07-04-20 11:23 AM - Post#899925    

Now that I've gotten used to working out at home, I'm thinking it's time to bite the bullet and give up my gym membership. Especially with the two little ones, it's much easier to pop into the garage our outside rather than driving to a gym. Right now I have the following:

• 3 Kettlebells (16kg, 24kg, 32kg)
• Dumbbells (adjustable in 5lb increments up to 50lbs)
• 10lb medicine ball
• Jump Rope
• Resistance Band Set
• Pull-up bar (technically my son's monkey bars)
• Stretching Strap (can also be a suspension trainer in a pinch)

Especially with the workout generator from Dan's website, there's a lot of combinations I can do with this, which all fits pretty neatly in the corner of my garage. The only other thing I've thought of getting is a barbell. I know a lot of you primarily workout at home and was curious what equipment you have.

07-04-20 11:29 AM - Post#899926    

We had this discussion in the past, but now is probably a better time to review all of this. Barbells are great but many find that they don't use them if they have what you have.

It's something I can't believe I am writing: for many, the barbell (at home) gets in the way. I focus on insuring we use them (I have two) but we go months while they sit in the corner.

Certainly, this is just my experience.

Daniel John Just handing down what I was handed down... Make a Difference. Live. Love. Laugh. Balance work, rest, play and pray (enjoy beauty and solitude) Sleep soundly. Drink Water. Eat veggies and protein. Walk. Wear your seat belt. Don’t smoke. Floss your teeth. Put weights overhead. Pick weights off the floor. Carry weights. Reread great books. Say thank you

07-04-20 12:33 PM - Post#899929    

That’s a good point - even with what I currently have at my disposal, my default workout is cleans, presses, and squats with the 24kg, followed by some pull-ups. It’s debatable that I’d use more equipment if available.

07-04-20 02:10 PM - Post#899933    

I have:

- Squat rack with a lat pull down and low row cable.
- Olympic bar with approx 300kg bumper players.
- Adjustable bench
- 1 - 30kg DBs
- 4, 8,12,16, 20, 24kg KBs
- 4, 8, 12kg Med ball
- Dip / Pull-up station
- Double cable pulley machine
- Leg Curl / Leg extension machine
- TRX cables
- 45kg Log
- 10, 20kg power bags
- Step up / Box jump adjustable platform

All that and I rarely get past the barbell and squat rack. Could have saved a lot of space and money had I known.

'You can throw in the towel or use it to wipe the sweat off your face and keep going' 'Well ain't this place a geographical oddity? Two weeks from everywhere.' Ulysses Everett McGill

Home Gyms
07-04-20 02:20 PM - Post#899935    

My first home was my first home gym. It was elaborate for me.

Squat Rack - Home Made
Pull-Up Bar - Home Made
Parallel Dip Bars - Home Made
York Olympic Set
Zuver's Flat Bench
York Adjustable Olympic Dumbbells
Jack Delinger made leg extension/leg curl bench
Incline Sit-Up Board - Home Made

My goal was to have a gym that reflected what I needed for the three power lifts in-season and for the Bill Starr Big 3 off-season.

If you own a copy of Defying Gravity an ad for my gym is in the back.

Mark it Zero.

Home Gyms
07-04-20 02:51 PM - Post#899936    

That’s a great set up. BW, PU bar, TRX, and a few KBs can keep anyone busy for a long time with good results.

Add an ab wheel and Swiss ball and there’s even more options.



Edited by vegpedlr on 07-04-20 02:52 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-04-20 03:05 PM - Post#899937    

You probably don't "need" more than you have. Certainly other things are nice to have once in awhile, particularly if you have the space, but see what you do/will use before shelling out $$$ or giving up space.

FWIW, I have a barbell, and use it often. It stays loaded in its corner of my basement and I do DL singles five days a week. Twice a week I strip it down to the last plate nearest the collars and do complexes.

I also have a decent number of KBs (single 20k and pairs of 24, 28 and 32) and a trap bar, as well as a TRX and a chin/dip tower thing, plus squat stands (not a rack), which I never use now that I've decided I don't need to squat heavy.

All I need/use are the 20, 24 and 28k KBs and the bar.

I would like a C2 one day, but I think that is about the only thing I'm "missing" and I don't miss it much. Or at any rate, not enough to drop the cash or find a spot for it.

Home Gyms
07-04-20 05:04 PM - Post#899940    

I was fortunate to build a good home gym in my basement, which has plenty of room, with mostly used equipment that is in excellent shape for a fraction of what new equipment costs. I have just about everything I need, Barbells, plenty of plates, power rack, kettlebells and even a C2 rower all used. Only things I bought new were the Bowflex adjustable DBs, Iron Master Super Bench with some attachments (HIGHLY recommend)

Edited by JDII on 07-04-20 05:04 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-04-20 05:56 PM - Post#899946    

I certainly don't have time to list out everything in my home gym. Needless to say I have about everything I might possible need (or even want) - I even have an 1,150 sq ft climbing wall. I also have one of the better grip sport equipped gyms in the USA with many one off items I designed and made myself along with the normal. I still have the original 110# set of weights I bought when I was 11 years old with my lawn mowing money even.

