Aussie Gym Equipment

Training Bodybuilding
21

[quote]Sxio wrote:
cain wrote:
The Australian Barbell Company sells alot of great stuff. You should be able to get everything you need. They are based in Melbourne and have several different Olympic Barbells available to suit your budget.

Cain

I 2nd that but they won’t sell to you direct. You’ll have to contact a distributor like the life fitness guys.

I also recommend getting everything nice as you’ll have it for the next 20 years. I have all olympic equipment and rubber disks with grips. I wouldn’t worry about a snappy bar unless you’re getting a lifting platform installed and are very serious about the olympic lifts.

I just bought the cheap chinese bars. They’re fine for most things.

And that guy who stole his mat from the local cricket club, you’re a prick mate! Think of all the kids who you stopped from playing cricket whilst they had to replace the matt you flogged. Nice one. [/quote]

whats more important the local cricket club or my deadlifts? I think my deadlifts are you prick!

22

[quote]Sxio wrote:

I also recommend getting everything nice as you’ll have it for the next 20 years. I have all olympic equipment and rubber disks with grips. I wouldn’t worry about a snappy bar unless you’re getting a lifting platform installed and are very serious about the olympic lifts.

I just bought the cheap chinese bars. They’re fine for most things.

[/quote]

What brand are your Olympic plates? I’ve seen ones made by Infinity that are apparently OK for O-lifting, but I’m not so sure about dropping them, they look a bit fragile, LOL!

Where did you get the “cheap chinese bars”, are they OK for O-lifting at all?

Cheers,

Ben

23

[quote]markos62 wrote:
I use the Australian BB company bars and plates,rubber coated,I buy direct from them in Braeside.

[/quote]

I was under the impression that you couldn’t buy direct from ABC. How much did you pay for them? Also, they have a few different types of rubber plates, which ones did you get? Are they suitable for dropping from O-lifts?

Cheers,

Ben

24

[quote]Nolte wrote:
Sxio wrote:
And that guy who stole his mat from the local cricket club, you’re a prick mate! Think of all the kids who you stopped from playing cricket whilst they had to replace the matt you flogged. Nice one.

whats more important the local cricket club or my deadlifts? I think my deadlifts are you prick![/quote]

Egocentrism, 1
Respect, 0

25

I got all my stuff from the life fitness guys. They go through Aust barbell, hammer strength and calgym.

Aust barbell have 2 sets of stuff, australian made good quality and chinese cheap but decent. I went the cheap but decent. I’ll probably have to buy a new bar in 5yrs instead of 10. I can live with that to save $300 now.

26

[quote]markos62 wrote:
I have a pretty well equiped gym in my garage.I have about 600kgs of Olympic plates,2 Olympic bars,400kg of regular plates,7 bars,20 sets of DB’s from 5lb to 100lb,squat rack,bench press,chin bar,dip bars,hyper bench,flat bench,stack of Ironmind gripping implements,wall to wall rubber mats.

I use the Australian BB company bars and plates,rubber coated,I buy direct from them in Braeside.

I leave my Nissan GTR and Nissan Silvia S15 outside.[/quote]

I get your point, but maybe next time yous should leave your fucking ego outside!

27

[quote]Nolte wrote:

whats more important the local cricket club or my deadlifts? I think my deadlifts are you prick![/quote]

Little kiddies cricket wins over your fucking deadlifts any day…tightarse prick!

28

[quote]bg100 wrote:
This question is for all Aussie T-Nation members out there.

I am going to set up a home gym and need your help in deciding what to buy for it based on your own experiences in buying equipment.

Unfortunately my budget is limited so I can’t afford to go overboard on costs.

If anyone has recommendations on the following equipment items could you please let me know what brand and price you paid? Also, where did you buy it?

I am in Sydney and I would obviously prefer to purchase locally, but I am prepared to look further afield if necessary.

The items are:

  1. Olympic barbell with revolving ends.

  2. Olympic sized weight plates.

  3. Bumper plates for O-lifts.

  4. FID Bench (with good weight capacity of at least 250kg, nothing flimsy!)

  5. Rubber matting for building an O-lift platform (or something equivalent like horse-stall mats).

  6. Due to space limitations I can’t buy a normal power rack and am looking at getting a more compact rack or squat stands made up by a local metalworking/welding business. Has anyone had anything like this made before, any business you can recommend?

