The plates won't be here till mid November due to container delays, so I went and got myself a pair of 25 kilo cast iron plates from Rogue Australia. That was a good decision. They weren't too expensive, coming in at just under four AUD per kilo, shipping was very reasonable and they got here very fast. They're gorgeous plates, and I'm impressed at how fast Rogue got them to me. I'm very strongly considering phasing out the bumper plates with cast irons from Rogue over time. The idea is that periodically I'll get a pair of 20 or 25 kilo plates and as soon as they arrive sell a pair of the bumpers to pay for them. I probably won't completely cover the cost, but should be able to manage a good 75 per cent or so. There's no practical reason for me to do this, but I much prefer the cast iron plates and I can justify the transition because I should be able to cover most of the cost by selling the bumpers.
The bow bar isn't here, and Catch Fitness and their courier aren't doing anything to make me think remotely positively about them. According to the courier service, they lost the barbell. Catch hasn't been very responsive, so I'm anticipating that I'll need to go through PayPal to get my money back although I suspect that it will take a while simply because of the process. It is what it is. I still want a bow bar even though I can squat with the power bar, and I'm most probably going to get the Verve bow bar. Their safety squat bar is excellent, which gives me great confidence about the bow bar, assuming it's still in stock when I pull the trigger on it. I don't want to do that until I get refunded for the other bar that got lost. That may change though, depending how things go.
The incline bench set up has been great, which is good news. The bench sits perfectly well on the squat box and while the setup looks unsafe it is actually very stable.
I'm still happy with the Loaded Lifting power bar. It hasn't had over 170 kilos on it at this stage but has held up well with that I've asked of it so far. The knurling really is quite passive but not to the point that it is an issue. How that will change when I get to the heavier loads of my training remains to be seen but I'm reasonably confident it'll hold up well enough.
What I'm currently starting to wonder is whether I want to make the investment in an adjustable dumbbell set at all. On the one hand, it would let me train various exercises I have found useful: dumbbell bench, chest supported dumbbell rows, lateral raises, tricep extensions and rear delt flys being the primary ones that spring to mind. On the other hand, I can replicate most of those without dumbbells apart from the dumbbell bench using either bands, plates or a barbell. As it stands, I'm hesitant to shell out 300 AUD or so for something I'm not sure I really need.
I definitely need new J hooks, but they aren't in stock. They're also not a huge expense, so require less thought. I'll also be drawing up a new piece for my back raises that's nothing more than a taller saw horse with modified top to make lying on it more comfortable.
The next part, which may possibly be the final part of the series, will come when I have a bow bar, the new back raise and J hooks. Possibly the Loaded Lifting cast iron plates too, depending when they arrive.
No comments:
Post a Comment