Cheaper alternative to the "gym pin" for adding weight to selectorized stacks?

[nicocujo]

I used to keep one of these in my gym bag. 80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nail.

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[UnholyAlliance]

I used to keep one of these in my gym bag. 80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nail.

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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nails - 8" Common Galvanized nails at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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Are those thick enough to fit nicely in the weight stacks and strong enough for a 45lb plate?

 

[cage99]

Sub it out to @cage99 . He builds a lot of things for his home gym!

Get you a small multi process welder! You’d be surprised at the many different things it’ll come in handy on!

You could use…
Sch40 1.5” pipe
1/4” X 2.5” flat bar
Whatever size solid rod that would fit into the pin slot.

Just a few welds and it’s solid as can be!

Cage

 

[nicocujo]

Are those thick enough to fit nicely in the weight stacks and strong enough for a 45lb plate?

I used to put (2) 45s on one of those nails. They are about 3/8' diameter.

 

[CompoundLifts31]

I wish I had that problem you strong fuck

 

[mlk2724]

I am surprised that gyms would allow these as they probably violate all the manufacturer warranties on the equipment and/or present a potential liability to the gym.

 

[Fa Seeshus]

I am surprised that gyms would allow these as they probably violate all the manufacturer warranties on the equipment and/or present a potential liability to the gym.

When I was in gym management we had a shyster freelance personal trainer break our low-row by pinning weights too it and then sorta rappel jumping himself into position. Dude went flying backwards, jacked himself up and then threatened to sue the gym.

I think a better bodybuilding option to a maxed out stack is going one arm and using pauses and stuff.

 

[Biggerp73]

When I was in gym management we had a shyster freelance personal trainer break our low-row by pinning weights too it and then sorta rappel jumping himself into position. Dude went flying backwards, jacked himself up and then threatened to sue the gym.

I think a better bodybuilding option to a maxed out stack is going one arm and using pauses and stuff.

Going one arm is an interesting idea but I'm already doing the whole stack plus a 45 for curls with one arm and some rope pulley machines work in such a way that one arm only pulls half as high as two arms so the amount of resistance seems to stay around the same whether one arm or two

 

[UnholyAlliance]

I am surprised that gyms would allow these as they probably violate all the manufacturer warranties on the equipment and/or present a potential liability to the gym.

A good reason most gyms frown on this practice.

 

[danieltx]

I am surprised that gyms would allow these as they probably violate all the manufacturer warranties on the equipment and/or present a potential liability to the gym.

A good reason most gyms frown on this practice.

Going by this logic gyms shouldn't allow handles used on cable-pulleys that aren't OEM and we know no gyms do that.

I've used GymPins at LA, 24, Gold's, and Fitness Connection with no issue. I had a manager at 24 come ask me what it was and he thought it was a really cool invention.

The risk of damage to cable-pulleys is much greater from members who use incredibly short ROMs and put excessive wear on a small part of the cable.

 

[UnholyAlliance]

Going by this logic gyms shouldn't allow handles used on cable-pulleys that aren't OEM and we know no gyms do that.

I've used GymPins at LA, 24, Gold's, and Fitness Connection with no issue. I had a manager at 24 come ask me what it was and he thought it was a really cool invention.

The risk of damage to cable-pulleys is much greater from members who use incredibly short ROMs and put excessive wear on a small part of the cable.

It's certainly nice and if it fits the machine's weight stack properly and not causing any operational difficulty I can't see why not use these. Also very true about the short heavy ROM on cables can wear them out enough to snap at some inopportune time (had that happen and caused me some injury).

 

[FK86]

Going by this logic gyms shouldn't allow handles used on cable-pulleys that aren't OEM and we know no gyms do that.

I've used GymPins at LA, 24, Gold's, and Fitness Connection with no issue. I had a manager at 24 come ask me what it was and he thought it was a really cool invention.

The risk of damage to cable-pulleys is much greater from members who use incredibly short ROMs and put excessive wear on a small part of the cable.

Agree, also any frowning is the result of a lack of understanding of engineering. Just because a leg extension has a weight stack capacity of 250 lb, doesn’t mean that 250 lb is all the machine can handle. The parts compromising the machine all have to be able to withstand a greater load and meet the Factor of Safety designated for the machine. Looking at this Hammer Strength Leg Extension, the stack goes to 295 lb and the max user weight is 300 lb. The tensile strength of bolts, pins, screws, and any other hardware is much higher than 595 lb. If they weren’t, the machine couldn’t even be put into production as it would just be considered unsafe.

