CrossFit Equipment Packages & Equipment Checklist

Are you interested in joining the CrossFit revolution, but you have no equipment? I can give you some guidance on what gear you need to get started. Are you already into CrossFit but you want to do your WODs at home rather than at the box, and you want to know the best places to buy the best equipment? I can help you with that too.

Fortunately for us home gym owners, CrossFit uses a minimal amount of equipment, so the list to get started is relatively short and there are deals on packages to be had. Still, if you are starting with nothing it may seem like a lot. I’ll show you the necessities, the extras, and who has the best prices for quality gear you can trust to last a lifetime. I’ve included multiple package deals as well as some stand-alone equipment pricing.

Last updated December 2017 – price checking, minor edits.

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Table of Contents

• Crossfit WOD Equipment Checklist
• Bar and Bumper Plates Only Packages
• Minimal Crossfit Equipment Packages
• Nearly Complete Crossfit Package Deals
• The Warrior Complete Crossfit Package Deal
• Bumper Plate Only Sets
• Barbell Suggestions for Crossfit
• GHD Shopping Tips
• Everything Else

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Recommended CrossFit / WOD Equipment Checklist

• Olympic barbell – 20 kg (44 pounds) or optional 15 kg for women.
• Olympic bumper plates – a full set including weights from 10 to 45 pounds.
• Plyometric box – 3 in 1 design preferred for the different height options.
• Pull-up bar & gymnastic rings.
• Medicine ball(s) and/or slam ball(s).
• Kettlebells.
• Jump rope/speed rope.
• Parallettes or a dip station.
• Concept 2 Model D Rower

Optional (but still recommended) Equipment.

• GHD (glute ham developer)
• Climbing rope (if you’re able to hand it, that is)

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Bar and Bumper Plate Packages

Vulcan Strength Packages

Vulcan offers four basic bumper + barbell packages. Starting at $477 for a 205-lb package (160-lbs of basic bumpers + a bar) and going as high as $617 for the Alpha plate package (275-lbs of Alpha bumpers + bar). All packages come with an Olympic barbell (One Basic by default) and spring collars, but in each package both the barbell and the collars can be upgraded to whatever you want. This allows you to save some cash but not have to make any compromises on the bar you end up with.

With these packages you are looking at about a 10% savings from buying it all separately, which certainly beats a kick in the butt with a frozen boot. It’s not a huge difference, but with packages that can be customized like this to make sure that you get exactly what you want, anything is something.

Rogue Packages

Rogue Fitness has a ton of bar + bumper equipment packages. They start at $480 and go up to well over a thousand. Rogue doesn’t offer much in the way of discounts on their bar + bumper packages when compared to buying the gear piece-by-piece. All you’re getting by buying a package is free shipping on the bar (as bumpers already tend to ship free). Unless you see a package that has exactly what you want and nothing more, price out the pieces you actually want separately and consider that route, or go with another vendor to get what you want.

Many Rogue packages include the Echo Bar by default, but you can upgrade to the Ohio Bar, and women can upgrade to the Bella Bar.

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Minimal CrossFit Equipment Packages

These first two Crossfit packages are intro packages; very basic. They will get you started with your bar, bumpers, a kettlebell and a couple other small things.

CrossFit Package #1 – Vulcan Basics Package – $831

The Basics Package from Vulcan includes a 20 kg Vulcan Standard Olympic Bar (a great bar btw), 230-lbs of black bumper plates, spring collars, gymnastic rings, a 20 kg Absolute Kettlebell, and a 20-lb medicine ball. You can upgrade your spring collars to OSO Collars, and you can upgrade the bumper plate set to 260-lbs. The bar cannot be changed, but in this case that probably isn’t going to be a problem.

CrossFit Package #2 – Rogue SoCal Starter Package – $730

This starter package from Rogue includes 160 pounds of Rogue HG bumper plates (a pair of 10’s, 25’s, and 45’s), spring collars, Rogue Echo Bar, a set of Rogue Rings, a Dynamax Medicine Ball, and a 24 kg kettlebell. This package has the same core items as the Vulcan package above, but the Vulcan package has 70-lbs more of bumpers and a superior bar – and for not a big price difference.

What I think…

I think the Vulcan package is a better deal. The Echo isn’t a bad bar anymore (and it beats the old Beater) but the Standard is much nicer. Yeah the Vulcan package costs more, but you get a lot more weight included (160 will not be enough weight for very long) along with that better bar. Technically the Vulcan bumpers are just a better product as well, especially when it comes to the thinner, light plates – much more durable.

Since both of these are minimal starter packages, regardless of which you prefer, you will need additional equipment, so keep that in mind. You may find that the following packages are a better deal in the long run.

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Nearly Complete CrossFit Equipment Packages

The following two packages are much more complete than the previous two. These will get you a lot closer to having everything you need to train at home.

CrossFit Package #1 – One Standard Package – $1157

The One Standard Package includes a Vulcan One Basic 20 kg barbell, 230-lbs of Vulcan bumper plates, an One Basic Squat Stand, two kettlebells (16kg and 24kg), two medicine balls, a 3-in-1 plyometric box, and spring collars. The barbell, collars, and amount of weight included can all be customized in this package. Even the weight of the medicine balls can be changed.

