I’ve had this setup for a while now and really like my flow in the gym. Most of these changes were to accommodate a training style my wife and I prefer. Surprisingly everything in here gets used several times a week by myself, spouse, son and/or friends who have wanted to come over for a workout. I still have a few changes I want to do in 2027 but I’m in no rush. I guess this now makes it version 4 of my space but 5 won’t be too far behind; I won’t lie to yall or myself at this point.

Anyways, wanted to share the space and how it’s looking.

Here are the major changes/adds since my last post -

Sold:
Concept 2 Bikeerg & Skierg
Nordictrak x32i treadmill
TOG V3 Leg Ext/Curl

Added:
REP Strive Air bike and Treadmill
REP Kettlebells
Rogue Rower
Titan Fitness Leg extension/seated curl
TOG Pendulum Squat
Giant Lifting Trap Bar
Nordbench Pro

P.S. Don’t worry guys, a railing is coming soon! And of course, I still need to buy plenty of more gear.

Does anyone feel like home gym innovation has gone too far or at least passed them by? I love my home gym, and I love home gym equipment. I am also not against really well made high price pieces of equipment, its cool and pushes innovation and hopefully forces other companies to innovate and drive prices down.

With all of that being said, I kinda feel like this shit has passed me by. I saw Coops video today featuring the BruteForce Alpha smith machine rack. I will admit that its a really cool rack and the converging smith machine is awesome. But who is buying new racks that cost almost $7k? How many people can actually be in the market for such expensive pieces of equipment? I feel myself turning off most of Coops videos a couple of minutes in anymore, It just doesn't feel like home gym equipment at this point.

Just wanted to share my Boneyard buying experience. On Friday Rogue updated all of their Boneyard barbell inventory. I had been checking daily trying to get a Stainless Steel Ohio Power Bar.

I went with SS shaft and Chrome sleves for $310 which is $125 off. I could have gotten SS shaft with bare sleeves for $225 but my thinking was that if there was something wrong with the knurl they wouldn’t finish the sleeves, just A theory.

My bar arrived today and the only visible damage is the gash on one of the sleves which does not affect loading or unloading plates and I tried both metal and rubber core plates with no issues. The knurl looks and feels perfect, and it came with regular OPB end caps not Boneyard.

I just got a session in with it and no issues with OHP and BP. I look forward to using it for DL on Saturday as the knurl is definitely more aggressive and grippy than my Rogue cerakote OPB. I had a Rep SS Black Diamond but prefer the tackiness of the Rogue knurl over the Rep so I sold it. I still have the Rep Badlands bar which I have been using for DL and it has the same knurl as the Rep Double BD bar that I also used to have and sold.

Got this in today and holy smokes it’s bomb proof. I had recently bought the AbChair/Dip Attachment for my Blazzed Rack and didn’t love it. Too heavy and unwieldy to get onto the rack and then way too much play.

Went looking for something that was gonna be rock solid and this is it. Thing it extremely well built and the Stainless Steel knurled handles are the best dip handle I’ve used in any gym.

Hi just looking to see what people are using on there squat racks for the likes of Lat pull downs. I have a cable attachment on squat rack and can move bench in. Is there a bar out there that can hold down your lower body while doing it. I was thinking of putting two spotter arms and a long board across it but just a lot of hassle for it.

I'm a competitive natural bodybuilder, who is moderately strong (so serious and moderately strong).

I have pretty well equipped home gym but with limited space.

I recently purchased an Arcadia functional trainer with the weight upgrade (110 lbs) total.

The only thing lacking for me is a leg curl/leg extension.

I am eyeing selectorized options, but I'm tight on space and realized that too much clutter truly hampers the vibe when I train. I also have a blackwing rep bench.

Options:

1. Just buy a selectorized unit.
2. Buy the rep leg curl/leg extension attachment for my blackwing (cable)
3. Wait forever for the dialed motion unit.
4. Buy a Freak Athlete ABX bench and attachment (heard it's much better than the rep one).

Also, since I'm relatively strong and also have a "light" functional trainer with 110 lbs I'm worried that the dialed motion unit won't be heavy enough since it's cable only. Would the rep or Freak Athlete one be a better choice?

Was wondering how many people have bought these plates and sanded the inside of them so they could fit on gym equipment and in the end are you still glad you bought them or do you have regret it because of the tight tolerances thinking about sanding mine but still on the fence between doing that and buying a different brand which I really don't want to because that's money did it affect the plates sanding them

My wife had a baby! I basically stopped working out during the pregnancy to be able to tackle projects at home, so I've lost some gains and gained some fat this year. I'm missing it but I don't want to stay out another hour on a work day and leave the wife at home with our child even longer.

So she has agreed on a home gym. I have about $2500 max to play with. But I'm still being cautious/smart with that.

I wouldn't say I'm a beginner but I'm also not necessarily super experienced either. I would like a cage for squat and bench and about 300lbs+ of weights. And now that I've been looking around, I'd want a pulley system (one that uses plates is fine, I care more about cost) as well. That covers about all the knowledge of lifts that I have or can find online without buying dumbells.

