Equipment Advice


Barbells

Olympic barbells and bumper plates are at the heart of any box! We have curated an outstanding selection of bars that we would put toe-to-toe and expect to beat any competitors on the market! But first, some general purchasing guidelines.

  • Most gyms start out with the highest number of “Men's” or 20kg bars. Based on the budget, a general guideline is between half and equal to your Target Class Size.
  • “Training” or 15 lb bars are usually the next on the list, varying between 1 and 5 (and going higher as the gym gets larger). This primarily depends on how many new athletes a gym anticipates handling at one time and how large Fundamentals classes will be.
  • Finally, we consider “Women’s” or 15 kg bars – these usually vary from half to equal with the number of Men’s bars. We see the most fluctuation in the number of Women’s bars as each gym evaluates the gender breakdown and whether they want to get a specific bar for women rather than one that everyone can use (a Men’s bar).


Bumper Plates

An essential pair to barbells for Olympic Weightlifting! Many garage gyms can skate by with iron plates, but if athletes are really going to push themselves to the limit, they need bumper plates. Regardless of which style you decide to go with, FringeSport has the absolute best bumpers at unbeatable prices. You just have to decide which sizes and how many!

The quantity of bumper plates trends pretty closely to the number of Men’s bars or Target Class Size that a gym is hoping to achieve . We here at Fringe are highly biased toward 10s, 25s and 45s and tend to recommend less 15s and 35s. The former are extremely useful in hitting common weight breakdowns:

  • 10s give an athlete a great warm-up / technique weight
  • 25s on a 20kg bar hit 95 lbs (Fran)
  • 45s on a 20kg bar hit 135 lbs

15s and 35s are mostly for intermediate weights and sometimes preferred for Women’s bars, but a few pairs of 2.5/5/10 lb metal plates will allow you to hit all of those weights!

Finally, whether you have or expect to have more heavy lifters or beginners in the mix. If a gym’s clientele skews to one side, they would be best served loading up on more 10s or 45s. For example, a gym starting with 10 Men’s bars and a Target Class Size of 10 athletes should start with at minimum 10 pairs of 10s/25s/45s and build from there.




Rigs

A Squat-Pull up Rack (AKA Rig) is the focal point of almost every box. These have proven to be one of the most effective, stable and durable ways to bring pull-ups and any barbell work that requires a rack into your repertoire.  Your basic rig starts at 9’ tall, 6’ deep, is built lengthwise in alternating 4’ and 6’ sections and everything is customizable. Height can go up to 12’ to accommodate ring muscle-ups or 15’ for rope climbs or even down to 8’ for low ceilings. Depth can be decreased to 4’ if you have a tight space. You can go as long as you want or as short as you want. And the accessories are only limited by your imagination!

The least expensive way to get a rig is to go with a Wall-Mount unit. This means that your uprights will anchor into your floor and your pull-up bars will anchor into the wall. Wall-mount units typically have a higher ratio of pull-up bars to racks, which means you will need a long wall to get a good number of racks (34’ to get 4 rack positions). Wall mount units are typically more stable because they are anchored to the ground and the wall. However, this means they are also generally more difficult to install.

A free-standing rig is an amazing piece of equipment with great utility and versatility. If you need a large number of squat/rack positions, this is the best way to go. With a 14’ unit, you get 4 individual racks and plenty of pull-up positions. Throw on wall ball targets (room on a 14’ unit for up to 12) and you no longer need to leave a wall empty! All uprights on a free-standing rig should be anchored prior to use, but installation is much simpler than on a wall-mounted rig!