Quality Home Gym and Bench Recommendations

[Beendare]

I had this Marcy Smith HERE machine for a few years and really liked it. The smith bar was smooth, the pulley sections werent gym quality but close enough

The Smith rack was a good idea for me because I was lifting by myself and I could do heavy squats, bench or military and have the supports there to catch the bar if needed.

 

[summs]

Ive given away tons of home gyms equipment. But if I had to do it again (i hope i dont), i'd buy this folding rogue power rack 40" version.

2 packs of 250# barbell plate set but - weights are weights, never had a metal one break on me cheap brand or expensive. I'd scuff and repaint every year or two. One home gym was outdoors in the elements year round.

An adjustable bench and bow flex dumbbells.

That covers just about everything for $1500

Pick up extra barbells when available on marketplace 45# and smaller 25#

 

[TheCougar]

I had someone recommend the Rep Ares 2.0. Turns out they have a showroom and distribution center less than 2 hours from my house. Might see if I can negotiate a lower price if I pick up from there. It’s not cheap, once you start adding this attachments.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

Start em young!

I bought a major lutie off Amazon in 2017-2018 for like 500 bucks, amazing quality and investment. Kept the bow flex, added the bench off Amazon as well. Had held up incredible over the last 8 years from working out and kids jumping all over it.

Luckily I have a 40x60 shop so had the room to make my own gym. I live in bfe and refuse to drive just to work out daily.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I had someone recommend the Rep Ares 2.0. Turns out they have a showroom and distribution center less than 2 hours from my house. Might see if I can negotiate a lower price if I pick up from there. It’s not cheap, once you start adding this attachments.

they're about 90 minutes from me, I did local pickup for the savings. the discount starts at 15% for picking up, and gets bigger as your total build increases. the guys in the showroom are pretty chill, you do have to make an appointment. Also, call to make sure they have what you need in stock first, I had to go back because the Ares 2.0 was not in the warehouse the first time I went.

you will need a trailer.

 

[mtnbound]

Looking to start a home gym and wondering if there are any recommendations for an all-in-one squat rack/smith machine that has a cable pulley set up. A smith machine is desired, but not required. I have back issues and a smith machine helps prevent injury when squatting. I would like something to good quality. Something like the Major Fitness B52 Pro, although I don’t know if that is a POS or not.



Also the other piece I am looking for is a multi-functional bench that can can do things like GHD, Rev Hypers, incline/decline, leg ext and leg curl (via attachments), etc. Something like the Freak Athlete Hyper Pro (again, not sure if that is any good).



Send me your champions. Thanks.

I have several Titan fitness products for my home gym.

 

[fngTony]

View attachment 1019305
Start em young!

I bought a major lutie off Amazon in 2017-2018 for like 500 bucks, amazing quality and investment. Kept the bow flex, added the bench off Amazon as well. Had held up incredible over the last 8 years from working out and kids jumping all over it.

Luckily I have a 40x60 shop so had the room to make my own gym. I live in bfe and refuse to drive just to work out daily.

How much floor space are you taking up there?

 

[ztc92]

I had someone recommend the Rep Ares 2.0. Turns out they have a showroom and distribution center less than 2 hours from my house. Might see if I can negotiate a lower price if I pick up from there. It’s not cheap, once you start adding this attachments.

As others have mentioned, I built a home gym with titan fitness for everything but the bench. I’ve been very happy with it, and it’s a great value. Worth noting I’m a novice lifter.

That said, from all the research I did, rep fitness seems better with many USA made products and I’d go that route if I had a local distributor.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

i have some titan products too - aside from a pair of 45# plates and the Roman chair they've all been retired in favor of Rep stuff. Titan works, but is crude in comparison.

The cheap Titan bench is awful, it wobbles like crazy. The titan Roman chair is for very tall people only, at 5' 11" I use it on the shortest setting.

 

[LostArra]

I'll throw another company option out there, Fringe Sport (Austin, Tx)
They frequently have sales and shipping is free (and it's FAST). They also have the usual newsletter discounts. Customer service is good about answering questions promptly.
I've been happy with the rack I bought, a basic garage gym model with chin up bar. It's solid and assembled easily. No problems after 8 years. My "gym" is in a heated shop.

Disclaimer: I'm 73 yo and won't be squatting 400# but I wouldn't be afraid to load and lift it on this rack.

I'm going to disagree about cheap plates. 45's that weigh 41 to 49 are crap.
I've been blessed with a set of York milled plates my dad bought in 1968 that are dead on and it's not difficult to find plates that are +/-3% except on craigslist.

 

[TheCougar]

they're about 90 minutes from me, I did local pickup for the savings. the discount starts at 15% for picking up, and gets bigger as your total build increases. the guys in the showroom are pretty chill, you do have to make an appointment. Also, call to make sure they have what you need in stock first, I had to go back because the Ares 2.0 was not in the warehouse the first time I went.

you will need a trailer.

