're $70 each and 2400x1200mm each so 2 will make up the 'top' of the platform. Then buy a few 4x4s (I think that's what they call em - the stuff they make house frames out of), some screws and a wood saw if you don't got one already. Using the frame timber make a grid type thing to support the top of the platform. Obviously timbers around the edge, 2 running down the spine in one direction, one each side in the middle between the edge and the spine (running parallel) then cross-beam type things inbetween the spiney type bits of timbers.

If you're using it for deadlifts only glue some carpet to the top, if for OL the horse stall rubber with the centre piece of timber is the way to go. You can probably pad the undersides with carpet in a few places as well as that will severely reduce noise.

He reckons you could drop a tonne from 6 foot and it wouldn't break it so should be able to handle anything you can deadlift/put over head.

Hope that makes sense!

When I get back from my holiday at the end of next month I am looking at making a 50mm 'fat' bar using cast iron 1.25s welded on as 'collars' and a 220cm length of piping (unsure of exact metal), farmer's walk implements (using 50mm pipe, threaded rod, and nuts, + 4x1.25s) and possibly even strongman bumpers out of cast iron plates bolted together either side of an old golf buggy or car tyre. While I'm at the steel place getting the pipe I might get a price on getting welded up a deadlift jack and a top squat. If any of these happen I'll post up progress pictures as they happen.