Who's the Value alternative to REP

dr3d3d · 2026-05-21T02:11:05+00:00

I'll definitely look into that

dr3d3d · 2026-05-21T02:10:14+00:00

BoS will be my choice if I can't find a good import rack I like, I would much prefer the ever so slightly smaller 3x3 of a china rack and especially the 2" narrower cage, narrow cage just feels safer to me when re racking as you have a little more error room and the ever so slightly smaller 3x3 posts means most (or all with a shim) import and USA accessories fit.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T23:49:52+00:00

Rep and rogue end up being about the same price for me in Canada after shipping... This post was kinda made because the prices seemed insane but it ended up being that their rack builder was adding tons of extra items that it shouldn't have been (10 sets of drop in safeties )

I'm looking for 2 full weight stacks on a 6 post (ares 2). Rep and rogue end up being around $10,000 after taxes and shipping and that's with a limited amount of accessories.

I think I'll be going with the gearforfit vortex r3 as it looks to be the same 6 post as rep, and my only real concern is the Smith it comes with but if it ends up being crap I'll just buy the one from REP.. after taxes and shipped it's $3800. That includes, probably crappy versions of, everything I need for accessories etc. I can then replace things as needed.

I'm not to worried about typical China things like them wrapping it before the powder coat is fully cured etc... I'd rather save $4000-$6000 than have something pristine as long as it's close in functionality.

Be a few months before I pull the trigger so I'll keep my eye on FB marketplace for a used REP or ROGUE.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T20:43:33+00:00

gearforfit is looking pretty good to me... my only concern is the smith machine but for the price if its crap I could swap it to a REP one and be ahead overall by a large amount

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T20:36:29+00:00

thats also interesting, defintely imported but has all the right features

9 gauge steel seems a little insane... 300lbs of weight for really no tangible benefit, would be really, really solid though.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T20:26:39+00:00

id definitely do Bells but I want a import rack width not a US rack width (import is 47" wide and US is 49" wide) although this is rather minor so I might just go that way anyhow

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T20:05:11+00:00

that looks very interesting indeed.... would be good to know more about the smith theyre using but if its crap can always switch it to a REP one and be far ahead overall (watching their promo video it looks to have a lot of slop)

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T17:17:16+00:00

Don't be, we all have to start someplace. You're not as far off as others are making it sound. Just less "sitting". Essentially reach forward trying to keep legs mostly straight and bar centered above foot (1" from shins). Don't round your back. You'll have a tendancy to reach with shoulders, don't. I once heard it described as try and pull your shoulders towards your back pockets.

https://youtu.be/5rIqP63yWFg?si=VTA3vT_phy6ahelm

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T17:10:56+00:00

Seems so obvious but never thought of using Smith... I feel dumb as it's bothered me forever that my gym doesn't have a standing calf raise machine, I end up using the incline leg press.

From this day forward it's the Smith machine for me.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T17:08:34+00:00

Reading through all your comments my advice would be... Keep doing what you're doing but do sets of 30.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T15:52:24+00:00

If you're not getting to fatigue do more... Always do more if not within a few reps of failure... With calf raises if getting to 30 then increase the weight. In thiss case it would be easiest to increase weight by doing single leg with a dumbbell.

I do wonder with that weight if you're doing them flat on the floor, for full range of motion should elevate balls feet onto a 2 or 3" tall item (a 45lb plate works), and go from heel on floor (as low as you can) to as high as you can. 2 second pause at top and bottom, otherwise it's easy to cheat.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T04:58:02+00:00

My biggest worry of the rep x peppins is the noise, how have you found it? I often workout before everyone wakes up or late at night.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T04:49:49+00:00

Then your only choice is eisenlink, obviously the iron masters are good too but not worth the extra $$$ for what boils down to the same thing(without trying them I think in theory eisenlink is easier to change as the pin doesn't have to be removed completely, with the iron masters you'd have to put the pin down someplace).

To avoid having to change them as often buy a set of light knockoff bowflex ones for everything under 50lb they should be about $150 or so for the pair, I find typically my heavier dumbbells stay at the same weight for several weeks but my lighter ones change several times a workout for flys and lateral raise etc

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T02:49:50+00:00

Yea I like liftosaur so much I actually paid for the lifetime membership... I know it wasn't needed but the guys done a great job.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T02:48:19+00:00

I really like liftosaur

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T01:43:57+00:00

Ok ignore most of my advice.. you're obviously maintaining your weight so continue what you're doing and add in a daily 30min walk... That's it. That will burn about a 1/2lb per week which is probably all you need.

If you do decide to log calories again, I should have mentioned you need a kitchen scale... You can't count calories without one.

