Home gym: first buys

[KOTJ]

If you're planning on a home gym, everyone knows to get a power rack or squat rack, barbell, bench, and Olympic weights.

*Get an adjustable bench first, not a flat bench...unless you desperately need flat bench only.*

The only reason a squat rack should be considered over a power rack, is limited space.

The second piece of equipment should be a leg press and/or hack squat.

Everyone will deal with back injuries. Most people will have some shoulder, arm, elbow, or pec fuckery. A leg press and/or hack squat can be found in relatively compact versions, but there are no close substitutes for them.

Being able to eliminate or significantly reduce spinal loading and have less systemic fatigue, whole being able to produce significant lower body strength and hypertrophy, is something only possible with these machines.

There are plenty of variations you can with a barbell for upper body work.

Pulley systems are cheap. You can DIY or buy all kinds of fancy setups. Then you can do a ton of exercises for upper and lower body; leg extensions and leg curls are easily done.

I see a lot of new home gym owners buying several different specialty barbells, dumbbells, and other shit.

Get the leg press hack squat shit if you have space.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

A third slightly different option is a sissy squat bench. Also very small footprint and I’d imagine a fair bit cheaper than hack squat/leg press. Mine was £150 new for a good quality one. Very difficult to find much training resources about them because they’re not very popular.

Had a minor quad tear a while back which threw squats out the window for a few months but I think I actually got my quads stronger than ever just using the sissy squat bench. Once I’d worked up to 25kg in a backpack for sets of 30, I found I could start doing sissy bench leg extensions which are the hardest thing my quads have ever had to do. It’s like those nordic hamstring curls I see people do but for your quads instead. Brutal.

Dropped them once I could squat again (they’re really difficult to load comfortably) but now that I have an SSB I might throw them back in. I effortlessly PR’d the fuck out of my squat when I could squat again and the sissy’s were a huge part of that I think.

[Hardartery]

A Power Rack had certain uses, but is not a necessity at all. Squat Stands are sufficient if space is an issue, or if budget is an issue, and personally I hate closed racks. The only full rack I would consdier, unless it's free or something, is an open rack but a half rack is more useful. I have personally never had any need or use for a Leg Press or a Hack Squat, so it would not appear on my list either. A good flat bench is useful, an adjustable can be a nice luxury if it's not wobbly junk. Better to have two fixed benches, one flat and one incline. Decent plates and a good bar are important, a Squat Bar or SSB is a noce addition and more useful than either of the machines listed.
Not everyone will deal with back injuries, but most will have some sort of tweak here and there. I have never had anything that interfered with my training in almost 40 years of lifting. A couple of light bands for prehab work and warming up are cheap and very useful and nice selection of DB's would be near the top of my list. And the selection should grow over time as the budget allows. Indiviual DB's are gold, and let you train around tweaks and fix imbalances. All of the adjustable variations are a PITA, and I would replace them with individual ones as quickly as reasonably possible. But you can do virtually everything with a bar, adjustable stands and a bench if it's a barebones situation.

[KOTJ]

@OverheadDeadlifts for a first gym setup, I'd always recommend DIY options for simple/basic equipment.

The market has a ton of amazing rack attachments, or tons of resources for DIY options. If someone is on a budget, I'd recommend those routes first.

Seriously, a pulley setup offers a ton of incredibly useful exercises.

The leg press and hack squat offer a tremendous amount of utility for strength and hypertrophy, and is by no means easy to DIY ..and most DIY and rack attachment options are complete shit.

@Hardartery a squat rack is not a power rack. A squat rack has two connected posts, drilled like a power rack.

Squat stands don't offer near the utility of a squat rack, or power rack.

There are a ton of exercises that can be done in a power rack, that cannot be done with squat stands, or a squat rack. There are a ton of attachments you can buy or make, for a ton of exercises, which can also allow multiple people to exercises together.

I'd always recommend a good bench. Don't know who recommends wobbly benches.

Also, the Rep Fitness adjustable bench is $300 shipped, and works perfectly fine for any bench type. The gap doesn't impede any lifts, unless you're an outlier for small or tall.

Tweak, injuries... basically the same thing.

As far as an SSB being as/more useful than a leg press and/or hack squat, you're taking crazy pills. Especially when you already have a barbell...crazy pills.

