Given my "old man shoulders," I can only bench using a Swiss bar. I've used the thick grip bar from Black Widow for years, and then this bar became available secondhand at a good price, and I went ahead and bought it, too. (Now I alternate between the two bars every other month.) I like the two angled grips, which allow for both regular and close grip presses. The two neutral grips, however, are either too narrow or too wide for me. (Someone who's of a bigger build might find the outermost neutral grip to be useful.) The bar is stout (nearly 65 lbs empty) and very corrosion resistant. I did zero maintenance on it since acquiring it couple of years ago and it looks as good as the day I got it. At the time of this review, the bar is unavailable new. If one is able to find it secondhand at a decent price (say, $150 or cheaper), I'd recommend it. Otherwise, there are better Swiss bar options out there.

This is an old school commercial weight tree that has a helpful seventh post at the top for smaller change plates. The bottom two pegs are slightly staggered, which doesn't bother me, but I don't see any functional reason they might have opted for that design choice. I was eyeing a Rogue six post weight tree on FBMP when this one popped up. At 1/3 of the price (listed for $50) of the Rogue tree, I couldn't pass it up. (Plus, in being a fully welded commercial piece, it is more robust than Rogue's could be.) It's apparently an extremely rare piece and I haven't been able to find any information about it online. So, one's determination of its "value" will depend on what one is able to find on the secondhand market.

This bench is not to be confused with a similar utility bench (also discontinued) manufactured by a different company, Flex Fitness. It is a fully welded commercial equipment that is rock solid and designed to take a beating. Unlike the other "Flex" bench, however, it is light enough to be moved around if necessary. The tripod design of the base offers great stability while also providing ample clearance for your feet positioning. I got a great deal on it through the secondhand market (FBMP), and I wholeheartedly recommend it if you're lucky enough to find it for a decent price near you.

As much as I loved my former Concept2 rower (model B), I couldn't pass on this FBMP find. I have used this model rowing machine when I had a membership at a local Planet Fitness, and so I was very familiar with its feel and performance. The "purist" rowers out there may decry that the magnetic resistance of the Matrix rower feels less like real rowing than the beloved Concept2. Having used both machines, I can see a point in the complaint. The initial pull of the Matrix rower - and perhaps any other rower using magnetic resistance - feels slightly harder than the initial pull on an air-resistance rower like Concept2. But there is very little if any noticeable difference in the subsequent portions of the rowing movement as far as I can tell. (Apparently, meatheads are not the only ones who debate the nuances of the "strength curve" or "felt load" of a machine!) The machine itself is "built like a tank" to use an oft-repeated phrase in the gym community. In the context of a home gym, I expect it to last as long as I will. The only downside as far as I can see is the cost, but if you are able to find it for a great price secondhand, as I did, I think it is worth the purchase. NOTE: The rating for the "value" in this review is based on what one would normally pay for this equipment (i.e. its MSRP - around $2400, excluding additional possible fee for shipping), not the value I got through FBMP.

First off, this leg press remains my biggest "free find" on either Craigslist/FBMP to date. Thus, my ranking for the "value" is skewed by this fact - you can't beat FREE! I found it listed on the free section of Craigslist some years ago, and I jumped at the chance to get it. Apparently, I was one of the few who wasn't scared off by the warning in the ad: "You must haul away!" The seller worked at a private gym, which was offloading "out of date" equipment for newer, more attractive pieces. In this case, he told me that they were upgrading to a newer model of leg press that had its own weight stack, rather than being plate-loaded as this dinosaur was. I didn't care. I was getting a freaking commercial leg press for free! I owned a Toyota 4 Runner at the time and the seller was kind enough to disassemble the sled portion (with the weight horns) of the leg press to make transportation easier. But it wasn't EASY. I slid the leg press as far into my car as possible (after the back seats were laid flat etc.), but a good 1/3 of it still "stuck out the back." I didn't have the mind to bring a ratchet or other tie-down straps, so I basically had to rely on the weight of the machine, and the slowness of my driving, to prevent it from sliding back out - with dire consequences. I drove five miles back home with hazard lights on and driving a mere 3 miles per hour on the slow lane. I got lots of nasty stares and honks, as you could imagine. Since acquiring it, I did some research on "Polaris/Iron Co" and there isn't much information online about it. It was apparently once touted as the next big brand of gym equipment after Nautilus, but it never panned out. Whenever I use it, I imagine myself back in time during the "Golden Era" of bodybuilding, when lifters trained hard on equipment built to last, and didn't care about technicalities such as "felt load" or "strength curve." It has helped me to get strong, and as I get older, I will continue to rely on it to keep me strong.