I’m in process of deciding on home gym equipment right now. Being in Canada, options like Rep and Titan aren’t available to me. I’ve contacted Sorinex and unsurprisingly their number was insane.
Think I’ll just suck it up and go with Rogue, knowing that it should hold value and, if I go with the Monster line, the 3x3/1” specs should make it so almost any attachment should work.
The older I get, the more I realize that pedalling alone isn’t going to maintain strength, range of motion and general health.
That is fun and painful. It can become like choosing tires for a mountain bike. We have gone from a squat rack to the Monster-Lite cage and now the 1/2 cage.
Great guys and amazing stuff. I had a very positive experience and love the gear. But the price tag and then shipping is often a non-starter. When I did the math on everything we wanted it was high but doable. The FCC is amazingly smooth and we kitted it out to also double as a Lat / Row. Doing that means we can get away with only one selectorized column (or pulling station) and still have a ton of movement options. Can add that the shipping company (Old Dominion) was fantastic. Have a tough delivery location and the front office and the driver all went far above and beyond to make it easy for me to get the kit where it needed to go. And it is some heavy stuff.
When you decide on what you need, give the Legend Fitness guys a shot. They work with home gym folks very well. They also do a 1/2 rack like the one I linked to with an option selectorized cable column off the back. You can get custom heights if needed too. This is a link to the cable column. They do a lat/row as well. Fusion 3 Cable Column Module – Legend Fitness
A good adjustable bench, rack, barbell + plates and a functional column will provide a ton of movements in a compact and not too high cost package. I mean, this stuff is expensive, but if you use it a few times a week for a couple decades its justifiable. Work directly with Legend and the prices are much better than through a dealer or what you’ll see online. Worth a call or email if you know what you want to get.
Too bad Rep isn’t possible. For home use the new 4000 rack + Ares FT looks impressive.
Hope that helps. Happy to pass on anything we have learned. Am not in the business, just a guy who wastes a lot of neurons thinking about our home gym. Good news is wife loves it :->
Probably the best thing with Rogue is they are good quality, they ship at a reasonable cost (at least in USA) and you can always resell as they are the name. But there is other really good stuff that is sometimes better product or better value.
Thanks for the info….local friends have said the same. If you go with rogue, you end up in a ‘buy once, cry once’ situation but if interests or fitness goals change, the name allows for fairly easy resale
Warranty wise, rogue is also “easy” for Canadians as you are buying direct from them vs. Having to cobble together the initial purchase plus working with a freight forwarder to import (with other options)
Local fitness friends have also suggested Legend. I’ll check them out. Want the 3x3/1” standard though to maximize attachment compatibility (with rogue, sorinex and others)
This is about what I have too. I got my bike at 90 grades because I never feel well with a door behind me. Please let us (me) how you get on with this, I will have an renovation of my garage late this summer and am always interested in new solutions.
@DarthShivious Heard back fro Rep - turns out that as of this Summer, they plan to have available shipping to Canada. I’ll probably wait and see what the will charge.
Thinking a mix of a Rep rack and ISO arms and rogue drop in rhino. We’ll see.
Rep doesn’t seem to show it, but using a lever arm as a belt squat is not too bad. We added the J-Squat to our Iron Bear rack. The J-Squat is basically a Jammer Arm with a hook attachment and loading pins to allow a belt squat. It works pretty well for adding squat volume or for taking weight off the back and putting it into the hips.
Looks like Rep has an Eye Bolt at the end of their iso arms. Might as well try it as a belt squat alternative before buying the rhino drop in.
You’re probably already aware of this approach already but typing is free!! A caveat to using jammers as a belt squat is the lever angle and getting enough weight on if you are lifting heavy. It’s something like 60% of loaded weight. Not an issue for wife and myself as the J*Squat pins are long.
Rep seems to be moving into Rogue territory with their latest offerings. I bought a small cable pull accessory from them recently and am impressed with the quality and knurling feel.
Yes, we have that exact set up from Sorinex. It works.
The 3x3 part is just a normal jammer arm with a fixed attachment with pivot at the rack. Instead of a trolley that goes up and down. But you can use a trolley too. The part with the weight pins, kickstand and hook attachment is the “J-Squat” part ($499 from Sorinex but that’s before shipping).