What makes this package so fantastic is that it includes a squat stand. To me this is better than getting a bunch of trinkets that you may or may not even use (stuff like the sandbells, abmat, and so forth.)

CrossFit Package #2 – Rogue Bravo Package – $1050+

The Rogue Bravo Package includes 230-lbs of Rogue HG bumper plates (pair of 10’s, 25’s, 35’s and 45’s), the zinc coated Ohio Bar (much better than the Echo Bar in the SoCal), a 35 and55-pound kettlebell, HG collars, set of Rogue Rings, 20-pound Dynamax Ball, an SR-3 speed rope, and an Abmat.

While a much more complete package than the Rogue SoCal, it runs awfully close in price to the Vulcan Standard package while containing no squat stand. You can add an S-1 stand to this package for $350, but that puts the price way over the Vulcan package.

What I think…

Again I like the Vulcan package more. It’s more flexible and you get more equipment for the money. I don’t like the idea of paying for an AbMat or jump rope in large packages like this. I don’t like paying for a plyometric box in a package either, but overall that package is still a better buy. Whichever route you go, both of these companies offer great equipment that will last forever, so you’ll never have to worry about whether or not you own reliable gear.

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The Warrior CrossFit Package from Rogue

The Warrior Package has just about everything you could ever need for home Crossfit. This package has 320-lbs of bumper plates (10’s, 25’s, 35’s, and two pairs 45’s), change plates, an Ohio Bar, five kettlebells, collars, rings, parallettes, a Dynamax ball, slam ball, a climbing rope, speed rope, and AbMat. In addition to all that, it comes with a Concept 2 Rower. This huge collection sells for around $2725 and ships for free.

What really sets this apart from the other packages is the Concept2 Rower. Rower’s are a big investment and often the last thing purchased because of the price (even a GHD costs less). Get it included in a package like this and you’re good to go. The only thing you’d ever need to consider buying in the future would be that optional GHD and a power rack/squat stand with a pull-up bar. I do think for nearly $3k you shouldn’t have to worry about a squat stand, but alas.

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Bumper Plate Sets for CrossFit

If you’re not able to buy a big Crossfit package due to budget and you need to build on your garage gym piece by piece, one of the bigger investments will be your bumpers. I’ve written two different articles on bumper plates that include pricing and specs from various retailers. Rather than rewrite all of that again, I will link to those posts.

• Bumper Plates Review & Shopping Guide – Guide to the different types and brands of bumper plates, including pricing.
• Bumper Plates Sets Helpful Pricing Guide – Pricing for various bumper plate sets from the different major manufacturers.

For those interested in the TL;DR short-version… if you’re buying your bumpers one pair at a time, take a look at the Rogue Echo bumper plates or Rogue HG bumper plates. To save money by buying sets, Vulcan plates are the way to go 100%.

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Barbell Suggestions for CrossFit

This is another subject I write about frequently here at Garage Gyms. As with the bumper plates above, if you’re not looking to purchase a package deal and will be buying a barbell separately, there are a lot of barbells out there to consider. Take a look at this post: Olympic Barbell Review & Shopping Guide. You’ll get all the information you ever wanted about bar construction, options, manufacturers, and pricing. This will show you how to best shop for a barbell. I also showcase a ton of the better barbells currently on the market.

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Rowers

CrossFit frequently utilizes the rower in their WODs. The rower is an absolutely incredible piece of equipment, and one that you will ultimately want to add to your garage gym as you progress with CrossFit. I don’t think you have to run out and buy one right away though, as I think the bar, weights, rings, and all that other stuff is much more important to start with.

When you do decide to add a rower to your gym, just remember that CrossFit prefers the Concept2 Model D rower. Check out this article to find out why the rower is so amazing, why CrossFit chose to incorporate the rower, and who has the lowest price on the whole Concept 2 line.

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GHD (Glute Ham Developer)

I haven’t found any Crossfit packages that include a GHD. This is something that when the time comes you’ll need to purchase by itself. Where you buy your GHD is going to depend on how much you’re willing to spend and which one seems like it would suit you best.

The major differences are going to be in overall size of the GHD, quality and thickness of the padding, the ability to adjust for height, and the overall stability of the unit. Look for 11 gauge steel or thicker and look for padding thick enough that you’d feel comfortable with your body weight pressing into it.

Expect to pay around $600 or more for a quality GHD. It’s a bit of price tag, I know, but it’s not something you should ever have to replace. It isn’t like a machine with pulleys and a lot of moving parts to break; it’s more or less just a different kind of bench. Ask anyone at your box, a GHD is an incredible piece of equipment to own and worth every penny.

I have a guide outlining the pros and cons of just about all the major manufacturers’ Glute Ham Developers here.

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CrossFit Equipment – Everything Else

Check out my Top 10 Equipment Items post for more guidance with the other pieces such as plyo boxes, gymnastic rings, and even some more good info on the equipment already covered here.

 

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