I'm actually still gym-less seven weeks into lockdown, but that's due to shipping and delivery delays. I bought the equipment within 14 days of lockdown starting.
Let me make this clear though: I'm in a position to be able to build a modest gym for myself. Not everyone is, and I know that I'm very fortunate in that and many other more important respects. If you're not in a position to build your own gym, you can't help but get caught out if for whatever reason gyms around you stop being accessible. It is what it is.
So what did I need? That's where it gets interesting. What I need is competing with what space I have and what I can afford. You need to strike a balance. I have about 7.5 square metres of space on a concrete slab. What's even better is that 7.5 square metres is made up of a 2.5 metre by three metre area. It doesn't sound like much put like that, but it's really a decent amount of room while also not so big that I will be unreasonably tempted to fill it up. No matter how much equipment I may want or be able to afford, there simply isn't room for all of it.
Let's start with the bare basics, a barbell and plates. The barbell is easy enough. Unless you're super picky, a decent power bar will set you back between 350 AUD and 700 AUD and that top end is getting awfully close to picky. You can definitely get a bar for less, but it may only be rated to around 300 kilos and won't have particularly good knurling or markings. It'll also more likely be a combination bar, with Olympic and powerlifting marking and probably whip a fair bit. I got a Loaded Lifting power bar on sale for 349 AUD. They're a reputable company, so I was comfortable paying a lower price. One thing I noticed when picking the bar was that these days a lot of the time you pay more for the finish. If that's affordable, great, but personally I don't care too much what my bar looks like providing it performs and if there are multiple finish options I'll pick the cheapest one. That left the plates.
The plates are actually the killer, by the way. Way, way back when I would fantasise about my own gym reality would hit me every time it came to plates. I'm no elite powerlifter, but even for me if I want to have a setup that lets me train productively we're talking 220 kilos of plates as a pretty bare minimum. I'm not big noting myself, I'm simply at the stage where I squat around 215-225 kilos and deadlift 225-240 kilos in training. Not peaking, just training. That's a number that's only going to go up, too.
Now, what I also realised is that you need to think of how to get that 240 kilos on the bar. Bumper plates might only just squeeze on if that's all you have. Twenty and 25 kilo bumpers are going to vary between 55 and 80 mm in thickness, and your barbell sleeve is going to be around 400-450 mm. If you do the maths, fat bumpers might not be that great. Calibrated plates are the thinnest, which is also what your wallet will be if you get them. Bumpers are generally cheaper, between 3.5 AUD and six AUD per kilo depending where you look. But they're fat. Basic old cast iron plates are a good option and look cool. They come in between 33 and 35 mm in width for 20 and 25 kilos generally, which lets you get plenty on your barbell. They're also in the 3.5 to six AUD range. None of that includes shipping costs, which are also messed up for plates simply because they're the heaviest stuff you're getting.
I did end up getting a bunch of bumpers, because Loaded Lifting had a package deal with a power bar and 150 kilos of economy bumper plates for 799 AUD. Considering the bar cost 349 AUD, that's three AUD per kilo for the plates, and comes with collars too. It was hard to beat that pricing and if you look around you'll find I'm not exaggerating. I did, however, within a couple of weeks also pre-order four 20 kilo cast iron plates. Those came in at 3.5 AUD per kilo, and I won't talk about shipping costs because it hurts too much.
You also are going to want change plates. I overlooked them initially, and then realised without them the smallest jump you get is 10 kilos. Now, calibrated change plates will cause drastic thinning of your wallet but basic cast iron ones are quite slim themselves and not overly expensive. I paid 49 AUD for a pair of 2.5 kilo and 1.25 kilo Hammertone cast iron tri-grip change plates from Flex Fitness Equipment.
Realistically, you're going to be looking at 350 to 500 AUD for a power bar and depending on your strength level anywhere between 500 and 1000 AUD for plates. If you budget 1500 AUD for barbell and plates, you shouldn't have any issues unless you're very unlucky, very picky or very strong. Bear in mind though, this is assuming you're building a gym to replace any commercial gym, and one you can use for everything except possibly a peak.
Before I move on from bars and plates, there also comes the question of speciality bars. I initially figured I'd just somehow squeeze under a power bar to squat and hope like hell my elbows don't explode. I have managed this previously but in a combo rack with the uprights tilted in. My ability to get under a power bar is contingent on me being able to grip right at the sleeves. So, this could be a significant problem unless I opt for a comp spec squat rack. They aren't cheap, and also are a bit limited in what you get out of them. A comp spec combo rack is lovely, and Valhalla Strength make an excellent one. Except, it costs around 3300 AUD the last time I looked and I can get a reasonable power rack and flat bench for less than that. So I um'd and ah'd and bought a cheap bow bar, 199 AUD marked down from 299 AUD from Catch Fitness. I'm almost certain it's an Ali Baba special, but the load rating is reasonable at 400 kilos and I'll only be using it for one thing. What encouraged me is that most other bow bars are in the 300 AUD to 500 AUD range so if the regular price was 299 AUD it shouldn't be too bad. It's also completely unnecessary unless you can't squat with a power bar. Realistically, I could probably find a way to squat with a power bar but I can afford the extra barbell. A bow bar can also be used for extra ROM bench and rows, so there's that too.
