Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
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THIS Is The Barbell You Should Buy For Your Home Gym In 2026
A barbell is likely one of your first purchases for your home gym. In fact it was my first purchase as I started deadlifting in my garage before anything else. Barbells are unfortunately the easiest area of the home gym to get paralysis by analysis. Every single company offers a dozen or more options when you add up bar types, coatings, and more. Rogue has over 47 options just for Mens 20kg barbells.
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Micro Gainz – Dumbbell Plates, Micro Plates, and More – 2025
Today we take a look at the full offerings from Micro Gainz including their Dumbbell Fractional Plates, Fractional Weight Plates, and more.
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Every Good Home Gym Needs These 5 Things
Normally when we talk about the Basics of a Home Gym, we are talking about a Bar, Bench, Rack and Plates… but I think that list needs to expand just a little to include a few things that often come with that first round of purchases. Things that really bring the space together, add some longevity to your equipment, and all around improve the likelihood that you’ll use your home gym.
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The Tib Bar Guy Nordic Back Extension Machine V2 – 2025 Review
The Tib Bar Guy Nordic Back Extension Machine V2 is cheaper than most of its competition and offers more exercise options than most of them as well. But there are some quality control issues that have me concerned for the longevity of the product.
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Shogun NORD-EX Review 2025 – The BEST Nordic Combo for a home gym?
The Shogun NORD-EX has a lot of premium features and is by far the most aesthetically pleasing option on the market. For some people this will be perfect, but it isn't MY favorite option.
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BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus – A Terrible Choice in 2025
The BaseBlocks The Nordic Plus is the lowest cost option for a combo Nordic and Back Extension. But that is where the good things end for this. My recommendation is to save a few bucks and buy one of the other models available from another company.
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Beyond Power VOLTRA Review – 2+ Years Of Testing
The Beyond Power VOLTRA I is the first of its kind, a SMART device made for the serious home gym owner. The specs, the updates, the build quality, all shape up to an awesome piece of gym equipment. You just need to make sure it is the right decision for YOUR space.
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Xebex XT4 Sled Review – The Best Sled For A Home Gym in 2025?
The Xebex XT4 Sled is the best Home Gym Sled we've used so far. There is plenty of room for improvement, but it is a unanimous decision that this is our favorite sled to date.
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Inspire FT2 Review – Still Worth It In 2025?
The Inspire FT2 has been a legend in the home gym equipment game for decades. It still is the only option on the market that does as much as it does, this well. But it is getting more and more difficult to recommend it.
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The BEST Shorts/Pants For Guys With BIG Legs – 2026
At 6ft and 250lbs with an over 500lb squat, I've struggled to find good shorts and pants for decades... until recently. In this article I share what I believe to be The BEST Shorts/Pants For Guys With BIG Legs
