Home weight set up

[Snugglemonkey]

I have not been to the gym for 2 years while doing ivf, having a baby and gaining 3 stones 😱😱😱

I need to get back in track. I am kitting out a home gym to make exercise more accessible. I love weights. I want to do squats, chest presses, shoulder presses and more really, but those 4 are my favourites. I used a bench and rack at the gym and am wanting similar new for my house. What should I be looking at. All advice v welcome!!!

That is 3 not 4 🤣 barbell rows is the 4th I was thinking!

It depends on your budget and space. There's a group on Facebook powerlifting kit for sale UK where you can pick up 2nd hand quality stuff, and would also give you an idea of brands. Anything I've seen in places like decathalon doesn't look up to the job to me if you want to lift heavy. For example the squat rack safety bars look way too short for me to rely on them, and if you're squatting at home alone that really matters.

I bought my kit from Mirafit, I got a free standing squat/bench stand. It’s no where near as nice as using a full rack but it does the job. Barbell, set of bumpers and then bought adjustable dumbbells. I have a flat bench off Amazon but it’s crap and I need a better one. If you’re training at home alone just make sure whatever rack you have has spotter bars.

We got a full rack/ bench set up from Decathlon and it's perfectly adequate for support etc. I got my barbell and plates elsewhere but it's specced for a 7ft/ 20 kg barbell and is fine.

You will definitely find second hand stuff on Facebook marketplace. It's still quite expensive from the covid lift but we got a bench, extendable rack for squats and chest, barbell, 80kg worth of weights and some dumbbells for not much at all. Maybe £200 all in.