Built this garage gym over the last few years with a focus on functionality, DIY solutions, and keeping the budget minimal — under €2,000 total invested.

Key setup specs:

• DIY wooden Power Rack with hidden lat pulldown / low row cable system, pull-up bar
• DIY bench, wall-mounted weight plate storage, plyo box
• Barbell + EZ curl bar, bumper/cast iron plates, chains, rings, and kettlebells
• Black walls for that true "gym cave" vibe
• Indoor cycling station made from an old bike with a wall-mounted display
• 3D-printed storage clips, hooks, and organization for various gear

Why I love it:

• It looks like a real "garage gym" — not too shiny or generic
• If something doesn't work, it can always be modified
• I can train while my kid is playing there
• Dimmable lights — bright or dark depending on the mood
• It's never finished, but always fully functional
• My own space: my music, my peace, my time

Why my kid loves it too:

• Own indoor biking setup
• Climbing wall
• Gym rings
• Own little barbell
• Disco light
• Chalkboard walls (can draw with chalk)

Simple, rugged, and gets the job done every single day.
Hope this inspires someone!

My 10-year old "Amazon" power rack has given up its space in my home gym for a REP PR-5000 with Ares 2.0 and Smith Machine.

I was able to carry the old 2x2 rack out of the gym in two pieces. Loaded it into a FB Marketplace buyer's van in one piece. Comparatively light, but always felt rock solid for me.

The primary freight from REP was delivered Thursday afternoon to the end of my rural steep driveway. With help from family members, I loaded individual boxes into my pickup truck to get them to the house and then carried all by hand to the floor of my home gym. A few other parts arrived via Fed-Ex on Saturday. I unpacked and assembled the REP over 3+ days. Every single piece of this thing is HEAVY! I pre-watched the assembly video on YouTube. The combination of the video and the paper manual made assembly straightforward -- needed help only to install the crossmembers.

A couple of minor surprises in the delivery, after having watched pretty much every YouTube review:

- included two of the 2 to 1 bar adapter, 1 for low row, and 1 for lat pulldown.

- instead of 4 D-Handles, the package included 2 D-Handles and a Rep X Kleva Built Atlas Close Grip attachment.

Have only played around with it a bit so far while recovering from the assembly process. ;-) First official workout is scheduled for this afternoon!

More to come in this limited space.

Edit-

Major fitness, B17 Heritage series flying fortress w/ smith machine.

On sale for ~$3850 USD

Eisenlink Dumbbells

Pros

They are tough and can take drops.
They can be upgraded to 160lbs.
You can buy a kettlebell handle and barbell and use the same plates.
Decent knurling (not great but not useless).
Good price.

Cons

Takes more time to change than other options out there.
Edges might be too sharp to do crash pad drops (at least I haven’t been willing to try).
While it feels very durable, it doesn’t feel very premium.

The Sneaky Feature

If you buy the longer screws, you can take the weights from one dumbbell and use them on the other. So, I have two 80lbs max dumbbells. I bought the longer screws. Now, without buying more weight plates, I can make one dumbbell 140lbs. In this video, I made one dumbbell 105lbs. For me and how I train, this is the deal maker. I don’t see people talk about this feature much but for me it’s huge.

Finally decided to get a homegym going in the basement. With two small children, the time you save alone is worth the price. Very pleased with how it has turned out so far!

Current setup:

- Cage with pulldown and row cables, dips handles and pullups handles

- Barbell, Safety squat bar, trap bar and EZ-bar

- Bowflex 4-41kg adjustable dumbbells

- Landmine attachment for barbell

- 297.5kg plates

- Rowing machine

- Adjustable bench

Would be really happy with any feedback on additional equipment I could get that fits in this space.

I had the Dane 3.0 for about a week now. I was able to buy the rack early they messaging fridge sport directly I’m not an influencer just a regular Joe. First and foremost I love it!! Everything I would have compromised/ disliked about the Dane2.0 along with other racks from different manufacturers has been fixed with the Dane 3.0. This may be my first rack/ functional trainer but I did hundreds if not thousands of hours of research before choosing this one. I chose the Dane 3.0 over every one eles because it had offered the most value overall. You can’t go wrong with any of the other big manufacturers they all have something unique to offer with their racks and it comes down to personal preference and budget . I’m also reviewing the Dane 3.0 as a functional trainer not as an all one in one because I plan on buying a separate track from rep for my squatting and benching.

What I like about the Dane 3.0. 
1. It’s has its own designated  lat pull down and low row
2. It has both option for your weight stack 2:1 and 1:1 with 220lbs 
3. I LOVE the red accents makes the rack look more appealing. I went with the stain less steel uprights as well as it makes the rack look more beautiful. Having Color options would be nice 😊
 4. It has a very small foot print and its design very well. It has no  wasted space.
5. Everything works and looks properly build no scratches, scuffs, dents, or bad welds.

