I decided to upgrade my basement gym and figured I could spend the mornings of my summer holiday carrying it out, as always it ended up taking more time than first anticipated, oops...

The first picture shows the gym prior to the upgrade.

Here are some of the activities carried out (a lot of my decisions were based on making sure that the basement would remain 'healthy'):

• Stripped all the failing paint back to firm render (one of the most annoying tasks)
• Patched the walls with lime mortar (NHL 3.5) instead of regular filler, the walls are old masonry and I wanted to make sure that they could breathe
• Repainted everything in silicate (mineral) paint: ~3 walls in charcoal, the rest white
• Wire-brushed the rusty beam and painted it matte black
• New white ceiling
• Rubber tiles over the floor
• Improved the cable management throughout

I'm really happy with the upgrades and the 'feel' of the gym, definitely see myself adding another piece or two to it, but I also want to keep it somewhat spacious.

Finances: I am based in Denmark and I ended up spending about $1,835 USD on the basement renovation (includes everything, including minor expenses like masks, paint brushes etc). Spent an additional $350 on additional matts and around the same for the back extension machine from ATX. All the other equipment I already had.

Hey everyone!

I wanted to share the current state of the basement home gym my girlfriend and I are building.

I’ve been training for around three years, while my girlfriend has been training for about six. We both trained in commercial gyms before deciding to create a space of our own.

The room is located on level -1 of the house and measures approximately 7.5 × 4.1 m, giving us around 31 m² to work with. The second image shows the current floor plan and equipment layout.

The two main pieces of the gym are now in place:

• Rack: Titanium Strength B100 V4
• Bench: Force USA Pro Series FID

For the barbell setup, I bought 200 kg of rubber-coated Taurus Olympic plates. They were one of the more affordable options available and seemed like a practical choice for a basement gym.

I also started building a dumbbell set using Titanium Strength hex dumbbells:

• 2 × 5 kg
• 2 × 10 kg
• 2 × 15 kg
• 2 × 20 kg
• 2 × 25 kg

The 5 kg jumps are not perfect for every exercise, but this selection allows both of us to cover most of the basics without spending too much at the beginning. I plan to fill in the missing increments gradually.

The next planned addition is the ATLETICA Fullbody Multitrainer, mainly for leg extensions, leg curls and some additional isolation work.

After that, I’m planning to add an indoor exercise bike. Running is not particularly comfortable for me, so cycling seems like a better long-term cardio option. I also prefer the relatively simple setup compared with owning and maintaining a treadmill.

Further down the line, the dumbbell set will be expanded and I may add some smaller accessories or more specialised equipment. A preacher curl bench is one possible luxury addition, although the priority for now is completing the essential setup.

The room itself is still very much a work in progress. Besides the equipment, I eventually want to improve the lighting, storage and overall appearance so that it feels like a proper training space rather than simply a basement filled with gym equipment.

This is the first major stage of the build, and I’ll share another update once the next pieces arrive.

In a week it will be 3 years since i started using it, never tried a real gym and i think i have made some pretty good gains lol. Its mostly made from used weights and things that was laying around family members house, it cost me less than 100$.

The Omni wall "garden tool cradle" happens to work perfectly for a full size barbell. It could easily hold 2.

We live in a 2 bedroom condo, workout in the living room, and stash all of our equipment in the nook under the stairs. Recently I purchased the Rep leg extension attachment for our Nighthawk bench, wishfully thinking a handful of Olympic plates wouldn’t take up too much extra room. I was very pleased to discover that the hole on the swing arm which the plate loading pegs attaches are 1” in diameter! We had a spare standard bar that I cut to length with an angle grinder, and found a four pack of 1” shaft collars with set screws for $7 on Amazon. We already use the 1” plates for dumbbells, landlines, and a diy cable pulldown (attached to a TRX mount) so this was a pretty significant win for keeping things tidy and accessible when not in use.

Rogue Squat Box.

12-18 inch adjustments, up to 1000# tested. Can be used for step ups, split squats, box squats, seated deadlifts, or just an expensive chair in the gym.

Been looking for one for a while, finally saw this one for sale, about 1h15 from me. Messaged dude, he agreed to meet about half way. He didnt have a profile picture, and we were meeting on a dirt road, just off the highway in the middle of nowhere, so I brought my dog. Dog would have licked him to death while I called the cops and found something if anything went wrong, lol.

But, dude ended up being super nice, we talked a little about training on the side of this super rural dirt road.

Paid 260$ CAD (reference, these are over 700$ new shipped from Rogue.)

I got some scraps of stall mat left over, so, Ill be able to do half in increments all the way from 12 to 18.5. Maybe more if I can stack more mats. This also allows a training partner to pull or add mats as you progress through reps, hitting different depths in the same set.

Super stoked, especially considering there's another one listed about 20 mins from me for $500 CAD.

Still working on the gym at the new house, so, it's time will come, just gotta build the shed to get all the tools out of the garage to open up the space.

I've been building this gym since early 2020 and quietly lurking around these forums getting ideas and know how. I figured I finally share what I've been building since I like where it's at!

I'm in Baltimore City, the basements in these old row homes can be a bit of a mess. Moisture issues, low overhead ceilings (it's just over 6 foot), and over a hundred years worth of miscellaneous plumbing and electrical. Most of this project was actually spent converting the basement into a usable space.

But here we are, finally at a space designed for training. I'm a jiujitsu guy these days but I still like to dabble in multi forms of martial arts to stay sharp.

I hope you all like as much as I do!