I'm between a few different options:

1. Rival Steel - Budget Home Gym Package - $1164
2. Mikolo - F4 Power Rack Essential Pack - $1600
3. Rep Fitness - PR-1100 with Plate lat pulldown and weight storage, AB-3100 bench, Colorado Bar, 230lbs color bumper weights, set of change plates (5lb) - $2083 ($2444 w/ 370lbs)
4. Fringe Sport - Garage Squat Cage, Mens Wonder Barbell, spring clips, V2 Econ Bench, LAT & Lift Cable System, Savage Bumper Plates 230lb, plate holder - $2003 ($2373 w/ 370lbs)

I realize I can get bigger weight sets from Fringe and Rep, I just listed the pricing for comparison sake. I also would need weight storage for a few of the options. If I went with Rival Steel or Mikolo I'd probably buy some more weights from Walmart and call it a day to get more weight with those sets.

I like all the attachments that come with the Rival Steel and Mikolo sets. But I'm unsure if the quality on Fringe or Rep would make a difference though they lack some of the amenities in their pricing. Rival Steel is local to me so it's always nice to support a local small business as well.

I am wondering if the more expensive companies are worth it based on quality of equipment? Or if I should go with Rival Steel since they're local and I'm just starting out.

Part of me says to go cheaper so I could have more money to spend on some amenities, like a mirror or building a platform eventually. And whatever else comes up as a need for the space. We already have a treadmill and TV that can be moved into the garage for the setup. A small heater probably would be helpful as well.

The other part of me says to buy what you want in the beginning and you'll be happier. I haven't had a home gym before so who knows if I'll even like this as much as I think I will.

And I know BF/ CM is coming up so I'm really waiting till then to buy anything. Fringe has texted me a 10% off code already so I'm hoping it would beat that if I go with them.

Has anyone installed the titan pulley system on one?

I just order the half rack attachment and the adjustable pull up bar along with the complete 3 pulley system kit. I'm hoping it will work but if not, any recs on other systems?

Titan's customer service suggest Amazon but I'm not sure if I trust Amazon having good equiptment.

Any guidance/advice/photos of setups are appreciated!

TIA

I’m planning on getting the REP Ares 2.0 with the 93” PR-5000 six-post rack (non-Smith machine version)

I called REP directly, and the representative told me the absolute maximum height is 94.6 inches (7’10.6”) and that nothing on the machine extends above that.

He said as long as I have any clearance above 94.6”, I’m good to go.

Here’s my concern.
My garage has overhead garage door support rails/beams that are exactly 8 feet (96 inches) from the floor.
That leaves me with only 1.4 inches of clearance, assuming REP’s measurement is accurate.

For anyone who actually owns this exact setup:
Is 94.6” truly the highest point of the entire machine?
Does anything extend above that height, including the cables, pulleys, or attachments?
Has anyone installed theirs with only 96” of ceiling clearance?

Did you run into any issues during assembly?
I’d love to hear from people who have this setup before I drop $5K+ on it. Appreciate any help!

I'm looking at getting a leg piece that doesn't load the spine, so I would like to know if you are fairly strong squatting 315 for 10+ would a compact leg sled press be too easy?

I don’t know which one I should get for a all in one gym rack because I’m very picky on how smooth the cables are. And my budget is around 700 to 1k without weights included since I already have a 230 set in my home
Any suggestions???????????

I already own the ABX bench and, as I was about to pull the trigger on the leg developer add on, I realized that I could get a leg extension machine from GMWD for around the same price. Anyone have any experience with both? I wonder how the resistance compares... For reference I was going to use the ABX Leg Developer on a Cable Tower.

Thanks in advance!

I am limited to overhead space and think I have narrowed down my selection to the Blazzed Fitness BX2 that is on sale right now. I can’t find any YouTube reviews or videos on it other than from the company itself. Anyone here have real life reviews on it that they can share? Is this unit worth the price tag or should I look at something else at the same price point?

I recently started building out my home gym and have the PRX low profile power rack and Tonal as my functional trainer. It works well given my small space constraints for my gym and now looking to upgrade my bench. My goal with the bench is to leverage an ecosystem or attachments to help me with:

- Nordic curls/back extensions
- Lat pulldown
- Low row
- Bicep curls (preacher, and other variants)

I have done a lot of research, and I really like the Apex bench, but I've seen a lot of horror stories posted about the shipping time, and ideally I'm trying to get something sooner rather than waiting several months for the item to be completed and shipped from a far off place. I've heard good things about the freak athlete ABX, but their attachments will not satisfy all my needs, and specifically I see a gap for lat pull downs, low row, and Nordic curls. I know they have a dedicated machine for hypers, Nordic curls, but I'm looking ideally for an all in one setup with some attachments that I can swap out as needed. Do you have any recommendations on things that I may not have considered or other products that would work to build an ecosystem around the bench?