r/GarageGym

Hi all

I’m planning to add a functional trainer to my home gym and would love some ideas on the best way to integrate it with my existing rack.

I currently have a Rogue RM-3 (30” deep) with a drop-in Rhino. I don’t really have the floor space for a standalone functional trainer, so I’d like to incorporate one into the rack if possible.

I originally considered the Rogue Indy add-on, but my ceilings are under 90”, so the standard Indy is out. The 80” Dual Indy is an option, but the trolley is fairly large and would eat into my usable space. Rogue also doesn’t currently offer articulating arms.

That’s why I’ve landed on the 80” REP Athena. The smaller trolleys give me more usable space around the uprights (like 10” more), and I could potentially add REP’s articulating arms in the future if/when they’re released.

The problem is that the Athena uses 16” REP crossmembers.

I could add two REP uprights to the front of my RM-3 and essentially turn it into a 6-post rack, but I’d much rather have the functional trainer run along the sides of the rack so the weight stacks don’t take up additional floor space.

My current idea is to buy four REP uprights and four crossmembers, essentially building half of an Athena on each side of my Rogue rack and bolting those sections to the RM-3 for stability. The downside is that I’m basically buying an entire Athena rack just to make this work.

One other complication is that the bottom holes on the REP uprights line up with the holes on my Rogue uprights, but the top holes don’t. So I’d probably need to use a cut-down crossmember with offset side holes to tie the REP uprights into the Rogue rack at the top. That makes the whole setup even more of a custom project.

I’ve also considered trying to mount the Athena components directly to my existing Rogue crossmembers, but I’m concerned I’d run into issues with cable length, guide rods, pulley positioning, etc.

So before I spend the money on what is essentially a custom setup:

How would you approach this? Has anyone successfully integrated an Athena or another functional trainer into an existing Rogue rack without adding a bunch of additional floor space?

Open to any creative solutions…

I'm looking into building my home gym and I keep coming back to the GXMMAT X6. On paper, it checks the all-in-one trainer boxes I'm looking for, and seems like a good setup for the price (I'm not rich and am looking in the $600-$900 range).

The thing that's making me hesitate is that since it's kind of a new company to the power-rack game, there aren't nearly as many independent reviews or long-term owner experiences as there are for other brands.

I'm particularly curious about:

• The overall quality of the rack and attachments.
• How does the 1:1 cable system feel?
• Are the aluminum pulleys smooth and quiet?
• Any issues with cable rubbing, sticking, or fraying?
• Have you had any issues with missing/damaged parts?
• If you've needed customer service, how was GXMMAT to deal with?
• Has anyone owned one long enough to comment on durability?

I'm not necessarily looking for someone to convince me to buy it—I'd actually love to hear the negatives from people who own one. Just looking for any more information than what's currently out there.

If you've used or purchased the X6, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience.

We are making home gym, but we’re both powerlifters. So at minimum we will need 14 total 45 lbs plates, which also need to be the standard 17.7” diameter for deadlifting to make sure the bar is correct distance for ground. I am a huge Facebook marketplace fanatic, so trust me when I say I don’t want to venture away from it. However, I really don’t see how to get what we need without buying new. Most of what I see is plate sets with single pairs from 2.5 lbs to 45 lbs. So just not sure how we get the remaining 12 plates we would need lol.

I guess bottom line question: what are your tips or suggestions to get a large amount of 45s that are of mediocre powerlifting quality or where to buy new for affordable price?

I have a fairly large open room that we’re converting into a home gym. What do you guys recommend for flooring?
I’ve seen a lot of people recommend the Tractor Supply horse stall mats. Are those still considered the best option, or are there better rubber flooring options you’d recommend for a larger space?
I’ll have a squat rack, free weights, benches, and other equipment in the room.

I started looking for a rowing machine thinking I’d just grab a used Concept2 and be done with it.

Then I checked Marketplace lol.

Maybe it’s just my area, but decent used ones are still holding their value pretty hard. At that point, I started looking at newer rowers too, because spending almost the same amount on something used made me question the whole used is always the frugal choice idea.

I know Concept2 has the long-term reputation, parts availability, and resale value. That’s the main reason I keep going back and forth. But if a new rower is significantly cheaper, comes with a warranty, and is mainly for casual home cardio, I’m wondering if that can still be the smarter buy for some people.

