≡ Menu

 

Welcome to Garage-Gyms, your one stop resource for all things home and garage gyms. Here you’ll find tons of comprehensive, unbiased reviews including dozens of bar reviews, pricing guides for the most commonly purchased pieces of garage gym equipment, a large community taking part in productive discussion, inspiration & ideas for your gym, and so much more.

With decades of training experience and five years experience managing this site, I think you’ll find lots of useful and impartial information within these pages. Feel free to contribute with a comment or ask me a question directly. If you’d like to support the site, I welcome you to visit the Garage Gyms Store. Thanks, and enjoy the site!


GHD Review - GHD at the CrossFit Games

If you’re looking to add a Glute Ham Developer (GHD) to your home or garage gym, that’s great! The GHD is an fantastic piece of equipment to have in your arsenal, as owning one opens the door to many important exercises that are difficult to replicate without either the glute ham developer or the various commercial hamstring machines.

Continue reading…

Rogue Flat Utility Bench 2.0 Review

If you’re setting up your own garage gym, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll end up in the market for a flat utility bench. You can easily spend a small fortune on a well-built, non-adjustable utility bench, but this isn’t the piece of equipment that really requires you to go all out and spend a third of your salary. One of the better, more affordable options out there is the Rogue Utility Bench, and it just so happens to be the one I ended up with.

Continue reading…

Kilogram change plates for Olympic Weightlifting

I was seeing some chatter about Rogue adding some competition-style, kilogram change plates going back a couple months and it looks like they are finally available for sale. How exciting!

Rogue Fitness has already done a superb job in offering affordable, professional Olympic WL equipment. They sell competition/training bumper plates, high-end Olympic WL bearing bars and affordable training bars, technique plates, and even lifting platforms, but they have been missing change plates and 2.5 kg pro collars. With one of the last pieces of the puzzle now available, is it true that Rogue also plans to seek IWF-certification?

Continue reading…

The Vulcan 28.5 mm Training Bearing Bar Review

This is a review for the Vulcan 28.5 mm Training Bearing Bar – which is practically identical to the previous Vulcan bar that I reviewed, the Vulcan One. The primary difference between these two bars is that the Vulcan One Basic is a bushing bar, and the 28.5 mm Training Bar is a needle bearing bar.

Continue reading…

Rogue R3 Power Rack product review

For the last three years or so I’ve had a Rogue R4 power rack in my garage gym (many of you have no doubt seen my glowing review for the R4), and in that time I have had not one issue, problem, or complaint with or about the R4. It has served me well. I even purchased many accessories for it; all of which work wonderfully and get used regularly. All that being said, despite my respect for the R4, I’ve replaced it with the smaller Rogue R3 Power Rack.

Continue reading…

Aside from prices, one of the biggest factors that people consider when shopping for basic bumper plates is how durable the lighter, 10-pound plates are. Anyone with a decent chunk of Olympic lifting experience knows that those 10’s are the first plates to end up in the trash due to warping and/or steel inserts popping out. People want to know that whatever brand they end up with is going to include resilient 10-pound bumpers (and to a lesser extent, the 15-pound plates) that can withstand some decent abuse before turning into a taco shell.

Continue reading…

Olympic collar buying guide

Well maybe Olympic collars aren’t the most important piece of equipment ever, but I didn’t want a boring title for a somewhat boring article. Sue me!

This is a guide to the great number of our Olympic collar options, and boy are there many! Other than to mention that I cover both the basic, mostly weightless Olympic collars and an assortment of weighted, professional Olympic collars (all 50 mm, or ~2″ collars), this guide really does not need much of an introduction.

This article features no Standard 1″ collars, it is purely Olympic-sized collars.

Continue reading…

Barbells designed for Crossfit

There are a lot of different barbells out there. There are bars intended for the Olympic lifts; bars for powerlifting; and even bars simply for learning and practicing technique. But what about CrossFit barbells?

Continue reading…

DIY Barbell Rack - Space Saving Vertical Gun Rack

My garage gym has only a single, three-bar gun rack, and I own more than three bars. I’ve been carefully leaning bars against the walls and even leaving some in an unused corner on the floor (rubber floors, don’t worry!) Since I like to keep my gym looking nice and clean, not having a place to put these bars was getting on my nerves, so I decided to make myself my own DIY barbell rack.

Continue reading…

The American Barbell SS Olympic Bearing Bar

This is a review of what is now officially the most magnificent and functional Olympic bar in my garage gym, the American Barbell Stainless Steel Olympic Bar. In addition to taking an awfully close look at this stainless steel beast over the last 45-days, I have asked American Barbell a lot of technical questions regarding construction as well. I have made every effort to be thorough in this review, and I am quite confident that by the time you finish this review you will know all there is to know about this American-made product.

Continue reading…

Rogue Matt Chan Bar end cap

Before I start this review for the Matt Chan Bar let me start off by saying that I am extremely excited about this particular bar review. I am excited because it looks like this will be one of those rare articles in which I do not need to have a section for listing the negatives; or cons. I think this one will be entirely positive.

Continue reading…

How to heat your garage gym

Are you looking for a way to warm up your garage gym this winter? A way to make it a tad more comfortable? Maybe at least take the edge off? I thought so! Let’s talk about heating your garage gym.

Continue reading…

New Bars & Gear this Fall - New Equipment

I figured that it’s about time to highlight some of the new bars and other new training gear hitting the virtual shelves. Since there are a ton of new bars out there right now, this post will have quite a few of them.

All of the gear in this post was released within the last month or two, or is expected to hit the market in the very near future. In the case of the Ohio Power Bar, not all variations of the bar are available for purchase yet as it’s still being rolled out.

Continue reading…

New Dmitry Klokov Barbell

I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to test the new Klokov Olympic Barbell before it launches. In the last four weeks I’ve made it a point to use the Klokov any chance I could to get a really good feel for the bar, and a good feel for it I believe I have!

Continue reading…

Gift Ideas for Weightlifters and CrossFitters

Looking for the perfect gift for the garage gym athlete in your life, or perhaps a gift idea for yourself? I’ve got a ton of gift ideas for weightlifters, CrossFitters, and fitness enthusiasts of all types. From big gifts that’ll ensure your gift is the best gift, to smaller, more affordable gifts and stocking-stuffers.

Continue reading…