Weight lifting at home help!!

Keep an eye out on Craigslist for someone selling weights in your area. Typically if you buy plates/dumbells at the store new they run like $1 per pound. I had a guy in my area moving out West and he was selling his entire weight collection for .25 per pound. I bought everything he had.

If you're going to do a program like Body Beast you need more dumbells then weight plates. If you are going to be doing something like stronglifts 5x5 you need alot of weight plates. Because you progress so fast. Deadlifts and Squats you'll be using a ton of weight while OHP and rows will be less. It's an expensive investment but the great thing about weights is they don't wear out (assuming you aren't dropping them) so it's typically a once in a lifetime purchase.

Anyway all my weight plates are standard 1 inch. Be careful because Olympic plates are 2 inch. So make sure you are buying the correct ones. A solid bar is key (do not buy one of those bars that are split in the middle and you have to assemble with pins). Don't go cheap on the bench either.

Typically for plates I look for Weider and Dumbells I like Cap. Olympic plates are just higher quality and more expensive and like I mentioned have a 2 inch center because the Olympic bars have wide ends. Stick to the standard size plates they are cheaper and more available.

To start I would say you need:

Bench: Make sure it has at least the 3 positions (flat, incline, decline). Some go more then three that would be bonus.

Bar: Make sure it's standard size (1 inch diameter on the ends) and 1 single piece, not the crappy kind you get with those vinyl weight sets that split in the middle.

Weight Plates: Need standard 1 inch diameter centers. Iron is cheaper then rubber bounce plates. Get a good mix of 5's, 10's, 25's to start. For stuff like Dead Lifts and Squats to start you're going to need 100+ pounds of weight and then more as you progress. So eventually you want to own 200-300 pounds of weight plates

Dumbbells: Go for the iron (cheaper) and get a good mix from 5's all the way to 20's to start. Eventually you'll need 25- 50 as you progress

Rack: If you want to squat and bench you're going to need some sort of squat rack. I bought mine off of Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006CW02ZS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01

They are pricey but I love that they are portable and adjustable to different heights. They are very sturdy. I squat well over 350 and they handle the weight just fine.

yrieves wrote: »

Ok so I looked on Craigslist and found this...
What you get: - 45 lb. plates (qty. 4) - 35 lb. plates (qty. 2) - 25 lb. plates (qty. 2) - 10 lb. plates (qty. 7) - 5 lb. plates (qty. 8) - 2.5 lb. plates (qty. 2) - 45 lb. Olympic bar (qty. 1) - Adjustable squat stands (qty. 2) - Spring bar collars (qty. 4) - Quick lock bar collars (qty. 2) - EZ curl bar (qty. 1) - Dumbbell bars (qty. 2) - Weight tree to hold all the weights (qty. 1) - Massive GAINZ from all the weight lifting you'll be doing

What do you guys think? What it's worth and would this be a good starter?

Well just the weight plates alone would be over $400 at Dicks Sporting Goods. What's the guy asking for the entire lot?

Oh def jump on that. Just be careful with Craigslist. Bring a friend or two to pick it up. You'll still need a bench too but that's a great deal.

yrieves wrote: »

Oh I will definitely take my husband with me. Thank you so much for all your advice and I loved the strong lifts 5X5 I might try that!

Sorry. I have two teenage daughters. It's the protective dad in me talking lol.

How did you make out?

yrieves wrote: »

$375 for all he said maybe go as low as $325

I'm going to assume it's all generic, not top-quality equipment. I would not pay $375 for it.

At 50 cents/lb, which is the absolute most you should pay for used weights, that's only $230 in weight. The rest of the stuff I'd say is $85lbs of misc equipment.

Bad deal for sure, unless it comes with a really good piece of equipment like a good quality bar or stands. But if that was the case I'm sure it would probably have been mentioned.

You can routinely find 300lb olympic weight sets (which comes with a bar and collars) on sale at Sears or sporting goods stores for ~$180. That's more than enough for a beginner.

$180 - 300 olympic set
$80 - cheap squat stands
$40 - weight tree
$50 - curl bar/dumbbells

That's $350 for new equipment. If I really tried, I'm sure I could get all that for $300 or just slightly more. And that's brand new.