The J Squat “end” fits right over the 3x3 pipe and a hitch pin secures it. No reason it won’t work with the Rep Iso Arms from what I can see on the Rep page.
LMK if you want any specific pictures of the J Squat set-up and I’ll take 'em and IM them to you.
Yes please - if you don’t mind IMing them, that’d be awesome. Mixing and Matching manufacturers equipment is a bit of a question mark for me and I’m not really sure everything will work in the end. Still in planning stages though so have time to research, etc.
@Sidi I don’t personally, but I can confirm there are plenty of awesome examples in the history of this thread that I have been envious of for quite a while.
Shed Gyms - There are a ton of shed gym videos on You Tube. Just search for “shed gym” and prepare to spend hours.
I think the shed cave is a great idea. Add a high efficiency mini-split for HVAC and insulation for a sweet set up. The advanced version of “shed” might be a small pole barn. We put up a pole barn with a concrete pad (non-insulated or conditioned) and it was remarkably cost effective space for car protection and dry storage for other stuff.
Same rules apply to sheds as basements: ceiling height, total space, lighting, flooring and make it inviting and welcoming so you’ll get out there and work out.
TR Forum users, our friend @Aeroiseverything has a very cool Container Paincave and knows a thing or two about heating and cooling as well. See if this link works:
Meanwhile back in the basement paincave, Boogie has a PSA for Y’all:
I see you removed the MP-1 beneath the Neo Bike. Any reason? I just ordered one and am a bit worried coming from the E-Flex system with tons of motion.
No reason besides to make a cleaner setup mostly. The mp1 modified the way I did does work really well with neo bike. I was going to sell the mp1 eventually as it is just sitting around now.
2022 started with a crappy ramp test, which I repeated two days later at maintenance only to find out that I had Covid . January was a write off. February house move. March renovating. Finally I got myself the pain cave of my dreams… with a view! The best part is, one of my city’s best gravel paths is right outside my doorstep.
I looked at many recently. Some were too thin, some were from across the country and had crazy shipping, some were too poorly toleranced for thickness/straightness that they’d not fit together.
Your flooring looks great. I’m not after thick enough to drop weights on, just something nicer than dirty garage concrete, and something that is more comfortable with a yoga mat on it for stretching sessions.
The black rubber matting is American Floor Mats Warrior Rubber Gym Tile product. 3/8" thick and 2x2 foot squares in 10% mocha color (small brown flakes).
This Warrior product comes in 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4 inch thicknesses. 3/8 is sort of the standard gym floor. If I was going to be dropping plates or loaded barbells I’d build a proper lifting platform. But I’m too old for throwing weights around
Warrior is good but not perfect. Had some time and effort laying it down and rubber mallet work to get it all interlocked. The seller also made an error on my order: incorrect edge vs corner pieces. They did offer to make it right but I didn’t want to wait and had to cut one side so made it work.
Another product I’ve used, which seems to have better fit characteristics, is Supermat Super lock. It comes in a 3/8" thick 20 x 20 inch squares.
The aerobic/yoga area checkerboard is a 1" thick dense foam product. It’s close to the ProsourceFit tiles sold at Home Depot. Not great for weights but awesome for “aerobics” and yoga type stuff.
Very nice paincave, I also have the c2 rowerg, bike riding bench and trx but lack upper body training so I’m debating whether to buy a skierg or a dumbbell bench, dumbbells and a pull up rack.
I’m personally partial to skierg, after all skiing is cool and can be an alternative exercise after too much leg training, but it’s also expensive and the plasticity is probably far less effective than dumbbells for these strength exercises.
I don’t know what you think about this, thanks!
Love the c2 rowerg. Mine doesn’t get enough lately.
I don’t have a ton of room to work with as I have a combined wfh office and workout room. For dumbbells I use the adjustable powerblocks. I have the adjustable kettlebell which is nice. The kettlebell goes on sale frequently. I have a basic step bench from Reebok that I use as it folds up nicely.
because I never feel well with a door behind me. Please let us (me) how you get on with this, I will have an renovation of my garage late this summer and am always interested in new solutions.
. January was a write off. February house move. March renovating. Finally I got myself the pain cave of my dreams… with a view! The best part is, one of my city’s best gravel paths is right outside my doorstep.