07-04-20 06:10 PM - Post#899947    

I read the OP and thought, yep 100%. But then I think back... I get the KB thing (kind of) but still feels like you cannot train the wheels without a barbell. Can see me going to gym over the road once a fortnight to deadlift and bench and that's it.

07-04-20 07:24 PM - Post#899949    

I have a heavy bag, pull up bar, sets of double 24 28 32 36 and then single 40 48, ab wheel, maces and heavy clubs. I‘have been ruminating over either an assault bike/echo or a C2 rower.
Where I live is surrounded by hills but as I get older I’m less inclined to run the hills. Is a rower a solid investment or would the AirBike be better. (If I can get one in the current climate)

Home Gyms
07-04-20 08:03 PM - Post#899954    

• Quoting:

If the '78' in your nickname is the year of your birth, run the hills!

Edited by Old Miler on 07-04-20 08:04 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

Home Gyms
07-04-20 09:54 PM - Post#899956    

• Conor78 Said:

Provided you learn or already have an efficient rowing technique (and no underlying back issues), the Concept 2 is a brilliant and lifetime purchase.

07-04-20 09:55 PM - Post#899957    

I have been lifting at home since 89
I have a barbell and rack
A short rack
Trap bar
Dumbells to 60 and adjustable ones
A leg curl extensions
A pull down
Grip machine I made
Other grip tools I made
Different platforms I made to stand on
I have a Olympic bar I use just to do land mine squats because. It is bent
A flat bench

07-05-20 09:41 AM - Post#899968    

• Dan John Said:

I was going to say similar. I had a barbell and plates at home but it almost gave me too many options and I ended up doing a lot of nothing.

Now with three young kids, I get more done now with my three kettlebells (24, 32 & 48), and although I rarely use them, my rings, trx and dip bars.

For me 20-30 minutes (if I’m lucky) with one or two kettlebells is always a solid workout.

20-30 minutes with a barbell will be a handful of sets and a lot of nothing.

If and when I have more time than that, I’d rather go for a run

Log

07-05-20 01:06 PM - Post#899972    

• Chris Rice Said:

Now I need to see such magnificent setup.

"I think we often spend too much time focusing on max fitness and not nearly enough on maintaining our minimums. It seems we need to think sustainable rather than obtainable. Meaning whatever we do today, we can do it again tomorrow. Never taking so much from ourselves that we can't." Dan Martin

07-05-20 01:39 PM - Post#899974    

Here's part of it.

Home Gyms
07-05-20 01:42 PM - Post#899975    

Here's the rest of the pictures of my home gym. It's 60 years worth of "stuff". I built everything - including the building.




Edited by Chris Rice on 07-05-20 01:45 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-05-20 02:26 PM - Post#899976    

Impressive set up you've built, Chris.

Thanks to everyone who makes this forum so useful and such a good place to be.

07-05-20 02:44 PM - Post#899977    

• Craig1971 Said:

Thanks! I forgot there's a double set of KBs from 8 to 32K somewhere in there also.

07-05-20 09:12 PM - Post#899986    

I have:

-barbell, rogue bumper plates and a platform
-airdyne (one of the old ones. I would highly recommend airdyne over a rower)
-40lb slam ball
-homemade incline bench
-home made wood squat stands. Just sold my big metal powercage cause I never used it. Always preferred my wood ones.
-kettlebells: 16, 2x24, 2x32, 2x40
-rings
-a homemade prowler with metal skids
-ab wheel, straps, bands... etc

I find the older I get the more I go away from the barbell. I love it, but the miles are just building up. I've found that by just doing double kettlebell front squats I can easily maintain 75% of my full barbell squats using way less weight. I always dreamed once I had my full platform and bar setup I would compete in olympic lifting again. I give it a run once in a while then when the over training creeps in I remember why I don't do that anymore. Volume, as it pertains to barbell work, is something that needs to be built slowly over a long period of time to be able to handle well. Once one gets to advanced levels of strength, if a break is taken from the bar for a while that conditioning gets lost and is hard to get back properly. The strength is there to jump in at 75% and not feel like its that hard, but burnout comes fast because the body isn't conditioned.

I've found that kettlebells and calisthenics really fit the bill for health and fitness at this point in my life. Whether that's true for everyone, or true for the washed up lifter after his prime I'm not sure. I find, having built up decent levels of strength with barbell lifts, that I can maintain a healthy percentage of it without needing the loads. If I want to push some weight add in one heavy compound upper and lower a week and that's enough. But I'm way more concerned with being able to 'move' well and have strength in several planes of motion. Heck, in 531 Forever wendler says he prefers calisthenics and kb's for assistance for some of his templates.

