Setting Up a Home Gym: Pictures

Setting Up a Home Gym
Pictures - Part Two

These pictures are continued from Setting Up a Home Gym: Pictures - Part One.

A couple of views of my not so heavy, 25-pound bag. I didn't want too heavy of a bag as I need to take it down to use the power rack and then put it back up when I'm finished.

Close-up views of how I hooked the heavy bag to a rafter in the ceiling.

My Olympic-sized dumbbells hanging from Power Hooks. You "unrack" the hooks off of the bar to use the dumbbells and then re-rack them, just as you would a barbell. There is also have a good view of my Texas Power Bar in this picture. Available from Amazon .

My four little 1-1/4 pound plates, pictured with a pair of 2-1/2s for size comparison. Available from Amazon . For even more precious weights, I also have a set of fractional plates, also available from Amazon .

On the left, my power rack with dip bar attachments. In the background is my former workout sound system, a littlie music box. I have since got a new music box, so I use it or listen to Pandora via my PC using two of the speakers sets seen on the right.

Wire-type collars. These are available at most sporting goods stores.

My spin-lock collars were on back-order for five months, but I finally got them. They are much nicer and hold much better than the wire-type collars above. However, they broke after a short while, so they are not worth it.

My Quicklee collars. They work as advertised: very easy to put on and take off once you get the knack for it, and they hold very well even on deadlifts. I like these even better than the above spin-lock collars. However, these also broke after a short while, so I switched to the following.

I've been using a pair of grey lock jaw collars for years, but they are not holding quite as well as they used to, and I really wanted these red ones, as red is my favorite color. These are the best collars I have found. They are easy to put on and take off, and they hold very well, even on deadlifts. Available from Amazon .

Manta Ray for doing high bar squats. For a video of its use, click here. Available from Amazon.

Sting Ray for doing front squats. For a video of its use, click here. Available from Amazon. Amazon has available a Manta Ray and Sting Ray, Combination Pack.

My homemade box for doing box squats. It is 11.5" high. When sitting on it, I'm about 1" below parallel (I'm 5'1"). But I no longer do box squats as I don't find them effective, but I use this box for step-ups. For those, I added a mat on top to soften the step, so it is now about 12" high. This box is also useful for a stepping stool to reach my lat pulldown (below) and for setting the curl bar on between sets.

My homemade lat. pulldown. The parts were bought at local hardware store and the bar at Dunham's. The purple bands are my light bands and not related to the lat. pulldown. For a video of the use of the lat. pulldown, click here. Unfortunately, the light washed out the upper part showing how I have the pulleys hooked into the rafters. But the pic shows that.

Miscellaneous stuff at the corner of my platform. The buckets holding my chains, and sticking out of one of them are the above mentioned dip bars attachments. Leaning in the corner is my curl bar, the cheap bar I got with my 300-pound weight set, and an old broomstick for stretching. And yes, a bunch of junk in the background.

These pictures are continued at Setting Up a Home Gym: Pictures - Part Three.

The links to Amazon are advertising links, for which I receive a commission if a product is purchased after following the link.

Powerlifting and Back Pain

The first book is geared towards the beginner to intermediate powerlifter. It presents sound training, competition, dietary, and supplement advice to aid the reader in starting and progressing in the sport of powerlifting. The second book details how I overcame years of crippling low back and was able to return to the sport of powerlifting.

Starting and Progressing in Powerlifting: A Comprehensive Guide to the World's Strongest Sport

Overcoming Back Pain: A Mind-body Solution (Second Edition)