Need small, basic, equip for garage gym. What to get?
July 23, 2010 3:53 PM   Subscribe

I want to build a small basic gym in my garage. I have $1,000 to spend. What should I get, why, and from where?

I'm looking at building a home gym in my garage so that I can do bodyweight exercises and the basics from Starting Strength such as squats, bench presses, dead lift, etc.

It seems to me that I will need a bench of some sort and a rack to start off with. I don't have much space in my garage so more compact / easily storable pieces of equipment are preferred (it's a single-car garage with no space on the side, and about 3 feet of space in the rear so ideally I would like to be able to move the gym equipment against the back wall when I'm done and have enough space to back my car in. I drive a Prius so if the weight rack is wide enough I may be able to just back the rear end of the car between the rack supports if that makes sense).

This is what I am looking at:

PowerLine PPR200X Power Rack OR Best Fitness BFPR10 Multi Press Rack

Should I get one, or the other, or something better? Why? I'm leaning towards the power rack, but only if it truly is an improvement over the more compact multi-press rack. Thoughts?

Plus I need:

- Bench (flat or incline-able?)
- Olympic barbell
- Weights for barbell
- Safety spring clips
- Dumbells (15, 20, 25 lb?)
- Some kind of floor mat

- Anything else?

Right now I don't think I need any more than 250 lbs of weight for the barbell. I can buy more when needed.

I am mainly wondering if I am forgetting anything specific, and if anyone has any experiences with certain pieces of equipment, vendors with the best price, etc. Help me get what I need for the lowest cost! I have already checked craigslist and it seems difficult to find used weights and/or decent pieces of equipment in my local area so I guess I'm going to have to buy new stuff.
posted by buckaroo_benzai to Health & Fitness (14 answers total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Both the Power Rack and Multi Press Rack have safety bars, but (as far as i can tell) only the Power Rack safety bars can be set to different heights (useful if you're bench pressing inside the power rack, your bench press depth is probably different than your squat depth; or if you'd like to vary your squat depth). The safety bars on the power rack are also much wider, meaning if you get stuck on a squat you don't need to worry about lining up your barbell with the safety bar landing spot. That Power Rack looks much more robust and stable overall. Probably worth the extra cost, and not a place to cut corners price/quality-wise.
posted by JumpW at 4:26 PM on July 23, 2010


I have that PPR200X and it is just fine for a power rack. No concerns on quality or stability. But: you will not be moving it back-and-forth in between workouts. It's there to stay. I bought mine at Amazon; I heard after I bought that many people like Jesup Gym to save $20 (via eBay).

The multi-press rack does not look like a realistic single-person option, safety-wise. (At the end of squats or bench-presses I would think it highly unlikely to nestle the weight back to its comfy home. The PPR allows me to collapse.)

Check a local Sears for a Weider Olympic set. You can often find them on sale -- usually cheaper than a Craigslist set -- and the set will include barbell, weights, clips.

Depending on what you're doing you might also want gloves, a belt or lifting-straps. There are also specialty bars that help with deadlift or shoulder press. Eh.

I have found the PPR200X and barbell to be sufficient for my workouts (slo-mo, HIT variety). I also find incline overrated; people seem to like this bench.

If you desire dumbbells you can't go wrong with the Nautilus SelectTech. Costco often has these (or a variation) at a much better price than online, usually with the stand.
posted by johndavi at 4:31 PM on July 23, 2010


Power rack power rack power rack. A press rack is far too limiting, and you can do more with the squat rack. I did the opposite as I got a great deal on mine but I still keep meaning to replace it. "Works, But..."

I will say that it's worth it to buy quality for the rack, bench and bar. Not overpriced junk from some local sports store.

York is the way to go with for a barbell, last forever, but plates are plates. I hit up a used sporting goods place, bought some old nasty rusted ones,, hit em with black rustoleum and was on my way.

I used these guys for the bench and rack. Got pro-gear on clearance with free shipping. No clue if that's still possible as that was 5 years ago. But the bench and rack are still in great shape. For the weights,

Really, you can't go wrong following the gym section in the back of the book.
posted by anti social order at 4:36 PM on July 23, 2010


You can't use the Multi-Press Rack for Starting Strength safely - not high enough for squats or overhead presses, unless you are less than three feet tall. You do not want to screw around with a large amount of weight on your shoulders.

Starting Strength also does not have an incline press in it, so you can safely ignore that feature.

The first one and a bench is all you need for Starting Strength. When I was in that program, I spent all my time in the gym at the squat rack.

If you follow Starting Strength religiously, you will certainly need more than 250 pounds on that bar for squats and deadlifts. But you can always buy those later.
posted by meowzilla at 4:37 PM on July 23, 2010


Go with the power rack. It is far more useful than the other one you linked.

Dumbbells are too expensive, skip them for now. Get your plates used, on craigslist or at a used sporting goods store. Get a sturdy rack and a good bar.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 4:56 PM on July 23, 2010


If you get an adjustable dumbbell set - the kind that takes standard round plates like this, rather than those expensive Power Block things - you will save tons of money and space, and the plates fit on the barbell too, so you've got all sorts of flexibility.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:02 PM on July 23, 2010


Don't get the SelectTech or similar adjustable sets. Or rather, go to a store and thoroughly try them out. Many models will be off balance at some or all weights -- meaning one end is heavier than another. Really annoying. I can't understand how anyone thought this was a good idea.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:12 PM on July 23, 2010


For a floor mat you can't go wrong with a hard rubber horse mat. They are cheap and should be available in a farm supply type store.

