Best Buys - Equipment you love!

[brkriete]

I liked reading the regrets and rip offs thread. I thought it would also be interesting and useful to list some of the equipment you've bought that was a bargain, incredibly useful, etc.

One of my best buys for sure was my Adidas Adipowers. I've been wearing them for at least six, maybe closer to seven years at least a couple times a week and they are still in great shape.

Also - chalk. I bought one pack of like eight blocks from Amazon years ago and I think I'm on my second or third. I only use it for deadlifting and a little goes a long way but it makes a huge difference (I also used to use it for bench in pre-home-gym times, it's super helpful with commercial gym bars that have no knurling left). I often see new lifters complaining about deadlifts slipping out of their hands and learn they aren't using chalk. Even if your gym doesn't allow it, most places won't make a stink if you keep it in a zip-lock, use it sparingly, and clean it up when you're done.

[hector]

Some things I bought that I love, and others might be skeptical of:

Rogue rackable Curl bar: so nice. Before I bought it I didn't think a Curl bar could be nice or shitty. But it's nice. Perfect angle. And being able to rack a Curl bar isn't something you think about if you've never done it, but it's convenient.

Titan Bench Rack: having your bench set up perfectly, every time, with your spotters exactly the way you want them, and using a fat pad, makes for the perfect benching experience.

Pull Up Bar with Lots of Handles: some grips will let you work through injuries that other grips won't. Also great for stretching/hanging/grip-strength. A few sets of hanging for 30 or 60 seconds do great things for my back, mitigating some back discomfort from a sedentary job.

T-Bar Row Machine: yeah, you can do the same thing with a rack attachment. But the t-bar row machine gave me a deeper range of motion, foot pads that are better than the floor, and zero setup time.

[Allentown]

Rogue rackable Curl bar: so nice. Before I bought it I didn't think a Curl bar could be nice or shitty. But it's nice. Perfect angle. And being able to rack a Curl bar isn't something you think about if you've never done it, but it's convenient.

This has been on my want list for a while, I think it just moved up above "matching plates."


Echo. Wish I would have gotten it years earlier.
Rogue Power Bar. Doesn't exist any more, they basically rebranded it the Ohio bar with sharper knurling, but I really do love my bar.

[hector]

Rogue rackable Curl bar: so nice. Before I bought it I didn't think a Curl bar could be nice or shitty. But it's nice. Perfect angle. And being able to rack a Curl bar isn't something you think about if you've never done it, but it's convenient.

This has been on my want list for a while, I think it just moved up above "matching plates."


Echo. Wish I would have gotten it years earlier.
Rogue Power Bar. Doesn't exist any more, they basically rebranded it the Ohio bar with sharper knurling, but I really do love my bar.

I got a boneyard version to save a few dollars. Been 2 years. Zero issues. Zero regrets.

[KOTJ]

Tuff Stuff Proformance leg extension/curl combo unit.

Only had it a few weeks. Wanted something like this for years but never had space.

Great adjustments and weight selection. Great for hypertrophy, and consequently beneficial for strength.

Really, everything I have put in the garage gym is shit I love.

Might DIY rotating pullups/chinup handles again one day.

[OverheadDeadlifts]

Cambered bench bar. Bought it purely to see if the extra ROM would make it similar to a dumbbell bench but ended up finding a million other uses for it. Ez curls, seal rows, extra ROM barbell rows, you can stand in the middle of it like a trap bar for things like shrugs or shoulder press, sits perfectly on my back for low bar with no elbow stress at all. Also did some weird partial sumo deadlifts with it for a while that felt pretty good.

I’ll probably find other uses for it in future. Going to try farmers walks and trap bar style deadlifts at some point. Very uncommon bar but extremely versatile.

[Hardartery]

Squat Bar from Jesup Gym. They retired last year I think and liquidated everything. That bar is still being used by a buddy right now, and at some point I'll go pick it up now that I will have a dedicated space again in the US. It was arond $100 and rated for 2k lbs. Awesome knurl, nice and long so plenty of space between the collars and it is also what I used for DL for a long time. I wish that I had bought two.
My Stones. in particular the first one that was 315 lbs originally (A piece got knocked out of it one rough training day). I made them myself, following the free advice on the forums at the time with a few adjustments. They cost me some sacks of concrete, some bags of plaster, and some time. They also are witing for me to pick them up with my Squat bar.
Most of my steel plates were free or next to it, I used to pick them up from scrapyards when dropping off scrap or buying them with credit at Play It Again for crap I picked up for free and sold to them. Driving around in a pickup has advantages, I've picked up lots of benches and poor quality crap that Play It Again will buy but I don't want.
The knee wraps I got from APT. They also no longer exist, and I rarely use wraps, but they are 3 metre wraps with velcro. No tucking anything in at the end, just stick them like wrist wraps. I am in amazement that no one else seems to offer this option, it's awesome when you have a need for wraps.

