Equipment recommendations

[MorganIsm]

I am moving into a new house and building a new training area in my basement.

Looking for any recommendations on a rack, plates etc?

I have a pretty large budget. Not ridiculous but $3k to $4k.

I need to get a rack that you do not have to bolt down because of the type of floor. My ceiling height is only 86 inches. (Putting my old rack out in garage so I can press out there.)
Is there an advantage mechanically to putting down something on the floor in the rack? Like diamond tiles or whatever or is concrete flooring okay?

I need bumper plates that have as little smell as possible because my wife is very sensitive to this. I know they all have some odor but I'm sure you know what I'm saying, some of them are horrid.

I have a Rogue Ohio Power bar which I like but may get a second bar so open to suggestions.

Anything else? Bar jack?

I already have smaller iron plates and fractional plates, belt and shoes.

Thank you!

[Austin Baraki]

I would get a Rogue rack - whichever best fits your needs / budget, to be honest. Plenty of good options to choose from. My personal preference is the R3, though that does need to be bolted down. A concrete floor is fine, if it's level.

You can get high quality color bumper plates from Rogue as well.

OPB is my personal favorite bar, and what I tend to recommend to folks unless they're looking to do the olympic lifts as well.

Deadlift jack is nice to have, but isn't strictly essential. I find it hard to justify for folks deadlifting less than 4-5 plates per side, though if you have the budget for it, I suppose you could get one anyway.

[MorganIsm]

Thanks!

These all sound in line with what I was thinking. I just want to make sure if I am spending this much $ I'm doing it wisely.

I don't do the Olympic lifts and I would say at the rate I'm going 4 plates is still pretty far off. If I can get more people to train with me regularly then I will think about it.

I may get a second bar to put in my garage for the press, although if I load smaller plates I may be able to press in my basement. I don't imagine I'm ever going to press enough for it to be a problem unless I gain super powers in my old age.

[schmatt]

If your tight on space, you could go with “Dead Wedges” for loading/unloading plates. I bought two, and they work much better than a mini-jack. Still not as nice as a full size jack.

For the power rack, you can build a plywood platform and bolt it to that. I have mine on some nice wood floors. I just put a 1/4” piece of rubber matting down underneath to make sure the platform doesn’t scratch the wood floor when I need to take it up. Art of Manliness has an article on building one of these, and there are a ton of youtube videos as well.

I have an R3, and I really like it. However, I don’t like the fact that the holes are not numbered. You will need to find some way to mark them. I bought a stencil and some silver sharpies. It came out decent. If you do this, I would recommend using a new sharpie for each upright. It gets dull from the stencil and starts to look sloppy after a while.

One note on Rogue’s customer service I’d like to share. I had a small area where the powder coating was chipping on my rack. I sent Rogue a picture, and they just asked me if I had used any chemicals on it. When I said no, they gave me a $175 credit. I used that to pay for most of a new Ohio Power Bar, which I love. This all occurred on a Sunday too.

[Euby]

Definitely get the stainless OPB if you train in a non-climate controlled environment.

[MitchellCole]

Sorry to hijack...Any recommendations for a decent 28mm barbell with center knurl? Hopefully priced under $350

[Matt Neilsen]

The gym I train at has an R3 that’s not bolted down, and it’s never been a problem for me. Granted, the heaviest I’ve squatted in it is 310x5x3, so YMMV.

I’m slowly putting together a home gym and have been looking at bars. I was leaning towards the B&R 2.0 based on all the recommendations, but I’m intrigued by the OPB love in this thread.

Austin/anyone else: Do you prefer the OPB because it has a more aggressive knurl? What sways you that way versus the B&R 2.0?

[Giri]

Rogue Flatfoot rack is designed to work without being bolted to the floor. I based my own rack design on the flatfoot template.

[quikky]

Austin, do you have experience with the B&R bar? If so, how does it compare to the OPB bar? I have been using a B&R bar for a while and think the knurling is really good. I will also be building a home gym and am wondering if an OPB would be better.

[Austin Baraki]

Austin, do you have experience with the B&R bar? If so, how does it compare to the OPB bar? I have been using a B&R bar for a while and think the knurling is really good. I will also be building a home gym and am wondering if an OPB would be better.

It’s a good bar. I had one and sold it because it was rusting too much in my garage. I like the OPB knurl better.

[MorganIsm]

If your tight on space, you could go with “Dead Wedges” for loading/unloading plates. I bought two, and they work much better than a mini-jack. Still not as nice as a full size jack.

For the power rack, you can build a plywood platform and bolt it to that. I have mine on some nice wood floors. I just put a 1/4” piece of rubber matting down underneath to make sure the platform doesn’t scratch the wood floor when I need to take it up. Art of Manliness has an article on building one of these, and there are a ton of youtube videos as well.
.

I have a huge space, about 800 square feet. Going from training in my one car garage filled with Crap it is heavenly.

I thought about the platform idea but I already gave such low height I was afraid I would lose another couple inches. Thank you.

[Serack]

Another rout regarding a "deadlift jack" is the simple and awesome "Dead Wedge" by LIFT Co.

We had one briefly at our MWR gym brought in by one of my friends, and one of the trainers upon leaving employment there, claimed it was his (as it wasn't marked as MWR property) and walked out with it. Jackass. But while it was there it was awesome.

I know if I were building a my own gym, I'd consider it a mandatory $10 spend.

[Deepsky3539]

I ended up with the Monster Lite 3 because the hardware is 5/8" allowing for tight spacing in the safety area which I wanted for benching since I do it alone in the basement.

[schmatt]

Actually, the R3 is the same. It has the westside spacing on the part of the rack you would use for benching.