r/GarageGym

Asking if this is a dumb idea or not. My home gym and home office are in the same room. I have a REP Athena rack and a Roman chair for reference. I work from home as a computer engineer so spend most of my day hunched over a keyboard. Normally I try to take a 5-10 minute break where I stand up and walk around for a couple minutes near the end of each hour. Instead of walking, I was thinking wouldn't it be fun to hit some weights instead? Like do an arm day where I spend each break doing 2-3 sets of an arm exercise. Basically instead of doing a long workout at the end of the day, split everything up throughout the day. Or maybe keep the actual workout at the end of the day, but do lots of light weight and high rep versions throughout the day to keep the joints warmed up and moving to prepare for the end of day work?

Does anyone know what happened to the project? I’m still holding out for a possible release date for freak athlete’s atom this year, but I can barely find any news about it so far.

Im having trouble finding some good affordable options for these items

1. Adjustable dumbbells
2. Adjustable bench(with a leg curl/extension attachment)
3. Squat rack that has cables
4. Barbell and weights
5. Cable attachments

Can someone help

Everyone talks about racks, bars, plates, functional trainers, specialty machines, etc., but I’m more interested in the random cheap stuff that quietly makes the whole gym better.

I’m talking about things like better lighting, a fan, magnetic hooks, stall mat placement, plate storage, a whiteboard, cheap mirrors, a phone tripod, car ramps for hip thrusts, a dehumidifier, wall control panels, cable handles, whatever.

What’s the thing you bought or DIY’d for cheap that made you think: “I should’ve done this way earlier”?

Been seriously thinking about turning the garage into a proper long term home gym. I’ve been going down the rabbit hole researching racks lately.

Space isn’t the biggest issue. I care more about getting something the whole family can use. My wife and kids train occasionally too, so I’m trying to find something that works well for different fitness levels.

Right now I’m kind of stuck between going with a more traditional rack like REP or Rogue, or just getting an all-in-one functional trainer like the Major Fitness B17. The B17 seems pretty family friendly with the adjustable 1:1 and 2:1 pulley ratio, and it already comes with a lot of attachments included. The memorial day discount is intriguing.

Curious what other people with shared home gyms ended up going with and how it’s held up long term.

Hey all,

Im looking at a lot of all in one trainers, with the biggest contraint being 92" ceilings.

This will be my first home gym.

The ones I have been looking at

VistaFitness PRO SERIES 2IN1 Ultimate Half Rack Functional Trainer Combo 86" $2400

The Dane 2.0, Half Rack Functional Trainer $2240 (on sale) 92" might fit, might not?

Mikolo ANUBIS™-2.0 Elite All-In-One Trainer $2500 with sale ,91.2" hopfully fits

Possibly looking at way more of a budget set up such as

Major Fitness F22 All-In-One Home Gym Power Rack $1900 (weight stack)

EonfitOmni® E2 2.0 Power Rack Pro w/ Ally pulleys $750

pretty much all of these brands, if have found reviews of horror stories of bad shipping times, arrving damage, missing parts, broken parts.

I hate smith machines, so any company that has them, such as Force USA is a no go.

Rep is a little out of my range.

Are there any im missing that you would recomend?

Thank you,

So the way I see it is Bells of Steel is the value/ not insanely priced alternative to Rogue but who is the known good quality value alternative to REP?

I want the width of a Import Rack but I do not want to pay REP's insane prices... obviously lots of options on Amazon etc but then the quality is unknown.

Also I'm in Canada if that makes a difference.

Essentially im looking for a 3"x3" 11 guage import rack with 1" holes spaced 2" apart, without having to remortgage my house and know its good quality.

EDIT: the question still stands... but my rant is a bit invalid... the rack builder on their website is broken... if I set my size then add and remove a smith the price becomes more reasonable its adding 10 sets of overpriced safties by default.. so while $2000 for the base rack is still overpriced I can understand it

The prices of these things have gotten out of hand... WHY am i paying more for 1" holes when its literally cheaper for them to ship etc, yes the bolts cost more but then it should be a wash?. on a PR5000 going from a 16" to a 30" crossmember is $2000... that's $40 in steel.(a 3x3 10' 11awg square tube my cost is $86 CAD) (and im sure more in shipping but not $2000)

There's one on marketplace near me for $160. I've been looking for a deadlift bar. Reviews are honestly sparse and the ones I can find are polarizing.

Just curious if anyone has any opinions. I feel like it's a pretty good price based on the MSRP but I'm not sure if it's worth it.

We are sitting on 15 6’x7’ mirrors and then a few larger sizes and I almost feel terrible just tossing them like usual, but anything we try to save usually ends up sitting.

Is this something I should have the guys set aside and see if somebody can put them to use? Obviously location helps, but need to make decision sooner than later to get them safely stored at shop and will worry about getting them to whomever after.

Any suggestions/experiences thanks.

Let me get this part out of the way - If space and money weren't a consideration, I'd just get the Bells of Steel cable tower and call it a day. Unfortunately, space AND money are considerations, so here I am looking at other options.

I'm working with a squat rack like this one - Sunny Health and Fitness SF-BH6802 - I got it dirt cheap on marketplace and it's great for everything I need it to do, doesn't take a ton of room, etc. First hiccup is that it's a 60mm x 60mm riser setup, so finding things for it can be fiddly. Second being that I have no idea how well this style of setup works with pulley systems like Bullet Pulley or the like, as I generally see those on four post setups. Have folks used something like those on this style rack? Some other option? I am fine with some degree of jank - I'd just like to get some pulling / rowing options into the space and I feel like a pulley system is probably the quick and dirty way to do so.

https://preview.redd.it/4qkn7uujoc2h1.jpg?width=1014&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e0ea74857ca8358a99f37a348acd10ef83f3224

I recently just moved into my first home. I have 280 sqft shed that’s pretty much the perfect spot for a gym.
My question is. What’s the go to adjustment dumbbell? I’m personally stuck between eisenlink and iron master. Square dumbbells just seem fun. But I wanna know what the people think! Not against any other adjustable dumbbell but I like the idea of the eco system and minimal moving parts of the two dumbbell brands listed. Thoughts!?

I currently have a decent set up with squat rack, pulley system, dumbbells (5-50), 800# of plates, and I’m using a monkey foot for leg extensions and curls. Would anyone recommend a plate loaded leg extension/curl machine? Or is there anything anyone would recommend to get before getting this machine? Any must haves first I could be missing? Thanks

I’ve been trying to get more consistent with cold plunging but kept getting confused on whether it’s better before or after workouts. Before training gave me a mental boost but sometimes made my legs feel stiff, while after workouts made more sense for soreness, though I started wondering if it could interfere with strength recovery. I read an article and the main takeaway was that timing depends on your goal.. immediate cold after heavy lifting might not be ideal, but after runs, conditioning, or high soreness days it can help more. It also made me realize cold plunging shouldn’t just be treated like a general recovery hack but something adjusted around the type of training you’re doing.

Hi guys! I am considering buying a multigym for my garage. However, I don’t want to pay for the brand, but for the quality. I like to lift heavy, but my girlfriend will use it as well. I also consider the Force USA C20, although it’s more expensive. those are the prices I see now, in CHF, as I live in Switzerland:

Atletica Rampage - 5800 CHF
Force USA C10 - 3799 CHF

Thanks a lot!