[Wilhelm]

Xmark dip stand.

Got mine for $112 w/ free shipping 3 years ago.

$136 now and still a great deal imo.


Made this the first day i got it.
Handles are super comfortable still.


The Brute Belt has also been great all this time.
Super comfortable.
$40
https://www.brutebelt.com/products/brute-belt

[FredM]

Edge Fitness SSB. For $250 it's such a crazy value. I really don't get the hate with the handle length -- I prefer it to the stubs on the EliteFTS bar. I mean if I could change anything the handles would be about 2 inch shorter and be thicker and knurled but the thing brought my squat from 320 to 405 in 2 months and SSB box squats are the greatest exercise ever invented so I can hardly complain.

Echo Bike. I mean I only use it 5 min a day but nothing is as quick and "fun" for getting warmed up enough to not injure myself. Occasionally when I want to torture myself with HIIT for a month it's hard to imagine a more efficient/brutal machine. Bought it before the price hike on sale so it was a steal.

Slingshot. I haven't actually used it to bench for a year but when I did it brought my bench from 225 to 255. I use it almost daily now for bench warmups (wenning style -- 25 pushups and 25 "rows" x 2) and it makes a huge difference in how bench feels (way more stable) and reduced shoulder pain to almost nil (Turkish getups help too).

Boneyard Stainless 20kg OPB. Literally the perfect bar. Ok, the center knurl could be 2 inch wider but other than that I prefer it for literally every slow lift including deadlifts. I'll literally not superset sometimes just so I can do both movements with this instead of an inferior bar (Chan bar).

Pioneer PAL 2.0 Lever Belts. I bought 2 in a 2 month period and felt like an idiot but I love both of them to pieces. The 10mm double suede is perfect for bench and I still choose it over the 13mm for squats and pulls if they're high rep. The 13mm single suede is a revelation for heavy squats and OHP.

Strong Knee Sleeves - I literally wouldn't be able to use my SSB regularly without these.

Rogue E-Coat Kettlebells - Turkish getups help with so many aspects of injury prevention and these are just gorgeous imo.

[gtl]

Edge Fitness SSB. For $250 it's such a crazy value. I really don't get the hate with the handle length -- I prefer it to the stubs on the EliteFTS bar. I mean if I could change anything the handles would be about 2 inch shorter and be thicker and knurled

I actually cut my handles. I like it much better that way, but I've been eyeing the Rep SSB.

[murphyreedus]

Edge Fitness SSB. For $250 it's such a crazy value. I really don't get the hate with the handle length -- I prefer it to the stubs on the EliteFTS bar. I mean if I could change anything the handles would be about 2 inch shorter and be thicker and knurled

I actually cut my handles. I like it much better that way, but I've been eyeing the Rep SSB.

I love my Edge spider bar. $300 shipped vs like 600+ from EliteFTS. Edge doesn't appear to list any specialty bars on the site anymore, which is a shame.

[FredM]

Edge Fitness SSB. For $250 it's such a crazy value. I really don't get the hate with the handle length -- I prefer it to the stubs on the EliteFTS bar. I mean if I could change anything the handles would be about 2 inch shorter and be thicker and knurled

I actually cut my handles. I like it much better that way, but I've been eyeing the Rep SSB.

Like I said I prefer the longer handles than the short stubby ones on the Rep. Edge is also a small made in America business and Rep is made in China. Really don’t understand the handle hate. I squat 3 in below parallel with the thing and they don’t get in the way. I guess my squat stance is just different than a lot of peoples.

[asdf]

This will be unpopular, but I love my Hi-Temp bumper plates. I snatch, clean & jerk, and deadlift on bare concrete and these plates are showing zero wear after nearly a decade. They're also soft enough that they absorb a lot of impact, which probably helps preserve my bar. Also: made in the USA.

