Home Gymers

[brock8282]

Three weeks ago now I finally completed the education and training portion of my new career and hit the sales floor. Have Working 8am until 8 or 9pm ever since. Thankfully the job is fully remote. But I Haven’t hit the gym once these past 3 weeks so I really need to get a set up in the basement as I don’t have the time to drive the 20 minutes to and from the gym now.

With the basement I’m limited with height. 80” ceiling. I’m looking at a rogue monster lite squat stand if I can get one locally for a decent price, waiting on a couple replies onFacebook marketplace. otherwise I’m going to settle for ordering a titan t-3 squat stand. Wondering if anyone here has experience with the titan? Don’t want to waste the money if it’s going to suck for someone of my strength level.

also just wanted to see if there are any pieces of equipment that the rest of the home gym people have that they recommend for a home gym?

to start I’m just going to go with a stand, adjustable bench, bar, plates, and some loadable dumbell handles. Once the commission checks start rolling in I’ll be ready to go all out on the project.

thanks

 

[brock8282]

Also if anyone in the Detroit metro area or reasonable driving distance has any equipment they want to unload, reach out!

 

[JackDMegalomaniac]

Craigslist has tons of shit right now, all the covid buyers figured out that they just wanna be lunkers the rest of their lives.

I always offer a 1/5 of their asking price, thats the golden rule

 

[rawdeal]

I assembled a simple home gym piece-by-piece within the last 9 months or so. I went straight to various manufacturer websites and even to Amazon and Walmart a few times, but never tried Craig's List, eBay, or places like that. I bet I could have saved money by going that route, but I was impatient, somewhat internet-naive, AND wasn't sure if who I might be dealing with would be reliable. That said, I wish I had looked around a little more, even to neighborhood sites where people typically ask for local handymen, report lost dogs, complain about their garbage service, OR try to sell anything they may be wanting to unload. Whatever, my gym is how I want it, and my shopping days are over.

Youtube has various guys who review home (or "garage") gym equipment, and one of them reviews a rival's reviews here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCC1ZA26Gs

The guy who's getting reviewed criticizes Titan in his own reviews. I have some smaller Titan things myself, whereas Thrall owns a small commercial gym and criticizes their bigger items, like Racks and Sleds, where he says parts don't always fit together like they should. MY experience with Titan was that they copycat Rogue's catalog and sell similar items cheaper. Titan copycat items may be as good as Rogue, or not-so-much, it varies.

These 2 and other companies often advertise items as available, or out of stock (usually you can sign up your email address for them to notify you when it becomes available), OR an in-between status where an item is "back-ordered" .... you can order and pay today, and the item MAY be shipped on their estimated shipping date weeks later. My experience with Titan was that their time estimates suck on back orders. I would probably order an "available" Titan item if I wasn't done assembling my humble garage gym, but I wouldn't fvkk with their back orders with somebody else's dick.

Your 80" ceiling is a bit confining for Racks (4 uprights) or Squat Stands (2 uprights), but it is not insurmountable. Many companies offer 2-3 heights of the same item, ranging from 6' to 8' If you want to use yours for pullups where your head would get above the top of the horizontal bar, you need to factor that into your ceiling space equation.

ANOTHER thing, and where I screwed up, is the spotter idea. If you squat inside a 4-upright Rack ("Cage"), properly set horizontal pins will spot you for Squats, Benches, Inclines, etc. In my haste last Spring, I grabbed a 2-upright Squat Stand instead. It is sturdy enough to hold a vertical force of 1000lbs or more, which I am not, btw. But if I needed a spot for Squats, Benches, what then? Safety Spotter Arms are widely available, BUT if you have to dump a Squat on them, or even just gently load a bar for heavy Rack Pulls, etc, leverage enters the picture, and the whole thing may tip forward. I solved that by laying some 2" x 10" boards across the back "footprint" of my Squat Stand and piling a fvkkload of plates on the boards, but hindsight shouts "get a 4-upright Rack instead!"

 

[JackDMegalomaniac]

I have a cage, and squat stand, they serve the same function. But the cage is more versatile, but make sure you have extra 45's to lay on the base, they are prone to tipping over.

 

[Boogieman]

I have a Titan T3 rack its solid

 

[Timber]

Been working on my home gym for years. Found a used commercial squat rack and it’s the heart of the gym. Bought a few things off Amazon and they are decent - calf machine, lat pull down, preacher bench. Welded up a few things like a dip / leg lift abs deal, and used cables and pulleys to make a cable crossover from the overhead floor joists.

 

[brock8282]

I’d love to get an actual squat rack but all I can find that will fit is a 72” and being 6’3 that just sounds really annoying. The versatility of a rack for adding attachments would be great but I’m not trying to hit my head when I rack a set of squats.
I’m getting sick of trying to find a rogue monster lite squat stand so I think I’m going to give in and pick up the titan t-3 stand. Menards has 70lb sand bags for $5 so thinking those should help prevent tipping.

people here locally are still treating Olympic plates like gold. Cheap as I can find is $1.5/lb for some rusty ones.

mid be interested to see pics of how you did the cable crossover timber

 

[JackDMegalomaniac]

I’d love to get an actual squat rack but all I can find that will fit is a 72” and being 6’3 that just sounds really annoying. The versatility of a rack for adding attachments would be great but I’m not trying to hit my head when I rack a set of squats.
I’m getting sick of trying to find a rogue monster lite squat stand so I think I’m going to give in and pick up the titan t-3 stand. Menards has 70lb sand bags for $5 so thinking those should help prevent tipping.

people here locally are still treating Olympic plates like gold. Cheap as I can find is $1.5/lb for some rusty ones.

mid be interested to see pics of how you did the cable crossover timber

Patience is the key, I got all mine for $.5 -.15 a lb.

Amd they were brand new out of the box, even had handles

 

[Timber]

11111111111

 

[Timber]

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[Timber]

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[Timber]

Simple system. Cable w hammered on crimps. 2 pullys and the bottom is an upside down T as ya see in pics. And ya make 2 of them as space appropriate distance

 

[Timber]

Not sure why the fckrs are sideways

 

[JackDMegalomaniac]

ewwhh standard plates :32 (15):

 

[snake]

Fuuk ya Brock! Good for you my man. You're dedicated and you'll love this.

 

[quackattack]

Check out the garagegymreviews website. They go through all the different brands for racks, bars, plates, dumbbells at different price points.

 

[Chump16]

I would start off by prioritizing the rack. Its the center piece in my garage. I know you said you are limited to 80in and that will make it challenging

But I do everything off my rack/platform ....... squat, bench, dips, OH press, curls, row, deads, cleans, snatches, etc

Next in line I would suggest adjustable DB's

 

[ComeBacKid85]

Have had some luck with buying from people. Much easier to go direct dealer. Put your money down and wait until it’s in stock. Got a pretty sweet garage set up now a days. Good luck Brock :32 (1):

 

[brock8282]

With my ceiling height issue I settled on ordering a titan t3 squat rack with spotter arms. It was just $350 and gym equipment is holding its value pretty well so I can always upgrade later on. Also picked up a titan Yukon bar seen in the picture here. Excited to try that out. Hopefully over the weekend I have some luck finding weights, a standard barbell, and adjustable dumbells and I’ll be ready to go!