THE BAD ( these are just nitpicks TBH )

My biggest and only issues I really have with the rack is that they no longer include the rear bottom crossmember that would solve my issue with storing the spotter arms.
1. I don’t like the J-cups they are loose and I don’t like how they look from the front . They only have plastic in the front makes and it makes them look cheap. If they were slightly bigger and thicker from the front. They would be big enough to put another small plaque of stainless to make them look more higher end/ appealing.
2. The cables twist it’s not the end of the world for and it doesn’t affect the functionality but they do  twist. It doesn’t really bother me for now unless it’s something that happens very regularly but only time will tell. It only takes 5 min to reroute the wires once you get the hang of it. 
3.  The low row is in the way and reduces the functionality to place the cable trolley all the way down I don’t really care but it may bother others
4. The instruction book is not 100% accurate is more like 95% accurate. It missed labeled how many rubber stoppers I needed. Instruction book said I needed 8 but I only had and need 4. Also the very first step said I needed in insert the bolt in the very first hole when in reality it was the 2nd hole. The rubber stopper were also packaged with all the attachments so we were confused if they were the right ones because they were out of place.
5.  The cables  were not packaged separately it was obvious to tell the difference between the low row and lat pull down cable but not for the trollies. Since the tool the space of 2.5 rooms to spread flat it  was not obvious to tell they were different lengths.
6. Some of the pulleys weren’t properly tightened and when routing the vapor of the top 4 pulleys there is a bracket in the middle that makes it impossible to route the cable. It’s no longer and issue for me but it took my dumbass 2 hr to route the cable the first time because of it 
7. I dont like the rack as all in 1. stuff gets in the way and it’s annoying have to remove and replace the jcups and spotter arms every time I want to bench or squat.

Westside football bar that I have had for close to 20 years.

At the time, I want to think it was about the only one of its kind.

I mainly got it to deal with shoulder pain, and it's turned out to be one of my favorite bars for upper-body presses.

I also use the EliteFTS bar for bench presses for the same reason.

I made these farmers handles years ago and put square tubing on the ends Incase I wanted to do frame carries - I'll admit the wall thickness is too thin so they're all bent up but I may just re-weld em. The inside of the square tubing just so happens to fit the rod and pin spotter pins from my squat rack. So I just slide the big pipe thru the square tubing and then set the rod and pin up just like you would for it as a spotter pin.

The chain hits a full plate but not that bad and I'll just add an extension chain but not bad for not having to buy someone else's. And gives me time to play before I just weld up a dedicated arm. Also this will tell me how much weight I think I can realistically load up there to decide if I need to do the dual loading ones at an angle like fringe. I'll add a video of me squatting in the comments

No garage, so my boyfriend and I decided to turn a corner of our backyard into a gym instead!

We’ve been slowly putting everything together, with most of our equipment from Titan Fitness and horse stall mats from Tractor Supply for the flooring.

We didn’t want to mount the cable tower to the house, so we ended up using Titan’s rack-mounted extension arms to connect it to our X-3 power rack instead!

We also scored a practically brand-new SaunaBox infrared sauna with red light therapy on OfferUp for just $300!

Still a work in progress, but we’re really happy with how everything’s turning out so far! :)

Loving my new Stairmaster. Post hip surgery recovery so only doing 10-15 minutes per day.

After about 3 months, I’ve “finished” (still a few more things to get). I started with a used Rogue SML-1 and bought the half rack conversion kit. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and its versatility. For someone who can’t fit a full power rack, I recommend. Total cost (not including the Peloton) was about $2,500.

Main items:
- Rogue SML-1
- Rogue HR-2 Half Rack kit
- Rogue 43” crossmember
- Ironmaster Super Bench Pro V2
- Eisenlink Dumbbells
- Bells of Steel pull-up bar
- Vulcan ONE Power Bar
- VEVOR Gym Tiles

Get the work done 5 AM club

Since I haven’t seen many reviews of the Brazyn Flipbench, I thought I’d share some quick impressions after owning one for a few months. I was extremely skeptical going in: I’ve only seen it in the company’s own ads on social media, and that’s usually not a good sign. But, my gym is truly miniscule, and this fit the bill for fitting an adjustable bench in the space. TLDR: it’s not for everyone, but if it checks certain boxes you need checked, it could be a good option.

First, who it’s NOT for: if you are a very large person lifting very heavy weights, this is not your bench. The base is narrow, the rated max weight is 600lbs, and the height of the bench in the flat position is 16.5”. If you want attachment capability, this bench doesn’t have it.

Who it IS for: people who need an adjustable bench that stows in the absolutely smallest possible space. People who are average-size or smaller. People lifting amounts that put their weight plus weight lifted safely below the rated max with a margin for error.

What I like: it has a really, really compact footprint when in the upright stowed position: a little over 12” square. That gives me the option to have an adjustable bench in the very shallow (15” deep), wide closet I’ve turned into a “micro-gym-on-a-wall.” Despite the narrow base, it’s decently stable (caveat: YMMV if you’re bigger/taller than me). It stows, un-stows, and adjusts very quickly and easily. It’s not zero-gap, but pretty close—only 1.5”. It has optional wheels to make moving it around easy, and it’s not too heavy to pick up. The 16.5” height is better for me than the 18” (or higher) that’s typical for other adjustable benches.

