Building A Home Gym...What do I need?

[YourUniverse]

anyone use resistant bands for concentric movements?

Definitely. Some things are even optimal using bands, but there are a few itches they can't scratch

 

[清貴杉山]

anyone use resistant bands for concentric movements?

i use resistance bands to warm up and for movility stuff,also i add them to dips to fry the triceps and into pullups to fry the upperback and biceps a lil more

 

[Teres]

You will get various opinions and mine is that one needs way less than some may think. When it comes to lifting and training in general, many people on YouTube and countless of forums and blogs are talking out of their asses, despite being well developed. Growing up among elite athletes without being one of them myself, such athletes people hear about in the news occasionally, has taught me that great things are achieved with very few exercises as a foundation. There are no result I can achieve in a comercial gym that I can't reach without one, with just a bag of sand. And this is not exaggeration.

I know two individuals with home gyms they paid for a lot and if you see them you can't tell they lift. Not only one can achieve much without machines but even the traditionally worshiped by many bench press, just for a single example, I'm already firmly convinced is overrated. Not useless, but nothing better than, lets say heavily weighted push ups.

For equipment, the guys before me said it. Decent power rack, good barbell and weights, kettlebels and gymnastic rings. That's it. Anything else will not make a differences in your development, if you know what you are doing.

 

[Inaut]

View attachment 28064

If I had a backyard I'd definitely set up something like this. My issues is I live in shoe box and in Onterrible....

 

[YourUniverse]

There are a dozen or so "TrekFit" outdoor gyms in toronto, with parallel bars and chinup bars. Gets a little tricky in the cold but options do exist

 

[清貴杉山]

You will get various opinions and mine is that one needs way less than some may think. When it comes to lifting and training in general, many people on YouTube and countless of forums and blogs are talking out of their asses, despite being well developed. Growing up among elite athletes without being one of them myself, such athletes people hear about in the news occasionally, has taught me that great things are achieved with very few exercises as a foundation. There are no result I can achieve in a comercial gym that I can't reach without one, with just a bag of sand. And this is not exaggeration.

I know two individuals with home gyms they paid for a lot and if you see them you can't tell they lift. Not only one can achieve much without machines but even the traditionally worshiped by many bench press, just for a single example, I'm already firmly convinced is overrated. Not useless, but nothing better than, lets say heavily weighted push ups.

For equipment, the guys before me said it. Decent power rack, good barbell and weights, kettlebels and gymnastic rings. That's it. Anything else will not make a differences in your development, if you know what you are doing.

I got great results just doing bodyweight,some kettlebell stuff and sandbag work,now i have way more stuff but i use all of them,no fancy stuff nevertheless

 

[Inaut]

You will get various opinions and mine is that one needs way less than some may think. When it comes to lifting and training in general, many people on YouTube and countless of forums and blogs are talking out of their asses, despite being well developed. Growing up among elite athletes without being one of them myself, such athletes people hear about in the news occasionally, has taught me that great things are achieved with very few exercises as a foundation. There are no result I can achieve in a comercial gym that I can't reach without one, with just a bag of sand. And this is not exaggeration.

I know two individuals with home gyms they paid for a lot and if you see them you can't tell they lift. Not only one can achieve much without machines but even the traditionally worshiped by many bench press, just for a single example, I'm already firmly convinced is overrated. Not useless, but nothing better than, lets say heavily weighted push ups.

For equipment, the guys before me said it. Decent power rack, good barbell and weights, kettlebels and gymnastic rings. That's it. Anything else will not make a differences in your development, if you know what you are doing.

Good post @Teres :)

 

[fr@]

I think building your own PRX Performance package will fit the budget at the same time won't consume much space, since it's foldable.

 

[eat my peat]

two kettlebells .... all you need

 

[Homo Consumericus]

Thinking about building a gym (not right now) but when I have some space and wanted to see what it would cost to do so. Which machines/equipment are a must?

I have a general idea what I'd want to use but I'd like to hear from the RPF.

Plenty of good suggestions here which I need not repeat.

