How to Build a Home Gym - Part 1: Equipment

As a Starting Strength Coach, a commercial gym owner, and a home gym owner, I’m often asked, “What equipment would you recommend for a home gym setup?” If you’re looking to set up a home gym - whether in your basement, your garage, or in a backyard shed - this guide will set you on the right path.

A few notes before we get started:

1. I’ve generally included what I would purchase for myself, and where that differs from what I’d recommend for others, I’ve noted that distinction as well as why.

2. Some categories of equipment will have multiple options. Sometimes this is because lifters’ needs will vary (e.g., those doing the Olympic lifts will need bumper plates while those not doing them may not), and at other times, I’ve provided a second or third choice based on lifters’ personal preferences or budgetary considerations.

3. I have personal experience with most of the items in this list, and for those pieces of equipment that I haven’t used, I’ve noted that.

4. I’ll cover personal gear such as shoes, belt, knee sleeves, etc. in a future article.

Barbell
The barbell is the most important piece of general equipment (i.e., not your personal gear such as shoes and belt) that you’ll buy, and as such, this is not the place to buy cheap. A quality barbell will last you a lifetime, so invest wisely.

1. Starting Strength Bar (20 kg) by Texas Power Bars 
This is my favorite all-purpose bar and definitely my first choice of barbell. It’s an excellent bar for squatting, pressing, deadlifting, benching, snatching, and clean-and-jerking. We have five of these bars at Testify Strength & Conditioning, and had this bar come out earlier, my wife and I would have two of these at home as well instead of the two Rogue B&R bars we currently have (the B&R is also an excellent bar, and we have five of those at Testify as well).

2. Original Texas Power Bar (20 kg) by Texas Power Bars 
This bar has a more aggressive knurl than the Starting Strength Bar and is the bar I’d choose first when going for a heavy deadlift. If you have no plans to clean or snatch, this might be the bar for you. You can purchase this bar in bare steel, black zinc, chrome, or cerakote coatings. Be prepared - the knurling is no joke.

3. Powerlifting Bar 2.0 (20 kg) by Bells of Steel
If you’re looking to save a bit of money, this barbell might be a reasonable choice. I don’t have any personal experience with it, but it’s received good reviews. At the time of this article, the price is $249.99, and I wouldn’t trust any barbell cheaper than that.

Power Rack

1. R-3 Power Rack by Rogue Fitness 
This power rack is my favorite of anything that’s out there and has been for over a decade. It’s the workhorse rack at Testify (we have six of them), and if we had room, we’d get more of them. If you want the bolt together version (potentially useful if you’re dealing with very tight circumstances when getting the rack to its final destination in your house), then click here.

2. T-3 Power Rack by Titan Fitness
This is essentially Titan’s version of the R-3 but at a lower price point. Unlike the R-3, the T-3 doesn’t come with safeties, so you’ll need to purchase those separately (click here). I haven’t lifted on the T-3, but we (i.e., Testify) have several clients (both local and online) who own them, and it’s received excellent reviews from them.

A few notes:

• These racks must be bolted to the floor. Absolutely do this.

• These racks both have 2” x 3” uprights as I avoid 3” x 3” uprights like the plague. A 3” x 3” upright simply means you’re paying for more metal and you have either less room between the hooks (potentially making it harder for those with stiff shoulders to take their squat grip) or less room between the hooks and the plates (making it more likely you’ll bang into the uprights when unracking or racking your squat). This is not an issue of rack strength - Rogue told me each 2” x 3” upright is rated at 10,000 lb (the weakest link is the j-hook, and even the j-hooks are rated at 1,000 lb each), so you don’t need the 3” x 3” uprights.

• If you want to utilize two barbells on the same power rack (e.g., you’d like to warm-up your bench press between work sets of your squat, or you have a training partner), you’ll want to purchase an additional pair of j-hooks, and you’ll want to purchase two pairs of spotter arms as well (as opposed to pin/pipe safeties) so that you can safely squat and bench outside the cage. Again, bolt the rack to the floor - the concrete floor.

Plates

1. Iron plates by The Strength Co.
These are the best iron plates out there and are both precise and accurate. If Testify had to get new plates, these are the plates we’d get.

