In the spirt of full disclosure, please be informed that companies like Amazon will sometimes pay us a small fee when people buy some of the products listed on this site. This is at absolutely no cost to the purchaser and will never affect the quality of the recommendations I make. I hope you find the following reviews useful.
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This may seem like a strange peice of equipment to include as necessary for you but even if you want too make the most basic home gym, you need some type of bench. This is as basic as it gets. However, you will find it very useful, not just for doing certain exercises on but also sitting on it will resting between workout sets. I have a marcy bench just like this one and like the fact that it's light, easy to move around - I can use it for bench press in combination with the squat rack for example, I use it to jump on or off for certain training movements (this may not be advised due to injury potential, I'm just stating what I personally do with it) and with a 600 lbs weight capacity, it is very sturdy for the price. In my opinion this is a great buy for most people.
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If you need a more versatile bench than the flat bench described above, this is one worth considering. If you have limited space and only want one bench for your home gym, an adjustable bench is usually the way to go. I like this particular one has an 800 lbs weight limit and can function as a flat bench, decline bench, incline bench and bench for seated press movement with an 95 degree top position for the back rest - much better than most other combination options. A quality adjustable bench that can compete with much more expensive competitors. In fact, just this bench with the dumbell set listed below will give you a very functional high quality home gym.
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This is the dumbell set I wish I would have bought instead of what I have now. It may seem like an expensive purchase but I believe it is well worth it for a few reasons. I initially started with a much cheaper rack with weights paired on opposite sides of the rack. It was the A-frame type that had the smaller weights on top and larger weights on the bottom. In addition to the limited weights, I found it very inconvenient to take the weights from the rack and then replace them on the rack. I eventually replaced this with a very small two tier rack due to space constraints - having the weight pairs together instead of apart made in safer and more user friendly. However, my current small rack still only allows a limited amount of pairs to be used. The product I have listed here from X-Mark is 3 tiers, meaning you can have more dumbells in a limited amount of space while keeping it very functional. The dumbells also go from 5 lbs up to 50 lbs in 5 lb increments, a total of 550 lbs of quality dumbells with a quality rack for a lower price than some much lower quality products. For those interested in the functionality of dumbells, I believe this set is worth the investment. Incidentally, this would work well with the full body workout I outlined in the YouTube video posted on the Physical Training tab/page.
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It may be no surprise that, due to the Cats & Kilos emphasis on resistance training, we highly recommend having an olympic style weightlifting bar and plates for those able to use anything beyond very light weights. For those that cannot use weights involving a 45 lb bar along with the weight plates, the dumbell set above may be all you need and a better option for you. In any case, those interested in an olympic style bar will find it difficult to get a better value than this. It has just the right amount of "whip" for olympic lifts and kurling to accommodate both weightlifting and powerlifting, including a center knurl which is often preferred when doing powerlifting squats. This bar is also strong enough to handle virtually any strength levels with a listed 1500 lb weight capacity. I personally have a version of this bar without the center knurling (the Voodoo bar) and continue to be happy with it over time and have not found a cheaper bar that can match its performance.
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These days, everybody seems to think they need bumper plates but the truth is you may actually not. Do you plan to do olympic style lifts where you will be dropping the bar on the floor? If the answer is no, you may not need these. Of course you may still choose to use them to minimize the general use impact on whatever floor surface you have. In this case, perhaps just a pair of 25 lb bumpers is enough. You could use steel "change plates" for the remaining weights - 5 and 10 lb plates - as these are generally much less expensive. If you decide to do this, it is recommended that you do not exceed the bumper plate weight with the weight of the steel change plates. To go heavier simply purchase another pair of 25 lb bumpers. Why 25 lbs? I have found this to be the most useful size for bumpers unless you are a weightlifter that will be using a significant amount of weight. In this case, X-mark offers quality bumper plates going up incrementally to 55 lb pairs at a significantly lower price than competitors of similar quality. These may be found through the same picture link.
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This is similar to the squat rack that I have. Is this great? No! However, it is a good buy for the price for people that do not plan on heavy powerlifting or otherwise use very heavy weights. I would have hated this one when I was younger but now I train lighter and find this to be acceptable, especially due to the limited space I have for such a piece of equipment. All squat racks will take up some space but this one has a smaller footprint than most. It is adequately sturdy for most people not going too heavy. I have personally made my own modifications to include catchers for squat and benchpress - yes, I use it for a bench rack as well. However, if you plan to train near your maximum limits you are advised to consider a different piece of equipment as, I believe, catchers are vital in that case. However, for most people, this may have all the functionality they need and worth considering, especially for the price.
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A power rack, now we're talking. I would never have chosen anything less when I was younger but, due to a heart valve issue, I don't try to go nearly as heavy now. I hesitated putting a cheaper power rack on here because many people interested in power racks plan on using a significant amount of weight during training and it is virtually impossible to duplicate the safety and quality offered by more expensive racks at these lower price ranges. However, this one comes close for almost any strength level. It has a 1000 lbs listed weight capacity - more than enough for most. However, I have some concerns about the J-hook system this product has - the portion of the equipment that the bar is placed on before and after squats for example. It does not lock firmly in place and allows some wiggle when unracking and racking the bar. Now, it may just be OCD but I would not want this to be knocked out of position when trying to rack the bar for example. A simple fix may be to simply wrap some duct tape around the bottom of the J-hook and save a lot of money over a much more expensive rack. Read the reviews and see what you think. Regardles of my own personal issue with this one specific part of this item, I believe this versatile rack with a pull-up/chin up bar, sturdy construction, spotter bars, etc., is one of the best power racks at this price range.