Now, it so happens I already have a power rack. I was very lucky to be gifted one some time ago. It's old and not a commercially made unit. Someone had it built out of a combination of 40x40x7 steel angle and 40x40 steel square tube (I'm guessing the tube is anywhere between two and seven mm thick). It's solid, and as best as I can tell for something equivalent I would be up for around 1500 AUD at the very least (you can absolutely get a rack for less, but won't be rated for much weight at all). It might be old and simple, but it has trustworthy safeties and even has some J-hooks which are likewise trustworthy. Not pretty, but functional.
It's the cornerstone of my build, not only because it saves me a large sum of money but because a power rack gives you a lot more than a combo rack or standalone squat rack. For starters, you have somewhere to do pullups providing your ceiling is high enough and top the rack is low enough. My rack is around 2.1 metres tall, and the ceiling is around 2.4 metres high so I'm in luck. No exercise is essential, but pullups come about as close as any. You also have the option of anchoring bands at almost any point you need, which lets you recreate a good chunk of cable machine exercises.
So that's the rack sorted. Which means squats. Next comes bench. Realistically you can train perfectly well without a bench unless you're a powerlifter. So I needed a bench. The first question was whether I get a fixed or adjustable one. Looking around, it seemed like a reasonable fixed flat bench would set me back between 250 and 350 AUD depending on stock availability and shipping costs. An adjustable bench would start at 350 AUD and go up from there, and frankly none of the adjustable benches under 500 AUD seemed that great. So I went flat, and bought a reasonably nice one for 350 AUD. No shipping, because it was local. The frame is good, the pad is decent but I may replace it eventually. It's no Elite FTS or Valhalla Strength bench, but it's better than some I've used in commercial gyms for sure, and it's very close to competition height and width which is quite important. If I want to incline bench, I can always go old school and prop it up. Getting to 45 degrees might be a stretch, but 15 to 30 degrees won't be too hard.
The floor is a concrete slab, but I don't want to damage it or my plates. Gym flooring mats aren't hard to come by, and usually cost between 30 AUD and 40 AUD for a single 1000x1000x15 square. I got three from Bunnings. I may get a fourth and cut it into quarters so I have a deficit to pull from, small blocks to pull from (although I rarely do) and a way to change box height for box squats.
So, box squats. They aren't by any means essential at all but I find them very effective so I need a box. An adjustable box will set you back anywhere between 150 AUD and 300 AUD depending where you look. I work in a joinery shop, and a 2400x1200 sheet of 19 mm CD ply will cost me around 40 AUD. An hour or so of work will give me a 300 mm high box, and around 35 AUD will give me a 1000x1000x15 square of flooring that, cut into quarters, will give me box heights of 315, 330, 345 and 360 mm. That pretty much covers my box squat height range. The box will also let me prop my bench up for incline pressing.
I thought that was pretty much it, until I figured plate storage would be a good idea. That's an area that is a bit trickier than you would think. Broadly, your options are a rack or a tree. Trees can be as cheap as 100 AUD, but most come in around 150 AUD to 200 AUD. Except, many of them only let you fit 20 and 25 kilo plates on the bottom pin. That means if you have bumpers, or a lot of cast iron plates, or even a mix you might not be able to keep them all on the tree. Which makes a weight tree a less attractive option even though it takes up very little space. A rack takes up more room, although they usually aren't over 1500 mm long. They also give you more flexibility in what you put in them, but they're more expensive. Most I found were around the 200 AUD mark or higher. So I came back to my sheet of CD ply, which after the box gives me ample material to make my own horizontal rack. What it won't give me is the vertical barbell storage many trees and racks do, but because I'll only have a couple bars that isn't an issue.
I thought I was done but I still wasn't. For 69 AUD I bought a barbell jack from The Barbell Jack. You can get a single jack for 70 AUD to 90 AUD quite easily from a number of suppliers, and it'll make a difference loading for deadlifts while taking up virtually no room unlike a double jack.
I'm almost done, and I've reached the end of what I've bought and am waiting on delivery of. My last item will be a pair of adjustable dumbbells. I considered the Spud Inc econo pulley, but to do anything like flyes I would need two (I find the strap that attaches to a single pulley ineffective), and that would come in around 300 AUD plus shipping from Rogue Australia. I can get two 40 kilo adjustable dumbbells for 305 AUD including shipping from Gym Direct and that gives me a lot more options than the pulley. Almost anything the pulley can do, I can do with the bands I already have (which are coincidentally mostly Spud Inc bands, and very good they are too), while the dumbbells let me do some of the exercises I find most effective like lateral raises, bent over rows, bench press, incline bench, press and chest supported rows. I'll get them in a while, for the moment I'm giving my wallet a chance to recover and they aren't in stock anyway.
A quick recap of what this setup cost me (including shipping this time) just in case anyone finds it useful:
- power bar and collars, Loaded Lifting 349 AUD
- plates 230 kilos, Loaded Lifting combination bumper and cast iron 1050 AUD give or take, covering shipping for bar as well and bearing in mind cast iron plates are shipped separately because I ordered them later
- change plates, Flex Fitness Equipment 75 AUD
- bow bar, Catch Fitness 235 AUD
- power rack free, but would cost at least 1500 AUD
- bench, Gymquip 350 AUD
- flooring, Bunnings 100 AUD
- barbell jack, The Barbell Jack 85 AUD
- ply for box and plate storage 40 AUD plus two hours work (bought from retail combined would cost 350 AUD to 500 AUD)
That's a grand total of around 2300 AUD, and if you include the dumbbells I'm planning to get takes the setup to 2600 AUD for something that will let me train independently for a number of years before I would need to add any major items.
Part 2 will cover what it's actually like having all this stuff as well as anything I realise I might need to add as well as how I work around not having certain items of equipment.
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