Disclaimer: My wife and I train on calibrated, steel, kilogram, competition plates at home since Testify’s competition plates reside at our house except on meet days. I don’t recommend that anyone go out and buy calibrated plates on which to train; in fact, I recommend against it - the lip of each plate is stupidly small (for grabbing the plate), and the plates are inordinately expensive. With that said, I’m not about to spend more money on plates when we already can use these (it’s certainly a champagne problem). However, if we were purchasing pound plates for our home gym, we’d get The Strength Co. plates.

2. Iron plates by Iron Crush
If you’re looking to save some dough, these plates might do the job. I do not have personal experience with these plates, but they’ve received solid reviews.

3. Bumper plates by Rep Fitness
You’ll need bumper plates if you perform the Olympic lifts or if your deadlift warm-up needs to start lighter than 135 lb (which is very common for those beginning their strength training journey). We have kilogram bumpers at Testify as we host a number of weightlifting meets, but the average lifter in the U.S. will probably prefer pound bumpers, and that’s the option I’ve provided here. I don’t have personal experience with these bumpers, but several of our online clients have provided good feedback on these plates from Rep Fitness.

4. Fractional plates by 44 Sport
To increase your lifts by 2.5 lb increments, you’ll need 1.25 lb plates, and you might need to make jumps smaller than 2.5 lb on some lifts (for example, female lifters and older male lifters on the press and bench press). With this in mind, I’d recommend this fractional set of 0.25 lb, 0.5 lb, 0.75 lb, and 1 lb plates. We have several sets of these plates at Testify.

What plates should you get? In general, you’ll want the following to get started:

• 2 x 1.25 lb plates (or the fractional set listed above)

• 2 x 2.5 lb plates

• 2 x 5 lb plates

• 4 x 10 lb plates (i.e., two pairs of 10 lb plates)

• 2 x 25 lb plates

• 2 x 45 lb plates

As you get stronger, you’ll need to purchase additional 45 lb plates - this is a good problem to have (albeit an expensive one at times). Bumper plates can be purchased starting at 10 lb (and heavier), and if you need to load your deadlift lighter than 135 lb, you’ll want to purchase a pair of 10 lb, 15 lb, and/or 25 lb bumpers.

Bench

1. Flat Bench by Rep Fitness
Our benches at Testify are from Rogue Fitness, and while they are fine, if I were to purchase a bench for home use right now, the Rep Fitness bench would be my choice. I don’t have personal experience with it, but it seems to provide better grip than Rogue’s, and a number of our online clients have said positive things about it.

2. Adjustable Bench by Rep Fitness
I don’t have personal experience with this bench either, but if I was going to get an adjustable bench (e.g., for incline bench press) for home use, this is probably the option I’d go with. We have an adjustable bench from Rogue at Testify, and it’s solid, but it’s unwieldy, and we probably wouldn’t buy it again for the price.

Chalk

1. Spider Chalk
This is our favorite chalk on the market, and there’s no point in having a second option in this category. It seems silly to even have a favorite chalk brand, but the blocks are more dense than other brands, and the blocks stay intact far better than other brands. Bear in mind that one block will last you a long time.

Collars

1. Metal spring collars by Power Systems
These are my favorite collars - we have many of these at Testify, and these are the type Becky and I have at home as well. With a bit of know-how, they are easy to slide on and off with only one hand.

2. Plastic collars by Clout Fitness
If you prefer the plastic collars that tend to be quite popular, you can find a bunch of options online. It’s possible that I’ve had personal experience with these, but there’s so many options out there that it’s tough to keep track. At any rate, these are popular and have received solid reviews.

Platform

1. 8’ x 8’ platform
Don’t buy a platform - build one (watch the included videos). It’s not difficult, and you’ll save a ton of money in the process. The platform will protect your plates, your floor, it reduces noise, and it clearly delineates your lifting space (which is very important if you have anyone else in your gym with you, such as your kids).

2. 4’ x 8’ platform
If you don’t have room for an 8’ x 8’ platform, you’ll at least want a 4’ x 8’ platform for deadlifting. We cover this in the videos as well.

Happy home gym shopping (and building), and as always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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How to Load & Unload the Barbell for the Deadlift (in less than 3 minutes!)

Loading and unloading the barbell for your deadlifts can be a pain, so in less than 3 minutes, here are 4 different ways to make this process easier.

(A Blast from the Past video originally published on 04/16/22)

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.

Slippery Lifting Platform?! Use THIS.

The last thing you want when you're training is a slippery lifting surface - at the very least, it's inefficient and a good way to miss a lift, and on the other end of the spectrum, it's a good way to accidentally end up doing the splits and perhaps get injured in the process.

you don’t want a slippery platform when lifting.

