When searching for recommended home gym equipment, the top rankings are filled with affiliate articles. That in itself is not a problem, but many of the highly rated commercial training equipment manufacturers and retailers in Japan do not have an affiliate system, so they will not be reviewed in such affiliate articles. As a result, more and more articles are being written about home appliances with high (actually poor) ratings on Amazon.
Therefore, we, who have been involved in the training equipment industry for many years, have put together a list of recommended equipment for home gyms.
Although we recommend this product to general trainees, we have also selected products that can withstand use by competitive athletes such as powerlifters.
In this article, training machines will not be covered, and the list will focus on free weight equipment. We will also focus on free weight equipment such as power racks, Olympic bars, weight plates, and adjustable benches, which are often installed in home gyms.
Power racks recommended for home gyms
When it comes to power racks recommended for home gyms, our opinion is that there are currently two choices: REP Fitness and MBC POWER. You won't regret buying one of these racks.
REP Fitness PR-5000 Power Rack (6 posts)
REP Fitness PR-1100 Power Rack (4 posts)
It is well known that they have reasonable pricing despite having commercial specs, but the biggest strength of REP Fitness and MBC POWER is their customer-oriented product development system . These manufacturers understand what home gym users are looking for and the characteristics of Japanese housing, and are equipped to immediately begin product development.
Convenient rack attachments have been developed one after another, and once you've used one, it's difficult to switch to another manufacturer because it's too easy to reach.
And since each manufacturer always has a large amount of inventory so that they can deliver products immediately, they are superior to others in terms of delivery times.
For a power rack with a cooler design, we recommend the Rogue Fitness. Rogue Fitness has a strong presence around the world, and you can rest assured that we will continue to develop our products.
SML-1 ROGUE 70" MONSTER LITE SQUAT STAND
However, Rogue Fitness basically needs to be ordered from the United States. Out-of-stock items and damage during transportation frequently occur, and we are not able to replace parts as quickly as domestic companies.
If you want to create a home gym at a lower cost, I think ONI will be an option.
On the other hand, we do not recommend choosing an unknown brand power rack based solely on price. If you choose a manufacturer that does not have a continuous development system, there will be cases where you will not be able to replace parts when the product breaks down, and in the worst case scenario, you will have to replace it, which will end up costing you the most.
Also, unknown brand items are not popular as used items, and it takes time to dispose of them, which is another reason why we do not recommend them.
Olympic bars recommended for home gyms
This Olympic bar is recommended for your home gym, but first of all, when choosing an Olympic bar, be sure to choose a barbell with a 50mm diameter sleeve. There are products on the market called standard barbells with 28mm diameter sleeves, but if you want to do some serious muscle training, choose the Olympic bar.
As for Olympic bars, REP Fitness and American Barbell are currently outperforming in terms of cost performance. Due to its high quality, it can be used in both home and commercial gyms.
REP Fitness Double Black Diamond Power Bar
*Additional note: There are currently no stores selling American Barbell in Japan.
If price is the only consideration, there are unbranded barbells in the 10,000 to 20,000 yen range, but in that price range, evaluation criteria such as the feel of the knurling, plating, and the tensile strength of the shaft are outside the scope of professional use, so we do not recommend them. .
If quality is your priority, Tenka no Eiko is recommended. The price range is around 100,000 yen, but the barbell is made from the highest quality Swedish steel and is a first-class product that cannot be replaced with anything else.
ELEIKO Powerlifting Competition Bar IPF Certified Product
In terms of design, Rogue Fitness is also recommended. Currently, the cost performance is not good due to the weak yen, but Rogue's strength is that it has a wide variety of barbells.
There are many barbells from other machine manufacturers, but most of them are priced for corporations (assuming discounts are included), and the quality is not high, so there is no need to consider them.
A collar is also required when using a barbell, but a quick-release collar made of plastic is overwhelmingly recommended. A screw-type competition collar is unnecessary for general trainees, and a spring collar has no advantage over a quick-release collar, so it is not an option.
Recommended weight plates for home gyms
This weight plate is recommended for home gyms, but for general trainees, there are two options : grip plates or bumper plates . If you're doing deadlifts or cleans, a bumper plate is the only option, and if you're only doing training that doesn't involve dropping to the floor, such as bench presses or squats, a grip plate is fine. For powerlifting competitors, a thin steel plate is also an option (we will omit it this time).
For rubber bumper plates, the following REP and Villain are recommended as they have good cost performance.
REP black bumper plate
Regarding grip plates, REP and ONI urethane plates are recommended in terms of price and quality.
ONI grip holding plate TPU plate 2 pieces 1 set
Adjustable bench recommended for home gym
This is an adjustable bench recommended for home gyms, but REP Fitness is the perfect choice. It is unbeatable because it is designed from the user's perspective in terms of seat width, thickness, angle adjustment, storage capacity, etc., and you can choose the grade that suits your budget.
AB-3000 2.0 FID Adjustable Bench
Of course, you may choose another manufacturer based on your brand preferences, but if you only look at the functionality and price, there is no need to consider anything else.
At the end
This time, we would like to introduce recommended training equipment for general trainees. Looking back, I ended up introducing REP Fitness and MBC POWER products in a slightly biased manner, but I think this is the result of continuing product development from the user's perspective.
As for the floor mats for your home gym, we are proud to recommend our gym mats . We are proud to be the best in Japan in both quality and price, so please feel free to use us when building your home gym.
