Home Gym?

[audette]

I'm not sure if this group is OK with questions about setting up home gyms...  Mods, feel free to delete if it's contrary to board norms.


DH's gym had a known Covid exposure earlier this week, during one of the classes he attended.  We had discussed the risks of him going back to his gym, and they were doing a bunch of things to try and limit the risk, so we felt OK with him going back to classes there.  It's a functional fitness gym, which is his preferred style of workout.

My gym is, uh, open, but I don't really trust their risk mitigation, so I haven't been going much (as in, about twice in the last few months...).



So, while we quarantine, we're considering creating a home gym.  We have a basement room that is about the size of a decent sized bedroom, concrete floors, with 8 foot ceilings (maybe a smidge higher than that, but it's at least standard height down there).  We rent, so have limited options for attaching things to the physical home structure.  And DH's preferred style of workout is with free weights.  He's mostly familiar with Rogue equipment, and I've always just used whatever was at the gym I was going to, so I am not terribly useful for brand concepts...


Are there brands/styles/suggestions for things we should consider or avoid?  The options are a bit overwhelming...

[breezy8407]

Pre-covid I had a treadmill and adjustable dumbbells that go to 50# from years ago. Since March I've added a few things, but things are backordered and hard to find. Check the Yes 4 All brand on Amazon. I have a medicine ball and step platform (for box jumps step ups, etc) I got early on from that brand. So far, so good. I got a kettlebell from Walmart, but it took 3 months to arrive. I got a Schwinn IC4 bike late July. Also hard to find, but if you stalk Dicks, Best Buy, and Amazon they come available occasionally.

Set up wise, the treadmill and bike are in our main living area of our basement, and the weights, med ball, step, kettlebell and bands are in our utility room. I bought some rubber mat tile flooring also on Amazon to go over the concrete. People recommend checking farm supply stores for stall mats if you want cheaper rubber type flooring to cover a bigger area.

ETA: I am mostly using the Peloton app for at home workouts including the cycle classes, treadmill bootcamp, and running classes, so I do those on my iPad. The strength/metcon style workouts I do on my own involve the weights, med ball, etc. 

I have a free gym membership through work, so I won't be cancelling obviously. I fully intend to return because I miss it! The main reason I invested in the bike was I knew it could come in handy longterm for weekends I can't make it to the gym for cycle classes on their schedule. It was getting hard to do this past winter with both kids in sports. 

[Susie]

I've had a low key workout space in the basement for a long time, but this year I've stepped it up because it's my only place to workout other than outdoors.  I haven't dropped my gym membership yet, but I think I'm about to.  I haven't been since March.

In terms of equipment I have:
- treadmill
- road bike on trainer
- adjustable dumbbells (plates and dumbbell bar with clips)
- swiss balls
- yoga mat
- foam tile flooring
- TV

Things I am considering/want:
- debating a curl bar
- bench (flat or incline)
- step
- stretch cords

I'm also decorating to make it a place I enjoy being and working out.  I did a lot of cleaning out, purging, I painted it blue, and I'm decorating with sports and race memorabilia from my swimming, beach patrol, and triathlon years.

[Deleted]

Although I much prefer the gym, I have been so grateful for my modest home gym this year: a weight bench with bench/squat rack, dumbbells, about 200 pounds of weight, a TRX, some resistance cables, and a medicine ball.

I haven't decided yet if I want to add to it but, if I do, I'd love an Olympic barbell (currently have 1") a power rack, and some more weights.

For versatility, if you have the room, you cant go wrong with a barbell, a rack, and some weights. I also use the TRX a lot more than I anticipated.

I skate or bike for cardio, so no cardio equipment. I absolutely hate indoor cardio!

[scm1011]

Susie, that is pretty much my dream home gym set-up. Unfortunately I have a damp low-ceiling basement. Womp womp.

I have nothing productive to add. I have 8lb hand weights, a yoga mat, and access to on-demand videos (that I can only do quietly because I have a downstairs neighbor).

[gt7301b]

We pretty much just had a treadmill, some resistance bands, and various foam rolling devices pre-covid.  I've added additional weights and kettlebells during covid.  Honestly, I just bought what I could find and it has worked fine.  For my 2-3 workouts a week I can't see the brand mattering that much.

I have 5, 10, and 15 lb weights and 5, 8, and 15 kg kettlebells and it has been a pretty good substitute for a gym.  I do a lot of HasFit videos and it is sufficient for those workouts.

[lightbulbsun]

Lat pulldown/cable row: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9SM2FS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This was a pretty cheap option, but I've been happy with it. We bought it in March and H and I both use it about 3x/week and it's worked fine. We've put up to 200# of plate weights on it. I put it together by myself and it took me about 2 hours.

Adjustable incline bench with barbell holder and leg raise/curl. We got it on Craigslist for I think $50.

Treadmill: Proform XE 550e, we bought this on craigslist as well, for $400. I use it 2-3x/week and it works fine, except if I try to use the built in fan and run at the same time, lol. I'm not an avid runner or anything, I just like to add some cardio to my weight training workouts.

Barbell/plate weight set: we bought an Olympic barbell and 300# plate weights from Dick's last winter on sale for $300.

Adjustable dumbbells: we've had these forever

Battle Ropes: I bought these from Amazon (amazon basics brand) and they seem ok so far but I only bought them a few weeks ago.

I think the only thing I want that I don't already have is a heavy bag. I like practicing Muay Thai, but H doesn't always want to hold pads for me. Oh, and a stability half ball would be nice. I need to work on balance.

[breezy8407]

lightbulbsun I just got a battle rope, too. Thanks for making me feel a little less crazy

I really wanted these after using them at the gym, but $300 is too much for ropes.

www.hyperwear.com/product/battle-ropes/

[audette]

Resurrecting an old thread...

We never did set up much of a gym at the old place - not long after this post, we started looking for a place to buy, and finally moved in a little while ago...


The good news - the new home has a dedicated gym room, instead of trying to carve out space in a room my husband was already using for other things!



The bad news - I'm currently in physiotherapy for a work-related injury to my wrists and elbows.


I figure with that, it probably makes sense to start with looking for a treadmill. It's a piece of equipment both my husband and I would use, so it would be doubly-useful. And it's something I can do even while I work with the physiotherapist on the arm issues. Looking at other threads here, it looks like Horizon, Sole, and Proform are the primary recommendations folks have made in the past.

I just looked at the Sole website - they say they have a "holiday sale" going on. Is it a real sale, or do they just always show their prices as marked down for whatever current sale is going on?

[Susie]

audette, I don't know about the sale question, but I have a Precor treadmill, which I've been very happy with, in case you are looking for additional recs.