Home gym advice

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

We are currently going through a house refurbishment and have an ideal area which has been designated for a home gym. However, as always, these things are taking longer than expected, and this will be one of the last rooms to be completed, as it is currently being used to store 'junk' from the rest of the house while other changes are being made.

I can't see this being ready for another 6-9 months, but have decided that I can't wait that long to start increasing my training, so I'm planning to create an area where I can fit a treadmill in the interim, which my wife and I can both use.

When complete, I'm hoping that the gym will have:
- Treadmill
- Rowing machine
- Weights bench / Smith Machine
- Punch bag for boxing/karate training
- Turbo trainer (I already have this)
- area for free weights / stretching etc

Ideally the rowing machine and treadmill will be able to be folded to maximise space when one or both are not being used.

Budget is around £5-£6k and I've been looking at some Norditrack stuff https://www.nordictrack.co.uk/specials which would fit the bill. I am a little unsure about the importance of the ongoing iFit memberships or whether these machines have sufficient built-in programs etc that can provide some structured training - interval programs etc - without the significant ongoing expense of a membership?

So at a guess, £2.5k on the treadmill and rowing machine, £2k on a smith machine and weights, with £500 for the heavy bag / banana bag leaving £1k for flooring and accessories. Does that sound viable?

I'm wondering if there will be some decent Black Friday deals next month...

Any advice on the proposed set-up or particular brands / models to look out for? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Edited by Sport_Turismo_GTS on Sunday 22 October 12:26

[Maxf]

I decided against Nordic trac for our gym purely because of various reports of problems and broken kit not being sorted in any sort of acceptable timeframe. I know most people go online to moan but it did seem like there were a few reports of the same issues which was enough to put me off, given the cost.

[bangerhoarder]

Do you need a Smith machine? Bulky, expensive and not as useful, IMO, as a good foldable squat rack. Not as versatile either. It’d certainly be the first thing I’d drop.

Concept2 rowers always impress me. They tolerate commercial gyms well.

[Brainpox]

Don’t get a smith machine. As above it’ll take more space and give you fewer options. Get a half rack with Olympic bar and safeties. You’ll save a fortune

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

Maxf said:

I decided against Nordic trac for our gym purely because of various reports of problems and broken kit not being sorted in any sort of acceptable timeframe. I know most people go online to moan but it did seem like there were a few reports of the same issues which was enough to put me off, given the cost.

They seem to have a decent warranty, which was one of the reasons for choosing the brand, but a warranty is no good if they don’t honour it appropriately. Thanks for the warning.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

Brainpox said:

Don’t get a smith machine. As above it’ll take more space and give you fewer options. Get a half rack with Olympic bar and safeties. You’ll save a fortune

The reason for a Smith machine was to be able to exercise safely and with more controlled movements. However, if the safety aspect can be achieved on a half rack with more flexibility then I will look at that.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

bangerhoarder said:

Do you need a Smith machine? Bulky, expensive and not as useful, IMO, as a good foldable squat rack. Not as versatile either. It’d certainly be the first thing I’d drop.

Concept2 rowers always impress me. They tolerate commercial gyms well.

Yes, I think I will look out for a second hand Concept 2 - it won’t have the functionality of the new fancy rowers with colour screen etc, but I probably won’t use most of it and as you say, they are popular with gyms up and down the country, so must be pretty reliable.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

While the responses above have been really helpful for the future, the original question was about ‘which treadmill’ I should buy, so any thoughts on that would be much appreciated!

[bangerhoarder]

Sorry, forgot about that part! Only experienced the NordicTrack and Technogym ones - the latter are mega money but superb. The NordicTrack one I know of in a home gym had issues with the rollers straight from the box, wearing the belt on one side, but was fixed and works fine in that scenario.

[dieselgrunt]

I would recommend only buying Concept 2 equipment. I have their rower,bike and skierg.
They are extremely durable and more importantly every part of the machines can be bought from C2.
If the NordicTrack or other manufacturer breaks after warranty then good luck getting it fixed.
I have done 6 million meters so far on my kit. It still feels brand new.
Go to YT and you will find lots of videos on how to fix and maintain the C2 equipment.
There are Facebook groups dedicated to all 3 machines.
Only C2 have online league tables, challenges and daily WOD’s, all free.