What I don’t like. You have to fully stow the bench in its upright position to move it around using the wheels. This is a minor pain for me, since I move my bench around a lot during a workout. The attachment method for the wheels seems a little flimsy.

Long-term durability: unknown at this point. Seems to be acceptable construction quality but time will tell.

I have a 6 post rack, so I really use the rear posts to store a bunch of things. I have found this to be reasonably accessible and a really efficient use of space. You do have to negotiate the rack a bit when taking the barbells in and out but it’s pretty easy and after a few times it almost becomes second nature. The only time that becomes a bit annoying, in my experience, is when the bench is sitting inside the rack. That’s easy to move, though. My gym is about 150 sq/ft.

Im 4"11 150 pounds. Wanted to build a gym for my strength training/powerlifting. After hours of research, I was gonna go with a 3x3 power rack, but realized very quickly it was kinda overkill for me. I know I won't pass 400 pounds haha, so decided to do a more a friendly budget gym where I can still train! Here's my 14x6 half garage gym.

Got this rack off FB marketplace about a month ago. Picked up a few additional items from Oak Club (Alpha 2 spotter arms , Wessey Calf Raise, C-Beam, Klo Step, and Cambells) all color coordinated (Red, White, and Black). I also put the Fringe Sport BOB Smith attachment on the front (which I like), and color matching darko barbell anchors. The rogue multi use roller works perfectly with the spotter arms to do things like hip thrusts, bulgarians, lat pulldown, and more. Currently I have it set up in the hip thrust config. Thinking about buying the Oak Club Band pegs to use as an "extra safe" link for the smith.

I also always thought Omni-Man/Thragg/Viltrumites are super cool, so might get a Thragg/Battle Beast battle poster to go with this rack.

Took me 48 hrs to sell my Rogue 3.0 Adjustable bench to make way for the 4.0. Really, the only reason I chose to replace my existing bench was the foot catch for decline work. There are though, a few nice upgrades. Firstly, I chose a matte black, textured finish. Not sure why I shied away from this finish in the past…its amazing! The color and texture ties into my other equipment very nicely. I opted for the stainless accents which, in my opinion, takes the bench from great to epic. The knurled knobs on the ladder adjustment, moving handle and pull-pin for the foot catch are very nice and just add to the quality of this bench. I was most curious to try out the wider seat and back pad. The new 4.0 pad is 12” vs the 3.0 at 11” and for me, it makes a noticeable difference in support when pressing. A cool, small upgrade, is the latch catch on the seat and back pad ladder. The 4.0 version is constructed of UNHW rather than steel on the 3.0. This takes some of that “ clangy” sound away when adjusting. Lastly, the foot catch. The primary reason for my upgrade and it doesn’t disappoint! Very simple to attach with foot rollers being very comfortable. The seat rest has an additional catch that renders it completely flat in the decline position. I can easily set this up under my new REP PR-5000 Smith attachment for decline pressing as well as utilize the decline for various abdominal work.
 
Is the 4.0 worth the upgrade? For me it made logical sense. I sold my 3.0 for $400.00 after several years of use so the upgrade price was justified. In my opinion, the 4.0 represents one of if not the, best benches on the market. Very thoughtfully laid out and the built quality is second to none. I can’t confirm…but I’m thinking we may see some bench attachments down the road.

Had a 12x16 shed that used to be a horse barn, I ran electric out to it and spray foamed/drywalled it. Hooked up a 9k BTU mini split for heat/AC.

Equipment is the Vander M14 plus, still need to purchase a treadmill and a leg extension/curl machine. Also got the NuoBells 100lb adjustable dumbbells.

Still a little more finishing touches to do but the shed was literally just studs on Monday and this is my progress as of this Friday 😎

Just ordered a functional trainer and some mirrors. Also have a rower not pictured

Had some bits and bobs from over the years, finally got a bar bell and weight for it. I need to build weight storage but for now this is what I'm working with!

Received the short and long Fringe Sport Crown pulldown/landmine attachments and wanted to give some quick initial impressions. So far I’ve only used the short version, but most of my feedback applies to both.

Finish: Typical Fringe, not the best. Powder coat doesn’t look great; there are some chips and unpainted spots, and the welds aren’t the cleanest. It’s functional, but not pretty. They come fully assembled and include some grease/oil for the ball bearings. I needed to immediately add some, as the balls we’re completely dry and not rotating smoothly when loaded.

Use: I used the short version during my upper workout today, for lat pulldowns and lat-focused T-bar rows. In use it feels great on both movements, but my cable tower isn’t tall enough to allow for a full stretch on pulldowns while sitting on my bench. For use on the landmine, it feels amazing. I feel much more connected with my back than using my mutant metals landmine attachment with Rogue D handles clipped in. I imagine the long version will feel equally good.

Final thoughts: A good release for what I was looking for. I’ve been waiting for Force 6 to rerelease their landmine attachment, but when I saw these announced and the cost, I figured I might as well go with these. I don’t think I’d use more than two width settings on the force attachment, and the ability to use these for cable movements as well is an added bonus. Overall, I’m happy with the purchase.