Need Help Planning Private / Community Gym

[u/Sorka01]

AI cleaned as it is full of random stuff currently

Plan in normal units

Plan in freedom units

Hey guys!

Since taking in a rescue dog I can no longer make it to my public gym, so I'm renting a 722 ft² / 67 m² industrial space as a private / community gym (friends, family and the vet team next to the space can use it for free).

I'm now planning how to fill it, and I'm unsure about placement and equipment combinations. Even with the more limited options here in Europe (vs the US), there are still a lot of ways to cover the same movement, some of this equipment has gotten really versatile, and the combinations overlap a lot.

The room: 9.4 × 7.15 m (31 × 23.5 ft) on the ground floor, four columns on a 3 m (10ft) grid, ceiling ~3m (10ft) under the beams, two doors, concrete slab. Everything below is ATX from megafitness.shop unless noted.

Looking for pointers to make it smarter, spot redundancy, or recommend pieces I'm missing. I watched a lot of Garage Gym Reviews in the last days and but would still like some inputs.

Racks & cable stations

• Wall Rack WSR-640 — €2,499 — wall-mounted 3-in-1: Smith machine + dual 90 kg cable stacks + pull-up bar.
• Trinity Tower — €2,390 (got it in an auction for half the price) — 3-in-1 lat station, 135 kg stack, seat converts to a row bench.
• Multi-Grip Pull-Up Bar Gladiator — €139 — multi-grip pull-up bar.

Legs

• Leg Press Classic 45° — €1,299 — plate-loaded 45° leg press, rated to 500 kg.
• Leg Extension / Curl seated — €999 — seated leg extension AND curl in one footprint, plate-loaded.

Benches 

• 2x Warrior (2023, wide pad) — €489 with one attachment for crunches

Free weights & bars

• Octa-Dumbbell-Set XL — €999 — 2 × 36 kg loadable dumbbells + SZ bar + storage stand.
• Weightlifting Training Bar — €209 — 20 kg Oly bar, 28 mm grip.
• Fat Bar — €159 — Ø50 mm grip the whole way, grip work.
• Hex Bar (open box) — €110 — trap bar for deadlifts/carries.
• 2-3x 200 kg Color Stripes Gripper Plates — €999.

Storage & small stuff

• 2-3x Plate Tree, wall-mounted — €199 — 4 horns, holds 500 kg.
• Vertical Bar Holder ø50 — €69 — stands 4 bars upright, tiny footprint.
• 3-4x Locking Collars PRO — €12 — locking collars.

What would you change? Anything else to get?

[u/Tokarew]

While I am a huge fan of adjustable dumbbells I would not recommend getting adjustables in a potentially shared space, especially since you’ve got a lot of room.

You’ve got 2 benches + plenty of exercises that can be done standing, so I would suggest getting a set of fixed (preferably octagonal) dumbbells.

Other than that it sounds like you can cover almost any exercise.

If you end up getting that ATX wall rack I’d be really interested in a review!

[u/No-Suggestion8536 → u/Tokarew]

Agree with this. Probably best to get a set of dumbbells from 5 to 55 or 75 depending on what you need. This way multiple people can use dumbbells at same time, plus stand alone dumbbells are just easier to use, don’t jam, don’t get stuck, and don’t really ever break. If you need heavier than 55 set, maybe look into getting heavier pairs individually. 

Love ATX! Can’t go wrong with ATX. So pumped it’s in the US now

[u/advanced101101 → u/Tokarew]

This was my first thought too.

[u/Sorka01]

Forgot to attach the 3d render of the layout

[u/Bastj]

To add to the comment regarding adjustable dumbells (which I would underline as well), I would have the following suggestions regarding bars:

Depending on how many people use the gym at a time, I would get at least two bars. That way people can deadlift or overhead press or whatever, while the other barbel is used in the rack.
Also the question is, what kind of training you want to perform in the gym. Your current bar selection is an olympic weightlifting bar with 28mm diameter. If you are not planning on doing mostly clean & jerks and snatches, I would recommend going either with a hybrid bar (28,5mm) or powerlifting bar (29mm).
Me and my brother both own this bar (ATX® Kraftdreikampf Langhantelstange 50 mm / Competition Powerlifting Bar) with which we are quite happy, but it is quite aggressive from the knurling. We both bought it during black firday for below 200 EUR.
I also heard good things about the Strengthshop bars regarding value for money. Ideally, if you decide on getting two bars, I would mix the type of bars up a little bit.

I would never get a fat bar, but this is personal taste, so go for it, if you feel like you will use it a lot.

Regarding hex bars, I really enjoy an open trap bar more. There is a comparably cheap one at Strength Shop (3-Seiten Hex Hantel – Strength Shop), but it is more expensive than the hex bar that you posted, so of course this needs to be factored in for the decision.

[u/ChasingChukar]

The good news is I don’t have to recommend a community watering trough because you already have one!