I can't believe I'm about to say this, because I've been in love with barbells for a good 14 years, but sometimes I wish I didn't have my barbell. Then I wouldn't be tempted by its siren call to relive the glory days. As so many here know, since so many here are 'thinkers', one has to limit choices to make decisions easier. You're more likely to actually 'do' it then, whatever it is. Certainly I think you can have too much in your home gym and suffer from choice paralysis. Trying to do a little bit of everything, failing miserably, and being generally unsure of what the heck to do is something I've battled since my home gym grew to what it is now.

So I guess my advice is do yourself a favor and keep the home gym gritty and simple. A couple KB's and some rings will give you world class fitness with very minimal investment financially, time wise, and square footage. I'm really just echoing aussieLuke here, but I whole heartedly agree, that with a barbell you can do a few sets and sit around a lot, but with a kettlebell and rings you can get a solid workout in 20-30 mins.

Don't want to hijack the thread, but considering what OP has does anyone have any go to Kettlebells + Calisthenics programs? I would like something for myself as well. A quick google search spits out piles of articles on how they're a match made in heaven, but no mention of any ways to actually integrate them or programs to follow.

Re: Home Gyms
07-06-20 01:25 AM - Post#899988    

• Chris Rice Said:

"I think we often spend too much time focusing on max fitness and not nearly enough on maintaining our minimums. It seems we need to think sustainable rather than obtainable. Meaning whatever we do today, we can do it again tomorrow. Never taking so much from ourselves that we can't." Dan Martin

07-06-20 06:23 AM - Post#899990    

What I have and use:

Pullup bar
KBs 4,8,12,16,2x20,24,32
Spinlock Dumbbells x2 + 50ks of weight.
TRX-alike
Ab wheel
Webbing belt (weighted pullups)

What I have an rarely use:
Rings
Lots of random bands, balls, elastic things, etc.
Pushup handles

What I like:
Olympic bar and place
Squat Rack
Bench
Dip station

Training Blog.

Re: Home Gyms
07-06-20 08:04 AM - Post#899991    

• iPood Said:

Thanks

07-06-20 08:59 AM - Post#899996    

• Jordan Derksen Said:

One of the simplest ways I’ve seen/tried is to alternate days of a simple kb workout like S&S, or my preference: 20-30 mins of swings or snatches in sets of 5-10 reps on the minute, and days of a bodyweight workout like Tom Furman’s Armor of War - (build up to) 10 x 5 airborne lunges, dips and pull-ups, or alternatives such as pistols, pushups and rows etc

Log

07-06-20 09:32 AM - Post#899999    

Going back through this, I noticed no mention of the OP's training goals. That will help guide your purchases (and exercise choices).

For example, Dan Martin said his first home gym was put together with an eye toward competing in PL and doing Bill Starr's big three in the off-season. Horses for courses. If you are training only for health and movement quality, KBs and BW are plenty.

As has been said many times, many ways, more isn't necessarily better. Often, it's just more.

07-06-20 01:52 PM - Post#900015    

• aussieluke Said:

Just read some stuff from Tom Furman. Never heard of him before, but I really like his philosophy. Sounds like he would fit in on this forum.

There seems to be a real lack of quality content in the calisthenics arena, especially for strength building. It's either too intense and leans into the advanced ring stuff like planche/iron cross or stays way too basic and goes more towards an endurance/cardio direction. I like the idea of the advanced stuff, but at 6'2 I'm way too tall for some of the static holds and my last attempt at it gave me forearm splints.

07-06-20 03:03 PM - Post#900019    

• Jordan Derksen Said:

You should check the Gold Medal Bodies website. You'll find it quite interesting.

"I think we often spend too much time focusing on max fitness and not nearly enough on maintaining our minimums. It seems we need to think sustainable rather than obtainable. Meaning whatever we do today, we can do it again tomorrow. Never taking so much from ourselves that we can't." Dan Martin

07-06-20 04:03 PM - Post#900021    

• iPood Said:

I've done GMB's Rings 1 course in the past and am doing the Mobility program right now. Not a fan of the way they set up the program for Mobility but the content is great. I bought the program but could only access it at their pace - and can't jump around to see different exercises without going through a lot of other stuff to get there - but maybe it's just me - I pretty well suck at anything computer. But I have made nice progress with it on my climbing movement. Before buying anything else I'll learn more about how its put together first.

07-06-20 04:34 PM - Post#900022    

I've definitely heard of GMB but never sprung to buy anything. I own overcoming gravity and used to spend a lot of time on the gymnasticbodies forum run by sommer.