Also, a squat bar??? A thicker diameter Olympic bar for squats is completely unnecessary, and even if you're powerlifting, that's fed specific.

My experience with my own lifting, as well as coaching/programming powerlifters, general fitness/powerbuilding focus, and recreational strongman (powerlifters do a strongman comp), a leg press and hack squat are vastly superior to an SSB.

Crazy pills.

Also, there are a lot of good options for adjustable dumbbells. Again, crazy pills. Mentioning limited space? No way you can recommend fixed weight dumbbells, due to their space needed.
Adjustable are way cheaper, and even a mix of lighter fixed weight and adjustable is way cheaper than fixed weight.

Good luck finding 120-180lb fixed weight dumbbells that are cheap and don't take up a lot of space.

I agree that a lot can be accomplished with weights, bar, and stands...but if you're going barebones, you might as well use 2x4s or pipes for a stand, and an axel for the bar. Weights can be concrete or car parts.

[Hardartery]

@Hardartery a squat rack is not a power rack. A squat rack has two connected posts, drilled like a power rack.

Squat stands don't offer near the utility of a squat rack, or power rack.

There are a ton of exercises that can be done in a power rack, that cannot be done with squat stands, or a squat rack. There are a ton of attachments you can buy or make, for a ton of exercises, which can also allow multiple people to exercises together.

I'd always recommend a good bench. Don't know who recommends wobbly benches.

Also, the Rep Fitness adjustable bench is $300 shipped, and works perfectly fine for any bench type. The gap doesn't impede any lifts, unless you're an outlier for small or tall.

Tweak, injuries... basically the same thing.

As far as an SSB being as/more useful than a leg press and/or hack squat, you're taking crazy pills. Especially when you already have a barbell...crazy pills.

Also, a squat bar??? A thicker diameter Olympic bar for squats is completely unnecessary, and even if you're powerlifting, that's fed specific.

My experience with my own lifting, as well as coaching/programming powerlifters, general fitness/powerbuilding focus, and recreational strongman (powerlifters do a strongman comp), a leg press and hack squat are vastly superior to an SSB.

Crazy pills.

Also, there are a lot of good options for adjustable dumbbells. Again, crazy pills. Mentioning limited space? No way you can recommend fixed weight dumbbells, due to their space needed.
Adjustable are way cheaper, and even a mix of lighter fixed weight and adjustable is way cheaper than fixed weight.

Good luck finding 120-180lb fixed weight dumbbells that are cheap and don't take up a lot of space.

I agree that a lot can be accomplished with weights, bar, and stands...but if you're going barebones, you might as well use 2x4s or pipes for a stand, and an axel for the bar. Weights can be concrete or car parts.

I am well aware of the differences between a Squat Rack and a Power Rack, and a Squat Rack typically isn't drilled at all it has fixed height pegs on the angled side supports. Either way, I dislike closed racks. Once you have used a good open rack it's hard to go back to settling for a closed one. And vritually all adjustable benches are wobbly if you are moving weight IME. I've tried plenty in various gyms around the world and didn't care much for any of them in particular, honestly. If it's just for me to use, better to simply have two fixed benches.

A Squat bar is not used because it is thicker, you can buy a thicker bar that isn't a Squat Bar. The Squat bar is wider between the collars as well as having longer collars to allow more plates to be loaded. Maybe most guys don't need the space for more plates, but that extra space between collars is very nice to have and the lack of flex is good too. I would say a SSB is 100x more useful than any Leg Press or Hack Squat. Especially with regards to doing any Strongman, recreationally or otherwise. I'm not saying they aren't useful, but no way are they on my list of basics or standard needs. I'd get a Leg Extension/Curl before either of those machines.
I didn't say that fixed DB's are space efficient, but they are every other way efficient for lifting. They show up used on Facebook Marketplace and such places. No, the heavy ones aren't super cheap, so you buy slowly and collect the bigger ones over time if you have the space. I'd certainly dedicate the space that a Leg Press takes up to a DB collection instead of using adjustables, in a heartbeat. It's still cheaper than a monthly gym membership over a fairly short time span. And I have used pipes set in concrete for squat stands, that was what I used when I first started doing squats. They are sketchy once the weight gets heavier.
And I'll double down on the greater utility of a SSB in relation to a machine. It is useful for a variety of lift variations, especially Good Mornings, and much more comfortable for Squats when you are trashed from shoulder work. I've used all of these things, and the Cambered Bar, and pretty much any other bar you see for sale anywhere, at some point in training. The basics are a good Power Bar, and an Axle, in that order. Next on the list would be a SSB. The mentioed machines are fun ego drivers if you have the space and the money but would not come that high up on the list for me, they would be near the absolute bottom of the list and probably only happen if I tripped across a crazy deal or got them for free. And 2x4's are not safe to use as supports, unless you're only one plate for your squats. Even then, they have a short lifespan.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

