Home equipment must haves, please!?

CipherZero wrote: »

Tedebearduff wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Cheaper to join the gym.

Not necessarily.

Depends on how much your gym costs and how much you want/need to spend on equipment and how long you will continue to use the equipment.

A typical gym membership costs sbout $25-40/mo or about & 300-480/yr. You can set up a well equipped basic home gym for around $1-1.5k and the "break even point would be around 2-5 years, depending on your actual costs.

Not that long to enjoy working out in the privacy of your home, which is why I spent the $ to set mine up over 5 years ago.

Seems silly to me, the gym has more equipment than you'll ever be able to fit into your house. End of story sir. Do you have a power rack with band extensions? I doubt it and this is the best piece of equipment you can have.

I would say yes on the power rack, and no on power bands. A fair bit of what fills conventional gyms is silly *kitten* isolation machines.

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Also you can join the gym for $10 a month and upwards of $130 per month just so you understand the costs a bit better. So if you paid $10 a month your break even point would be 12.5 years ...

Planet fitness is not a gym. Just sayin'.

Tedebearduff wrote: »

You should also be into this for life... so I wouldn't factor in time I'd be using the equipment because you should always be using it, even more so the older you get.

That's a good reason to figure in the return on investment.

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Also shouldn't detour people from joining the gym, nothing wrong with the gym. Lots of people use it to socialize, I see the old guys every morning... They lift some stuff and then talk for 20 mins ... nicest guys!

@OP asked about home gyms. It's entirely appropriate.

That's exactly what I was thinking. It's exactly what the OP was asking about.

I like having minimal equipment at home. It's kind of fun to improvise at times when I want to try something different.

Tedebearduff wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Cheaper to join the gym.

Not necessarily.

Depends on how much your gym costs and how much you want/need to spend on equipment and how long you will continue to use the equipment.

A typical gym membership costs sbout $25-40/mo or about & 300-480/yr. You can set up a well equipped basic home gym for around $1-1.5k and the "break even point would be around 2-5 years, depending on your actual costs.

Not that long to enjoy working out in the privacy of your home, which is why I spent the $ to set mine up over 5 years ago.

Seems silly to me, the gym has more equipment than you'll ever be able to fit into your house. End of story sir. Do you have a power rack with band extensions? I doubt it and this is the best piece of equipment you can have.

So, what's your point? That you can't have enough equipment at home to work out effectively? If so, you're wrong.

I have a power rack w/band extensions in my garage but I don't use bands. Bought a couple but have never needed them.

Also in my garage, I've got 2 bars (an Olympic Penlay and Hampton Power), 2 trap bars (one a Rogue rackable), 2 Rogue Farmer's Walk handles, a Rogue multipurpose bar, a T-Grip bar, an EliteFTS Safety Squat Yoke bar, a GHD bench, a Sissy Squat stand, a Cybex adjustable incline bench, a deadlift jack, over 1k# in bumper plates (plus about 300# in steel plates and various weights including fractional), a pair of Gold's Gym branded adjustable dumbbells (50# each) plus the stand), 2 plate racks, a 9 bar floor rack and a landmine bar holder. Frankly, few people have a better equipped lifting set-up than I do and that includes many gyms where I've visited or been a member.

In the house, I've got a LeMond RevMasterPro spin bike and a Concept 2 Rower. 2 of the best pieces of equipment of their type. All I need for cardio.

In the backyard, I've got a 50' battle rope, a sled and a 200# tractor tire that I use for "crossfit" training.

I also belong to a gym. Just got a free membership via Medicare -- I'm 66. The gym has more equipment that I can use but I don't need to use any of the equipment there because I have all of the equipment I need at home.

In fact, I have no interest in using the equipment at the gym at all and the only thing I've used my gym for so far has been to sit in the hydro spa, sauna and steam room, which (I must admit) that I don't have a home but I could certainly add them if I wanted.

LOL!!!

Tedebearduff wrote: »

You should also be into this for life... so I wouldn't factor in time I'd be using the equipment because you should always be using it, even more so the older you get.

If you buy your own equipment and make a financial commitment to it, you're definitely in it for the LONG TERM. Not necessarily so for people who join and drop out of gyms w/regularity.

Tedebearduff wrote: »

Also shouldn't detour people from joining the gym, nothing wrong with the gym. Lots of people use it to socialize . . .

Who's discouraging people from joining a gym? The OP started this thread asking for advice regarding the type of equipment to buy to set up a home gym, which is what HE wanted to do.

If you want to join a gym, go for it. No skin off my nose. But, if you are serious about working out and not just socializing (and again, nothing wrong w/that), there's no better way to do it than set up your own gym at home.

I bought the kettlebell worX program online I love it ...I also lift weights from home

Good for you! There is no right or wrong if it's cheaper to join a gym. There are too many variables to say it's true or not. I have everything I need in my home gym and spent about 1500 bucks. Most gyms cost at least 30 bucks a month so that would only get me about 4 years there. I've already been using my gear for 5 so I'm in the black.

Building your own gym requires a much larger up front financial commitment than the gym, but if you're really in it for life, it's worth it. Explore this before making a huge plunge. Search Craigslist and you'll find more used (or unused) fitness equipment than anything else. Is this part of a New Year's resolution, or is it really a long-term plan? If you aren't sure the gym is the way to go.

Good luck in achieving your goals!