This is your guide to building an at home dreamland for a powerlifter, written by an international athlete who has trained across multiple countries and facilities and knows exactly what is needed for powerlifting style strength training. If money and space were no object, these are my tips to building the ultimate powerlifting focussed home gym.
- Warm Up Area
- Which Rack Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
- Which Barbell Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
- Which Weight Plates Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
- Which Dumbbells Should You Buy to Assist Powerlifting?
- Which Gym Flooring Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
- What Other Gym Equipment Should You Buy to Assist Powerlifting?
Warm Up Area
To promote longevity in powerlifting, a designated area for lifters to stretch and perform warm up and cool down movements is essential. It prevents injury and optimises the body’s readiness to lift.
• Thick exercise floor mat to lay on for stretches.
• A set of resistance bands for warm-ups and post-exercise stretching.
• High density foam roller to reduce muscle soreness.
Which Rack Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
In powerlifting, a competition style ‘combo’ rack is used for both squatting and benching. The M230 squat and bench press rack is perfect for training at home.
The M3 flat powerlifting bench also in black can be nestled against the M230 rack for bench pressing and can be easily moved outside of the rack for squatting.
Which Barbell Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
The heart of all powerlifting gyms is the barbell. Having a powerlifting specific barbell which meets the international powerlifting federation specifications helps mimic competition conditions and is the most important component in any powerlifting gym. The Power Bar is my all time favourite, starring a sleek matte finish and aggressive knurling. Consistently training with powerlifting specific bars allows you to avoid the ‘whip’ from thinner, less sturdy barbells and is an essential addition to any home gym for anyone wishing to compete in powerlifting. In a home gym, 1-2 bars will typically suffice depending on how many people are aiming to train simultaneously, but if you’re looking to include variations within your training, including our specialist Behemoth Deadlift Barbell and Leviathan squat barbell could be useful.
Which Weight Plates Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
After the barbell, the plates are your next big investment. Calibrated cast iron weight are ideal for maintaining accurate numbers in your lifts and are colour coded for quick counting.
Having calibrated plates over bumper or rubber allows more weight to be added to each side of the barbell as they have a thinner profile. This is important to high level powerlifters to ensure safety when lifting heavily and to facilitate bigger lifts. Picking up fractional plates is also a good shout, as they help you bridge the gaps between PBs when adding another plate isn’t realistic.
Make sure you don’t leave your weight plates all over the floor and invest in some weight plate storage. Whether you prefer a freestanding, all mounted or rack mounted storage solution.
Which Dumbbells Should You Buy to Assist Powerlifting?
To support strength in the squat, bench and deadlift, an extensive set of dumbbell weights are needed for warming up, unilateral work and accessory exercises. To allow for use in a range of accessory exercises, weights ranging up to 50kg would be optimal to allow for progressive overload and covers a wide range of movements.
Which Gym Flooring Should You Buy for Powerlifting?
You should use Home Gym Flooring tiles throughout your home gym for insulation and protection, but if you want optimal flooring you should also invest in a deadlift platform. The platform will protect the bar and plates from wear and tear and provide consistent footing during lifting.
What Other Gym Equipment Should You Buy to Assist Powerlifting?
Accessory work are exercises that support and drive performance in the big three lifts. This section covers machines which complement and improve the squat, bench and deadlift, allowing you to pick-and-choose the most useful equipment to you.
Equipment To Assist Deadlift
• Hamstring Curl and Leg Extension Machine - targets two large muscle groups used during squats and deadlifts.
• Cable Pulley Machine & Attachment Set - allows a variety of accessory exercises such as tricep pushdowns and overhead tricep extensions.
• Lat Pulldown Machine - has multiple grip widths to bias different muscles.
• Seated Row Machine or T Bar Row Machine - perfect for isolating your upper back.
Equipment To Assist Bench Press
• M350 Adjustable Weight Bench & Dumbbell Set - for performing incline chest press and shoulder press.
Equipment To Assist Squats
• Hip Abductor/Adductor Machine - used to strengthen your stability at the bottom of the squat.
• Home Leg Press & Hack Squat Machine - dual machine which targets your quads and hamstrings.
There you have it, the ultimate powerlifting home gym. Within a powerlifting gym, it’s often not about how many machines you have, but how specific and well-chosen each piece of equipment is, tailored to powerlifting based training.
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Tags: Misc > Gym Planning