Hammer Strength Select Leg Extension | Life Fitness

The Hammer Strength Select Leg Extension is a fundamental part of the strength training progression. All adjustments are accessible from the seated position, and the adjustable start position provides five different starting points. The 22 pieces in the Hammer Strength Select line provide an...

www.lifefitness.com

 

[UnholyAlliance]

Agree, also any frowning is the result of a lack of understanding of engineering. Just because a leg extension has a weight stack capacity of 250 lb, doesn’t mean that 250 lb is all the machine can handle. The parts compromising the machine all have to be able to withstand a greater load and meet the Factor of Safety designated for the machine. Looking at this Hammer Strength Leg Extension, the stack goes to 295 lb and the max user weight is 300 lb. The tensile strength of bolts, pins, screws, and any other hardware is much higher than 595 lb. If they weren’t, the machine couldn’t even be put into production as it would just be considered unsafe.

Hammer Strength Select Leg Extension | Life Fitness

The Hammer Strength Select Leg Extension is a fundamental part of the strength training progression. All adjustments are accessible from the seated position, and the adjustable start position provides five different starting points. The 22 pieces in the Hammer Strength Select line provide an...

www.lifefitness.com

Good point and thanks for that post. Those machines would surely need to be somewhat "over engineered" to be safe as forces can sometimes exceed the weights installed.

 

[Elvia1023]

Go with something like the king/gym pin as people have posted. You are going to use it every gym day and they should last for years so it's not that much. As people know some gyms can be funny with adding weights to the stack but appearance does account for something. Meaning if you have brought in something designed professionally and specially made for that purpose (gym pin etc) they don't mind. If you just stick in a giant nail whilst it works just fine most gyms won't like that. Granted a lot of gyms don't care and may not even notice but it's also not good sticking plates on the machine pins because they aren't designed to take weight on and anyone who has done it regularly knows they will likely end up bending or fucking up depending on the machine.

 

[Cerberus777]

Initial investment...
$20 4.5" diamond metal cutting blade
$60 4.5" circular saw

Product costs per batch...
$60 for 10ft of 2" steel pipe
$130 for twenty 300mm steel rods of 10mm thickness
$9 for 80lbs of concrete

Production process...
(1) cut 2" steel pipe into 5.5" sections
(2) cut 10mm rods down to 241mm
(3) pour concrete into steel pipes and insert rods into center. Let dry


$80 initial investment

$219 per batch of 20 kingpins

Sell for $40 to undercut gym pin by half and eat up the market, include free two day shipping so actual price is $30

20 sold at $30 is $600

$80 initial investment to flip $219 into $600 every batch

ROI is nearly triple


And all those prices are buying small quantities from retail stores. Profit margin gets much higher when buying bulk.

Could even sell them for $29.99 with free shipping (ground) and make ~$25 per product, so 20 @ $25 is $500, which means you more than double your money every batch. Again at retail prices, not counting for bulk discounts.

If none of you bums takes this business model by the time summer comes I might just do it myself.

You forgot advertising cost to get people to buy it.

 

[NeveReveN]

I used to keep one of these in my gym bag. 80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nail.

80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nails - 8" Common Galvanized nails | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 80d - 8" Galvanized Spike nails - 8" Common Galvanized nails at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

First review I read on Amazon about Gym Pin was about a guy adding a 45 to a stack and the cable snapping and sending him to the ER. Injured his spine and needs surgery now.

If the weight stack isn’t heavy enough for you, why not start pulling with one arm at a time?

 

[Biggerp73]

I purchased a couple 10mm thick steel rods of 9" length for $13. Will try them out tomorrow and see if they work.

 

[UnholyAlliance]

First review I read on Amazon about Gym Pin was about a guy adding a 45 to a stack and the cable snapping and sending him to the ER. Injured his spine and needs surgery now.

If the weight stack isn’t heavy enough for you, why not start pulling with one arm at a time?

It may well be possible that the cable itself cannot handle the added weight on the stack from using 45lb plates hanging off a KingPin. Sometimes the cable gets replaced with a cheaper grade cable that's not designed for the machine and that's where the problem can arise.

A good idea check the cable first before using and if it seems worn/fraying don't use it and then tell the staff.

 

[Biggerp73]

10mm thick steel rod seems to work just fine for most machines in the gym. Holds two 45lb plates without bending the rod. Only problem is some of the machines have smaller holes in the stack that didn't allow the rod to go all the way in.

 

[cage99]

10mm thick steel rod seems to work just fine for most machines in the gym. Holds two 45lb plates without bending the rod. Only problem is some of the machines have smaller holes in the stack that didn't allow the rod to go all the way in.


View attachment 173658

If you don’t own a welder just find one to weld that rod to an 1.5” sch40 pipe. The 1.5” pipe fits perfectly inside an Olympic plate and will be more stable. Material is cheap and you can provide it. Just gotta pay for a quick simple weld. Just a suggestion.

Cage