Home Gym | Other | Forum

This winter has cured me from wanting to continue my gym membership.

I've got an 11'X11' room to update my home gym.

I've found what I want @ Dick's Sporting Goods.  It's a Marcy, adjustable power rack and incline/flat/decline bench for $400.  I can't even find used equipment at this good of a deal that seems as durable.  The front of the rack is only 2/3 high, but the rear uprights include chinup grips @ the top.  The rack also includes two attaching pins with handles that allow custom-height dips.  The system is very similar to the very-popular, PowerTec rack for $450, except the Marcy includes the bench and is only 2/3 height on the front uprights, which seems not to be necessary anyway.  It's built good.  I've looked at one on display.

The Marcy bench includes an attachment on the front end that can accept Marcy accessories such as a concentration-curl apparatus, a leg developer (for leg ext/leg curls) and a plate-loadable, lat down apparatus.  I'm definitely interested in the latter.

My only dilemma is  with the bar. I have a 5' standard bar and standard plates.  The bar I have has adjustable inner collars, but that will leave me only five to six inches on each end after moving the inner collars out to fit on the rack.  The only new bars I can find do not have adjustable collars.  A 6' bar has only 42" width between the collars; I need 48" (43.5 pin measurements).  A 7' bar has 54" width, but a 7' bar leaves me only two feet on each end for loading and moving around the room.

I found a website to order a cast iron bar.  I can using my existing collars for adjustment, but then I'll have no knurling.  About $50.

I could also order a 7' bar and cut off 6" on each end.  Also about $50.

Any suggestions.

Standard bars can be purchased threaded or non threaded; 5', 6', or 7':   http://www.bigfitness.com/stan…..dbars.html  Threaded bars include collars that thread on the outside.  I don't like them, because they are a hassle to load/deload.  I just use standard clips.  As you may have noticed, these bars are rated for only 250 lbs, but that is extremely conservative, however, you wouldn't want to go above 350 for regular use.  I don't think this will ever be an issue for me although I sure wish it would.  Some bars are purchased as standards with olympic adapters to turn them into olympic bars. Unless these bars have changed, no standard bars have  free rotation but they spin fine as long as the plates aren't too tightly loaded.

I bought the rack and bench Friday; brought it home and assembled the rack Fri. night; the bench Saturday night.  Here is what it looks like:  http://www.impex-fitness.com/p…..number=434

After buying the system, I've noticed that the rack, although plenty sturdy for lifters that will use less than 500 lbs, has a little slop between the pins and rack when locked. This is due to a lack of precision in the manufacture of the locking pins.  The long safety pins are not as bad as the short ones (the ones that will normally hold the weight).  I may experiment with using duct tape to tighten the gap.

The bench is mechanically super sturdy.  Benches are Marcy/Impex's specialty and one can sure tell by the way mine is made and designed.  The seat pad and back rest pad, however, are pretty cheap, especially the vinyl covering and they are cheaply stitched.  I would say that the bench itself is worth about $200.  I paid $400 for both pieces.   I'll have to be careful not to rip the pads.

The rack and bench cannot be found anywhere for sale online.  If I google the model number, only the manufacturer's site comes up.  I just got lucky and found this system @ Dick's Sporting Goods on display.

I can find the lat attachment only at one website: http://www.exercisetrail.com/a…..lat21.html  I can't find the leg developer even @ impex's website.  I'll have to call them to see if it is available.

The 5' bar will work.  The collars will fit where I have them now, but there is no play, so I'll have to move them out only two inches on each side.  This will allow me to set the rack offset in the room for more space.

Found out Tues. that the system I bought is a brand-new design; that's why it's hard to find for sale.  The attachments that will work with the bench won't be available for two more months but will be sold at their dealers.  The store I bought mine had five on a Sunday, and I bought the last one the next Friday, so others must agree that it's a good value.

I re-painted my bar because it looked really bad with my new rack and bench.  Found out my bar is actually 5' 4", and that's why it still works with this wide system.

I read the manual and learned that the  pins are rated for only 300 lbs total for each set; the bench: 300 for the user and 600 total weight, so, as I expected, the bench is more rugged than the rack.  This would be useful information for buyers, because most racks are designed for 1000 lbs or so, and it's not too odd for lifters to use more than 300 lbs for squats.  I would say this is somewhat conservative, but I'd be weary going above 375 lbs or so.  This information is not shown in their ads.  Luckily for me, I'll probably never be able to handle that much weight.

I just need some 10lb plates to be in business.  Walmart has them for less than $9 each. Four of those will put me at about 245lbs.  I can buy more plates if I ever get stronger.

That's what happens when you have enough money and nothing else to spend it on…

It's good to have your own gym at home. Whenever you want to do exercise you have equipment, you don't have to go anywhere.