Meet Liam.
To put it simply, Liam has one of the cleanest, most impressive, and most well-equipped garage gyms you will ever find. This gym offers state-of-the-art equipment in every respect… from plates to functional trainers, and everywhere in between.
You just have to see this one to believe it.
Join me as we step into Liam’s incredible garage gym.
The Journey
Liam’s goal was simple: Build a badass setup that exceeded any gym within a reasonable driving distance from his California house. As I’m sure a lot of the Garage Gym Lab readers can relate to, time, convenience, and access to equipment were three major factors in Liam’s decision to start his own gym. He grew tired of having to sit in congested San Diego traffic to train in a gym with subpar equipment and around people who weren’t like-minded in their training goals. Not only that, but Liam’s super-cool dog, Zeus, was left to fend for himself.
Fast forward to now, and Liam gets to come home from school/work, take Zeus on a run, and hit the weights with no commercial gym distractions. In his words, if you’re passionate about lifting & training, having a private space that you designed yourself can be the most wonderful place to release stress and spend your free time.
I agree!
What makes Liam’s individual journey so interesting to me is that he started with a very basic understanding of equipment. His first garage gym in high school was equipped with a Gold’s Gym smith machine. He then ordered some bumper plates and a bar from MDUSA (who coincidentally had their facility 10 minutes from my house) before they went out of business.
As a sophomore in college, he was stuck training in an overcrowded, under-equipped campus gym, so he started looking online for pieces he could put in his dorm. He bought a pair of squat stands, a Rogue Bar 2.0, a bench, a plate tree, and some competition plates.
Pause – I’m just trying to envision how freakin’ awesome this dorm room would be. Can we be roomies?
After dorm life, Liam took his talents to an actual garage, where he sold all of his old high school equipment. He searched Craigslist until he found a mint-condition 140kg set of Werksan bumper plates and an Eleiko bar for a great deal. Then the frenzy started. He flipped those two pickups for a massive ROI, and from there he flipped many more pieces in order to learn what would fit in his training and in his 20×20 space.
Thanks to a series of flips, he picked up a 100″ RM-6 new from Rogue, which he says is the best equipment purchase he has made to date. He then consolidated all of the unnecessary and generally unused equipment that he had, and started acquiring his perfect setup. While his equipment acquisition is still active, his “needs” are limited, so now he just looks for unique additions that could help expand his amazing gym.
So, let’s take an in-depth look at all this awesome equipment.
The Equipment
Liam’s equipment includes some of the best equipment money can buy. The great thing about it – not all of it is new. In fact, Liam fully recognizes that buying new gear can be an extraordinary rip-off in certain cases. Take his dumbbells for example… he bought them off Craigslist (an amazing set, mind you) for $0.20 on the dollar for what a new set would cost. Talk about a deal!
let’s break this stuff down:
Bars & Dumbbells
Liam has all the bars necessary to make his powerlifting training soar. While he may not have a TON of bars, he has exactly what he needs.
- Rogue Ohio Power Bar – Bare Steel
- Rogue Deadlift Bar – Black Zinc
- Rogue Deadlift Bar – Bare Steel
- Rogue Safety Squat Bar
- Trap Bar
- Curl Bar
In addition to these bars, he has a set of dumbbells ranging from 5lbs to 125lbs, including York and GP. Seriously amazing, and for $0.20 on the dollar?! My Gawd.
Rack & Bench
Liam’s rack setup is just awesome. It’s large… it’s in charge… and it has a lot of cool accessories. If you have the space available to you, the RM-6 is an fantastic rack that is very versatile… not to mention sexy.
- Rogue RM-6 2.0 100″ – Black
- Rogue AB-2 Adjustable Bench
- Monster Safety Straps
- Monster Sandwich J-Cups
- Monster Flying Pull-Up Bar
- Plate Storage
- XM-43M Monster Multigrip Crossmember
- Monster Matador
- 5/8″ Chain Kit
- Monster Band Pegs
- Monster Standard J-Cups
Plates & Collars
This plate collection is just sick. It’s so sick that he built a freakin’ shrine for Darth Vader to rest upon. The force is strong in this one!
- Rogue Calibrated Plate Set
- Rogue Competition Bumper Plate Set
- Eleiko Change Plate Set
- Eleiko Powerlifting Competition Collars
- Rogue HG Collars
- OSO Elite Collars
Machines
Liam has several machines that will make your eyes pop and your jaw drop. The functional trainer and the rowing machine are dream pieces for me.
- Freemotion EXT Functional Trainer
- Hammer Strength Plate-Loaded Rowing Machine
- Bodysolid Lat Pulldown
- Rogue Abram GHD 2.0
Misc. Equipment
No gym is complete without some accessory pieces. Liam has several of note, including some DC blocks!
- DC Blocks – set of 12
- Rogue Deadlift Jack
- Rogue Gun Rack
- Rogue Grip Triangle (Standard Grip)
- Rogue Tricep Pushdown Attachment
- Icarian Dumbbell Rack
- Rogue Banner
- Hookgrip Banner
- USAPL Banner
- Eleiko Banner x2
- DIY Platform
Liam Connolly’s Garage Gym
Liam’s garage gym is without a doubt one of the best in the game. It’s super clean, it has awesome equipment, and it comes with a really cool dog…. and a TV.
His passion for training is evident, and he’s strong as hell. I definitely encourage you to follow him, as he puts out some great content on social media.
I want to thank Liam for sharing his journey, his garage gym, and a list of his equipment with the community!
You can follow and stay in touch with Liam on Instagram and YouTube.
If you would like the chance to be featured on the site, shoot me an email at Adam@garagegymlab.com.
Also, if you want to read more about powerlifting equipment and how to build the ultimate powerlifting home gym, check out my article here.
The bar is loaded,
Adam