# Setting Up A Home Gym



## Super Hans

Hi Guys

I'm chucking in my gym membership for various reasons and have been picking up some equipment over the last week or so. I'm doing this on a budget as cash is low at the moment due to my growing family.

I bought a bench and this olympic set which I thought was a bargain at £120: http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=132051. Can anyone recommend a dirt cheap dumbell set? I've found the following from The Sports HQ which seems pretty cheap:

20kg dumbell set: http://www.thesportshq.com/confidence-pro-20kg44lbs-dumbbell-weights-set.aspx

4 x 5kg plates x 2: http://www.thesportshq.com/confidence-20kg-cast-iron-weight-plates-4-x-5kg.aspx

That gets me 30kg per dumbell for £75 delivered which seems pretty cheap, anything wrong with this stuff?

I'm also looking into a power rack but am struggling to find the cash at the moment so may have to settle for squat stands. I'm looking into the possiblity of designing one myself (I'm a mechanical engineer) for hopefully a lot cheaper but it might be hard to find the time. Any suggestions on cheap power racks would also be welcome.

Cheers

Super Hans


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## Dave 0511

I made squat stands from two buckets, a thick wooden post cemented in with a v notch cut out of the top, very sturdy if you are careful unracking.

Ebay is always good for used weights.... I have had 30kg for £5 and 52kg for £7, yes the old vinyl ones but good enough for at home and on a budget

I also make use of a few breeze blocks for stands (floor press) and for grip training


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## badly_dubbed

i picked up my rack brand new for £185 off ebay....just hunt around mate


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## Super Hans

I've been checking Ebay but unfortunately not much has been showing up in my area, Cambridgeshire isn't exactly a hot spot for this sort of thing. Will keep checking but since my other equipment is starting to turn up I'm itching to get started!


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## Super Hans

That looks like a decent rack. Is it still advertised on Ebay?


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## Bora

badly_dubbed said:


> i picked up my rack brand new for £185 off ebay....just hunt around mate


always 1 show off eh :lol:


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## mozzwigan

badly_dubbed said:


> i picked up my rack brand new for £185 off ebay....just hunt around mate


love that green, couldn't of chose a better color m8


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## badly_dubbed

Super Hans said:


> That looks like a decent rack. Is it still advertised on Ebay?


no idea dude! i just searched for power-racks


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## badly_dubbed

more ideas here in my gym thread if anyones interested

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/equipment/175917-my-home-gym.html


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## Super Hans

I reckon I could build one for less than £100 that would be much stronger than the budget ones on Ebay, I'll have a play around on SolidWorks tomorrow and see what I can come up with. I can saw and drill the box section easily but might have to call in a few favours for a bit of welding/fabrication.

The cheapest Ebay rack I can find is this one, looks a bit ropey though: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYMANO-ULTIMATE-POWER-RACK-SQUAT-CAGE-w-LAT-PULL-DOWN-SEATED-ROW-ARM-CURL-/161180154962?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_ExerciseFitness_MultiGyms_JN&var=&hash=item258715fc52


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## B-rad

Have you looked on powerhouse fitness?


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## TrailerParkBoy

powerhouse fitness do that equipment on credit if thats an option


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## SpeciJr

Maybe not a option but powerhouse do finance if you spend so much.


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## Super Hans

B-rad said:


> Have you looked on powerhouse fitness?


Yep, their cheapest rack is £280 which is well out of my price range.

Might have to make do with squat stands, they will be used mainly for benching anyway as I'm banned from squatting for at least a few months as I've damaged the cartilidge in my knee.


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## Super Hans

Any opinions on the dumbbells in the OP? I can't find anything new for cheaper, are there any cheap places out there that I might have missed?


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## Dan94

Super Hans said:


> Yep, their cheapest rack is £280 which is well out of my price range.
> 
> Might have to make do with squat stands, they will be used mainly for benching anyway as I'm banned from squatting for at least a few months as I've damaged the cartilidge in my knee.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B003UU66M8/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=5336432705-21


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## R20B

Super Hans said:


> I reckon I could build one for less than £100 that would be much stronger than the budget ones on Ebay, I'll have a play around on SolidWorks tomorrow and see what I can come up with. I can saw and drill the box section easily but might have to call in a few favours for a bit of welding/fabrication.
> 
> The cheapest Ebay rack I can find is this one, looks a bit ropey though: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYMANO-ULTIMATE-POWER-RACK-SQUAT-CAGE-w-LAT-PULL-DOWN-SEATED-ROW-ARM-CURL-/161180154962?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_ExerciseFitness_MultiGyms_JN&var=&hash=item258715fc52


Looks awesome to me! Can't wait to build my home gym


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## Super Hans

R20B said:


> Looks awesome to me! Can't wait to build my home gym


It's gone up from £200 to £245 now though :sad:

I think I'll just press ahead with building one myself.


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## *Ryan*

hang on how much room do u have, and how much gym membership were u paying?


