Made a gym at home. Getting results.

[pudding]

I made myself a bit of a home gym. It cost about $350 canadian... 

What I'm finding is for me it works really well, I have a tv in there, music that I like, I work out for about half hour about 4 times a week and I'm seeing results without it being a chore. I don't have to get in my van, drive there, get changed, work out and then back home.

I think it takes longer to drive there and back and get changed than it does for me to work out at home.

I bought an exercise bike that usually sells for $500 to $650 + tax off a women who bought it as a display model and never used it at all. I got that for a hundred.

Some second hand weights off craigslist and I bought a bench new on sale.

I'd say the results to cost ration is way up there.

[Gunny]

I put a home gym in my garage.  Bench, Dumbbells, and kettle bells.  It's great for warm weather.  I use a local no contract fitness center with a pool for colder months.  Home gym cost me about $250 to put together.  Fitness center is 30 a month four months a year, but I hate working out in the cold.

[Hoosier Daddy]

My wife and I are looking to buy a home soon and do this as well as we love exercising, but most homes we see have wood floors in the basement... what surface did u guys put your gym on? Did you put down rubber mats?

[Gunny]

I put down rubber mats.  Don't buy cheap ones from Walmart, they won't last.

[prognastat]

Nice work. I'll probably need to do something like this once I FIRE, however currently at my job I pay just under $110 per year for my work gym which includes a sauna, showers, clean towels, free soap, razors and shaving cream.

[hoping2retire35]

hope to pickup an unsued weight bench from family soon. Then I can join the home gym club too!

[GuitarStv]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

[MasterStache]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

That's badass

[prognastat]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

Awesome work. Have you made a post about the process of building any of it and any things that worked well or you feel you could have done/designed better in hindsight?

[GuitarStv]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

Awesome work. Have you made a post about the process of building any of it and any things that worked well or you feel you could have done/designed better in hindsight?

I covered where I got the ideas and basic plans from here I think:  http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/home-gym-equipment/msg297970/#msg297970


Honestly, it works better than expected.  No real complaints at all.

[TheAnonOne]

We built one on wood floors, we bought horse stall mats from tractor supply for $40 each. They are 6 x 8 feet and super heavy. You could double them up if you wanted more squish.

We spent around 1000 on a good rack, the mats, 400+ lbs of good bumper plates for back squats and dead lifts, a weight rack with free weights going from 5 to 50lbs.

The break even was less than a year and we have all new equipment that feels and fits us much better.

Home gyms are the way to go! We use it way more.

[hoping2retire35]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

Awesome work. Have you made a post about the process of building any of it and any things that worked well or you feel you could have done/designed better in hindsight?

I covered where I got the ideas and basic plans from here I think:  http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/home-gym-equipment/msg297970/#msg297970


Honestly, it works better than expected.  No real complaints at all.

mid 300s??? Never knew guitarstv was a hoss!

are those uprights some 2x4 bolted together or just one 4x6 or something else?

[GuitarStv]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

Awesome work. Have you made a post about the process of building any of it and any things that worked well or you feel you could have done/designed better in hindsight?

I covered where I got the ideas and basic plans from here I think:  http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/home-gym-equipment/msg297970/#msg297970


Honestly, it works better than expected.  No real complaints at all.

mid 300s??? Never knew guitarstv was a hoss!

are those uprights some 2x4 bolted together or just one 4x6 or something else?

The uprights are made up of five 2x4s glued and nailed together.  It looks like this from the side:



I put some metal angle pieces in the pockets to keep the wood from being chewed up (and then glued some scrap carpet to the top of the metal bits to keep my bar from being scratched up).  I also sanded and chiseled the inner part of the catches a bit so that if you're a little off when you put the bar down it wants to slide into place properly.


I got very serious into lifting for a while . . . the reason I've backed off a bit since is that you need to put on and maintain a lot of weight to move big numbers (at least I did - my best lifts were done when at 220 lbs).  At that weight my knees would hurt when running and 80k bike rides were quite painful.  I've been at 190lbs for most of the last year, and it seems to be a good balance for endurance stuff (18 100k+ rides last year including a couple days where  I did two in a row) and strength . . . but I'm the numbers in all my lifts have come down a fair chunk since dropping the weight.  :P

[MasterStache]

It's going on six years since I built the home gym in our basement.  I made wood squat rack/bench uprights, wood weight bench, saw horses as safeties, 1.5 inch thick rubber matting on the basement concrete slab for flooring, and some used free weights.  It's been fantastic so far!

Awesome work. Have you made a post about the process of building any of it and any things that worked well or you feel you could have done/designed better in hindsight?

I covered where I got the ideas and basic plans from here I think:  http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/home-gym-equipment/msg297970/#msg297970


Honestly, it works better than expected.  No real complaints at all.

mid 300s??? Never knew guitarstv was a hoss!

are those uprights some 2x4 bolted together or just one 4x6 or something else?

