first thing i purchased to begin creating my home gym was of course the weights

bought 335 lbs olympic plates, 45 lbs olympic bar, 2 collars -- 150$

these were moderately rusted and the best deal i found in ~2 months searching in my area (somewhat rural, city and surrounding area ~250k population)


next thing i purchased about 2 months later was a power rack. this was very hard to find a good deal, but i ended up getting an amazing rack at a ridiculous price

the rack is one built by an ex-highschool shop teacher. it's made out of 3"x3" solid steel square tubing, and has multiple pins on either side to hold weights. it's not like a typical rack; the build is essentially heavy duty squat stands with lower stands for benching. -- 20$

i haven't gotten a ton of weight on it since i've been on a lifting hiatus over two years. i had 225 on the squat portion of the rack and it literally didn't even move the rack. when hauling it into my basement i would estimate it weighs ~100 lbs

i almost shit myself on my next CL discovery. i found a guy willing to give away a cybex brand bench for free about 50 miles from me. considering the type of bench sells for over 400$ new i couldn't pass that up.

i get a text the next morning and the guy said he will DELIVER the bench to me for free just to get it out of his house. so i paid 0$ and had to make a 2 mile drive to meet the guy to get a really sick steel bench. granted, the upholstery is worn, but it isn't destroyed and it has no effect on efficiency.

after having the weights, rack, and bench, being able to squat and bench press and finally starting to lift again i decided i'd build a deadlift/multipurpose platform following simple youtube instruction.

the platform is 4'x8' and is made of 2 sheets of plywood, and some heavy horse stall rubber mats

i paid 40$ for the 6'x4'x3/4" rubber mat, and had some plywood leftover from a project.

cut one sheet of plywood into 4'x4' for the center piece and cut the rubber into 3 strips of 2'x3'.

next i glued and nailed the motherfucker together and let it sit overnight. today i deadlifted on it and it's extremely solid and was a perfect solution for deadlifting in my concrete basement

last on my list is a heavy duty power tower for weighted chins/pulls/dips. found a promising one today on CL for 50$. gold's gym one that retails for about 150$ . guy never took it out of the box

tldr
375 lbs olympic weights + bar + collars - 150$
sick power rack - 20$
steel cybex bench - free
homemade deadlift platform - 40$ + leftovers + about an hour and a half of work
ab wheel via walmart - ~10$


-- forgot to mention i have adjustable db's that i can get up to ~85$ lbs on each, and a few low weight hex db's




when i'm finished i'll have spent less than 400$ total on a fully functioning basement gym. considering avg gym membership is ~40$/mo in my area these shits will pay for themselves in no time.

and having a gym in your basement is infinitely more convenient than going to a commercial gym

check your local craigslist sporting goods page and you will probably find some retarded deals on sufficient gym equipment and build yourself a badass basement gym

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This post was edited by Ralf999 on Oct 29 2014 12:31am

10$ a month gym membership here holla

It's around $60/mo here.

Good finds op.

distance traveled to gym? my nearest is ~3 miles. 3 times a week * 6 miles round trip = 18mi/week = 72 mi/month
72mi * ~3.50/gal of gas divided by 12 mpg = ~21 dollars spent driving to and from gym.

that would put me at 31$/mo for gym, not accounting for the time spent driving to/from gym, getting ready to go to gym, etc..

i can lift naked in my basement with whatever music i want as loud as i want

12 mpg? what do you drive, a pickup? coworker's jeep gets better gas mileage than that

This post was edited by carteblanche on Oct 29 2014 12:48am

Google maps says-

via Wellington St/County Rd 17 and Murphy Rd 6 min
3.3 km6 min without traffic · Show traffic

I bike sometimes takes like 10 mins.

This post was edited by Miniflight on Oct 29 2014 01:52am

0$ a month to gym .5 miles away checking in

but for real, good stuff. If i had room in my apt i'd prob do the same.

This post was edited by MrBobMarley on Oct 29 2014 06:51am

This is why i want a home gym

theres nothing better than deadlifting naked

yes, i drive a 3/4 ton pickup

honestly the fuel economy is probably worse than 12 mpg in the city.. it's really sad

Cool man