Home gym equipment
Load-bearing, in a room that was not built for it.
The three we would put in your room
What decides one of these is ceiling height, floor loading and protection and floor area — measured before the order, not after it.
What decides the fit
- Ceiling height
- 9 ft and above is comfortable for overhead work, a full-height rack and a pull-up bar for most adults.
- Floor loading and protection
- 15 mm and above, or a purpose-built platform, is what heavy dropping wants. On an upper floor the question is not the rubber at all - it is what the structure is rated for, and that is a question for someone who can see the joists.
- Floor area
- Around 100 square feet and up comfortably takes a rack, a bar, plate storage and room to walk around loaded. A bar is a little over 7 ft long, and it needs clearance at both ends.
Worth knowing before you order
Why ceiling
Because the ceiling is not sized to the rack, it is sized to you at full extension above it. Pressing overhead puts the bar a foot or more above your head, a pull-up bar puts your head above the bar, and a box jump or a rope adds more again. Measure the lowest obstruction over where you will actually stand — a joist, a duct, a light — rather than the height of the room, because that is the one that stops you.
Floor
Flooring in a gym does three jobs: it protects the slab or the subfloor, it protects the equipment, and it keeps the noise from travelling. Dropping loaded bars needs real depth under them — a thin mat is for machines and foot traffic, not for deadlifts. Above a living space the problem is structure-borne noise rather than airborne, and that is solved by decoupling and mass rather than by a softer surface, which is why upstairs gyms usually end up with platforms rather than wall-to-wall rubber.
Rack anchor
Racks come in three arrangements and they suit different rooms. Bolted racks are the most rigid and the most compact for the strength, but they need a slab or a floor you are willing to drill. Free-standing racks use their own footprint and weight for stability, which means a larger base and usually more mass. Wall-mounted folding racks give the room back when you are not using it but need real structure behind the fixing — studs or blocking, located and hit properly, not drywall anchors.
A presentation set. Venerabull is in its first phase and is signing its first manufacturers — the models on this page are our own, shown so a maker can see the page their line would get. As lines are signed their real products and photography replace these, and anything that was never inventory comes down.
VENERABULL
Heavy, premium goods for the home and everywhere that isn’t. Venerabull LLC · New York.
Company
United States · USD
Everything we carry
Golf simulatorsEnclosures, launch monitors, impact screens
FireplacesLinear electric, gas inserts, mantels
Saunas & cold plungeCedar cabins, plunge tubs, water systems
Outdoor kitchensGrills, cabinetry, refrigeration
Wine cellarsRacking, cooling units, glass doors
Home gymRacks, plates, cable systems, flooring
Hot tubs & swim spasHot tubs, swim spas, covers and lifters
Standby generatorsAir-cooled, liquid-cooled, transfer switches
E-bikesCommuter, cargo, off-road
Rooftop tentsHardshell, softshell, awnings
Boat liftsFour-post, elevator, PWC lifts
Car liftsTwo-post, four-post, scissor
TrailersEnclosed, utility, car haulers
Dock hardwareLadders, bumpers, cleats, whips
Deck ovensStone hearth, electric, gas
RefrigerationWalk-ins, reach-ins, prep tables
Ice machinesCube, nugget, flake
Barber chairsHydraulic, styling, shampoo units
Pallet rackingSelective, drive-in, cantilever
Safes & vaultsFire safes, gun safes, vault doors
Espresso machinesOne, two and three group, grinders
KilnsPottery, glass, front and top loading