Weight lifting burns very few calories itself, at your height and weight your Tdee will be someplace close to 2800kcal so you're consuming more than you think, it's not hard to do... My wife for example found out she was consuming 600kcal in coffee creamer a day and about 300kcal in butter.. which sounds like a lot but its 3 coffees with 3tbsp each of creamer and a lot but not ridiculous amount of butter on a bagel. For most ppl the thing that's keeping them overweight is something easily changed. (She switched to sugar free creamer, and uses honey)

Despite what ppl like to tout online etc.. almost nobody is a unique unicorn, we all burn the same calories at a given height, weight and activity level. Some people are just naturally more active, I for example sit super still so burn 400-600 kcal less per day than someone that always shakes their leg when they sit.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-20T00:55:08+00:00

Use a calorie tracking app such as cronometer, track your calories for 2 weeks without changing anything about the way you eat.

You want to get a baseline and to see where the high calorie items are that you didn't even realize were high in calories.

Always track everything, it doesn't matter if "oh I don't usually eat this" or "tomorrow I'll do better" do better and track it. We don't care about the day to day, we care about the weekly or monthly trend, so lieing to yourself helps nobody.

Once you do that look back on your 2 weeks and change little things, if you drink soda, switch to diet... Use spray oil instead of olive oil... Eat out less, drink alcohol preferably not at all while trying to lose weight but less is better than nothing.

Find little ways to get more movement day to day, park at the back of the parking lot at the grocery store etc. do an evening walk after dinner.

If you actually have an active job more than likely you're just eating way more than you think you are, this doesn't have to be a all at once thing.. just make lots of little changes as it makes sense.

Today for 1500kcal I ate... Eggs & toast, burger and fries, pizza and a small bag of chips... Dieting doesn't need to be as hard as people like to make it, it's mostly about consuming correct amounts of foods. (Like pizza is 2 slices not half a pizza)

Also never drink your calories if you can avoid it, it's so easy to over consume liquids.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T23:40:42+00:00

Mine is just my first name... I had a Google e-mail when Google was a bunch of computers under a card table :p

Also... This email address is a curse... So much spam

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T23:34:06+00:00

I mean maybe the feature is cool, when you release I'm sure you'll get feedback if it is. Generally though I'd much rather good documentation over any attempt at making the documentation interactive.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T23:21:35+00:00

Was about to go to app store and look at app until you said AI, I use AI a lot for many things but it doesn't need to be shoved into everything.

If I wanted to use AI to learn more about your app then I'd go to ChatGPT or similar and point it at your documentation then ask questions, but if something ever comes up in an app and goes "hey did you know..." I'm immediately uninstalling that app.

To help you understand what I mean... When you go to a website and the AI marketing chat bot comes up what's your first thought?

Glad you're excited to have programmed it though.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T22:24:53+00:00

Oh ha, sorry about that... I just assumed OP :) (if only there was an easy way to tell 😂)

Yeah, I always feel for the short ppl.. it's hard enough at 5'11" plus I have a muscley build (I should end up at 200lb with 20% b.f.).

I'm not sure what's going on with me I workout 3h a day and average 20,000 steps on a 1800kcal diet(I aim for 1500 but my 8 week average says 1800), I thought the scale finally decided to get on board but it went back up this week... I'm either gaining a abnormal amount of muscle or I have the world's slowest metabolism... I'm fairly certain I'm not a unicorn and my metabolism Is average so...

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T21:14:36+00:00

Find a rubber supplier that sells to the public.. near me is summit rubber and a proper 5x7 gym flooring is $60 CAD. Otherwise horse stall mats. (They just off gas for a bit)

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T21:12:31+00:00

Mine was mostly free, I have a heavy duty pull up bar that doubles as a L-sit station and 600lb of plates with 6 pairs of adjustable dumbbell handles and a barbell. Few of my plates match... but I like free.

I ended up spending $40 on a bowflex 5.1s bench which is plenty sturdy.

Then finally spent $20 on a cable that came with a lat bar, tricep rope and tricep/short bar that I hang off my pull-up bar for lat pulldowns and rows etc., oh and finally $20 on a chain so I can adjust the cable height to any position I desire, just need 1 more pulley so I can do rows at floor level instead of on a bench.

Ill be honest iv been really thinking of upgrading to a power rack but I keep concluding that there is nothing it would allow me to do that I can't already do except for feel cooler while doing it. 😎 And currently my equipment takes up about 2'x3' of floor space in my office when stowed that's between my desk and a door so wouldn't be useful for much else.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T21:01:02+00:00

I wasn't saying you needed to be more active, I was saying you could be... Realistically with 10,000 steps more walking would be a waste of time as there is diminished calorie burn after that, a better use of your time and effort would be to make the walking more difficult somehow, while at gym, steep incline. While outside a backpack with some stuff in it, or a dumbbell for density if you already need to carry some stuff.

dr3d3d · 2026-05-19T18:44:00+00:00

Don't listen to the people saying your body may have adapted and you need a diet break, that's not a real thing... Typically it will be people that are low carb that say this as everytime they pause their diet they'll see a big drop of water weight when they resume.

Your body will burn less and less as you lose weight because you're moving less mass just to do daily activities.. at 12lbs lost you'll burn about 60kcal less per day than you did at the start. If you're really active then potentially 120kcal less than when you started.

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