One of the most difficult things about having a Home Gym is getting enough equipment to perform a wide variety of exercises. I’m completely against having a ‘Multi-Gym’ as I don’t think these are anywhere near as effective as free weights.
In February 2022, I decided to clear out my Home Gym and have a complete switch around. I decided to uniform my gym using the latest Isogym range of products, and I thought it would be the ideal time to let you know what I’ve purchased, and what’s remained in place.
What’s remained in Place?
Without trying to shout ‘New Year, New Me’, I’ve only kept a few things from the last 2-3 years. These are:
What’s gone?
I’ve had a big clearout. I’m at the stage now where I’m focusing on a 5×5 routine, so I’ve got rid of quite a bit of my equipment. Fortunately, Home Gyms are really popular now and I actually managed to sell my setup for a few hundred pounds more than I paid for it!
I’ve sold the Bodymax Half Rack, Barbell and the 180kg of weight plates all as a bundle. This has freed up lots of space in my garage, as those power cages have quite a big footprint.
Honestly, I didn’t need to sell the barbell but the buyer wanted it. It had started to rust a little bit from the cold winters, so it wouldn’t hurt to get a fresh one in.
What’s been added?
One of my biggest frustrations with the CF376R Rack, was that it took up far too much room in my garage. It didn’t leave me a great deal of room for my compound lifts. With this in mind, I was in the search for a premium quality squat rack.
As I’ve been buying from Isogym recently, I thought it would make sense to try their Impact Squat Rack out. Priced at £67.99, it’s half the price of the next-best JTX Fitness one, but it’s just as good in my opinion!
From the colour scheme of the Vibrant Red & Matte Black, to the build quality of the frame I’m pretty impressed.
There’s a 200kg max load on this Squat Rack, but that will suit most weightlifters. Fair play though, if you’re benching/squatting 200kg+ but this would not be suitable for that.
You get a dedicated barbell shelf at the top of the rack, although in the image above I’ve left it on the Spotter Bars. They have more than enough strength to handle the bar, but sometimes the bar may roll along these. It’s not an issue at all though, I just don’t have any energy left at the end of the workout to get the barbell back ont he shelf. Always replace the weights, eh?
Your height won’t be a factor here, and you’ll be able to complete a wide variety of exercies due to the adjustable holes on the rack. This is easily adjustable too.
Included in the box is the anti-skid feet pads. These fit really tight, and I think I threw them around the room a little bit in disbelief that they actually fitted. I don’t think this is a design flaw though, I’m fairly sure it was operator error.
You shouldn’t have any issues fitting this in your Home Gym either, as it’s got a maximum height of 142cm. Each column has a 40cm width, too.
I was also in the market for a new barbell. I have a bit of a thing about only paying delivery once, and I saw that ISOGYM also have a wide selection of barbells. In order to make my home gym look a bit more aesthetic, I decided to grab the matching colour barbell.
This is a Premium Ceramic Barbell, and the black is also matte with the ISOGYM logo stamped onto the ends. It looks really nice, if not one of the nicest barbells I’ve seen.
Typically, barbells are a bit boring, with the chrome silver look throughout. If you fancy the plain looking ones, they can facilitate that too.
This is a competition grade barbell, weighing 20kg with a 1500lb Max Load. I won’t be getting anywhere near 700kg though, so I can’t test this! However, I have loaded with 195kg and it had no issues. I’ve also performed the swing test. (Or that’s what I call it, anyway!).
I’ve had a really cheap bar before, and when I took the plate off the one side, it ended up smashing a light bulb as it catapulted off the rail. As this is a premium 20kg bar, it can handle the weight being off on one side, as shown below.
I’m not sure if this is typical of Isogym or not either, but they also added some Nunchuck looking, Gold Barbell collars into the box. Looking at their website this isn’t typical, but might be because I’ve purchased quite a lot from them previously.
These are so much easier to use than the basic spring ones, with a quick release mechanism involved. I think it’s a self-lubricated bushing too, as I’ve noticed part of the bar has a little bit of lubricant on after use.
The final thing that I’ve got to show you, is my upgraded Bumper plates.
Now, these are actually quite difficult to photograph. Quite strange infact, as I’m just showing you a round lump of 20kg!
However, this is a new product that Isogym have added to their fleet of products. I have wanted bumper plates for quite a while & these were really good value. Matching with the theme of my gym, they are also Red and Black (regardless of the size that you purchase) so it makes well for a nice designed gym.
As I’m moving into exercises which may increase the chance of the weight dropping, I needed Bumper plates. ISOGYM sell these in sets and they’re pretty good value.
The 150kg Set includes: x2 5kg, x2 10kg, x2 15kg, x2 20kg, x2 25kg
Since my purchase, I have noticed that ISOGYM have also added some bodyweight styled equipment to their catalogue. I plan to try these out soon, so keep an eye out for my next home gym update!
