6 Hacks to Save Money in the Weight Room

It was time for us to build a TeamBuildr weight room last year - TeamBuildr HQ. Yes, we need it to test our product and continue making software work for strength coaches. Sure.

But, come on, we really just needed a home base where we could attend the Church of Iron after a long day’s work AND play our own music AND bang weights as loud as we want AND wear whatever the hell we want (or nothing at all).

Now, like many S&C departments, we’re not made out of money and we still had to find a way to build this weight room on the cheap. So, we drew up a game plan to get what we wanted at all little cost.

Our strategy: Hop onto Google Maps and look search for every CrossFit and private training gym in a 30 mile radius. Go to each website and find the contact email (usually info@company.com), and then send an email asking if they have any old equipment that they plan on getting rid of. In our case, we emailed about 36 gyms in the DC Metro area.

You will get the occasional gym that is getting rid of old equipment for $.50 per lb. or whatever. But what you’re really hoping for is what we got (and I think you will get it if you try enough). One CrossFit gym was going out of business and blowing out their inventory. Actually, the landlord had seized their equipment and was selling it for cents on the dollar.

All we had to do was come by and bid on the equipment with about 15 other people (I even called one of our customers in DC and told him to come by with me). Gym Rings? $15. Rogue Barbell? $80. Three medicine balls? Less than $70. We could go on but you get the point.