[mbasic]

This will be unpopular, but I love my Hi-Temp bumper plates. I snatch, clean & jerk, and deadlift on bare concrete and these plates are showing zero wear after nearly a decade. They're also soft enough that they absorb a lot of impact, which probably helps preserve my bar. Also: made in the USA.

Hi-temps are seen as substandard .... but they exactly fit the bill as you describe and are a big plus.

Unless you are regularly cleaning or snatching over 405#/180kg ...their width is not a problem at all.
Most people have some thinner plates for deadlifts and squats lying around (for 'strength' lifts)

And many equipment manufacturers advertise their "dead-bounce" or harder plates as a plus ...not that the plus is they are thinner, but the dead-bounce aspect of the harder rubber (metal core). Bouncier is usually less noisy, easier on equipment, doesn't rattle everything to shit.

Another plus on the width is the whippiness if you are re-racking jerks to your shoulders, or BTN. Catching lifts (complexes) on your thighs or hips.

I always thought the chinese training hall vids were odd with the affinity for yellows and greens .... but it makes sense now as I type this out.

[Hardartery]

This will be unpopular, but I love my Hi-Temp bumper plates. I snatch, clean & jerk, and deadlift on bare concrete and these plates are showing zero wear after nearly a decade. They're also soft enough that they absorb a lot of impact, which probably helps preserve my bar. Also: made in the USA.

Hi-temps are seen as substandard .... but they exactly fit the bill as you describe and are a big plus.

Unless you are regularly cleaning or snatching over 405#/180kg ...their width is not a problem at all.
Most people have some thinner plates for deadlifts and squats lying around (for 'strength' lifts)

And many equipment manufacturers advertise their "dead-bounce" or harder plates as a plus ...not that the plus is they are thinner, but the dead-bounce aspect of the harder rubber (metal core). Bouncier is usually less noisy, easier on equipment, doesn't rattle everything to shit.

Another plus on the width is the whippiness if you are re-racking jerks to your shoulders, or BTN. Catching lifts (complexes) on your thighs or hips.

I always thought the chinese training hall vids were odd with the affinity for yellows and greens .... but it makes sense now as I type this out.

I had assumed that was related to the jumps they take while warming up and working up. Easier to keep slapping them on than pull them off and replace with a red. I just kind of assumed that explained a lot of the roll of Lifesavers looking bars I see in Weightlifting vids.

[Skander]

1) silencer pads from Titan. They've made it possible to do Olympic lifts and not get murdered in my sleep by family and neighbors. I will say that after about 3 years, they probably could be replaced, but honestly that's about what I expected.

2) DIY pulley system. It's not perfect, but cost so little, really easy to put up and take down, and it's great for bro-ing out. I honestly don't use my curl bar as much as I thought cause I like cable curls better, but I do sometimes attach it. I also think the weird multiple handle nylon thingie I bought off Amazon was great- it has a short straight bar+two handle thingies. I like it better than my metal handle.

3) a duster. I call it my spider sword. An absolute must for a home gym that's in a less finished space

[LeanLifts]

>Adidas Adipowers
They're really good and they have lasted me for a long time, would recommend.
>Titan Swiss Bar
It was really cheap and having a third pressing movement (barbell, dumbbell, swiss bar) is great as a breath of fresh air
>Rep Old School Iron Plates
They're pretty good and pretty cheap (especially when you consider free shipping). 45s were 44.5, 44.6, 44.6, and 44.8 lbs when I checked them

[mgil]

3) a duster. I call it my spider sword. An absolute must for a home gym that's in a less finished space

I have a small ryobi cordless leaf blower for “dusting and sweeping”. Would highly recommend.

[mgil]

Most of the stuff I own I like.

The Rogue gun rack was a nice buy to help clean up my space.

I have a bunch of Rogue kettlebells along with the rack on wheels to house them. The rack is bomb proof.

I like all of the bars I own. The X Mark “Convict” rackable curl bar was a nice buy. Shame they stopped making it.

I really like my Legend rack. Open top with plate storage. I’ve dropped heavy weights on those safeties with no issues.

[Skid]

I have a small ryobi cordless leaf blower for “dusting and sweeping”. Would highly recommend.

Nothing better for cleaning out a garage than a leaf blower. Open the door and blow all the dust and dirt out into the street!