I’ve had memberships at various gyms for about 20 years now and I thought that was the only way to get a workout in.
In the last year, I just could not motivate myself to get dressed, stretch, and travel the one mile to my nearby gym. Too many times I’m waiting for equipment, in someone’s way, forget headphones or water, etc. it got to the point that the inconvenience outweighed the satisfaction I got from a workout
Last month I picked up some rubber mats, a squat rack, a bench, an undersized/underweight Olympic bar, and some weight. Since then I sourced some Craigslist dumbbells and extra plates, plus a row attachment for landmine exercises.
I’m 11 workouts in and I’m loving it. I’m never in someone’s way, I can do as many sets as I want, I can do as light weight as I want and don’t have to feel self conscious about it. My travel distance to the gym is like 15 feet across the house, I can lighten to music on speakers, I can curl in the squat rack
At the gym, I was always looking for an excuse to cut the workout short and head home. At the home gym, I’m always looking for ways to extend the workout.
Of course, all this is only possible because my partner and I saved for a decade to buy a house and had to relocate 600 miles from our friends and families to afford it, but STILL, at least I’m finally getting swole 
Anyone got favorite exercises for me to incorporate?
if i had ANY room for any equipment i’d totally have some workout equipment
I ordered a pair of 5-80 lb. “nuobell” clones (make sure to get ones that adjust in 5 lb increments) through alibaba during covid and they are awesome, laid together they only take up about 1.5 sqft of space – may be an option?
oh those look pretty sweet, thanks for the recommendation!
It’s great to be able to just hit a few sets whenever you have a little extra time.
I love the empty dumbbell bars with 1 inch plates, they come in sets for relatively cheap and you can also buy additional plates to up the total weight. I think I spent like $120 total on mine that I can load up to 60 pounds on each and make every 5 pound increment in between. If I grabbed another four 10-pound plates I could get them over 80 each but I’m not getting near that yet.
jealous! hope I can get a home gym someday.
Can anyone recommend a home pull up bar that won’t damage my doorframe?
I use this in a hallway: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JC86WNK
That’s interesting, it doesn’t scuff up the walls?
Also how many reps until I get that model’s back
I’ve never moved it so I can’t say lol.
Those cheap dip rack/pull-up bar combos work well but they take up a decent amount of space.
Ah yeah that’s too big. Maybe I should just be more resourceful with my local park
I had three and none worked. I’ve seen some interesting pulleys for back exercises but I assume you can’t drill any holes. But if you have a crossbeam of some type…
I guess drilling wouldn’t be the worst, I’ve liked the kind that just hangs in the doorway before but they always have deformed the molding in some way. Maybe if I just slip like a hand towel in between for protection…? But I’d be afraid to make it loose
never forget your rear delts. Without cables you can do rear-delt-flys.
favorite? tricep kickbacks
Least favorite? Lunges. Fuck those (but I do them once a week anyways)
Congrats on the home gym, hope to one day also have one of my own. If you don’t already know the channel, I highly recommend “Basement Bodybuilding” on Youtube.
awesome, comrade!
A few of my fave exercises for you to check out (some of which align with some soviet-bloc, AES states):
- RDL’s
- Bulgarian Split Squats
- Cuban Rotations
- Back Squats
Unfortunately you need a cable machine but face pulls are incredible for posture and honestly make you feel great. Squats will always be the greatest exercise for human beings tho so don’t skimp on them!
I love face pulls. Currently no pulleys on my rack although there are all sorts of attachments for them. And yes to squats. I start every workout with squats
If you can swing it, home gym best gym.
I realized a few years ago that while I do enjoy working out, I do dread getting started at times, so I needed to reduce the friction of getting started (commuting to gym, waiting for equipment, etc) or else I would find any excuse to skip days. Not so with home gym.