Upper body training at home tends to be easy, but lower body less so. So I'm going to make a case for an unusual tool-- the Bosu ball (or any generic variant since the originals are overpriced). I purchased one to train just a single exercise known as the Nordic curl. Since the Bosu ball doesn't weigh much and isn't too large, it seems to be the best way to heavily load the hamstrings without any weights. This exercise is so tough that you will probably never progress to the point of needing to add weight, kind of like a handstand pushup. Even after two years of practice, and I was able to bang out 5-6 sets of 7-10 repetitions, rather than add weight, I opted to incorporate slower eccentrics and longer pauses at the bottom to absolutely dominate the movement.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xqZ2vey_kYc

If you pair this exercise with a single leg squat or a rear foot elevated split squat, you can pretty much cover your entire lower body training with just two movements without needing a barbell and a ton of plates.

 

[Inaut]

Plenty of good suggestions here which I need not repeat.

Upper body training at home tends to be easy, but lower body less so. So I'm going to make a case for an unusual tool-- the Bosu ball (or any generic variant since the originals are overpriced). I purchased one to train just a single exercise known as the Nordic curl. Since the Bosu ball doesn't weigh much and isn't too large, it seems to be the best way to heavily load the hamstrings without any weights. This exercise is so tough that you will probably never progress to the point of needing to add weight, kind of like a handstand pushup. Even after two years of practice, and I was able to bang out 5-6 sets of 7-10 repetitions, rather than add weight, I opted to incorporate slower eccentrics and longer pauses at the bottom to absolutely dominate the movement.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xqZ2vey_kYc

If you pair this exercise with a single leg squat or a rear foot elevated split squat, you can pretty much cover your entire lower body training with just two movements without needing a barbell and a ton of plates.

This is the stuff I love :) @Homo Consumericus great suggestion. Thank you and thanks to everyone else posting on this thread! Most helpful

 

[AdoTintor]

I quit the gym a couple of months back - nothing discernable happenned for about a month, then I got a bench and some dumbbells and I break up the day with it. I've placed it inconveniently, it cannot be ignored. Soon I may think its worth investing more. I'd hate to see you spend 5K on something that will only stand as a monument to your lethargy.

 

[Sven]

Bit controversial but I suggest starting with equipment that lets you train what you enjoy. If you're into powerlifting and the big three, squat rack and barbell is the way to go. Bodyweight movements, get a pull-up bar. If you're into bodybuilding maybe dumbbells so you can do a large variety of movements. At the end of the day you want to make sure the home gym doesn't go unused, large part of that is feeling motivated to train.

 

[Inaut]

Bit controversial but I suggest starting with equipment that lets you train what you enjoy. If you're into powerlifting and the big three, squat rack and barbell is the way to go. Bodyweight movements, get a pull-up bar. If you're into bodybuilding maybe dumbbells so you can do a large variety of movements. At the end of the day you want to make sure the home gym doesn't go unused, large part of that is feeling motivated to train.

I want a squat rack and bench but unfortunately due to condo living, I can't make it work. I think i will use gym rings, kettle bells, adjustable dumbbells and a bench. When I can get some space, I'll definitely get a rack and barbells.

 

[Inaut]

Any suggestions for a foldable/collapsable fid bench? I almost bought the flybird weight bench from amazon but changed my mind because it looks cheap.

 

[Inaut]

Anybody have any ideas how I can use gym rings in my condo without having to anchor into my ceiling? I attempted to secure some supports but hit rebar twice and didn’t want to make Swiss cheese of the ceiling. Something portable I can tuck away would be great as I live in a condo.

 

[Sulcuscentralis]

Forget about the power rack - Shake weight is all you need:

View: https://youtu.be/2W0FfkaIEXE

 

[Inaut]

Forget about the power rack - Shake weight is all you need:

View: https://youtu.be/2W0FfkaIEXE

Hahahahhahaahhah I wish you were serious

 

[76er]

I have the X3 bar system and I really like it.

Pros:

- Compact: It fits easily in my 100 sq. ft. office and I can do all the
movements in that space.

- Portable: I've taken it on every vacation since I purchased it, which was
Nov. 2020. On sunny mornings I do the movements outside.

- Easy on the joints. Injuries kill gains.

Cons:

- Range of Motion (ROM): You're most likely going to have to shorten the bands to get
a decent ROM on the deadlift and chest press.

- Bent rows: Bands provide the wrong resistance for this movement.

- I also purchased a set of rings to do pull ups and inverted rows for
better back work.

- Price: With the travel bag, band clips, elite band, and other accessories
I'm at about ~$800.

- Deceptive marketing: i.e. don't expect to "build muscle 3x as fast".

Enough said, however, because Don Matesz has a great write up and an excellent
video on band shortening, which again is a must if you go with the x3.

P.S.

Here is another good video on band shortening (and lengthening).