Home Gym stock thread

Chad Beattie

Chad Beattie

Experienced
A few months back I started to build out a home gym. I quickly realized like everything else these days, nothing is in stock! I don't remember how but I happened upon a reddit thread for home gym stock and shipping. It took a little time and effort, ie, checking the thread daily, but paid off. Was able to find what I wanted/needed over a few weeks period. I would probably say based on what I've seen on the thread it's a lot more to do with Crossfit type workouts. So standard items like racks, bumper plates, bars, dumbbells, kettlebells, rowers, bikes, etc...

The biggest tip I can give is, know what you want and when you see it, buy it immediately. As an example, Rogue will get a stock of bumpers and in 5 minutes they will sell out. If you add items to your cart and ponder for a minute if you should really buy it, by the time you check out it will most likely be gone.

So anyone interested, here is the parent thread or whatever it's called on reddit.
www.reddit.com/r/homegym

Under that section, they sticky the weekly stock and shipping thread. As an example, here is the current one:


Then it will change each week and they post a link to the new thread.

They also have two great FAQ threads worth reading:
www.reddit.com/r/homegym/wiki/faq
www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/i8hpk7/rhomegym_covid19_faq_2/


Oh, and don't forget the most important aspect of a home gym. The sound system!!! I bought a cheap 3rd gen Apple TV off eBay and connected it to a wall mounted computer monitor I had for the main purpose of Air Playing audio/video. Then figured since my QSC K10 wasn't seeing much love, ordered ceiling hangers for that. I have a cheap DAC with a volume knob on it. So the signal goes from Apple TV (hdmi to monitor), optical to DAC, DAC RCA out to K10. Now myself, wife, kids can Airplay music or workout videos and see the content on the monitor and hear audio via the K10. It's a glorious thing! The reason for needing a volume knob on the DAC is because I discovered AirPlay doesn't always allow adjusting the volume of videos. So the last thing you want is the K10 to be at a set volume and then discover your AirPlay video is at full volume. I put the DAC in an easy place to reach and can adjust volume accordingly.

Misc thoughts:
This was a lot more work than I originally planed. But, you know, that is how projects go. I also tend to over build a bit with the idea that I want things to be right the first time and not have to redo down the road. The biggest thing was planning where to put wall mounted racks, bumper hangers, bar hangers, etc... for some items you need stringers, others you don't. But knowing how to locate studs, determine if 16 or 24 oc etc... is a definite requirement. Also for the sound system, I couldn't have wires all over the place. So of course I added recessed outlet boxes for high/low voltage. Which involved fishing wires through walls/ceilings/etc...

And LIGHTING!!! Working out in a dimly lit basement/garage is depressing IMO. What works great is LED lights that are encased in fluorescent light tubing. Can be had fairly cheap on Amazon. And you are no longer swapping out bulbs all the time either.

Thread is getting too long so I'll quit rambling now!
 
Yea all I can add is do not buy a bowflex resistance machine for weight training. Its not even comparable. When they closed the gyms earlier this year, prices on weights were stupid and mostly sold out, so I bought a bowflex blaze as there were a few for cheap.

Let's just say the day the gyms opened 3 months later, I sold it the same day.

Actually I think it would probably be OK for women, and aerobic resistance, but let me tell, 1st day back in the gym with real weights and the difference was night and day.

That said, I also own a bowflex max trainer and do 14 min HIIT cardio on it daily for 320ish calorie burn. Now that is a machine I will never sell, it rocks!
 
+1 on the Max Trainer. My wife happened to call me as I finished my first workout on it.
Her: What you doing.
Me: Having a stroke.
 
I got into Kettlebells just before the lockdown here in England and managed to get a couple of decent 'bells and got some real mileage out of them. I really think they're fantastic bits of kit, feel so much stronger
Been out on the pushbike a fair bit and though I'm missing sparing in Krav Maga my punchbag is getting plenty of work

Just got into clubbell's too, which is fixing my long term winged scapula issues

I'm just deciding between a rowing machine or some kind of indoor cycling device to replace my knackered CycleOps Hammer
 
From what I've seen, you can get just about anything, as long as you're not looking for a bargain. At least around here.

At home currently:
Powerblocks here for weight.
Peloton bike for cardio.
Water Rower for more of a whole body thing.
Pullup/Dip tower.