  7. Following on from No. 6, has anyone built their own cable pulley system for pulldowns/cable rows to attach to a rack? Where did you purchase the cable and pulleys from?

That’s all I can thin of at the moment. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Cheers,

Ben[/quote]

Forgot something on my list above. Does anyone know where to get a foam roller similar to the one shown in EC and MR’s “Feel Better for Ten Bucks” article in Australia? I’ve had a look around at a few stores but can’t find anything yet.

Thanks a lot for all the info you guys have sent so far, it has been a big help so far, although I don’t think I have seen anything from any Sydney people yet, obviously buying local will be the easiest thing to do.

Cheers,

Ben

29

the only foam roller ive seen looked like a fishing float of some sort and works perfectly, also the rollers they use to take tinnies up the sand would be good but mabey to larger diameter.

as for buying localy, there quite a few ex equipment places aroung that should have servieable benches and bars.

quaility weights are an issue, as i am unaware of any local manufacutors. i suggest you ask in a few gyms if they know of any or if they have old stock they want to get rid of. keep us informed of what you find

30

[quote]Sxio wrote:
cain wrote:
The Australian Barbell Company sells alot of great stuff. You should be able to get everything you need. They are based in Melbourne and have several different Olympic Barbells available to suit your budget.

Cain

I 2nd that but they won’t sell to you direct. You’ll have to contact a distributor like the life fitness guys.

I also recommend getting everything nice as you’ll have it for the next 20 years. I have all olympic equipment and rubber disks with grips. I wouldn’t worry about a snappy bar unless you’re getting a lifting platform installed and are very serious about the olympic lifts.

I just bought the cheap chinese bars. They’re fine for most things.

[/quote]

Sxio,

The cheap “chinese” bars you got from ABC, are they the bars with the bronze bushings or do they have needle-point bearings? Do the bronze ones rotate adequately enough for O-lifts?

It’s really ironic that my gym has Eleiko Olympic bars and rubber coated plates but no lifting platform! And they won’t be installing one any time soon hence one reason I want to make for my own home gym.

31

May not be within your budget but might help:

http://www.fitbiz.com.au/Product-Detail.asp?MCat=4&CategoryID=89&ProductLineID=453

32

There are a few good options for you to go with.
Sorry I didn’t realise that ABC didn’t sell to anyone, I get them through my business and didn’t realise.

HF Industries are another good resource, also Maxim Strength, they are based in Adelaide and manufacture all their own bench’s, cable machines and dumbbells etc. They are commercial quality and a reasonable price. They will last forever. I decked out my whole gym with them.
Cain

33

[quote]helga wrote:
markos62 wrote:
I have a pretty well equiped gym in my garage.I have about 600kgs of Olympic plates,2 Olympic bars,400kg of regular plates,7 bars,20 sets of DB’s from 5lb to 100lb,squat rack,bench press,chin bar,dip bars,hyper bench,flat bench,stack of Ironmind gripping implements,wall to wall rubber mats.

I use the Australian BB company bars and plates,rubber coated,I buy direct from them in Braeside.

I leave my Nissan GTR and Nissan Silvia S15 outside.

I get your point, but maybe next time yous should leave your fucking ego outside![/quote]

I think you misunderstood.I could either park my cars in the garage and not lift,or leave them outside and lift.The only reason I mentioned the type of cars was to push the point as to what was more important,I wasnt leaving a $500 Holden outside.If my post offended you it wasnt my intention,but your quick retort without knowing anything about me probably comes from feelings of inadequacy,I apologize either way.

To the guy that wanted to know how I purchased stuff direct from ABC,I just walked in,left my attitude at the door and asked.They even sold me everything at wholesale prices,$3.00 per KG for rubber coated Olympic plates,I think they sell for over $5.00 at outlets.I’m buying another bar and some more 25kg plates this week.