After doing some internet searching I just found and bought an ebook called Never Gymless by Ross Enamait. It was on sale for $1 which is insane. Never bought anything by Ross before but I'm excited to dig into it, I've seen his name thrown around a lot online.

The issue I've noticed with most body weight programs is they're strictly calisthenics routines and don't allow a lot of room for mixing implements. The DMPM from this forum is one of the simplest programs I've found that incorporates several different training tools seamlessly.

Home Gyms
07-06-20 05:11 PM - Post#900023    

while I have a rack and Olympic barbell, this winter I've brought my original 5ft standard barbell back into use- perfect size for the limited space in my 'living room'. I'm back to Easy Strength and the 5 ft is perfect for Zercher Squats. Max rating is 100kg, no worries given my current Easy Strength zercher weight is 55kg. K Mart high dip bars, TRX rows with weight vest and KB cleans. OS of course. Also, the aforementioned 'Foundation Training 12 Minute' looks very interesting. I'll try that routine twice per week..

Edited by Kiwi5 on 07-06-20 06:18 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-06-20 10:55 PM - Post#900037    

• Jordan Derksen Said:

Never Gymless is a great book and I've never heard anyone say anything bad about Ross. "Infinite Intensity," one of his other books, has lots of 'mixed' workouts. Very high intensity stuff, just like it says on the sticker. If you can handle the volume it's fantastic work for combat sports and general fitness.

07-10-20 09:07 PM - Post#900187    

Here's my basement setup:
- 400+ lb Olympic weight set
- 16kg and 50lb KB singles
- Homemade TRX (nicknamed the DRX)
- Resistance bands
- Barbell
- Oly dumbbell handles
- Oly EZ curl bar
- Oly Trapbar
- Dumbbell bench
- Bicycle trainer

I go back and forth about selling the dumbbell bench, particularly now when it would fetch a higher price. I bought it for incline benching as easier on my rotator cuff since I jacked it up after 6 years of both offensive line and shot put. Plus, I use for batwings and rowing on occasion. I haven't used it for some time now. I'm concerned about limited pressing choices without it.

07-11-20 03:26 PM - Post#900209    

Chris Rice, very cool. I enjoyed the tour.

07-11-20 03:55 PM - Post#900211    

• Roger Clarvin Said:

Thank you - it's been a labor of love for 60 years

07-14-20 05:21 PM - Post#900293    

Given what I'm seeing as prices for barbells/plates online, I don't think I'll be picking-up more equipment anytime soon (unless I stumble upon a deal on Craigslist or something).

Other than deadlifts, there really isn't anything I can't do right now at home that I did at the gym. My prior workout included bodyweight deadlifts (175lbs for me). If I was looking for an at home substitute with what I have on hand, would swings (with either the 24 or 32 be the best option) or would I be better off stacking the bands to get up close to 175 "lbs" of resistance and doing a deadlift movement with those?

07-14-20 07:14 PM - Post#900298    

• Arsenio Billingham Said:

A single leg deadlift with a kettlebell (or pair of them) is a great exercise. I dread to think of the hamstring work involved if you tried it with a 24 in one hand and a 32 in the other.

How would you use the bands? Are you looping them over a small barbell and under your feet, to make it harder to lift, or pulling directly on the rubber with no bar?

07-14-20 07:34 PM - Post#900300    

I had thought of using a dowel/bar just to have something to grip.

Home Gyms
07-14-20 10:50 PM - Post#900302    

I don't think I've ever made a list of the Schtuff I have before.


Oly bar and around 600 lbs of plates
Three or four regular bars, four DB handles and around 800 lbs of reg plates
Pair of bowflex quick change DBs from 10 to 90 lbs in 5 lb jumps
Two kettlestack handles
Four fat gripz
One oly and one reg EZ curl bar
Two movable lat pulldown/low row things
and seven different handles
Power rack
Adjustable bench
Leg Ext/Leg Curl/Seated Leg Curl bench
Angled adjustable hyper bench
Glute ham raise
Two situp boards
Trap bar
Preacher curl
Top squat
Ironmind hip belt
Two sizes ab wheels
Four lifting boxes
Two center mass bells
One pair of clean underwear and
An unending desire to experience the joy of lifting!

Life's too short to worry about longevity.

Edited by Neander on 07-14-20 10:52 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

07-15-20 05:58 AM - Post#900304    

• Arsenio Billingham Said:

Lock down has taught me a new movement - the B stance or kickstand deadlift which is great.

To get the weight up I am lifting two/three KBs in each hand which is also a great grip workout. Gives me a max of 128kg if I lift a 28, 24 and 12 in each hand.

07-16-20 09:47 AM - Post#900356    

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that I can combine weights and bands, but I think answer might be just doing deadlifts with the 32kg and using the band for extra resistance. Tried it out last night and felt pretty good.