Critique my ghetto garage gym hacks

[Whey and Steak]

Hey there,

Over the past couple months I have been slowly accumulating the equipment to build myself a decent personal gatage gym. I got myself a squat rack on top of a bench and dumbell set I already had. Unfortunately I'm missing a few key ingredients and I don't have the cashe to just go buying everything in sight. The two things I currently need the most are a good dip station and a deadlift platform. I came up with a couple decent ways to work around these problems but I've got a few questions. Here's what I'm thinking:

1: Deadlift platform - I've decided to lower the safety pins in the squat rack to the lowest position possible. This leaves the bar just a few inches higher than the ground (this protects the concrete floor in my garage). To compensate for those couple inches I wear workboots when I deadlift to create a sort of "deficit deadlift" to even it out. Could all this weight coming down on the safety bars potentially damage my squat rack in the long run? Is this an effective strategy or am I not getting the full benefit of the lift this way?


2. Dip Station - Before I had my squat rack I had these two mini safety bars you could set up on either side of tbe squat. Is it bad for your wrists to be holding a square grip like this? Note: had difficulty uploading the photo but the two cross bars are square shaped meaning that my hand is flat on top of them when doing dips and is at a 90 degree angle with my wrist.

[aWalkingShadow]

You can't afford a few pieces of plywood and stall mats for a platform? By deadlifting your way, you're damaging both your bar and safeties. When the weight gets heavy enough, I can see your equipment accumulating a fair amount of damage over time.

[Whey and Steak]

You can't afford a few pieces of plywood and stall mats for a platform? By deadlifting your way, you're damaging both your bar and safeties. When the weight gets heavy enough, I can see your equipment accumulating a fair amount of damage over time.

I have school related expenses that take priority over weight training. I had a rough budget set aside for a home gym and I underestimated by a few hundred dollars. I suppose I should just make the investment now to save my squat rack and my concrete in the long run; I've just spent so much already that I'm looking for any shortcut I can get. If anyone has any good recommendations for an affordable deadlift platform I'd be all ears. I don't have much of a carpentry pedigree so I'd much rather buy a platform than risk buying the materials and possibly wasting them screwing it up somehow.

Thanks

[Toasterleavings]

I just used heavy rubber doormats I had lying around. One for each plate stack, one for the feet. They've lasted forever considering they spent maybe a decade in the sun & rain. There's no noticeable give under your feet if it's heavy duty rubber and the weave/pattern isn't too open. Should be something very cheap like that available.

[Josh K]

Could all this weight coming down on the safety bars potentially damage my squat rack in the long run?

It's more likely that it will damage the bar. Heavy rack pulls often result in bent barbells, depending on how well the eccentric is controlled.

If you want to keep your bar straight, you'll need to make sure the bar isn't slamming down on to the safeties. That being the case, you may as well just do deadlifts on your concrete floor, since you're only going to damage the concrete by slamming the bar anyway.

[silachoo]

I don't think you needed us here to tell you the deadlift thing was going to damage the equipment.

[I_iz_a_fatass]

Even a sheet of 1/2 inch plywood - or a half-sheet cut into 2x4 ft sections under the plates - will be better than what you're doing.

[idlehands]

I have school related expenses that take priority over weight training. I had a rough budget set aside for a home gym and I underestimated by a few hundred dollars. I suppose I should just make the investment now to save my squat rack and my concrete in the long run; I've just spent so much already that I'm looking for any shortcut I can get. If anyone has any good recommendations for an affordable deadlift platform I'd be all ears. I don't have much of a carpentry pedigree so I'd much rather buy a platform than risk buying the materials and possibly wasting them screwing it up somehow.

Thanks

Go find some side of the road carpets. I used to deadlift in my basement on just a couple old carpets. Didn't even think about the concrete issues tbh. Buddy used to deadlift in my basement and tossed a couple cardboard boxes down to protect the concrete. Much simpler and free solutions until you can spend 40$ on a horse stall mat

[Whey and Steak]

I don't think you needed us here to tell you the deadlift thing was going to damage the equipment.

Haha you're right. Deep down I knew it was probably a terrible idea but I'm cheap so I thought I check anyway.

[Luke S]

I deadlift on hard wood floor with the barbell sitting on top of a few martial arts mats (EVA, tatame?) and never damaged the floor, the plates or the barbell.