Cheers

34

[quote]bg100 wrote:
Sxio,

The cheap “chinese” bars you got from ABC, are they the bars with the bronze bushings or do they have needle-point bearings? Do the bronze ones rotate adequately enough for O-lifts? [/quote]

They rotate enough but they’re not excellent if you catch my drift. If you wanna stick to a budget, maybe grab a cheap one first, and if you don’t like it, get a specialised bar later?

Then you have a stiff bar for benching, deadlifting and a whippy bar for OL. The whippy bar will last longer this way too.

I always do cleans, but that’s the extent of my OL so I’m sticking with the cheap bars until I float myself on the stock exchange and make a million dollars.

35

[quote]markos62 wrote:
helga wrote:
markos62 wrote:
I have a pretty well equiped gym in my garage.I have about 600kgs of Olympic plates,2 Olympic bars,400kg of regular plates,7 bars,20 sets of DB’s from 5lb to 100lb,squat rack,bench press,chin bar,dip bars,hyper bench,flat bench,stack of Ironmind gripping implements,wall to wall rubber mats.

I use the Australian BB company bars and plates,rubber coated,I buy direct from them in Braeside.

I leave my Nissan GTR and Nissan Silvia S15 outside.

I get your point, but maybe next time yous should leave your fucking ego outside!

I think you misunderstood.I could either park my cars in the garage and not lift,or leave them outside and lift.The only reason I mentioned the type of cars was to push the point as to what was more important,I wasnt leaving a $500 Holden outside.If my post offended you it wasnt my intention,but your quick retort without knowing anything about me probably comes from feelings of inadequacy,I apologize either way.

To the guy that wanted to know how I purchased stuff direct from ABC,I just walked in,left my attitude at the door and asked.They even sold me everything at wholesale prices,$3.00 per KG for rubber coated Olympic plates,I think they sell for over $5.00 at outlets.I’m buying another bar and some more 25kg plates this week.

Cheers

[/quote]

I sent them an email the other day asking for prices. I even mentioned it was for a home gym. I got a reply telling me to send the model numbers of the stuff I wanted and they would send prices, so it looks like I can purchase from them.

The link that Helga posted above for Cyberfit also looks good, and their warehouse is in my suburb so I’m going to have a look.

Markos, which type of ABC’s rubber plates did you buy, they have a few types from rubber-edged to the full compettion grade bumper plates. Do you use them for O-lifts and drop them from head height?

Sxio, does Maxim Strength have a website, what sort of prices were you paying?

Thanks again for your advice, as I mentioned before I need to be careful with my budget and the more options I have means i can make the best decision. I’d hate to buy some gear and then find out another place had the same equipment for heaps less!

Cheers,

Ben

36

FOAM ROLLERS:

www.starsystems.com.au

Mostly athletic stuff there, medicine balls etc… and bands and trackwork thingies.

But they have the rollers.

They seem to think they are for balancing on!

IT is a good shop, $15 deliver most anything to anywhere in au, including 40kg medicine balls

37

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

[quote]Magarhe wrote:
FOAM ROLLERS:

www.starsystems.com.au

Mostly athletic stuff there, medicine balls etc… and bands and trackwork thingies.

But they have the rollers.

They seem to think they are for balancing on!

IT is a good shop, $15 deliver most anything to anywhere in au, including 40kg medicine balls

[/quote]

38

bg100
There website is
www.maximfitness.net/

39

[quote]Magarhe wrote:
FOAM ROLLERS:

www.starsystems.com.au

Mostly athletic stuff there, medicine balls etc… and bands and trackwork thingies.

But they have the rollers.

They seem to think they are for balancing on!

IT is a good shop, $15 deliver most anything to anywhere in au, including 40kg medicine balls

[/quote]

Has anyone ever bought the bands from here. There are no pictures so I am not sure if they are decent bands, or those thin little theraband things.

Edit: Judging by the price I am assuming that they are therabands, and probably not suitable for strength band exercises.

40

[quote]
Markos, which type of ABC’s rubber plates did you buy, they have a few types from rubber-edged to the full compettion grade bumper plates. Do you use them for O-lifts and drop them from head height?[/quote]

Rubber edge.The only Olympic lift I do is powercleans,I can only clean just over 100kg so I have no problem catching it on the way down.