I used to only do bodyweight and bike, but moving to a location with no close safe biking got me doing it indoors. While the bodyweight alone was great, I missed weights, hence the PowerBlocks.

I have access to some really nice YMCAs here, but not ready to go to a gym; though swimming would be great. I'll probably get back to climbing, hopefully next year, but we'll see how things are going then.
 
I got a yoga mat, a set of 3 kilo dumbbells and an aerobics step. My soundsystem goes to every room in the house, I got everything I need. Thankfully the gyms are (still) open in the Netherlands so I can still use all the weights I need. Free of charge cause I work for a gym chain.
 
My gym now consists of a set of Ironmaster dumbells, Ironmaster lat tower, Ironmaster adjustable bench, a barbell with about 300 lbs of weights and a squat rack. For cardio I have a Bowflex Maxtrainer, a Trek road bike and a Saris Hammer trainer I can mount the bike on and ride indoors. The trainer is pretty cool. It hooks to my computer and I can ride on hundreds of routes from around the world.
 
I tried to buy a bunch of stuff for a home gym and I couldn't even get anyone to call me back. Nothing in stock anywhere.
 
This is my 'home gym' setup that I managed to get built towards the end of last year. Was lucky to be able buy the climbing holds - lots of people building home climbing setups. A bit different to the usual home gym setups, but it keeps me sane.
IMG_20201123_213114256_HDR.jpg
 
Managed to snag a Peloton bike back last April before things went crazy. I now do 26 minutes/day of rigorous activity according to Fitness.app on my iPhone. Added in weights in February so it's not just hit-and-hills and power zone rides all the time. Pandemic has been very good for my fitness. Not losing much weight but my stamina is amazing now.
 
One of the best investments I've ever made is a Concept2 Model D rower. Excellent cardio and strength workout in the home gym. I recently bought a second one and they are running about a 6 week waitlist right now.
 
I built my home gym before it was cool. A couple of barbells a lifting platform, power rack, bench, some bands. Quality stuff, all from Rogue, except for lifting platform which I built myself. I also have some TRX straps which I’ve never attached to anything. Maybe I should.

Now that you mention it, maybe it’s a good time to sell it all if it’s out of stock everywhere. 🤔 Gyms are technically open, they’re just pain in the ass now, masks and all. How the fuck does anyone do cardio in a mask?
 
FractalAudio said:
I tried to buy a bunch of stuff for a home gym and I couldn't even get anyone to call me back. Nothing in stock anywhere.
Click to expand...

Can't the Fractal amp collection substitute for a weights room

A few weighted squats with a heavy Mesa should get the heart rate going
 
  • Haha
Reactions: jon
I was able to get equipment by checking the r/HomeGym, by following a couple of the stock bots on their Discord, and by being up way too late one night to find some weight plates.

 
There is a waiting list on most things. I decided to add a Concept 2 rowing machine (rowerg) because I love the whole body work it gives, and found they were also sold out. Plenty of people scalping them on eBay for $300-500 over factory new price, kind of like a new Fractal release!

You can get on the wait list, 8-12 weeks to get through on the standard Model D, longer on others. Mine was closer to the 8, and I know they are trying to get through the list but demand is way high. Well worth the wait!
 
I just sold my Concept 2 rower for $750 and promptly ordered an echo bike... that is woefully backordered. Looks like I'll have to get my cardio from headbanging w the axefx until the bike shows up. For resistance, I just do bicep curls with my verellen tube head (93lb).
 
I used the reddit group that is referenced in post #1 above when I built my home gym last summer.
Without it, I'd probably still be looking for hard-to-get items.
 
Also, while it doesn't work for many of the direct-to-consumer shop sites, you can try Octoshop for getting in-stock notifications. I used to to get a new xbox and a new nvidia gpu and it worked like a champ. You should be able to set in-stock notifications for things that are available from the major shops like amazon and ebay. I don't have any ties to Octoshop but it seems pretty good if you're trying to get stuff that's always sold out.
 
You guys are going to laugh - my home gym is my live gear.
  • Two 4-space racks function as heavy dumbbells
  • I combine racks with a spare 1x12 cab for dips.
  • The 1x12 is great for step-ups.
  • Burpees plus step-ups get the heart pounding.
  • Then it's typical sit ups and pushups.
 
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