I've started to take the plunge and put together a home gym for myself by converting half of my garage into a workout space.

So far I've purchased interlocking mats and a power rack on Amazon in the fall, before I had to put the project on hold due to a home purchase, birth of a son, and some home repairs and upgrades. Even then, I had to add the power rack to a wish list and follow it for deals and promotions. Still, that process took too long in my mind and I'd rather speed things up.

I'm still looking for deals on:
Olympic Bar
Plates
Barbels (I've got pairs from 10-30, plus some singles over and under)
Adjustable bench
Racks

I frequently check craigslist, but either the deals are too far away or seem of dubious quality.

Is there any other place I could go that I could find this equipment for cheap? I've talked to my brother in law who is a high school football coach about getting old and used equipment and he told me that schools rarely get rid of this stuff.

Are there other online discount stores that some of you meatheads could share with me? Or should I just keep browsing craigslist and watching for deals on amazon?

Academy will have brick and mortar sales often. ***** sporting goods can be decent with a coupon. If you want much nicer stuff, check out the used equipment at texas strength system.

D icks

I personally have a curl bar with the two dumbell bars and around 100 pounds of weights.

I know a guy who has a smith machine and barbells for sale. I'm not sure what he's asking though.

If you're in Houston there is a guy in bellaire that sells primo stuff out of his garage.

How much are you looking to spend?

http://www.getrxd.com/weightlifting/bumper-plates.html



They made these in Houston. You can go straight to the source and avoid freight.

2nd Wind Exercise Equipment

I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

RightWingConspirator said:

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I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

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Damn. What does 5k get you?

I am putting together my home gym and I will be well under $1000, whoa

Walter Kovacs said:

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RightWingConspirator said:

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I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

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Damn. What does 5k get you?

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steroids?

Walter Kovacs said:

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RightWingConspirator said:

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I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

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Damn. What does 5k get you?

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It's not hard. Gym equipment is expensive.

aggie1906 said:

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Walter Kovacs said:

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RightWingConspirator said:

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I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

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Damn. What does 5k get you?

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It's not hard. Gym equipment is expensive.

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And water is wet but some bottles of water cost more than other bottles of water. It's still effing H2O. I have a home gym. I know what I paid and with my current setup the only way I would touch 5k is if I had much nicer equipment. Hence my curiosity. FWIW, almost everything I do is with barbells.

VegasAg98 said:

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If you're in Houston there is a guy in bellaire that sells primo stuff out of his garage.

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Looks like he's opened up a storefront: http://www.boltfitnesssupply.com/

I bought all of my plates through him. Would've bought a cage as well if I hadn't come across a CL deal too good to pass up.

I am putting a home gym together for my needs, I have no plans to be placing 600 pounds on the rack since my knees are shot but I do want to feel safe putting 400 or so on. Deadlifts will be started from the floor so it does not matter how much weight the rack can hold there. Craigslist was hit or miss, Play it Again sports sometimes has deals.

Fitness Reality 810XT - Paid $161
The pricing bounces around like crazy, as high as $275 and as low as $161. Says it is good to 800 pounds but lord knows I will never get anywhere close to that. I would prefer a flat pullup bar but for half the price as the others I will not complain. You can also get a set of dip bars or olympic rings to do stuff like dips.

Both Academy and DSG have 300 pound barbell sets for just over $200, while the bars suck the weights are worth the price alone. If you want to upgrade bars there are plenty out there like the CAP OB-86 that are around $100 and are a good upgrade, sell the old bar or just it for something else.

It is your preference on the bench, flat, flat/incline, flat/incline/decline.

For me this setup will work, at the gym the majority of the work I do now is free weights and with the dumbells I have acquired over the years I have enough. I will pick up some bumper plates for more weight and if I work out in the mornings. Don't forget about the horse stall mats, cheap and a lot better than the foam tile blocks.

I'll go against the grain and really recommend against academy type stuff. You're paying a premium price for thin steel. Surf Craigslist for plates, they're super easy to find. As far as barbells I really wouldn't cheap out. I'd honestly recommend maybe a Rogue B&R bar.

If you have the money, a Rogue Power rack is the way to go, but for $400 you can have a Titan t3HD which is an exact replica of the Rogue R3. There were gripes about the welds and fit of it years ago but those concerns have been addressed. It's way more rack than some 12 guage pos Marcy rack which costs 50-100% more. Hope that helps

I built my home gym for about $1000 which consists of two bars, about 700# in plates, power rack, bench, and deadlift platform. I only do compound lifts so it's literally all I will ever need and then some. I will likely never lift 700 pounds of anything and the rack has a 1000# capacity so no risk of outgrowing it. Just jumping on deals on used stuff and a lot of research

I have a squat cage with multiple attachments for rows, dips, pull ups, two different calves machines, a Sole tread mill, iron master dumbells that can go up to 120 lbs apiece, about 430 lbs in plates, and a few other pieces. $5,000 is a decent chunk of money, but good equipment can be expensive.

Walter Kovacs said:

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RightWingConspirator said:

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I've spent upwards of $5,000 for my gym equipment for my home gym. i purchased all of it at NY Barbells.

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Damn. What does 5k get you?

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Hopefully everything.

Rouge had good stuff, and you can find crossfit games used equipment for a little cheaper sometimes. They also have free shipping deals on some of their stuff.

With a treadmill that makes more sense since that's over $1000 right there. I may get some dip bars but going to try rings only first.