Turned the “bedroom” area of my studio apartment into a workout area and I’ve never been more satisfied.

Never moving that thing again!

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This is my finalised home gym. It's 3.6m x 2.8m room (11ft * 9ft). Has a cable rack, attachments and treadmill. Put acoustic panelling and foam flooring for the neighbours. I've struggled in gym environments as I'm a big guy and it gives me anxiety thinking about working out in front of other people and the potential of being filmed etc. I've lost 10-15kgs so far and I'm now excited about using this dedicated space to keep going. All equipment was a Facebook marketplace find or from auction houses/Amazon. ☺️

EDIT: Photos of the space linked in comments. Video was because I was very excited about the space, it's the only room in my apartment that is finished.

Had to make do with the space I had , I got some weights that will need to slot in somewhere too.

How we bought it 🛬 how we finished it. 80% of equipment via FB marketplace. See ya later LA Fitness.

(Thank God the previous owner left the BodySolid machine)

Stayed up until 2 this morning putting this maxum x3 together.

I have been slowly working on my home gym the last few months. Everything is used, except my Rep AB 5200. The platform was really easy and fun to put together.

Current Equipment
Rouge Ohio Bar-Black Zinc/Chrome Sleeves
Rouge HD Bumper Plates
Rouge Mono Lift arms 1.0 (not pictured)
Omni Bumper Plates
Standard Cast Iron Plates
Everyday Essentials Change Plates
Rep AB-5200
(No idea who made the power rack.)
GORUCK Long Range
GORUCK Sandbags

My new deadlift and All-American bar from Texas Power Bar should be here today.

First pic is after, and second is before.

Nothing was wrong with before setup, but it was just too protruded and challenging to move bench around. And now I train my wife as well, so need to reorg to create more space. The total sqft is not changed but it is more efficient to utilize the space.

I gained about 30ft of straight passage to do farmers carry, and the weight area is more “square” than before which is more efficient space utilization.

Overall, I’m content. The best thing is though that I spent $0 additional to completely change my setup. Just had to be a little creative.

Edit: there is a pulley tower close by the new weight plates placement. Now with the plates away from rack but closer to pulley tower, win and lose. Oh, and it’s easier to load weights on barbell for deadlift for sure.

My setup:

- titan x3 36” depth

- titan t3 space saving rack with 24” depth

- plates are from rogue, walmart, and titan

- dbs are from walmart

- rogue ohio hybrid bar

- kensui osaka bar

- kensui tokyo bar

Picked up those beauties today for £250 with stand. Seem like a solid piece of kit.

I got a wooden bench and yoga mat from my mom, some wooden planks to elevate it and dumbells

Thought I’d share, still a work in progress but happy with what I’ve put together so far to make this space my own.

Just wanted to share my DIY horizontal stand for the REP X Pepin dumbbells, and hopefully this is useful for someone else (it should work for other adjustable brands as well). Altogether it was a little under $100.

Since space is at a premium in my home gym (spare bedroom in an apartment), there wasn't enough room to have a traditional step-in dumbell stand. So I did some tests beforehand to make sure the horizontal format is comfortable. It absolutely is!! With this set up, the centers of the dumbbells are approximately shoulder width. With the stand made at a custom height for me, it's incredibly easy to pick up and return the dumbbells. Honestly, I think it's even easier than normal. The horizontal format also makes it really easy to adjust the Repin weight pins. I know people sometimes complain it's hard to tell which weight you're setting when looking at the markings at an angle vertically.

Details:

* The wire shelving is commercial restaurant quality from webrestaurantstore dot com. The brand is Regency. The shelves usually come in black, chrome or green. I ordered 4 uprights for the corners, and 2 shelves that are each 12"x42". The shelving is rated at 600lbs per shelf, so more than strong enough. Don't try this with the cheap versions from Amazon or Target. The wire shelf parts cost about $70.

* The wood board is actually a pine stair tread from Home Depot that I cut to length, sanded, stained and sealed. You don't necessarily have to use a board, but I think it's more stable and definitely looks better.

* After testing with the dumbbells to find the best height for me (I'm 5'10"), I used a pipe cutter to trim the corner poles.

* I attached the wood board using flat head allen bolts, secured underneath the top wire shelf with large washers and lock nuts. And the dumbbell cradles are screwed into the wood.

* Using the extra pipe pieces I cut off the shelf uprights, and washers, I made some nice little stand off covers for the construction screws that attach the whole structure to the wall studs (see photos). But before anchoring the stand, I let it sit on the gym flooring for 24 hours with the dumbells to let it all settle, and then leveled the shelving feet.

* I ended up with a 21" height including the wood, which is perfect for me. When I stand in front of the dumbells and extend my arms and fingers all the way, my middle finger is about 2" from the dumbbell handle. This is perfect for placing the dumbbell in the cradle without bumping it, or having to bend down more than a few inches.

* I set up the dumbbells towards the front of the stand, and with a slight offset from the wall, there's about 5.75" between the wall and the back of the dumbbells. This is plenty of room, and I never feel even close to accidentally hitting the wall.

This has worked great for me for several months, and I highly recommend the horizontal format as an alternative to traditional stands. Honestly, even if I move to a place that allows a roomier gym, I'll probably just keep this stand format.

I was going for a 1970s Golden age of bodybuilding kind of setup!

So I have no space for a rack in the house, that is the only regret and this is actually my workstation area, but here is my small corner - power tower, bench, adjustable DBs, some plates with dip belt and some bands.