Another mistake - not enough mirrors so you can check your gains, especially when you are curling in the squat rack.

"Buy it nice or buy it twice" ....and here's all the nice things I bought that I'm buying twice lol

Wasting money is probably one of my greatest skills. If anyone out there is looking to waste some money, hit me up.

Informative video brother ! Loved it

Those are really minor issues, your home gym is outstanding.

Great pointers man. Thanks for showing us how to learn from your mistakes. I will definitely be applying your advice.

Biggest mistake people make is buying equipment they don't already use on any regular basis. So much cheap barely used equipment on Craigslist lol

Thanks for the insights, Brandon. I recently fell down the powerlifting rabbit hole and am in the process of building out my home gym. I'm a big fan of "buy once, cry once" and I'll hopefully be picking up a RML-490 in their upcoming Matte Black Friday sale.

Great and informative as always man, thank you! Also, I'm really glad to see that Walgreens sponsors your hats now. Keep it up, and you'll get that full ride from CVS.

Live and learn man! Good video as usual

Great video! Short, yet full of information and well organized. Thank you!

Great vid and great insight. I will definitely take these into consideration when putting together my home gym.

I'm building my home gym currently. Thanks for the input on the size of the platform. I was debating doing a 12'x8' platform vs just stall mats under rack & a 4'x8' platform. Glad I could learn from your "mistake". Platform looks amazing though.

That diy platform is awesome but I can see how that would be a major aggravation for foot slippage during the bench.

These videos are great Brandon, very informative for when I purchase my own home gym. Thanks.

Thank you this video was well designed and was a pleasure to watch. I enjoyed your straight to the point advise

Good video. Would be great if you'd consider including some high resolution drone footage of you pouring yourself a bowl of cereal, for your next edit, perhaps in slow mo. Thanks bro. Stay big.

Not sure if you have made an update to this video, but would love to see one. Your home gym has evolved into a masterpiece since this video was made. I am curious what you would change now as to compared to the information you have here. I am tired of paying for a gym membership so I am about to drop some coin on a PR-5000 6 post with the Ares from REP. I have roughly 16’ x 24’ space to work with in my garage. I will start laying the flooring down here in May. Love the content! Thanks for all the great work! V/R Shane

Damn brandon, just discovered your channel and its a little gem of the fitness industry. You have alot to offer and very knowledgable!

Thanks for posting this man ! Starting my upgrade process, and this video helps 👌💯💯💯

Those rouge plates are an awesome price

Thanks for this. Liked the thoughts on the rack and platform were appreciated. What are your opinions on the Rogue R-3 vs RML-490

Thanks for taking the time to make these videos Brandon. BIg help in my own home gym build.

Dude! This is the stuff we need to know!!! Thanks for posting this!

Yo Brandon I been watching you’re squat videos and I have noticed one of you’re J-Cups has a roller which there are use on combo squat rack. Where can I snag a pair?

first statement is so true about buying good stuff but you get what you can afford first and make sure you stick to it. then try and upgrade...bro

Excellent advice! Thank you for sharing

Thanks man,this helps as I look forward to starting my own home gym soon

Maybe it's just me, but I would have seen that power rack as a waste of money and space from the jump. A basic power rack is all that's needed, like what elitefts sells for their garage gym line is perfect. That's what I have, but I'm fortunate that my best friend is a welder and just happens to be good friends with Louis Simmons and Dave Tate, so he was able to build an exact replica for $100. Same with my flat bench. I got cheap bars from a sporting goods store along with used weights. There is no reason to spend a ton of money on top of the line weights and bars unless you are running a gym or holding competitions. I my a platform out of plywood with rubber mats covering it for grip and to keep the wood from being damaged during deadlifts. This is just basic stuff and can be really cheap if you know what you're doing. What you did can't even classify as a rookie mistake. Almost everything I have is used, except for elitefts GHR and lat pulldown machine, which again, is also cheap. I train everyday and built a 500lbs bench, 750lbs squat and 575lbs deadlift in my basement. Even with all the weight being dropped and thrown around, my cheap equipment has lasted almost 20 years. There is not much wear and tear on it because I'm literally the only one that uses my gym. And I know I will get many more years of use out of it.

To big of a coincidence. We planned a homegym yesterday: went for the 490C, the calibrated kg rogue powerlifting plates, stall mat underneath the rack and a separate deadlift platform. Nice to hear those were good choices!

awesome video!! thanks for helping us

I appreciate your honest reviews, thx. Subscribed.

And thus, I ordered the RML-490C in bright blue! (Brandon's video talked me out of the RML-690C)

Hey Brandon. Question: Why use WD-40 when cutting stall mats, I have some to cut soon. Looking for pointers.

