My Home Gym - Stage 4: New Home
December 28, 2007 - Present
When Lisa and I decided to have a new home built one of my primary design concerns was the home gym. I wanted a space on the first floor that was large enough to comfortably accommodate my Titan and its many accessories, my cardio equipment, my dumbbell rack and my plate tree... while still allowing plenty of room for maneuvering around "outside the rack" and for exercises such as deadlifts. I also wanted lots of light (my old gym had no lighting and was always very dark), and I wanted the room pre-wired for electricity and cable so I could install a HDTV high on the walls.
I took these design "must-haves" to my builder, and we managed to make a relatively small space meet all these requirements. My gym is just 12' wide by 14' 10" deep, but with careful planning it was more than enough room to meet all my requirements. I had the builder install recessed lighting and pre-wire for electricity and cable 18" down from the 9' 4" ceilings. I also specified that there be no carpet or other flooring installed (I installed rubber gym flooring myself--more on that later).
By the way, if you are looking for my formal, in-depth review of the Titan it can be found here.
Information on my equipment, such as where you can purchase everything and the approximate costs, is provided at the end of this page.
Let's get on with the tour!
This is the view from the outside of the gym. I had cordless honeycomb shades installed on the double 15-lite french doors so I could have some privacy in there if I want. The shades also allow us to have the option of hiding the gym from the front foyer.
This is how the gym looks from the foyer with the shades up (which is where I normally keep them!)
The view from the foyer with the doors open. There is a lot to see here, but the Titan dominates the view!
I'll now take you around the entire gym, counter-clockwise...
Here's the plate tree (I've got two complete 300-pound barbell sets, plus six additonal 45-pound plates which are not pictured here), one of four accessory hook assemblies, a heavy bag & gloves, a classic photo of Arnold doing a front double-bicep pose and one of five 4'x6' glassless mirrors installed in the gym. The gym floor is Humane's "Loktuff" 1/2" interlocking rubber flooring.
Here is the recumbent bike, another 4'x6' glassless mirror (this one oriented horizontally), the Titan accessory rack and the 32" HDTV.
Close-up of the HDTV and the digital cable box mounted underneath. The TV has a built-in DVD player. It is mounted on an articulating arm and can be repositioned with ease.
This is the view along the rear wall of the gym. This is mainly my squat and deadlift area, but I do tricep pressdowns and a few other exercises at the rear of the Titan, too. There are a total of three 4'x'6' glassless mirrors along this back wall. On the far wall you can see some framed photos of Mike Mentzer, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane, along with some more Titan accessories and attachments.
Close-up of the inspirational framed photos.
My dumbbell rack. I have a complete set of hex dumbbells ranging from 3 to 100 pounds. The 5 - 50 pounds dumbbells are in 5-pound increments. The 50 - 100 pound dumbbells are in 10 pound increments, and I use a set of four 2.5-pound Plate Mates to hit the "fives". I also have a set of four 1.25-pound Plate Mates (you can see them attached to the dumbbell rack) for micro-loading in 2.5-pound increments. The Plate Mates saved me a lot of money (and space!), and I can workout with any dumbbell weight from 3-105 pounds in 2.5 pound increments.
More accessories and attachments are on the hooks and also on the floor. The large brown box on the floor contains all of my workout logs since January 2003. In the translucent box on top of my workout log box there are some more accessories and spare parts. The clock is radio-controlled and always 100% accurate.
A lot of people have emailed me asking where I bought my equipment and how much everything cost. Here's a complete breakdown:
- I bought my Titan from Fitcore Technologies. For more information and special JSF pricing, check out the Official Fitcore/Titan T1 Information Thread on the JSF Forum. My own in-depth review of the Titan it can be found here.
- The 300-pound Olympic barbell sets were about $150.00 each from Play it Again Sports.
- The recumbent bike is model 231 by Schwinn. It was purchased from the JSF Amazon Mall for about $550.00. My more detailed review of this bike can be found here.
- The HDTV is the Toshiba REGZA 32LV67U 32" LCD HDTV with Built-In DVD Player. It was purchased from the JSF Amazon Mall for about $700.
- The HDTV is mounted on the Peerless Articulating LCD Wall Arm. It's available from the JSF Amazon mall for under a hundred bucks.
- The weight tree was about $50.00, also from Play it Again Sports.
- The flooring is "LokTuff" 1/2" interlocking rubber flooring. It's made by Humane, and I purchased it from Iron Company. The flooring comes in 4'x4' tiles, is extremely tough and is "loose lay" (no glue). Each tile weighs close to 50 pounds, and simply does not come up or buckle. The only downside is there is a strong rubber smell in my gym. Actually, the smell does not bother me in the least. The total cost for my flooring (including shipping) was somewhere around $1000.00.
- The mirrors are a brand new product from Ivanko. They are actually glassless mirrors. These mirrors are made by stretching a reflective surface very tightly over a lightweight foam substrate. Each 4' by 6' mirror only weighs 8 pounds! I was able to hang all five mirrors by myself with no problem whatsoever. The optical quality is outstanding. These mirrors are shatter-proof and are very safe for home gyms. The only negative is that they are very fragile--but then again so are glass mirrors! Each 4' by 6' mirror cost about $250.00 direct from Ivanko (plus shipping).
- The radio-controlled clock is from La Crosse Technologies. It receives radio signals from the US Atomic Clock and automatically sets itself to the exact time, as well as adjusting automatically for Daylight Savings Time. It can be found in the JSF Amazon Mall for about 25 bucks.
- I picked up the hex dumbbells at various places. Play it Again Sports sells them for about .80 a pound.
- The accessory hooks on white wooden mounting plates were purchased from Home Depot for about $15.00 each.
- The accessories were purchased from a few different places. I got the exercise bands, pressdown straps, wrist wraps, lifting straps, hooks and pressdown rope from APT. The heavy bag and gloves are made by Everlast and came from Play It Again Sports. The hanging ab straps are made by Grizzly, and I also got them at Play It Again Sports. You can buy the Plate Mates and many of the other accessories from the JSF Amazon Mall (links are included in the picture descriptions above).
- Other accessories that I use include an EZ-Curl bar (Play It Again Sports), two Captains of Crush grippers, FatTrack PRO digital calipers, an AccuFitness MyoTape, a Grizzly Leather Dipping Belt and a set of Dumbbell Power Hooks.
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