From My Own Two Hands

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bgates1654

New Member
What do you guys think?

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I ordered a "crossfit special" bar and a pair of 45lb bumper plates from wfwclub.com. Thanks again Ruthenian for the hookup. Unfortunately I could not convince the wife to let me get the package 25s/35s/45s/bar.

There is a local school that has bumper plates though. I have been told that no one uses them so I am gonna head down there and ask if they will sell them to me.

The bar arrived yesterday and looks great. I will get some pics of it shortly.

I have to wait until next month to order the powertech power rack and the month after that to order a bench... wife's orders.
 
I have to make her happy enough so that she will film me for some form checks. That way you guys can watch me break my ass trying to snatch way more than I can do
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I need to make on of those. Thanks for the inspiration!
 
It was a little more expensive than I figured it would be. I had no idea 3/4" plywood was that expensive. I saved 1 4'x8' sheet by making it 8'x6' instead of 8'x8'. All together it was $251.

2 4'x6' rubber horse stall matting: $85
Cheapest 3/4" plywood $24x5
Nice 3/4" plywood top layer $36
wood glue $5
1-1/4" coarse drywall screws $5
 
I just picked up a powertec power rack from www.fitnesszone.com for $350 shipped and a powertec flat bench PF-B at www.amazon.com for $130 shipped. The bench supports 600lbs, which will be plenty for me for quite a while, and has adjustments for incline/decline despite being described as a flat bench.

Also the bumper plates finally arrived and I did the inaugural power clean and dropped it from my shoulders. It bounced up past my waist! Super awesome... So once these arrive my gym should be complete. The next thing is jsut add on weights and stuff. The next for me to pick up is a set of 25lb bumper plates. Ill try and post some pics of the stuff and a vid of me power cleaning.
 
Excellent! I need to make one of those lifting platforms but I have to lay a concrete floor first. I can't wait to be able to use my bumpers properly. I tested the existing suspended flooring by dropping a 15kg bumper plate on it from about knee height - it knocked a hole right through it!  
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So, I've temporarily laid a sheet of ply over it which has helped for the time being but I'm not risking dropping a loaded bar from shoulder height.

One piece of advice is get a really good bar. I got a 700lb rated bar that bent after only very little use. I think it was the 600lb rack pulls that did it. Having to use a bent bar is really annoying for lots of exercises.

Edit: Ah, just realised you've already got your bar! Hope it stays straight.
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My load broke the floor doing 400+ deads. Fortunately I'm a carpenter and have some spare lumber to build one with, but time is my problem: too many hunnydoos!!!
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The platform should dissipate the pressure. That 35lbs had maybe a 4in-sqr contact area. Just laying there it is exerting 6.25psi. With the platform it would have a much lower pressure on the floor due to a 6'x8' platform having a 6912in-sqr contact area. I think you could be fine with the platform, unless it overloads the subflooring.

I cant use enough weight on the bar to bend it yet. I still have my cheapo dicks sporting goods 300lb set bar and I probably wont blow that one up even.
 
I got my bench on saturday. Amazon said it would arrive Oct 22-26... same thing when I ordered my xbox 360. They qoute really long ship times but its been half that time or less to actually get it.

I have it mostly together, but some of the bolt heads are too big for the set I have. I cant really do too much with it yet so no big deal. I had thought they shorted me a bolt, but they had jsut mislabeled some of the parts.

I just need my rack now.
 
That is exactly why I don't do powercleans...no way I will do them without having some bumper plates and a platform to drop it on. I don't think I will ever do them, as I don't want to spend the $$$ on bumper plates.

Barbell rows, squats, deadlifts, upright rows work all the same muscles as a power clean, but it must be nice to do all that work with a single exercise!
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Just picked up a pair of 25lb bumper plates from wichita falls weightlifting. My work picked up half the tab.
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I think my gym is pretty much complete at this point.
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(bgates1654 @ Mar. 20 2008,23:02)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My work picked up half the tab.
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You must have a very kind boss...!
 
Good job with the platform, looks like you've been reading Ripp's book, not?

Looks neat and possibly solid enough, is that a horse mat, on the right hand side of it or just rubber covering?
 
My work has a 50$/yr allowance for fitness related items. My previous work had a 50% reimbursement for fitness related expenses up to 500$, but I was not educated enough to know what I needed back then. Would have been nice.

Yeah I picked up the second edition right about a month after it came out even though I had the first edition. Worth every penny.

The top middle is a 4x6 area of plywood. The sides are two layers of 2'x6'x3/4&quot; rubber horse stall matting. Each layer is glued and screwed. I dont think I could break it if I tried. Only thing that will ruin it at this point is moisture. At some point I may seal the wood to prevent that. The horse stall matting is not tacked down in any way, but it doesnt really move much. That stuff is very heavy and has a high friction coefficient. Still it does walk a bit with use. I have to rearrange it every month or so.

I have pictures of everything now, but I have been too lazy/busy to get them posted.
 
Yeah, bgates, I hear you about the reimbursements. My fiancee gets $200/year and she started this job last May. By June, we will have spent $750 on gym equipment with her company ponying up over half of that!
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