ExRx.net

Right now, the only equipment I have at home is as follows:
1 six-foot-long standard barbell with clips
2 adjustable standard dumbbells with clips
2 50 lb plates
2 25 lb plates
4 10 lb plates
4 5 lb plates
4 3 lb plates

I can imagine that you would go to a gym to take care of your lifting then... But it is understandable since most of us don't have 2k to invest in all the equiptment... I'm not saying I do, I collected all this stuff over a period of years and some my father brought.

I do know what you are talking about when it comes to poor quality olympic equiptment. But it is what i've used all my life, accually one of my bars I have is terrible. I did a 400 lb deadlift and now the bar has a new shape to it! It came from dicks....I'll never shop there again not even for dumbells, terrible quality and poor customer service in the store.

Just going to chime in here about the equipment issues. Yes, it's nice to have good quality O equipment, but the 6 ft standard is fine. Maybe shell out the 20-30 bucks to get a 7 ft standard, and keep an eye out at garage sales for an O se. Might be surprized at what
you might find out there. Back in the 60's, O sets weren't that plentiful. We had access at our school gyms, but home lifting we just about everything on a standard. Nothing at all wrong with that. didn't have any spin, balance was off, but who cares for training purposes? Use what you have and gradually build up.
Tim

I live in an apartment, so I don't have much room for equipment. I would like to have a real home gym someday though. I figure all I'd need is a squat cage, a good adjustable bench, a chin-up bar, some dumbbells, one or two barbells and plenty of plates. ... A glute-hamstring bench would be nice also.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/brewster6.htm

This is what gave me some ideas.

I accumulated a large collection of stuff, mostly thanks to steady purchases and garage sales. As far as I know, my mom uses it now. She doesn't punch the heavy bag or lift "that big bar you stand in" (my Olympic Trap bar) but otherwise she's using my gear now. She quit the local gym because she decided my stuff was better and more convenient.

If I rebuilt that set, I'd probably start with a good Olympic bar and some weights. Not cheap, but still...I figure it's the core of lifting. One of my friends is a cook and caterer. She spent a lot of money on a single really good knife on the grounds that one great knife that will last a lifetime is better than a bunch of cheap ones. My original bar wasn't good, but my dream is to set up a home gym and get some nice Ivanko bar as the core investment, followed by a power rack and a bench, in that order.

I'll probably just end up taking my cheap Oly bar back from my Mom and using that.

Peter

Well. as to O bars. The average person would get by w/one from a reputabe dealer that wasn't pricey. One thing to looke at is do the end pieces revolve freely. Another thing to consider is what type of lifting you're going to be doing when you start getting into the heavier weights. Most of the PL types want something close to a Texas power bar, fairly stiff, little bend. A good Ol bar, on the other hand, has some "action" to it, and is "whippy".
Tim

I was thinking of purchasing one, but I don't want to put down $200 for one right now, even though it would be very beneficial investment.

I definitely recommend a rack/cage, especially after seeing that YouTube clip. Did he actually snap his knee? With a good rack you can chuck some fence poles on it to create a dip station too - I bought 2 poles from a garden centre for 4 quid each, and they are great!

Here is my home gym:

The rack does have a lat pulldown attachment, but I could not justify the cost really, so I make do with bent over rows. It's a Poweline, and cost me 200 quid (about 400 dollars). The bench is Bodysolid, and the weights are just from Argos, although the bar came from ukfitnesssupplies

I am planning to get some kettlebells soon, hopefully for Christmas!

I'ce got a bodysolid racj, and it looks identical to yours. Idon't see the garden poles for the dipstation, and I'd be interested on where you put the poles to configure that. I built a station out of 2 and 4 y 4's, but the poles on a racj might be more space convenient.
Tim

I'll photograph it tomorrow if I have time after the Christmas shopping. I have a day off work, but somehow I fear I will be wishing I was in work afterwards.

I've got:
an adjustable bench (but actually too small and pretty unstable, but I got it for free): flat with several degrees of incline and with a high cable pulley attached
2 dumbbells
1 EZ-curl bar
1 1,7m barbell (I use the EZ-curl bar more)
2 1.1 lbs plates
4 2.2 lbs plats
12 4.4 lbs plates
8 11 lbs plates
2 22 lbs plates

I can only use up to about 200 lbs max, but I'm gonna buy 2 44lbs plates.
I don't have a power rack nor do I have something to put the barbell on to bench.
But I got my father around to help me with the benching :)

Well I'd recommend you dump that bench asap. You don't want a disaster to occur on that thing.

I like how that rack is built, but I wish there were more holes boared into it to make it more versatile. Mines got 28 of them which lines the verticles.

If you cannot afford a rack, then try to get some saw horses. They can handle a lot of weight, and are a good interim measure while you are still deciding if you want to invest in a rack. In case they are now called saw horses in he states, here is a random link (first on Google) of what I mean:

Saw Horses

25 quid (about USD50) and can take 340kg. Just make sure they are above chest height, and you can at least bench. You may be able to squat too.

Not as safe as a rack, but safer than nothing.

Looks lke you tok a page out of my book. I've been using saw horses for over 30 years. Only problem is the height. I put mine on concrete cinder blocks for a stable base, and adust height via the number of blocks or concrete pavers. I have a pile left over when I built a fence out of them
Tim