Weights buying advice

teamvic

Hi all, I'm 100 days in to new healthy me and have really started enjoying free weights. Trouble is I need more now as only had limited 100lb set. Can anyone recommend some decent but not overly expensive brands to look at? I'm based in the Uk. Don't know really what size, number I need so again some advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone

StealthHealth

UK based here - What you need and how much you need to spend is going to depend upon what types of work outs you do and may conceivably want to do in the future.

Post back this information and people will be able to give a better answer.


but, the problem that may will find is that as you increase the weights you will also need to increase the safety measures that you put in place.

So, I used to work out at home and wanted to incorporate squats and bench presses into my routines. This meant a decent bar, some weights and a bench but more, it also meant that to stay safe I needed to by a power cage (which you can set up so that if you fail on any exercise you don't end up injuring yourself). Second hand this kit cost me £600 (ebay), but on the positive side it was excellent kit, I got a lot of use from it and when decided to re-join a gym I sold it for more than I bought it for.

drachfit

olympic barbell + standard olympic plates.

I am in the US but a lot of big retail sports stores usually sell a "starter kit" for these which includes a barbell and ~300lbs of weight. These seem to retail for ~$250 USD. A pretty good deal and will last you a long time. I imagine stores in the UK will have similar sets.

Another alternative is searching for that kind of stuff used online; usually you can find it a lot cheaper. It doesn't matter if a weight plate is rusty, it still weighs the same and you can still put it on a bar and pick it up.

ditto for a squat rack. I actually got free-standing squat stands (not a squat cage or power cage) and just set up some burly sawhorses to act as safety catches. worked great for me, got me way strong.

also this gear is all pretty standard and fairly easy to re-sell on the used market / classified ads if you have to move somewhere where you can't have your home gym any more.

pbryd

There are two sizes to consider, standard 1" or Olympic 2" bars.

For dumbbells you're better off with standard spinlock with metal plates.

For barbell you could stay with standard or buy some olympic gear.

If you buy olympic gear new, look out for rubber coated plates, they cost a little bit more but are nicer to use.

teamvic

Thanks for your replies. Pretty new to free weights, for first 2 months I bumbled along doing routine with bench, dumbells and standard bar. Now following some workouts from mens health and feelinf benefits. Thanks for advice, will try ebay to begin with as money is tight. Ifeally like to lose weight, anyone know good routine , frequentcy per week to look at?

StealthHealth

The respected beginner training programs are Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength and MadCow's 5x5 Strong Lifts (often abbreviated to 5x5SL).

They are both quite similar in their simplicity but both require you to have a decent set up: Minimum is a bench, squat rack, barbell and enough weight to progress (I'd recommend you have 100kg of plates and a 20kg Olympic bar).

teamvic

StealthHealth wrote: »

The respected beginner training programs are Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength and MadCow's 5x5 Strong Lifts (often abbreviated to 5x5SL).

They are both quite similar in their simplicity but both require you to have a decent set up: Minimum is a bench, squat rack, barbell and enough weight to progress (I'd recommend you have 100kg of plates and a 20kg Olympic bar).

Thanks StealthHealth for your response. I'll look into those and getting the equipment tonight. Have a great Friday and weekend. Cheers

drachfit

@teamvic I think olympic size is the way to go, they are much easier to re-sell and can handle more weight. on a program like SL5x5 or Starting Strength you will very quickly approach 300lbs for lifts like the squat and deadlift. and the olympic bar is needed to make those lifts safe, not just because of the weight - standard 1" bars do not have "collars" that spin with the weight. a squat loaded up on a bar without spinning olympic collars will want to roll right off your back!

ebay might work but shipping 300lbs of iron will be expensive. is there something like Craigslist (local classifieds) in the UK? often gyms will sell their old/used iron for cheap.

if money is tight, get a doorway Pull-up bar ($25) and maybe build a dip-station out of wood, and do a program like Convict Conditioning. beastskills.com/ has a good bodyweight program too. I particularly like Daniel Vadnal's work on youtube


you can get pretty strong on a program like that but it's still really handy to get a barbell for squats and deadlifts - there is no quicker way to effectively work the legs, which have by far the biggest and most powerful muscles in the body.

StealthHealth

drachfit wrote: »

@teamvic I think olympic size is the way to go, they are much easier to re-sell and can handle more weight. on a program like SL5x5 or Starting Strength you will very quickly approach 300lbs for lifts like the squat and deadlift. and the olympic bar is needed to make those lifts safe, not just because of the weight - standard 1" bars do not have "collars" that spin with the weight. a squat loaded up on a bar without spinning olympic collars will want to roll right off your back!

ebay might work but shipping 300lbs of iron will be expensive. is there something like Craigslist (local classifieds) in the UK? often gyms will sell their old/used iron for cheap.

if money is tight, get a doorway Pull-up bar ($25) and maybe build a dip-station out of wood, and do a program like Convict Conditioning. beastskills.com/ has a good bodyweight program too. I particularly like Daniel Vadnal's work on youtube


you can get pretty strong on a program like that but it's still really handy to get a barbell for squats and deadlifts - there is no quicker way to effectively work the legs, which have by far the biggest and most powerful muscles in the body.

^^ great advice, especially if you don't want to buy the weights. I followed "You Are Your Own Gym" by Mark Lauren and I'm aware of Convict Conditioning - Some of those guys are seriously fit and have good muscle without a barbell or dumbbell in sight.

sventheviking

Well a rack and barbell should be the main focus of any strength program but if you wanted an alternative you can buy a sandbag from Cerberus Strength for $50 and it's loadable up to around 100kg.
What do you do with a sandbag? Clean and press it, squat it, do lunges with it, carry it for distance or time, throw it, buy it a nice dinner, introduce it to your parents tho possibilities are endless.