Need equipment advice!

In my home gym I have an elliptical, a Bowflex, and several dumbbells. I bought the Bowflex when I first started out, thinking it would be a good overall machine for a beginner. I find that now I don't use it to its full capacity and instead spend most of my time with free weights.

I really enjoy the feel of free weights and am looking to replace the bowflex with a good free weight setup - bench, barbell, etc. I'm curious what sort of set up you all would suggest for a complete workout? My focus is building muscle. Are there any brands out there that are better than others? Can such a system be pieced together?

Thanks,

SAW

sell your bowflex and use the money to buy a power rack, adjustable bench, and a good 7 ft bar and some iron to go with it. that way you can do squats and bench without a spotter. should also have a pull up bar built in.

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking the same thing. What is your opinion of the Parabody Rack?

http://us.home.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/rack

Can you recommend a less expensive alternative and more importantly, are there any excercises that the Bowflex offers that I cannot do on this system?

Good that you are getting rid of the bowflex. I wouldn't worry about losing any exercises. Free weights are just much much better.

I haven't come accross that cage before, but if I'm honest it doesn't look very good. It's overloaded with accessories, and looks quite flimsy. Plus it doesn't give a max capacity, which is bad. Good brands to stick with are powertec and bodysolid, though obviously there are lots more, I'm just not familiar with them.

I have had a good look through www.newyorkbarbells.com and they seem excellent.

Jonathan

i agree with jonathan, you don't need all those accessories. you can find cheaper ones, as cheap as $200, but MAKE SURE it has a decent load capacity. if it only holds 350 lbs, say thanks but no thanks. put a post on craiglsist saying you are looking for a power rack.

Not saying anything else about the quality of that powerrack, but all the blim-blim seemed to be optional at least.

Wannalift makes a good point about load capacity - at one point I would have never considered such a thing, but always consider the fact you may one day want it to safely support 800+ lbs. The last thing you want is to ever have more weight on the bar than a rack can safely support, so it is better to spend the extra $100 or so to get a better model that will last than worry about safety or having to buy a newer, stronger rack as you start lifting heavier.