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## Super Hans

*Ryan* said:


> hang on how much room do u have, and how much gym membership were u paying?


It's a single garage and I've got most of it, easily enough room for a rack.

I was paying £25 p/m on a fixed rate until May, after that it would go up to probably around £35-40.


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## *Ryan*

ah if thats the case would this not be an option for you, ten quid a month, then you own it yourself

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/premium-strength-package.php


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## Super Hans

Well I already have a bench, olympic set and dumbells so all I need is the rack and I'm reluctant to take one on finance.

I've designed something on 3D CAD at work and have been quoted £82 for the materials and powder coating so will just make my own. It should be stronger than the cheap Ebay racks.


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## Dave 0511

Start selling them on eBay mate!


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## Super Hans

The price has risen to £100 now as I forgot about fasteners and went for stronger steel.

Cut it all up on the saw yesterday and am in the process of drilling it.

Will post some progress pics at some point.


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## tommyc2k7

Super Hans said:


> The price has risen to £100 now as I forgot about fasteners and went for stronger steel.
> 
> Cut it all up on the saw yesterday and am in the process of drilling it.
> 
> Will post some progress pics at some point.


 Looking forward to seeing these pics mate:thumb:


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## bizerk

Super Hans said:


> The price has risen to £100 now as I forgot about fasteners and went for stronger steel.
> 
> Cut it all up on the saw yesterday and am in the process of drilling it.
> 
> Will post some progress pics at some point.


How you getting on with the drilling m8? Ive built a few racks for people in the past and learnt that a Mag drill is by far the best/fastest method of drilling the holes in a single pass. The first rack I built, I used twist drill bits and had to step up the hole sizes about 4 times... took bloody ages!!!


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## Super Hans

bizerk said:


> How you getting on with the drilling m8? Ive built a few racks for people in the past and learnt that a Mag drill is by far the best/fastest method of drilling the holes in a single pass. The first rack I built, I used twist drill bits and had to step up the hole sizes about 4 times... took bloody ages!!!


Did a fair bit of drilling on Saturday, tried to go straight through with a 28mm drill bit but lots of smoke and it obviously wasn't happy! I'm now going through with a 17mm bit first and then opening up to 28mm. I've got 25 holes per rail and it's taking me about 50 minutes to complete a rail. I've got 8 rails to drill though as me and a mate are building two.

Hopefully I'll do a bit of work this week before and after work and get everything done by Saturday.


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## Super Hans

Right now I've consulted a colleauge I've got the machine feed correctly set and can go through with a 28mm drill bit in one pass. It takes a little longer (about 3 minutes per hole) but the machine is doing the work so I can be doing something else at the same time.

Hopefully will have everything off to the painters by the end of the week but realistically early next week.


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## BLUE(UK)

It's a big job just drilling those holes never mind the rest of it.


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## bizerk

Looks like its coming along nicely m8. The drilling is super boring, buts what's even more annoying is knowing that you will probably only ever use about 5 of the holes LOL


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## Super Hans

the first lot should be back from the painters tomorow 

Still working on the safety bars, hooks and pull-up bar.


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## Bear2012

Can't you use an end mill in a shank? Can then drill the hole blind and a lot easier than using a 28mm drill


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## Super Hans

Got the framework done, just need to get the pull up bar, safety bars and hooks sorted.

Feels solid as a rock.


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## tommyc2k7

Super Hans said:


> Got the framework done, just need to get the pull up bar, safety bars and hooks sorted.
> 
> Feels solid as a rock.


Mate that looks absolutely cracking! Just as good if not better than anything you can buy, you must be chuffed.

What's the total cost?


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## Super Hans

It was around £100 but my company charged me VAT on the parts pushing it up to £115.

Will cost me about a tenner to paint the pull up bar, hooks etc.

Also drilled some holes to mount some 1 inch diameter nylon bar to hold the weights. That will probably be another tenner.


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## Tassotti

Cracking Job mate !


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## tommyc2k7

Super Hans said:


> It was around £100 but my company charged me VAT on the parts pushing it up to £115.
> 
> Will cost me about a tenner to paint the pull up bar, hooks etc.
> 
> Also drilled some holes to mount some 1 inch diameter nylon bar to hold the weights. That will probably be another tenner.


Money well spent, approx how many hours went into it? I bet people would pay decent money for it.

Any idea what weight it would hold?


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## Super Hans

Really hard to say as I did it in tiny chunks over lunch breaks etc so it was far more inefficient. If I had to guess then I'd say:

1-2hrs to cut all the metal and lug it around

6hrs of drilling the rails and cross members

1hr of welding (not done by myself)

1-2hrs drilling the gussets

1hr of de-burring

So probably 10-12 hours not including the design work.

Christ knows how much it will hold but it's beefier than most of the standard racks out there so I don't forsee any problems. Will update when I've had chance to abuse it a bit


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## Jason Bamse

Lovely bit of kit, am very impressed


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