The uprights are made up of five 2x4s glued and nailed together.  It looks like this from the side:



I put some metal angle pieces in the pockets to keep the wood from being chewed up (and then glued some scrap carpet to the top of the metal bits to keep my bar from being scratched up).  I also sanded and chiseled the inner part of the catches a bit so that if you're a little off when you put the bar down it wants to slide into place properly.


I got very serious into lifting for a while . . . the reason I've backed off a bit since is that you need to put on and maintain a lot of weight to move big numbers (at least I did - my best lifts were done when at 220 lbs).  At that weight my knees would hurt when running and 80k bike rides were quite painful.  I've been at 190lbs for most of the last year, and it seems to be a good balance for endurance stuff (18 100k+ rides last year including a couple days where  I did two in a row) and strength . . . but I'm the numbers in all my lifts have come down a fair chunk since dropping the weight.  :P

I've found, through many years of lifting on and off, that finding that sweet spot is vitally more important than trying to throw up heavier and heavier weight. I've actually done permanent damage to my body from lifting heavy. My back is all fucked up. I have tennis elbow and occasional forearm pain. After I fucked up my back, doc said I would never be able to run again the rest of my life. Rather depressing since I loved running.

[Optimiser]

After I fucked up my back, doc said I would never be able to run again the rest of my life. Rather depressing since I loved running.

I don't know the details of your situation, but if I were you I'd find a new doctor.

[MasterStache]

After I fucked up my back, doc said I would never be able to run again the rest of my life. Rather depressing since I loved running.

I don't know the details of your situation, but if I were you I'd find a new doctor.

Actually I sought various opinions from multiple doctors. All essentially said the same thing. I was skeptical and tried running to see what it felt like. I used to run distance and ran about 3 miles one day, so not really that far. Felt good running, but the next day I could barely stand up and was in excruciating pain.

I was finally diagnosed by a specialist
- Bulging disc in my L5 and mild bulging disc in 2 other places in the middle of my back
- Spinal Spondylosis to include: Arthritis and Degenerative Disc Disease

Anything high impact feels like someone hammering my back. Walking is actually good for it.

Sorry to thread hijack OP

[AlanStache]

Home gyms are the way to go.  Way more convenient provided you have the space.  So much easier to get home, workout, then eat/shower as you like without having to deal with getting home.

I am kind of jonesing for a rower but it looks like quality costs real money and CL does not get you much of a discount.

[BabyShark]

I'm really looking forward to being able to have a home gym.  We don't have the space for the equipment right now but I've already told DH as soon as we do, we're getting some equipment. I would use it so much more often.

[Midwest]

Home gyms are the way to go.  Way more convenient provided you have the space.  So much easier to get home, workout, then eat/shower as you like without having to deal with getting home.

I am kind of jonesing for a rower but it looks like quality costs real money and CL does not get you much of a discount.

If you are patient, you can get a deal on a concept 2 off craigslist.  I bought a model c for $525 a few weeks ago.  With a new model D @ $945, that's a decent discount.  If I get tired of it, I'm sure my loss with be minimal on the deal when I sell.

[AlanStache]

Home gyms are the way to go.  Way more convenient provided you have the space.  So much easier to get home, workout, then eat/shower as you like without having to deal with getting home.

I am kind of jonesing for a rower but it looks like quality costs real money and CL does not get you much of a discount.

If you are patient, you can get a deal on a concept 2 off craigslist.  I bought a model c for $525 a few weeks ago.  With a new model D @ $945, that's a decent discount.  If I get tired of it, I'm sure my loss with be minimal on the deal when I sell.

yeah there are some in that 500$+ range on local CL but I am not sure I am willing to commit to that just yet.  But yeah worst case I turn around and resell it for about what I bought it for....

[pudding]

It's been a few weeks now and I have to say what a big difference in bang for my buck in terms of achieving my objective.

Objective being to lose my belly, as I'm 55 in a couple of weeks I want to maintain muscle and build a bit more. Strengthen and maintain.

So I go into my new weight room and I put on the tv, maybe even on mute and some tunes I like... start with a warm up and before I know it, it feels good and I'm usually in there for about 45 minutes.

I get in a strength workout and some stretching, maybe a bit on the bike. My workout takes about as long as it would take me to go to the gym and change and then come back home. And in these winter months that just doesn't happen very often.

I got up this morning and I looked at my somewhat flabby belly as I usually do and I was 'wow' that is a difference! Not just is it different? maybe hmm maybe a bit.

My gym membership at $48 a month for past 12 months x my tendency to use it = no noticeable results.

My home gym x my tendency to use it = very noticeable difference in about 3 weeks.

Results over flab = happier pudding x a few....   I'm glad I made the gym in the back room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFQpxAKx_ds

[hoping2retire35]

Woot, should pick up a free bench set this weekend.

Trying to decide my goals between agility/speed versus strength. Want to do a low 6 min mile and a caber toss\/

[pudding]

Ive been getting in my home gym about 5 x a week now..

I had a look at my flab this morning and I got be honest I was thinking wow... that has sure made a dent in that!

I've got more from my home gym in terms of convenience and results in a month than I have from my gym membership in years.

I know it's different for everyone and some are more inclined to succeed down the gym, but for me this is the way to go.