Building a home gym

Bigguy

Bigguy

New member
If this has been directly addressed in this forum please let me know, a quick search did not bring up anything specific.

I am wondering if anyone can chime in with ideas as to what is needed to have fully functional home gym. I am trying to lose some weight then build up muscle- not really important in this context though. I am looking to see what basic equipment I would need to avoid having to go to a gym. Nothing against the gym but sometimes it is just a struggle to go and then wait for everything I want. I live in a small town/area and have limited options on gyms overall. I have the space for pretty much anything and have a budget of around $1200 or so.
I do already have a decent treadmill but nothing else.

Any advise would be appreciated.
Thank you
 
Since you're fairly local - Lemme suggest to you for equipment... ... they sell used sporting goods equipment at fairly good prices... and the nice thing about them as you outgrow your equipment - you can return what you have -and use it as store credit for heavier weights...

What you're gonna want -

A weight bench -(that does inclines and declines) probably Olympic

barbell - and weights in varying poundages...

Since i got my curling bar - that fits my olympic weight set -I use my dumbbells a lot less... (though i'm a weakling so I still need my dumbbells for some things)

One of the forms of cardio that I like -are step ups with dumbbells - so having a step is a nice added piece of equipment -though most steps max out at 10 inches... so you can use the weight bench for them and save yourself a few bucks (I can't quite step up to the bench yet... )

Kettle balls or medicine balls are also kind of fun...
 
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Bench and weights I know I need.
I am more looking into what I would need to have a 'complete' gym. Never having to go anywhere but still able to do a good quality full body workout.
Something like those all in one dumbbells- where you only need 2 and they go from 10-70 lbs- are those a waste of money?
It is worth it investing in a Smith cage for squats and military presses- lifts that can be dangerous working out alone?
 
those all in one adjustable dumbbells are expensive (for my budget anyhow) and just looked cheaply made (again, the ones i've seen) my own cheap nature would buy the solid iron ones, in varying sizes then return them or resell them when I out grew them...

my weight bench, I could go behind and use it for squats if my apartment were bigger than 650 Square feet that is...

one ofthe guys i work with - was a little concerned about me when I got the weight bench - as I wouldn't have anyone but my cat to "spot" for me - not that I lift anything really heavy yet... but it's still possible to get trapped underneath a weight (steve's mentioned it somewhere... )
 
I'd buy a power tower that lets you do pullups/chinups/dips all in one station. They run about $150 at Dick's Sporting Goods though I'm sure you can find them in a lot of other places too.

An exercise ball comes in hand for all sorts of bodyweight and core training moves.
 
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