The Problem: Lack of Friction
A lifting surface with reasonable friction is rather important, and it's especially important in the Olympic lifts. Picture the split jerk wherein your feet leave the ground and then come back down in different positions - friction is vital as you’ve got some decent front-to-back force between your feet, and you don't want to end up doing the splits. However, friction is important in the slow lifts or “strength lifts” as well - you don't want any chance of your feet slipping under the load of a heavy squat.

So, if you train on a surface that tends to be a bit slick, or if you train in a humid environment that can occasionally create such a situation, what do you do?

The Answer
Rosin powder. It’s cheap, it works well, and you can get it quickly from Amazon (click here). Rosin powder is simply rock rosin mixed with magnesium carbonate - in other words, crystallized tree resin mixed with chalk so that it comes in a powder form that’s easy to apply. You can also get rosin in rock or crystal form, but this powder is tough to beat for convenience and portability.

How to Use It
Perform the following steps (watch the included video above for a demonstration and explanation)

Step 1
Sprinkle some powder on your platform. You don’t need much, and it doesn’t matter where you sprinkle it as the goal is to get it on the soles of your shoes (not the platform).

Step 2
Grind and/or stab your shoes into the powder repeatedly until all of the powder is on the soles of your shoes.

Step 3
Check that you’ve gotten all of it on your shoes. You know you’re done when you can’t see any more powder on the platform. You also know you’ve done it correctly (and didn’t use too much) when you can walk around your platform and not leave white footprints wherever you go.

Wrapping Up
A 4 oz shaker bottle of rosin powder costs roughly $10-15, and it should last years. A bottle at Testify typically lasts a few years, and bear in mind that’s with multiple people using it, so if you’re just purchasing it for personal use, it might last longer than you do.

Interestingly, rosin is actually required at weightlifting meets, but we have never seen it present at a local meet (well . . . except ours). With this in mind, if you intend to compete, I recommend bringing your own in case the platform (warm-up or competition) is a bit slick.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

The BEST Squat Accessory Ever?!

What is the best squat accessory ever? Answer: The TUBOW. What is a TUBOW, you ask? Let’s quickly dive into that, as well as why and how you use one.

I also recommend watching the included video for a demonstration of how to use the TUBOW.

What is a TUBOW?
The TUBOW is a Terribly Useful Block Of Wood. It’s a 2-foot long block of 4” x 4” wood, and while you are welcome to use a section of 2” x 4” instead, I’d recommend sticking with 4” x 4” for stability. If you go to Lowe’s, Home Depot, or a similar big box home improvement store, you can often have them cut it to length for you, or you can cut it yourself. If you’d rather order one and not have to deal with any measuring or cutting, just click here, and you’ll be good to go.

Why Use a TUBOW?
Two common squat errors are 1) allowing the knees to continue traveling forward throughout the entire descent - thus ending up too far forward at the bottom of the squat - and 2) the lifter doesn’t allow the knees to move forward enough in the first half of the descent with the result being that the knees will eventually shoot forward at the bottom of the squat - resulting in problems with back angle and often balance as well.

The TUBOW solves these problems by giving the knees a target at which to aim. Using the TUBOW allows the lifter to set the knees’ correct position about one-third to one-half of the way into the descent. This makes sure that the knees go far enough forward at the right time while simultaneously ensuring that they don’t go too far forward.

How Do You Use a TUBOW? (hint: it’s not complicated)
First, position the TUBOW right at your toes - perhaps a half-inch or an inch in front of your toes depending on anthropometry (you’ll figure this out with practice). You can use one TUBOW or two.

Next (after unracking the bar and taking your squat stance), as you start your descent, cue your knee to touch the TUBOW lightly about one-third to one-half of the way into your descent. Again, touch it lightly - don’t knock it over.

After this, you simply keep your knee glued lightly to the TUBOW the rest of the way into your descent. Since the TUBOW won’t allow you to shove your knee any further forward, this will force you to reach back with your hips, and this, in turn, will force you to correctly lean over as you reach the bottom of the squat. The result is that, by fixing the knees’ position, we automatically fix the hips’ position and back angle as well. For this reason, we often refer to the TUBOW as the portable squat coach (especially useful for those who train without a coach).

Once you reach the bottom of the squat, drive your hips up out of the hole as normal.

