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I previously had a gym membership that I got rid of and from the money I saved from it bought some of the stuff I needed to get a complete powerlifting workout from home. There’s a whole bunch of talk on the internet about why gyms suck so I won’t go into that too much. I’m sure you already know why. Having your own space to work with is so much fun. When your having to buy all the things you need for yourself you will start to find a lot of shortcuts to save money, wherever possible and find good ways of saving space. I look at it like each shortcut I can take cost wise will bring me a step closer to buying a new Jessup squat bar or a new bench shirt for example. Plate trees – One of these I got from a gym closing down and the other one I had made my an amateur welder. I found a way to crisscross my 2 weight plate trees to help save a lot of space. My bench – I elevate it with 2” blocks while benching to simulate the height of a competition bench. Without the box it’s just the height I need to be parallel for squatting. So that kills 2 birds with one stone. I got my bench from another gym that was closing down for only $20, Also got the incline bench for $10. Overhead Pressing setup – a little careful thinking of how to setup with this without a specific bench for that purpose had me come up with this, without buying any new equipment it’s a pretty stable and solid setup.
Floor matting – I got all my floor matting from discarded scraps that I found. Weight releasers – I made my own with plumbing pipe and pvc cost me about $20 in materials and they will hold a lot of weight.
Chain – At the time I made it I could not find ½ and 5/8 chain but instead I took 3/8 chain and took 10 foot lengths of it folded in half then tied the links together with plastic ties. Each 5 foot lengh is then about 15lb. Each Calf Ham Glute Raise – I sketched out in paper some of my ideas of making my own. I used scrap wood, plumbing pipe and some padding and naugahyde. It looks like junk, but I find it works just as real as an expensive one if you get all the right dimensions and make it adjustable in your design. There will be a future article on this in my blog.
My band setup – If your power rack is not mounted to the floor squatting with blue bands would make it come off the ground. I made a way to weight it down enough I squat with even 2 sets of blue bands. This picture shows how I solved this problem with some plumbing pipe with a flange on the bottom and some bolts it will hold the weight safely up there, after all it isn’t very fun having plates drop on top of your head. (see below on right below) Band tensioners – If your bands are not getting wrapped around the wide base of a monolift you usually are cutting yourself short on the tension. So if you don’t get some tension in the bottom it’s not as effective. I got these pvc tubes from discarded scrap at a construction site. I put them inside of my band loops to get better tension for squatting. (see pic on left below) With most standard racks there is no easy way to attach bands to the base. I elevated my rack about 1” with blocks on the 4 corners of it to let me attach bands. (see pic below)
Spotter chains – I’ve got a rack that has holes every 2” I have to train alone most of the time I like to put my bar inside chains that are adjusted to the exact height I need to bail out safely. The pins accomplish the same thing, but with the chains I can adjust it in very tiny increments, not just every 2”. They are also used for suspended chain bench and good mornings, also like using them for rack lockouts cause the weight can swing around. Kettlebells – I just took a hacksaw to a tricep bar to make these. Works great for swings, but can’t do the cleans and stuff like that. Kettlebells seem way overpriced to me. For just one 44lb. Kettlebell it’s at $100 last I checked. I could buy 2 100lb. Plates for that much. I’d recommend using a tricep bar with the spin lock collars cause the ones I have the weight tends to get loose with a lot of swinging which could be a safety issue. The spin lock design seems like it would hold safer.
Bands setup for deads – here is how I setup in my rack pulling against bands. Again this is a space saver to avoid having to build a whole band deadlift platform which is one way to do it too. (pic below)
Homemade thick bar – I have the type of barbell that unscrews at the ends. This allows me to slip 2 sets of pvd over it to simulate a thick bar very well without having to buy a separate one. I used some grip tape on it in a few places to help the grip. I love using it for benching, overhead work and good mornings even.
Cambered Bench bar – At one time I had 2 barbells and didn’t see a need for 2. One of them had bad knurling on it and was very shabby. My dad helped me and had a plan. We heated several points of the bar with a blowtorch and bent it at each joint. I was able to make a pretty decent 4-5” cambered bar. It works well, but I don’t use it very often.
Wood Clamps – Got them for $1 each on sale. I don’t just use them for clips for my bar, but I can use them at the top of the rack for keeping the chain in position. I can use them in the bottom of the rack for exact positioning of my bands for benching. I once paid $20 for some springy weight collars that didn’t even fit my bar so these are the way to go. Some of them are a bit flimsy and break over time, but at the low cost it’s still worth it.
Camera setup – Since the display on my camera is so small I hooked it into a 15” t.v. in my garage for easier viewing and taping. You could also hook it right into a VCR for real time recording. I like to transfer video to my computer instead. My Stereo setup – I first have an old junky stereo with speakers. But it’s new enough that on the back it has the red, white RCA input. I hook a DVD player into this. The DVD player will read mp3 files. You can fit about 130+ mp3’s on a DVD. The cool thing about that kind of setup is I can use the DVD remote to flip through the music anywhere in the room. I plan to keep adding more info here as my garage gym starts to grow. I’ve got some crazy ideas sketched out that I am not ready to share yet. The 2 other guys I train with have some nice garage gyms. Powerlifters are just not wanted in most gyms. We’re too serious about our lifting. Gyms want people who signup and hardly ever show up but keep paying for the membership. Much less wear and tear on their equipment that way. I’ll end here with a few terrific links for you home gym owners to scour through. Great stuff here. If you have any questions or want to contact me. Email me at webmaster@idahopowerlifting.com or nielson.ryan@gmail.com. |