Thank for the info and well done on your video

Love these videos, always get me torqued

Definitely feel like I would have been just fine having stall mats and no wood at all.

Instead of grip tape, if you take a can of polyurethane and shake the crap out of it and then apply it to the wood, you will get an air bubble filled finish that produces tons of grippy bumps.

Great advice sir! thank you!

faaaaaantastic video! Strait to the point with high quality information, much appreciated!

My girlfriend dumped me, so I'm looking for a new rack.

You could get the same gym with half the cost if you weren't so impressed with logos. I got a Fitness Reality 1000lb capacity squat cage, 12 position bench, 300lbs of Cap Iron weights ( oddly enough the 25 lb plate weighs 25 lbs, just like your expensive ones)24 foam interlocking floor pads, a 7 ft bar and a pair of shoes for half what you paid.

Great info thanks for putting this together

This is great, thanks for putting this out there 🙏🏽

What is the point of having the wood in the middle? Why not just have all rubber mat?

Thanks dad

Thanks for the video. I’m looking into home gym builds

Your home gym videos are always bomb as fuck man. Thank for the primo content. When I finally do my own build you will be my go to channel for advice!

My biggest mistake was buying a decent power rack and bar when I could have went with a smith machine

What about the rogue adjustable bench....? Is it worth the cost over just a good flat bench?

About to go build my own after having a shitty basic small rack. So definitely agree with the buy good first or buy twice. But now I’ll have the space to actually get that lil brother’s/sister rack and your tips... pretty useful. Thnx!

Good video..simple and clear!! Thanks!

Or buy a Titan Fitness X3 rack for $499

Dorian Yates pull over machine and a donkey calf raise machine are needed

Good Video B, thanks for the tips!!!

Most useful vid yet, tx. As for everyone who thinks you spend too much and worry too much about brands, they're forgetting a crucial part of the lifting gear equation: confidence. If you can afford nice kit, and are committed to years of lifting, owning a high quality home set-up will encourage you to train consistently and intensely. Yes, there are much cheaper options - but when a challenging session awaits, it's a good feeling to know you've got schmick equipment to use that looks good, works as it should and won't break. It makes a significant psychological difference over the long-term, something the young fellas don't undertstand yet. And what you can lift when you're 20-30 years old doesn't matter much. If you're still lifting when you're 50-60 you'vve paid your dues and can feel free to lecture others about their gear choices.

Why dont any of the guys you see with home gyms ever have any impressive physiques ?

My home gym cost me less than $100. whats the point of a home gym that costs 10 years gym membership?

Really appreciate your effort thanks bro

Agreed! I ended up cutting a stall mat put over the wood inside my rack. I hated benching on the wood.

Dude titan fitness is alot cheaper and have compact options

You lift?

Great video, bro. I agree w/ you no the smaller racks vs the bigger ones. The difference for me in the bigger rack is the ability to have 2 bars loaded at the same time, rack space to store stuff, and extra pull-up area. Cheers!

Interesting video man. Keep up the quality content

Wow dude Cap barbell and York get people strong You love to waste money

So over priced

thanks for the review bud. Great insight into my future gym.

Really, really good information. Thanks.

You got too much money bro

if your not a professional powerlifter spending this kind of money on weights in ridiculous!

Hey Brandon, really enjoy your videos. So I recently purchased a Fitness Reality rack.. and for the most part it is a solid rack. Heavy, can handle a ton of weight, etc. However, I did that without researching.. as it just looked like a great buy, 2x3 steel, etc. Then I started reading posts on forums and watching videos, and discovered rogue, titan, etc. Your videos included. The two main problems with the reality rack is they use 2x3 posts with 1" holes, but as I found out today when I tried "adapting" the Rogue Monster Monolift with 1" pins.. they are not even 1" holes. So.. after much pain and several hours to assemble, I am sending it back, and purchased the Rogue RM-4 Monster 2.0 rack. So the reason I comment on this is two of your 3 issues I am actually doing.. partly from your video, but also financially it made sense for me now. I dont see a good use for the back side of the 690 area like you noted. I have a tree for weights, which is fine and may get another if it makes sense. I also opted for just the regular crossmembers. I have in my save list the safety straps 2.0 version, and the monkey bar looking crossbar. But what I really wanted to ask was.. the platform area. I bought some cheap 3/4" foam 4x6 puzzle mats.. and like my rack realized that was not the right stuff. It actually does OK, and I think for under neat the rack it will be fine. But for dead lifts/cleans/etc, I wanted to build something like what you have. I am not sure however if you are saying to do away with the wood completely, or just use a thinner bit of it and more horse mat around it? I would think just an area with the 3/4" 4x6 horse mat would be big enough for that purpose? Does it help to have the 3/4" plywood underneath? I did buy a set of bumpers, but also a few steel plates and plan to add more later. Anyway.. thought I would share.. appreciate your videos and insight, and get your feedback on a dead/clean lifting platform.

