I am planning a full garage to gym conversion (at the moment I have a power rack and weights in one half, junk in the other)

It is a single skin brick built garage, and in the 12 years I have lived here has shown no signs of damp. I intend to get it plastered throughout (and ceiling)…but i can’t go thicker than 30mm each side (for plasterboard, dab, etc) as I use a 7ft bar.

1st q. Is there a thin, semi waterproof plasterboard out there, or should normal plasterboard do it?

In the bit where the junk currently is, I am sticking av on the wall with space to do insanity type workouts. I would like a heavy bag, but would need to store In a corner and bring to the centre of this space when in use.

2nd q. Is there a rail/track system I can get from a DIY shop that could do this? I can bolt to rafters, just wondering if anyone had done this?

Ta

2nd q. Is there a rail/track system I can get from a DIY shop that could do this? I can bolt to rafters, just wondering if anyone had done this?

Haven’t seen one, but our heavy bags fall out of the ceiling on a weekly basis. Mounts are drilled into brick with some massive metal rawl plug-esque things holding them in but they still work their way out. If there is a rack type system it’ll have to be mega tough.

You can get moisture resistant PB in normal sizes.

. Mounts are drilled into brick with some massive metal rawl plug-esque things holding them in but they still work their way out.

Why not try resin bolts. You need to clean the hole out of all dust (vacuum is good for this) then set stud in using stud resin. Much stronger than rawl plugs.

I know I’ll get flamed for this but…

Round here you need to get building control involved if you’re converting a garage into a ‘habitable room’.

It might be worth checking if you need to do this where you live.

Also:

Could you not just use the 7ft bar running along the long side of the garage rather than across it’s width?

Cheers both.

I have seen some racking in the states, will keep looking.

Or any other suggestions for keeping a bag out of the way while not in use?

bag into beam will come ut, or shake everything to bits, massive bolts with spreaders held mine up… But as an idea, the gym I trained at had heavy bags on metal bars spanning the floor (several bags, easy to move out of the way).

How about a scaffold bar mounted to the walls, heavy bag hung from that, lock in place with pins, slide away when not needed, doubles as a pull up bar.

If I turned the power rack side on, it would be really awkward to get the bench in and out (and I’d lose space for the other area)

Will check about BR. It’s going to be in use a couple of hours a day at most, so not sure that classes as habitable? Worth checking though, cheers.

Round here you need to get building control involved if you’re converting a garage into a ‘habitable room’.

A gym isn’t a habitable room.

Nice idea about pole…could run across the width of the ‘cardio’ area…

Could you not just use the 7ft bar running along the long side of the garage rather than across it’s width?

Depending on what exercises you do, you need a lot of space around you for dumping it if a Snatch goes wrong etc. They take up a huge amount of space.

I don’t do proper Olympic lifts yet, so mainly DL, squat, bench etc. I keep myself in the rack, and if I have to drop the bar (say from a DL) I’m in the middle so it doesn’t clatter about…if that makes sense.

I can see that if I’m dropping from anything higher, there’s a risk that it will hit the walls.

I can see that if I’m dropping from anything higher, there’s a risk that it will hit the walls.

You sort of need a foot either side and then a good few feet in front / behind. The side hits are not too bad, one side of my platform is a Ply box and it just bounces off the Ply.

It’s the fore-aft bit, when you dump a big weight mid lift and push away from it, you can fall back a good few feet. I’ve fallen off a 7′ platform before. I’ve also dumped a 45kg bar on my big toe, which hurt like hell. Luckily the rubber bumper plates did their job and no broken bones!

In that case, width ways will be best for me…I have room in front and back.

Any good resources online if I wanted to tentatively dip my toe into the Olympic lifts? I do a push/pull split with compound lifts at the moment, but always looking to mix it up!

I would be tempted to look at alternatives to Plasterboard, such as OSB, as these will be more resistant to the knocks meted out in in a gym area. They can look ok when painted. There will be alternatives out there if you want a clearer look ( ply etc) you will easily be able to affix them the the garage wall using hammer fixing etc.

My next similar project to your I will be using old doors as the walling material, which will not be everyones cup of tea 😀

Unistrut rail bracketed off the wall with intermediate supports as necessary (note sure the weight involved) to support the bag. I believe there a slide insert which will allow you to relocate the bag when not in use with out de-mounting etc.

Can you get pulleys which track along RSJs? Then you get a short length of RSJ, bolt that to the ceiling and the bag could track along that from the corner of the room out to the middle.

Any good resources online if I wanted to tentatively dip my toe into the Olympic lifts?

http://www.pendlay.com/Glenn-Pendlay-Articles_ep_52-1.html

^ couple of routines in the beginner section IIRC

Bill Starr wrote some good articles on starting oly lifts for crossfit journal, ‘mastering the jerk’ ‘improving the clean’ ‘how to do full snatches’. have a google…

Any good resources online if I wanted to tentatively dip my toe into the Olympic lifts?

I would say you really need to be coached as they are so technique heavy, or at least have someone competent to give you lots of pointers. It takes 2-3 years to learn them to a competent standard of technique.

+1 for the scaffold poles. Both my man shed and local boxing club use this method to hang heavy bags. Cheap as well if you can pick up second hand at reclamation yard.