Definitley get Olympic dumbbells.

Get a power rack.

I'm partial to the New York Barbells equipment. They are very strong and have nice add-ons.

Make sure whatever rack you get uses square tubing.
posted by zephyr_words at 6:27 PM on July 23, 2010


Get a stationary bike for cardio warmups.

Pullups are a fantastic add-on exercise to SS (as the book mentions). Your rack might be tall enough to do pullups off of, but if not, there are pullup bars that can be installed in doorways (they screw out so that the ends press onto each side of the door frame, no holes required).

I'm not sure how soft your floor mat will be, but for extra padding a camping sleeping pad works really well for weighted curl-ups or crunches (i.e. aiming for the six pack). It's no fun banging your head against a mat on concrete.

Bumper plates are good for power cleans and deadlifts. They're made from rubber or plastic and won't damage the floor if dropped. They're also all the same diameter so that you can perform your cleans from a consistent height. Placing the bar on cinder blocks will also raise the bar to the perfect height above the ground, though they should be covered in towels to prevent scratching the bar. I wouldn't drop the bar onto the blocks without bumper plates, but you might be able to combine bumper plates and smaller-diameter plates to perform heavier power cleans. The blocks are also good for warm-up deadlifts/cleans using an empty bar, and are only a couple of bucks each at a home building store.

Last, get gym chalk instead of gloves. The reasoning for this is well-laid in SS. Gloves are a crutch. Strengthening your hands won't happen as well when gripping is borne by the fabric around your hands rather than skin and muscle. Chalk is cheap too.

Regarding the Apex JD2.2 Flat Bench linked to by johndavi. I have that bench and don't recommend it. It only supports 300 lb safely according to the manual (so, a 150 lb person + 150 lb weight to be conservative, for the legs offload some of the weight) and mine didn't sit flat on its four legs. It would work if really strapped for funds, but I'd go for something a bit sturdier.
posted by mnemonic at 8:33 PM on July 23, 2010


You should also take Rippetoe's advice* on weightlifting shoes - I have a pair of Do-Win's from Pendlay/MuscleDriverUSA. (While you are there take a look at the gorgeous Pendlay barbells...)

They really make a difference for me in squats and deadlifts. So much so that when I have occasionally forgotten to bring them to the gym, I just take my shoes off and lift in my socks rather than lifting in sneakers.


*Rippetoe states that weight-lifting shoes are the only piece of equipment that you must own.
posted by cinemafiend at 8:38 PM on July 23, 2010


studbar pullup is a non-intrusive way to add pull-ups to your workout. I paired mine with some gymnastic rings.
posted by JV at 10:36 PM on July 23, 2010


The only weakness of the Power Rack is: the safety bars slide in from the front, so if you drop the weights often enough/with enough force to bend the safety bars, they become hard (or even impossible) to withdraw.

That said, they're pretty sturdy so you have to try quite hard to bend them in the first place. Unfortunately it's nowhere near wide enough to fit a car into - most bars aren't as long as a car is wide, so a rack the width of a car would need some pretty big bars! The power rack has a pull-up bar on it.

If you're new to strength training, it might be worth seeing if there's a gym near you where you can try things out for a few sessions before investing a lot in home exercise equipment? I've heard that some people get home exercise equipment then don't use it as much as they intend.
posted by Mike1024 at 1:52 AM on July 24, 2010


If I lived in the USA I would buy a setup form either

Rogue Fitness

or

The Garage Gym Store

Both sites do equipment bundles but it is a little on the pricey side.
posted by moochoo at 8:37 AM on July 24, 2010


As others have said, the power rack is most certainly a huge improvement over the other one. You shouldn't lift heavy alone without safety bars, and Starting Strength is all about lifting heavy.

You will also need a sturdy flat bench. Don't skimp on this -- a lot of the cheaper benches have narrow pads and a low weight capacity, and will just fall apart over time. I think this one from Deltech Fitness is a good compromise between cost and quality.

For dumbbells, I recommend getting a pair of Olympic dumbbell handles with collars. You can use them with your existing plates.

You should check to see if there's a Play It Again Sports near you. If so, you will almost certainly be able to get an Olympic barbell, spring collars, and plates for half-price there -- possibly also the dumbbell handles. They also sell benches, and gym-quality benches seem to have (paradoxically) less turnover than the cheap ones there, so you might want to check there before you order a bench. I've seen power racks there as well, but not as often.

If there are classifieds where you live, it might be worth checking to see if someone is selling their equipment. I would also suggest making a Wanted post to craigslist, and then checking the For Sale section each day for a couple weeks or a month before giving up, as you never know when someone will list a bar and some plates. Personally, I do not like to pay for new weights/bars -- it's just not worth the difference in price.
posted by vorfeed at 12:26 PM on July 24, 2010


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