KM Seraphin Campbell, this is hands down the most correct and dialed in comments regarding home gym mistakes for people who actually use their equipment. It almost goes without saying that buying equipment you can’t/don’t/won’t use is a clear mistake. But after that, you nailed it. I have the RML-490, and I also have 12ft of platform. I built an 8x8 initially, then pulled the rack off there and then added a 4x4 extension without the mats on the gutters outside the rack. Both times I put wood under the rack, and I have added the same roll of grip tape to keep footing. The plates are always a question, and we all over spend on weight it seems. And buying more rack than necessary is a typical compulsive behavior for folks who have no qualms buying nicer things. Lastly, I’ll add that one of my interesting triumphs was removing my fat/skinny bar, moving to a multigrip, and then securing the rack to a wall (on the side) using that fat/skinny between the mid top of the rack and the wall’s studs. It gave me a new pull-up location when a friend might visit AND it created another stabilizing anchor to limit any possible wiggle at the top of the rack. Keep up the good work, and look forward to the new gym build at the new house.

"[The Rogue 690C power rack] is a joy to squat, bench, and do bicep curls in." Lies. It's never a joy to squat.

Rather get a gym membership or buy off Craigslist and use saved money for guns haha. That's alot of money.

Gracias for the info!!!

Great video Uncle. I think about the mistakes I made with mine as well. I wish I would have saved up a bit more and just went with competition plates initially and also went with a full rack and asked Rogue if they can shorten it for me. (I didn't know you can ask for adjustments to height)

Very helpful! Thank you

Thanks for your honesty

I bought a RML-690 with a 30" front cage instead of the 43" version. Just as effective for me and saves a lot of space. It was just as expensive as the regular version though. Also I build a foldable lifting platform with hinges in the middle, which I can just fold in half and store away.

Excellent video! Thanks.

thank you. please make an updated version of this video :)

That was extremely helpful - thank you

Hey man, it was a new learning experience for you. But you made the smart choice, went straight for the power rack, bench, olympic bar and plates, all the basic essentials.

Lol at " I've been known to waste some money in my time"... Definitely can relate.

I also upgraded my home gym... i got a folding rack, its awesome and saves space when needed also got tri-grip bumper plates which have more uses than just on a barbell.

Great equipment! My biggest gripe of building my home gym was I'm pressed for space . I planned mine to a T and took me 2 years to build it and patience. I bought and resold gym equipment to fund my own gym. I have all Ironmaster equipment , powerblock u90 and a hoist v6 functional trainer . All great quality equipment all made to accommodate space.

Cool tips, and rad looking gym!

Good info 👍 thank you for your video.

Great info and insight!

That "buy nice or buy twice" is a quote that we definitely use at my business.

Thank you...Helped a bunch.

Grrrr… wish I had seen this video a month ago. My RML-690 just arrived over the last week. Key for me was the plate storage and I looked at several different Rogue options before settling on my beautiful red behemoth. Putting it together after my mats air out. :) Wish me luck!

Good stuff Brandon, thanks!

Agreed on the platform. I feel the same way in my garage. Also moisture has caused my platform to warp a bit causing the bar to roll. I wonder if a couple layers of stall mat would have worked better

This was actually much needed advice

Great video. I haven’t even started building my home gym yet since all fitness stores here in Canada are out of decent power racks and plates. Have you applied a layer of urethane or similar material over your platform? I think that might help with durability and slippage.

Good info as always bro

Thanks for the vid. Good points

Good advice, thanks.

I am currently building my home gym and you video was helpful in avoiding some purchases that may not have been best for my situation. The rack I decided on is the RML-390c 30 inch interior version. I didn't have space for a larger rack but have plenty of room to do everything I need inside the cage. I upgraded the pipes for strap safeties and use the spotter arms outside the cage for benching. I turned to Vulcan Strength their commercial rated Standard bar and the Vulcan alpha bumper plates. Vulcan quality is on par and perhaps better than Rogue but with free shipping to my area it was a no brainer. I use 3/4 inch stall mats over the entire gym floor and was able to get them for $30 apiece at a local farm equipment dealer (10 bucks cheaper than tractor supply in our area). I bought a full set of dumbbells (Iron hexagon 15-50lbs) from a buddy with a rack for $250. I use a Fitness Reality power tower for dips, leg lifts, pull ups and push ups with a set of rings to supplement body weight strength and flexibility exercises. I just need to install some mirrors and a white board to keep track of progress. I recently lost 35 lbs and no longer wanted to pay gym dues and now that we have a home gym my wife feels comfortable weight training in private. I should have invested in this years ago. Thanks again for all your tips in other videos too!