Home Gym Setup: Power Rack, Plates, Sledgehammer, Sled?

So, adjustability with a sandbag is just going to be how much you fill it up, and with what. You definitely don’t HAVE to fill a bag all the way. And you can also fill it with something like rubber crumb if you want it ‘fuller’ but with less weight, because the rubber is less dense than sand. Changing weight on a sandbag regularly is just something you’re not likely to do, it’s inconvenient and messy. The only thing I can think of to make a sandbag more readily adjustable would be like… small bags of sand inside a larger bag that you could add/remove. Maybe in 10-20 lbs increments. But I don’t know of any brand that sells something like this.

If you’re just looking for a higher capacity bag in general, we have some cerberus bags at the gym I train at that have held up nicely. I think the big heavy duty one they sell holds like 290 lbs at max. I doubt you’d need more than that for most training. I never have a reason to go that heavy, the most I train with is 250. If I was buying sandbags for myself, I’d probably fill one to 150ish, and the other to 250ish. A gap like that is reasonable, and you probably don’t need anything super light.

You’ve gotten good info on racks, I have nothing to add to that.

No plate recommendations. Plates are plates. Hell, I’ve made some of my own (I own a metal fabrication company). They’re not pretty but they work. Just look for good deals.

Horse stall mats are awesome, that’s what I use for my floor.

Definitely invest in a decent bar. Don’t go super cheap, unless you plan to treat your bar like shit, lol.

Hi,

A friend I have swears by his TRX bands, and I was debating using them as an alternative when I switch up my routines from my normal Olympic routines.

I’ve got the entire iron woody bands set and was thinking that I could -more or less- mimic what he does with his trx stuff. Am I wrong by saying g that? Are TRX’s totally different? I tend to think not, but just double checking

You mean TRX Bands or suspension straps?

Both are fine, but neither will provide what the other does. That being said, arguing bands vs suspension straps is like arguing whose bicycle is better during a car meet
:man_shrugging:t3:

Yeah lol.

Hi! So since we spoke I’ve added a bunch of things to my T2:

10’ Extension kit
Lay pull down attachment
Let press
Dip bar
Rope Pully

Just wondering if you’ve ever heard of a cable attachment for crossovers being added or had any thoughts/suggestions on the subject?

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I use bands attached to the pullup bar and get a nearly identical feeling to the cable version. I haven’t done any from a lower angle but I imagine you could just attach the bands at a lower position and do that with similar effect.

I personally wouldn’t buy an attachment just for that but my chest/bench are already strong points for me.

Any one have an idea as to where I’d find cable crossover attachments for a ‘71 T2 from Titian? Outside of a DYI, I ain’t seeing much

And while I’m at it, I’m open to solutions for using my bands within the power rack as my current one won’t support pegs at the bottom level.

Hi,

Any idea what the safety pins/pipes can hold? Also, what’s the logic in going with pipes/pins vs safety arms? Any reason for me to buy the arms if I already have the pins/pipes?

I bought the straps, as a way to do rack pulls without damaging the bar, so I’m not going to be much help there. Side note: I’ve done rack pulls like twice

Without the pipe over the rod you will bend the rods fairly quickly with heavy rack pulls.

I should probably be able to understand the reasons as to why the pipes help here, and have had the same thought as you before, but I have never heard it explained by anyone as to why it works better with pipe and pin safeties.

What I worked out in my mind is that the a bar, with circular cross-section, will impact the rod at a single point. Very high impulse and stress on the rod, that also has circular cross-section, when these two points collide at exactly a single point.

However, with a pipe fitting loosely over the safety rod; when the bar comes down on the pipe the entire length of the pipe (inner surface) will press against the entire length of the rod (pipe surface sandwiched between rod and barbell) and distribute the force at more than one point along the length of the safety rod / pin.

Probably most of what I describe above is nonsense, but it’s what I tried to convince myself of what is going on. Perhaps an experienced powerlifter will know the true reason…or I am certain an engineer / professor will chime in with their thoughts on the matter.

Safety rods with pipes work great but can be annoying if you don’t have numbering on your rack holes and you have closer “westside” spacing. A grey sharpie will solve that problem.

Safety arms are nice to have if you ever would want to work out the front of the rack (for some reason).

Either option would work fine…the important thing is to use them and set them at the correct height to actually do their proper function. If you are working inside the rack only, I would say pin/pipe is better as they extend the full depth of the rack and you won’t have any chance of missing them if it should come to that on a failed lift.

Other nice thing about pin/pipe safeties is you can use them for isometrics. Can’t really do that with most safety arms as they usually have a weird triangular shape underneath for additional strength (cantilever) or will come loose if you push up on them from underneath. Admittedly isometrics in a rack are a bit of an obscure lift.