These gorgeous vintage plates were created by Adrien Gagnon (1924-2011) in the 1950s and 60s in Quebec, Canada. Gagnon was a pioneering Quebecois enthusiast of physical culture; starting out as a bodybuilder himself in the 1930s-40s, inspired by famous strongmen of the time, he later shifted to producing weightlifting equipment, then became a bodybuilding publisher and promoter, famously going up against the monopoly the Weiders held over the industry at the time. Later in life he shifted again and created a successful line of supplements. Throughout his life he was a diehard champion of Francophone culture and Canadian national pride. The Gagnon plate castings are clean and crisp. They were originally released in seafoam green and French blue metallic paints. This brand eventually was repackaged as Atlas Barbell, which continued to release plates in the 1970s and 80s.

Gibson vintage crosshub plates are highly sought after by vintage collectors. A pair of nice condition 45s will cost between $4500-5500. The tall crosshubs are great for hub lifting. John Gibson was an amazing man: he survived a gunshot wound to the chest sustained in WWII during the Battle of the Bulge, then came home to Arizona and starting getting involved in physical culture. He competed very successfully in weightlifting and bodybuilding competitions. He made fitness and gymnastics gear, mostly selling to University athletics programs in Arizona and on the West Coast. That is where most Gibson plates are found these days. Their value comes from the age (1960s) and relative scarcity of the plates, despite the comparatively rough casting of most when compared to similarly old plates by Jackson, Weider, Paramount, etc. Cracks, chips, and filling defects are fairly common in these plates. My pair was chrome plated long ago by a previous owner, but that plating is now eroded in many spots.

These vintage plates hail from Sweden and were made in the 1960s. They are highly prized by vintage collectors. Value is of course entirely subjective but to me these are absolutely stunning and beautiful. They are very accurate in weight and cleanly cast with crisp lettering. Differentiated from Gen 2 by the horizontal dashes at the plate equator.

I have relatively low confidence in the absolute accuracy of this inexpensive tool, but that is pretty irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It is close enough to give a good idea of where someone's grip strength is at. I keep it in my clinic exam room, along with a chart of expected value ranges by age, and use it to spark conversations about exercise and longevity with my patients. Sometimes they surprise me and crush the thing impressively; more often than not, it highlights their evolving weakness and risk for frailty, which helps undermine my exercise recommendations and hopefully motivates them to get more active.

I have the 2 inch post version and it is a workhorse. I have it loaded to the gills and it is perfectly stable. A very economical way to organize your weights.

inexpensive to the point of nearly being disposable. These make good filler weights to round out your needs. One particularly useful feature is that the 45s are only 17 inches diameter, whereas most modern 45s are 17 1/2 inches wide. This makes them useful for slight deficit deadlifts, or if you put a pair of normal 45s on the bar first, then these can be added or removed for subsequent sets without needing a bar jack. They are not particularly accurate and can be off by a couple of pounds, but fortunately they are usually on the heavy side rather than light.

Inexpensive package of pulldown bars that add a lot of variety to your cable work. I love these. The neutral grip feels very strong and solid. I think they could probably do away with one of the middle bars and one of the small bars and make an even cheaper option with only three in it, but whatever... buy it and give two away to a buddy. I find the two versions of the middle and little ones to be largely interchangeable; I don't feel much difference in the lifting from that minimal change in hand position. But I do feel a big difference in going from overhand grip to neutral grip, so if you don't have that in your arsenal yet, these are worthwhile to get that extra couple inches of squeeze at the very bottom of a pulldown or row as you bring it in tight to your core. UPDATE: while I have been very happy with these in my own gym, I'm the only one using them and I don't abuse them. It is worth noting that they are not durable in a commercial setting. I'm changing the photo to show one of these handles that has been at my local Y for less than six months.

I love this thing. I use it several times per week to get my cardio minutes in. You can cruise leisurely in zone 2 or you can HIIT hard to get into Zone 4 or 5 pretty quickly (well, my fat ass gets there quickly, anyway). The LCD screen is simple and clear, powered by double A batteries that usually last a couple months even with frequent use (I've switched to using rechargeables so the consumable cost is minimal after the initial battery purchase). I don't know how accurate the mileage or calorie counts truly are, but it does provide them. My only construction complaints with this air bike are 1) the sliding phone tray is flimsy and when riding hard the phone always seems to vibrate out of it eventually 2) the water bottle is mounted so high on the LCD screen stem that it becomes a real PITA to pull it and replace it while actively peddling. A couple things to bear in mind: it gets pretty noisy when riding hard (not relevant if you're wearing earpods but it's hard to hear music on your phone or a smaller bluetooth speaker) and it also produces quite a good air blast, so depending on where that jet stream is pointed it might make an impact if you're setting it up in your house. One aspect that is really nice, is that even though the bike is quite stable, this is light enough to readily roll it away or even pick it up and reposition it when not in use. I set mine on our treadmill when not using either to get it out of the middle of the floor in the basement.