Lifting on a budget

nossmf

For the last six years I've been a member of the gym which got built literally a hundred yards from my front door, and I absolutely love it. However, you pay through the nose for a membership there, to the tune of over $200/mo for my family of six. My wife used to go but never does anymore, while my kids are only interested in the pool and waterslide which we'd have to pay outrageous fees to use each time if we weren't members.

For budget reasons I have been looking to cut back on what I pay to lift by going to a couple other gyms in the near vicinity. I guess I've been spoiled by my current gym, because these places are so tiny and underequipped in comparison, except for Planet Fitness which would only be $10/mo but has DB's only up to 75# and no bars for bench, squat or deadlift, only smith machines and just about every other machine you can think of. As a stop-gap measure to free up money each month I could put up with it for a few months, but ultimately for my goals of powerbuilding the place just wouldn't hack it for me long term.

I've even taken to thinking about doing a home gym with a power rack, a barbell, up to 400# to add to the bar and some heavier DB's than I currently have (I already have a bench and a pair of 15's and 25's from years ago). I can always run outside rather than get a treadmill. But the initial investment seems prohibitive for somebody who's looking into this for the very purpose of saving money due to high bills this summer.

Not sure there's really a question in here for y'all, more of a vent to people who may understand more than my wife.

Sumiblue

I was a PF member for a few years after I had my baby. It was a good gym to ease back into fitness. But when I discovered lifting (I've been doing Stronglifts since Oct.) I found it frustrating. I looked on Craigslist and found a power cage, Olympic bar & free weights (2.5s up to 45s) for $300. I bought an inexpensive curl bar and DBs to supplement. I converted a small, underused bedroom in our house into my weight room. It's been great. I don't do a lot of cardio and if I feel I need/want it I just hit the nearby bike path. PF didn't cost a lot of money monthly but there was an annual fee and my home gym has already paid for itself. I do exercise more since it's more convenient for me.

timg760

I got my plates from my brother in law's garage, my bar from craigslist, and built/bought the equipment you see in my profile pic for about $200-250. The plans for the equipment are at

http://homemadestrength.blogspot.com/2011/04/more-than-just-squat-stands.html
http://homemadestrength.blogspot.com/2011/05/strongest-bench-youll-never-buy.html

I even had a little scrap wood left over for bar stands so i could keep the bar off the floor while loading plates for the deadlift and row.

I just did a google image search and found all kinds of DIY mods to the plans above, in addition to other cool DIY stuff.

So the initial investment might be a little high, but it will pay for itself pretty quickly!

TG

PeachyPlum

*Waves at nossmf - I know you from another forum!"

Are there any basement type gyms in your area? We are on a really tight budget trying to pay off debt, and were lucky to find a lifting gym for $30 a month. Pretty much all they have is weights, and lots of them.

Our local Craigslist has *tons* of used lifting equipment on the cheap, probably because it's a college town near a military town. You could probably put together a set piecemeal that way, if you have the time and inclination.

The_Enginerd

It took some time in my area, but I kept looking through Craigslist and found a pretty complete set up (power rack, oly bar, set of plates, bench, dumbbells) locally for a reasonable price. It'll pay for itself in about a year and a half and I can lift WHENEVER I want without dealing with dude bros and crowds.