[Gio G]

I purchased a Nordictrack for my gym over 1.5 years ago, I went for 2950 Commercial Treadmill, which has the hydraulic system that folds up. I have to say it is a nice bit of kit and having it fold up is pretty handy. Has great features and everything you would want from a treadmill. I did not go for the i-FIT subscription, was not that convinced by it and didn't want another subscription in the household!

My current gym set up:

Treadmill, Heavy bag, Olympic rings (my son uses them) a decent selection of weights with rack and bench. Also purchased a few heavy duty rubber mats to protect the floor..

G

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

Thank you!

[DaveRed08]

Another note about Smith machines - they can end up forcing you into unnatural movements meaning you don't get the full benefit of the weight you are moving, and also can cause muscle instability. Personally I'd much rather use a power rack with safety bars set up correctly - you can use it for bench press, general free weights, pull ups (with the correct attachment) etc.

Thinking about it, if you traced the end of a bar across your shoulders when you perform a squat, it wouldn't go straight up and down - there would be some deviation. In a Smith machine you don't have that deviation so you're not having to provide any stability. Best part is a power rack is usually much cheaper and takes up less room!

[wong]

I know it's not what you asked, but do you know about Parkrun? A regular 5Km run every Saterday at 9am. If there's one near you, you and your wife could try it.

I would second free weights as well.

[InitialDave]

DaveRed08 said:

Another note about Smith machines - they can end up forcing you into unnatural movements meaning you don't get the full benefit of the weight you are moving, and also can cause muscle instability. Personally I'd much rather use a power rack with safety bars set up correctly - you can use it for bench press, general free weights, pull ups (with the correct attachment) etc.

Thinking about it, if you traced the end of a bar across your shoulders when you perform a squat, it wouldn't go straight up and down - there would be some deviation. In a Smith machine you don't have that deviation so you're not having to provide any stability. Best part is a power rack is usually much cheaper and takes up less room!

This is how I set up my home gym, cheap power rack and Olympic weights.

[Sport_Turismo_GTS]

wong said:

I know it's not what you asked, but do you know about Parkrun? A regular 5Km run every Saterday at 9am. If there's one near you, you and your wife could try it.

I would second free weights as well.

Yes, I hope we will be doing some Parkruns next year but my wife is a long way off 5km at the moment!

[wong]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

Yes, I hope we will be doing some Parkruns next year but my wife is a long way off 5km at the moment!

I do ~ 25-27 min Parkruns, but my wife walks them with some friends ~ 50 mins. So there's lots of people run/walking them inbetween. I have a treadmill at home and have used it exactly nil times this year so far (~ 5x last year) - much prefer running outside.

[bunchofkeys]

Sport_Turismo_GTS said:

While the responses above have been really helpful for the future, the original question was about ‘which treadmill’ I should buy, so any thoughts on that would be much appreciated!

A Curve running machine or something like it. It's a bit more expensive though.
I have one, it was used with couch to 5k, but I also have the frame work to use it as a push slegh.

https://www.ukgymequipment.com/cardio-machines-c11...

This is the frame I have, but bought this at half the price before COVID. I'm sure you can get them cheaper on eBay, but you'll need a proper team to collect and deliver. They're proper heavy.

Edited by bunchofkeys on Wednesday 25th October 18:01

[phil4]

For Cardio, I use a Concept 2 rower, and bike erg. Both work well, and a big TV in front with Apple Fitness. Sometimes I just row/ride, sometimes follow along with Apple Fitness.

For weights, I've got a simple Wolverson squat rack and bench, a couple of bars, and 170kg of bumper plates, and a couple of sets of fractionals, and some dumbells.

I'd recommend any of the above.

We did have a LifeFitness T5-5 treadmill, which I did use for training for a half marathon and similar, so if running is your bag, something like that worked well for years. We sold it a little while back, since it hadn't been used since I got plantar fasciitis.

[Hammersia]

Brainpox said:

Don’t get a smith machine. As above it’ll take more space and give you fewer options. Get a half rack with Olympic bar and safeties. You’ll save a fortune

I would vote against a half rack. A full cage, particularly when you might be exercising alone, doesn't take any more floor space and won't be much different in price.

In terms of treadmills, erm... are there any that are a bit wider? Always find them tricky but if you're comfortable in terms of width then it's easy enough to test out a few and see which feels the best underfoot to you.