For anyone who has bought home fitness equipment, how do you decide between a proven used option and a cheaper new one? Do you mostly go by upfront cost, repairability, warranty, resale value, or how often you realistically plan to use it?

Looking to get rogue stump since i have 86 inch ceilings. Was wondering how it'd handle as a landmine bar.

Looks to be around $2400 plus I've got a 10% off coupon so the price is in my range. Reviews looks good and the machine looks solid. I would love any real word experience with it. Thanks for any help

Im looking for a rack that I dont need to bolt down or that bolting down to plywood would be efficient. The 2 I've been considering the most are the rogue rml 390 3.0 and the titan x3 flat foot.

I will eventually move and be able to bolt it down so that's why I'd like one I can bolt down, but for a couple years I cannot bolt it to the ground and can only bolt it to plywood platform. Would this work for now or is the x3 flat foot a better option?

I also should have a few hundred extra pounds of weight on the rack at all times to help weigh it down

I'm planning on creating a garage gym for about $2k. I'm currently stuck between the F22, Drone3, and B52 Smith version.

We are casual gym goers - I will never bench more than 225 and don't squat heavy. Just want something that's convenient to hop into.

Does anyone have thoughts on those machines? I find working with a barbell to be more fun (F22) but a Smith machine is starting to seem more practical since we will be working out alone.

Footprint matters a bit, but I think they'll all fit.

I started 2 months ago.

I started with 10lbs first month.
Now 15 lbs for the second month ready to go up again.

But 20s and 25s are basically 130-140$ and can’t find deals in marketplace.

Are adjustable dumbells worth it, I was always worried due to mixed reviews on durability but I don’t slam my weights or anything.

If anyone recommends some off Amazon worth it I would definitely buy but I’ve seen some crazy 500$ ones and that’s just not in my budget now.

But not sure what to do as I’m trying to recover from health issues and disability etc. I’m new.

Thanks!

Been going to the gym for a year now and I usually have about half an hour to exercise. The frustrating part is that I spend a good portion of that time deciding what to do, adjusting weights and trying to remember what I trained last week. That's why automated workout equipment has caught my attention. If a system can organize the workout, adjust resistance and keep track of progress without me thinking about it, it sounds like it could make those 30 minutes much more productive.

I have an RX3 3000 stand alone cable tower and am looking for a lat pulldown seat. Ideally I’d like to be able to lower the cable handles beneath the seat and also use it as a seal pad for cable rows. In one of GetRX’s YouTube videos where everything is seemingly GetRX branded they show this seat which appears to be able to perform this function but I can’t identify it, find it on google, or on their website- anyone know what it is or any other brands that could be used in the same manner? Seems like the rogue and rep versions would be too bulky for the cables to run along the mounting hardware for use in seal rows but if anyone knows that to be untrue I would get one of those options.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8rUwTJWY\_VM&ra=m

Timestamp of 6:29 for the seat in question.

What do you guys recommend ?

Working under the idea that perfect is the enemy of good, what can't your truly do with a good multifunctional cable machine? I think the biggest limitation is that some can be fairly limited in terms of max weight, but that's not a universal constraint, especially with the ones that just take olympic plates. But the advantages are

1. Space effient compared to a rack of dumbells and a full bar and everything else.

2. Very easy to change angles and weight, making supersets and other things more fluid

3. Theoretically safer when working out alone, no need for a spotter or anything

4. Theoretically quieter compared to dropping a loaded barbell or something

I'm sure that there are some movements that are better with dumbbell or barbell, but are we talking about a 5% difference? Assuming you're not training for something specific, like a powerlifting meet, how much does that really matter?

Hey, hope this is allowed here. I am looking for an at home chest press that could (hopefully) double as a shoulder press. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations and could tell me what you like abt the machine (esp if it has a good squeeze)? I would also prefer it to be <300$ (usd), so I’m aware I’m not getting anything preem here no worries.

Anything is appreciated!

I’ve been doing some research for my small home gym and i think I’ve narrowed it down to these two setups. I don’t have much room for more than a treadmill and some adjustable dumbbells plus the functional trainer so looking at these two. Seems to be similar in price. What would you lean towards?