Project HUGE: Building A Home Gym - Squatting, Benching, And Pulling On My Half-Rack
Over the last few weeks, I have been fulfilling my dream of having a home-gym. Little by little, I've been acquiring and assembling various weights and pieces of equipment. But, last night, things finally came to a head when my Fitness Gear Pro Half Rack arrived from Dick's Sporting Goods. It got a little banged up in the freight shipping. But, this baby is solid mental and can handle up to 600 lbs of weight.
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Is this the best rack that you can buy? Definitely not. But, it was relatively cheap (though shipping cost $133). And, more importantly, it just barely fits in my garage. Most racks are pretty tall and wouldn't be able to fit under my low ceiling, amongst my even lower-hanging water pipes. This one fits, has a small footprint, has decent sized safety bars (I wish they were a little longer), and can handle up to 600 lbs.
The package weighed about 220lb, so I had to open it up and bring it piece by piece down to the garage (I don't have any dollies to move stuff). It took me about 20 mins to get it down to the garage. Then, it took me about 2 hours to put the whole thing together. The assembly was actually quite easy, even by myself. There's only like eight parts and only a few steps where balance and coordination were required.
All in all, I'd say it took me 1 hour, 15 minutes to connect everything with "hand tightened" bolts. Then, it took me another 45 minutes to tighten everything using my ratchet set (and absolute must have for this kind of stuff). It's a tight fit, but gosh-darn-it, if she doesn't look beautiful!
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There's not a lot of wiggle room... but, it'll get the job done.
Not only do I have a muscular imbalances, I also have flat feet which means that my legs are never quite in the right alignment. This creates problems around my knees and tends to cause muscle spasms in my quads. As such, foam rolling has become an ever-present part of my life. So, I also purchased an Everlast 2'x6' Folding Mat so that I could use my Foam Roller in the garage before my workouts.
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And, that's all there is to it. The dream has come to fruition. I now have a fully functioning home gym in my parking garage. When all is said and done, here is my home gym inventory:
- Parking Garage - $25 / month (recuring)
- Powerblock Elite 50 (already owned it)
- Powerblock Elite 50-70 Expansion Pack - $158.00
- Fitness Gear Pro Utility Bench - $467.05
- Shock Athletic Extreme Gym Flooring 4 Pack (x4) - (purchased with bench)
- Bison Designs 3 oz. Standard Chalkball (already owned it)
- Jawbone BIG JAMBOX Wireless Bluetooth Speaker - (already owned it)
Subtotal: $650.05
- Rogue Ohio Power Bar 45lb - Black Zinc w/ Bright Zinc - $289.78
- 265 lbs Hudson Steel Co. - $426.82
- Body Solid 47-Inch EZ Curl Olympic Bar - $82.32
- SteelBody Slip Lock Olympic Bar Clip Collar - $16.10
Subtotal: $815.02
- Body Solid GDIP59 Dip Station - $205.44
- Harbinger 28900 Polypropylene Weight Dip Belt - $32.16
Subtotal: $237.60
- CFF Landmine Double D Triangle - $64.49
- CFF Landmine HD T-Bar Handle - $57.97
Subtotal: $122.46
- Fitness Gear Pro Half Rack - $518.90
- Everlast 2'x6' Folding Mat - $36.51
- Foam Roller - (already owned it)
Subtotal: $555.41
Running Total: $2,380.54
Considering the amount of stuff that I got, I think this is very reasonable price. Heck, it's less than I've spent on most of my recent computer purchases. And, it's an investment in my health and my happiness. The only thing left to do now is get huge!
Reader Comments
Do have enough room for your head to go above the bar when doing a pull-up?
@Matt,
Just barely. Luckily, I'm not that strong and I can't really get my head that far above the bar anyway :P I am a bit nervous though. I thought about taping a small foam square to the ceiling, just in case. But, it's definitely tight.
More than anything, I have barely any room on either side of the barbell when it is racked. I have to suck in my gut to squeeze by it. And, loading weights onto the bar is a bit awkward. But, I just gotta get used to it.
@Ben,
Just bought the same exact half rack from dicks for $299+tax and the same exact utility bench from dicks for $179+ tax..ur getting killed on shipping..if u get anyhing else run an ad on CL and throw someone with a pickup a few bucks to bring from store to house
@CA,
Yeah, and the shipping took a long time, too. They did have one in the store at the time; but, I didn't think it would fit in my car, even if I pushed the seats down. At least it got here eventually. Enjoy it!