A Second Benefit of the TUBOW
The TUBOW can also help fix the knees’ lateral position. You want your knees to travel in line with your toes, i.e., they shouldn’t be traveling inside of your toes (“valgus knees”), nor should they be traveling outside of your toes (“varus knees”). With the TUBOW in place, you now have a target for your knees, and this can help you fix any issues you might have with the lateral positioning of your knees.

Last Thing . . .
When needed, use the TUBOW during your warm-ups - don’t use it for your work sets (at heavy weights, the TUBOW will be a distraction). Also, don’t use the TUBOW forever - it’s a tool, not a crutch. Use it a few times to get the sense of where your knees should be, or use it if your suspect that your form has degraded over the past few sessions, but after that, use your brain to position your knees correctly. The TUBOW taught you how to control your knees - now it’s your turn to execute.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

Lifting Shoes: What and Why

(A Blast from the Past article originally posted on 12/31/21)

What are lifting shoes, and why should you use them? We’re going to cover the 3 features of a lifting shoe, why lifting shoes are beneficial, and we’ll also touch on what not to buy.

Feature #1: Sole
The first and most important feature of a lifting shoe is its rigid, non-compressible sole. This helps with force transfer, which is rather important when lifting heavy weights.

If you're going to squat, press, or clean-and-jerk in running shoes, you’ll find that doing so is similar to trying to do those while standing on a pillow - comfy on the feet, of course, but also rather silly. We would like to have a very rigid surface on which to lift so that we have efficient force transfer between us and the floor. A lifting shoe provides this. A regular shoe does not. 

Feature #2: Metatarsal Strap(s)
The second feature of a lifting shoe is either one or two metatarsal straps. These straps provide lateral support as well as arch support, and the presence of both types of support provide yet another reason why a regular shoe is not as good of an option as an actual lifting shoe.

To a certain extent, the metatarsal strap(s) will also prevent the foot from sliding forward, which is a nice feature to have when performing something like a split jerk.

Feature #3: Heel
The third feature you’ll notice on a lifting shoe is the slightly raised heel. Typically, a heel height somewhere between ½ inch and ¾ inch will work nicely. Some Olympic lifters may prefer a slightly taller heel, but this range serves most people quite well. The heel gets a little more quad involvement in the lift and also makes depth in the squat easier to achieve.

These 3 features will give you an idea of what to look for when you’re shopping for lifting shoes. A number of manufacturers make quality lifting shoes - Nike, Do-Win, Inov-8, and Adidas are just a few of the more well-known brands. Below are some of the shoe recommendations and links we usually send to new members as a starting point for shopping:

• Nike Romaleos 4

• Inov-8 Fastlift 360

• VS Athletics Weightlifting Shoe

• Adidas Adipower

• Do-Win Lifting Shoes

If you’re going to lift, wear lifting shoes. Runners wear running shoes, basketball players wear basketball shoes, and lifters wear lifting shoes. Once you’ve trained in lifting shoes, trying to lift in regular shoes (tennis shoes, running shoes, etc.) will feel like lifting while standing on a pillow.

Finally, a note on lifting in Chuck Taylors. Just . . . don’t. Chucks are the lifting shoe for people who started to think about lifting shoes but never completed the thought. They don’t have a rigid sole, they don’t provide any arch or lateral support, and they don’t have an elevated heel, so they fail all of the criteria listed above. For those who prefer to lift in a non-heeled shoe, there are options out there that provide a far more rigid sole, and for those who want to deadlift in an extremely low-profile (i.e., close to the ground) shoe, there are options out there that are far more low-profile.

Can you lift in Chucks? Of course you can. If LeBron James wore running shoes, he could still play basketball, and he would certainly still beat me in a game of 1-on-1 . . . but he chooses to play in basketball shoes. I recommend that you choose to lift in lifting shoes.

As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.

(Some links may be affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Testify earns from qualifying purchases.)

If you found this helpful, you’ll love our weekly email. It’s got useful videos, articles, and training tips just like the one in this article. Sign up below, and of course, if you don’t love it, you can unsubscribe at any time.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Would you like to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach?

No Deadlift Jack? THREE Tips for Loading Your Deadlift SUPER Easy

Struggling to load your deadlift? Deadlift jacks can be pricey, so here are three tips to make loading your deadlift super easy without any special equipment.

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At Testify, we offer small group training, private coaching (in-person or remotely via Zoom), online coaching, and form checks. Click the button below to get quality coaching from a Starting Strength Coach and start getting stronger TODAY.