@KOTJ As cool as DIY is, I have no tools, no real workspace in my small flat and precious little DIY experience. I also train out of a car so everything I have needs to fit in the car and be easy to load and remove from the car. Bit of a unique situation not fit for a hack squat or leg press unfortunately. The sissy bench was kinda perfect and is certainly an option if somebody is super limited on space.

I agree with Hardartery, I personally wouldn’t trade my SSB for a leg press or hack squat. I’ve never tweaked my back though so that probably factors in.

[KOTJ]

@Hardartery
@OverheadDeadlifts

For the leg press and hack squats + normal barbell programming not being capable of being as useful, or more useful, than a normal barbell + SSB, please explain how.

Saying machines are "fun ego drivers" is a great Starting Strength approach.

But maybe there is a secret knowledge I am ignorant of.

Perhaps hypertrophy and strength are reduced/inhibited by the incorporation of strength equipment machines.

I think being able to limit systemic fatigue and target muscle groups is an excellent option for anyone interested in strength or aesthetics.

Even if your explanations are purely anecdotal, I would like to know what programming was structured like, for when you did use a leg press and/or hack squat, vs when you did not incorporate them with barbell training.

[mgil]

Anecdotal opinions:

A hip belt rig can be a little more flexible with regards to foot placement and the good ones offer a bar to hold on to for Hatfield style squats. I also think having three dimensions of freedom is still nice. I recognize that the footprint on these is typically quite large.

For me, SSB is a necessity simply because I cannot get my hands in position due to my shoulders not doing well. Crisscross front squats are fine with a regular barbell but I haven’t done them in a long time, since light goblet squats do okay for warmups and a bit of quad focus.

I think having a nice rack-able curl bar and trap bar are good buys. I scored mine before the homegympocalypse, so I’m out about $300 for both combined.

Bands can be a nice but also. I’ve been pretty happy doing assisted pull-ups. I don’t believe that this is the way to get to unassisted pull-ups, but the movement overall has helped my shoulders open up.

Regarding plates, when I was keeping two barbells loaded at the same time to superset upper/lower lifts, I ended up getting 4x25, 4x10, 8x5, and 6x2.5 for incremental loading. Nowadays i probably wouldn’t bother with the 2.5s, but having the others is helpful in loading.

Don’t forget to save a Folgers (or Cafe Bustelo in my case) bin to keep chalk.

An echo bike or a C2 rower are also something useful to own. Cardio is good too…

[Skid]

I've been lifting a long time. I started out with Weider plastic plates filled with concrete, and a 13 year old's vision of what a bench press bench should look like. I made mine out of plywood, a 2x10, and some old carpet to lay on LOL.

I'm pretty well equipped in my home gym and have almost everything. All I can recommend is buy once, cry once. Buy good stuff that's made to last. Having said that I bought a cheap Chinese trap bar that turned out to be surprisingly good quality.

[Renascent]

I'm still in awe of the ingenuity, so, assuming @SeanHerbison doesn't mind, just wanted to share this:

[OverheadDeadlifts]

@KOTJ Totally agree with the systemic fatigue part, especially with regards to back fatigue and leg training. Is a hack squat/leg press better than an SSB? I don’t think there’s a right answer. They’re so different that I think it comes down to the individual. Some people need to work around a fucked up back, others need to work around fucked up shoulders/elbows/wrists. That’s going to determine which one of them should be a first buy.

Plenty of things you can do with an SSB to smash the quads whilst taking a lot of stress off the back. Step ups, split squats, Hatfield squats, even plain old SSB squats don’t seem to hammer the lower back as much as regular high bar squats. I know you can do most of those with a barbell but as soon as you do a set with an SSB it’s like okay, I get it, I’m never doing those with a straight bar again.

