2600 × 2600 mm (8'6" × 8'6") room with a 30" PR-5000 — is this actually usable in real life?
I'm planning a dedicated strength-training room that is exactly 2600 × 2600 mm (about 8'6" × 8'6").
The setup I'm currently planning is:
- REP PR-5000
- 30" depth
- 93" uprights
- 4-post
- Flip-Down Safeties 2.0
- standard J-cups
- REP AB-3000 2.0 FID bench
- REP Colorado Short Bar, 15 kg
The rack will be anchored to the concrete floor.
The short bar is an important part of the plan. I'm deliberately not using a standard 2200 mm / 7'3" bar.
The Colorado Short Bar is:
- 1829 mm / 72" overall length
- 1308 mm / 51.5" between the sleeves
- 226 mm / 8.9" loadable sleeve length per side
- 28.5 mm shaft
- 50 mm sleeves
- 15 kg
- rackable in the PR-5000
With an 1829 mm bar in a 2600 mm-wide room, if the bar is centered there is approximately 386 mm / 15.2" between each end of the bar and the wall.
The main exercises I'm planning around are:
- bench press
- back squat
- deadlift
- pull-ups
I can work out whether all of this physically fits from the dimensions. What I'm trying to understand is something different: is a gym like this actually practical and comfortable to use, or does a room this small become frustrating despite everything fitting on paper?
I'm particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually trained in an 8 × 8, 8 × 9, 9 × 9 ft or similarly small room with a full power rack.
Some things I'd like to understand from actual experience:
- Is roughly 386 mm / 15" of clearance between the end of the bar and the wall enough for loading and unloading plates without it becoming annoying?
- Is a 30" deep power rack reasonable in a room this size?
- How much clearance around the rack do you actually need in everyday use?
- Is positioning and moving the bench manageable?
- Are there normal operations or exercises that seem fine on a floor plan but become difficult once you actually start training?
- If you've used a similarly small home gym, what worked well and what would you change after living with it?
I'm mainly looking for first-hand experience rather than calculations. The dimensions tell me that the equipment can fit; what I don't know is whether the resulting gym will actually be pleasant to use several times a week.
If you have a similarly compact setup, photos and exact room/rack dimensions would be very useful.