That’s perfect! Thanks for the intel.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I'll throw another company option out there, Fringe Sport (Austin, Tx)
They frequently have sales and shipping is free (and it's FAST). They also have the usual newsletter discounts. Customer service is good about answering questions promptly.
I've been happy with the rack I bought, a basic garage gym model with chin up bar. It's solid and assembled easily. No problems after 8 years. My "gym" is in a heated shop.

Disclaimer: I'm 73 yo and won't be squatting 400# but I wouldn't be afraid to load and lift it on this rack.

I'm going to disagree about cheap plates. 45's that weigh 41 to 49 are crap.
I've been blessed with a set of York milled plates my dad bought in 1968 that are dead on and it's not difficult to find plates that are +/-3% except on craigslist.

Fringe sport Savage bumpers are the best on the market

 

[Firth]

I've used gear from Rep, Titan, and Rogue. Rogue is a great one stop shop for USA made equipment. Their reputation for quality is great, and my experience has been very good. I have a rogue bar and an echo bike and probably some smaller items I can't think of.

Rep has a great reputation for quality, too. My memory from when I bought is that it's a US based business, but manufacturing is mostly overseas. Haven't looked into that in years. My rack, flat bench, and plates are Rep and quality has been great. I have a Titan bar. When I was shopping for my rack it looked like Titan put out a lot of equipment that is very similar to some of the Rogue designs. It's just made overseas and a fair bit cheaper. Rogue has a reputation for pretty welds, Titan, not so much, but I'm not aware of any widespread QC problems with it either. My Titan bar has been great, no complaints.

I've used a lot of different gear in commercial gyms before I put my own together. Honestly, unless you've been to a really high-end gym stuff from the companies I've listed above will probably be better than what you find in most commercial gyms.

If I were you, I'd just get a good squat rack, set safeties appropriately, and not worry about a smith machine. That would save some money and be safer in some ways (in my opinion).

 

[ColPenguin]

A smith machine is desired, but not required. I have back issues and a smith machine helps prevent injury when squatting.

The point of barbell exercises is to load your muscular/skeletal system to strengthen it. The smith machine constrains the natural bar path and does not force you to balance the weight. It's not necessarily a better system and will not prevent you from being injured.

Rogue isn't the cheapest option, but it is quality. Most of it is made in Columbus, Ohio. They often have good shipping deals on big orders. Sometimes can often find a good deal on blemished "boneyard" barbells and plates from Rogue.

I think most of Rep fitness equipment is made in China but is still pretty high quality equipment.

A basic squat rack, bench, barbell, and weights will get you started. A power rack is more versatile.

Don't skimp on barbell, rack, and safety arms or straps. A good barbell and rack will last you a lifetime. Do try and find good deals on used weights. The weights are going to get banged up and worn. They don't need to be pretty.

 

[bozeman]

1- How much sq ft for this? Keep in mind swinging/lifting barbells needs some room
2- I'd start smaller and build your way up, ensuring you dont make a large investment that doesnt get fully utilized. You would be amazed at how good of shape you can get in with a few kettlebells, an 18" box and 2 35lbs dumbbells (how I started my home setup)
3- Look on Fbook marketplace. I bought a squat rack from a man renovating a gym Got the rack (has a pull bar), 45lbs bar, bumper plates from 10lbs-45lbs for $200, yep, $200 so there are deals to be had.

Best of luck in this endeavor!

 

[Huckelfin]

Coops reviews are ok, but pretty sure he's a shill. Gluck's gym reviews are much more forthright

100% agree. I like to watch the videos to get an idea of the feel of certain products. I like glucks better, he will at least have something critical to say about stuff instead of pure hype-train propaganda the entire video. Pretty sure gluck is in the middle of a lawsuit because he was calling something out as junk.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

How much floor space are you taking up there?

Not much at all, maybe 12x12?

I built 3 seperate rooms in my shop for my bowshop, wife’s storage rooms for the house, and butcher / freezer room. So my actual floor space is like 60x28ish.

I can measure for ya but I have 2 stall mats down so 16 ft and it doesn’t take all that up. Like I said prolly a nice 12x12 compact area. Plenty of room to spread it out when I do circuit training.

Really nice being able to shoot the stick bows 20 yards indoors year round lol.

 

[fngTony]

Not much at all, maybe 12x12?

I built 3 seperate rooms in my shop for my bowshop, wife’s storage rooms for the house, and butcher / freezer room. So my actual floor space is line 60x28ish.

I can measure for ya but I have 2 stall mats down so 16 ft and it doesn’t take all that up. Like I said prolly a nice 12x12 compact area. Plenty of room to spread it out when I do circuit training.

No need to measure. That’s about what I thought and close to the space I’m thinking about dedicating

 

[bowhuntercoop]

No need to measure. That’s about what I thought and close to the space I’m thinking about dedicating

Plenty of space honeslty. I could get rid of the dip machine since the squat box came with dip bars. That was some older equipment and I left it.

The power racks are amazing I must say.