Squat rack in apartment?

[SquatGimp]

Hey guys,

Anyone here who've had a squat rack in their apartment? I'm currently looking to buy a small ground floor apartment, and I want my own home gym because it will be years before I can afford my own house with a garage and all that...

I'm pretty sure I can do squats and presses without disturbing my neighbors, but heavy deadlifts will make noises, and I can't train without doing deadlifts.

I know that dropping 500lbs of iron weights will make my neighbors complain so that's out of the question.

But could bumper plates combined with stacked mats be an option? It would make less noise than iron plates but the heavy thudding still exists.

[c1sarena]

can you lower the weights without dropping them?

[Inmyelement]

Unless you buy competition bumper plates, I don't think you can get 500 pounds on a bar, and 500 pounds of competition bumper plates will be close to a down payment on a house. Even with the bumper plates it will be loud if you drop them. When I was doing crossfit a bunch of years ago I remember reading about boxes having issues with neighbors due to dropping weights. I have dropped less weight than that in my garage that is slab on grade, and it shakes the garage.

[MorganIsm]

can you lower the weights without dropping them?

What he/she said. It is hard as hell but you can be quiet if you lower them slowly. It may limit the weight you can pull but I had upstairs people complain if it was dropped even with bumpers and mats.

[FredM]

Build a platform. Buy 1-2 sets of 45 bumpers. When you pull, put the bumper on first, followed by the iron plates.

I definitely can't promise this will be quiet enough to not annoy your neighbors -- I've never tried (my setup is in my basement). But it's certainly quieter than dropping iron plates.

Personally I can't imagine it would be a deal breaker with any reasonable neighbor, if you're on the ground floor. Even if you're doing sets of 5, the amount of time you're making noise is pretty negligible. Maybe just don't work out at 4am or midnight.

[Paul Buller]

I live in a big apartment block and have set up a small home gym in my bedroom. I faced the same problem with deadlifts, as well as not wanting to dent the wooden flooring. The solution was Deadlift Deadeners. The link below is in German but scroll down to the video of Eddie Hall using them.

[Kristara]

Well you said ground floor apartment correct. Is the floor made out of concrete? That would make life a little easier with the shaking issue. If it is concrete and you had 3/4" rubber matts it will help a lot. I have a home gym with 3/4" matts and I have to tell you, deads still make noise however I don't have bumper plates which makes it louder. I suppose if you talked to your neighbors and worked out during an appropriate time in which they were cool with and maybe bring them a bottle of wine, beer, cookies... whatever it is they like every once in a while, they may be cool with it...maybe even inviting them to lift with you... dude, it's all about the politics of the situation, and continue to cultivate that relationship so there is continued acceptance of you being awesome and lifting those weights!! You may want to meet the neighbor's prior to moving as well to make sure they are reasonable.

[jkponath]

Does your apartment offer garages for rent? i think that would be your best option, or consider a affordable town house that has a garage in the lower level.

[RalphieHarland]

I have a squat rack set up in my terraced house dining room. Before that it was set up in the second floor of a house. No complaints so far, but I've never dropped a weight and I never train before 10:30am or after 9pm. I use a horse stall mat.

[MorganIsm]

My neighbor complained once...

I ate his liver with some favre beans and a nice Chianti.

[neandrewthal]

Yum. Did you share some with him?