@mgil Oh yeah, belt squats. Forgot those existed. Also a contender.

[gtl]

Home gym leg press crew checking in

Although I did have an SSB first

[Allentown]

IMO, a good cardio machine is far higher on the list of home gym buys than a leg press or hack squat.

[James]

First thing I'd buy after bar/plates/rack/bench for a new home gym?

A couple box fans.

[mgil]

A couple box fans.

Good mention!

[mgil]

IMO, a good cardio machine is far higher on the list of home gym buys than a leg press or hack squat.

Agreed. I should’ve put that farther up on my post.

[Hardartery]

@Hardartery
@OverheadDeadlifts

For the leg press and hack squats + normal barbell programming not being capable of being as useful, or more useful, than a normal barbell + SSB, please explain how.

Saying machines are "fun ego drivers" is a great Starting Strength approach.

But maybe there is a secret knowledge I am ignorant of.

Perhaps hypertrophy and strength are reduced/inhibited by the incorporation of strength equipment machines.

I think being able to limit systemic fatigue and target muscle groups is an excellent option for anyone interested in strength or aesthetics.

Even if your explanations are purely anecdotal, I would like to know what programming was structured like, for when you did use a leg press and/or hack squat, vs when you did not incorporate them with barbell training.

From my perspective, and everyone is different, the machines are not easier on my back. In fact, a Leg Press will pump up my lower back like an uncomfortable ballon. It also requires a lot of plates. I have not historically used them much, for the two reasons mentioned. As a "For instance" that clolours my opinion I have a story. Working out in the local public gym, there's a group of high school boys hooting and hollering around the Bench and then Leg Press while I'm doing paused Squats. I hit the end of my squat session (I was doing sets of 405 paused) and also the end of my tolerance. So I go work in with the boys on the Leg Press, after Squats. I loaded it to the tits, plates piled on top of it, well over 1k, climb in and crank out 10 reps resting my quads on my chest at the bottom of each one so there's no argument about full ROM. The only thing it accomplished was getting them to shut up and sheepishly find something quieter to do. So, for me, not a super effective tool if there's some kind of setup available for doing Squats.
I can take a SSB and squat without even using my hands. It's comfortable, it's easy on the arthritis in the left shoulder, and I can load it up enough to make the session difficult. I can turn it around and do Front Squats. I can use it for JM Press if so inclined. It will give me leg stimulation when my shoulder just does not want to loosen up and play ball. It let's me squat if back is feeling uncooperative. It requires virtually no maintenance and takes up very little space. I can hang chains from it or hook bands to it and provide novel stimulus. It's very utilitarian as far as equipment goes, and the less shoulder flexibility you have (This is a thing that happens as you age, even without injuries) the more you like the thing.

[KOTJ]

for anyone that is considering a leg press for their home gym, make sure your technique is correct.



Your knees should not make contact with your chest, and lower back pain or pumps mean that your back is not in the right position (or you have injured it).

[hector]

My normal stance is to default and agree with @kotj on everything.

But here, im going to second owning a SSB bar. Squatting low bar (I'm not a fan of high bar personally, but I recommend it for most) fucks with my shoulders once I start doing sets of 5 > 330. Not immediately, but it builds up after a few sessions. After a few weeks of squatting >330 with a straight bar, benching hurts. Few weeks after that, Overhead Press hurts.

SSB Squats let me bypass that shoulder pain altogether.

I also think SSB Squats make up for years of not giving my quads enough work. Though, if you are fortunate enough to own a leg press, underdeveloped quads likely aren't an issue for you.

[KOTJ]

Everyone is overlooking the "leg press and/or hack squat"

*Even the "leg sled" version of a hack squat
*Hopefully a good combo leg press/hack squat

Also, an SSB diy version is simple, cheap, and effective



Because you can DIY an SSB with a normal bar, but can't DIY a decent leg press and/or hack squat with a normal bar, I'm a fan of the benefits of the leg press and/or hack squat.

I have nothing against an SSB in the mix.

@hector I'm sure you've heard this, but it sounds like something may be wrong with your form (of you have unfortunate weird shit going on) if high bar injures your shoulders.

Do you have any high bar lifting videos in your log?