Will Tennyson
Well-known member
Author
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2025
- Messages
- 45
- Points
- 6
Will decides to build a full home gym after buying a house, but he’s broke from the mortgage. So he sets a hard budget of $2,000 and orders nearly everything from TEMU, chasing multi-purpose gear that won’t eat up his basement space. The total comes to $1,696.59, which feels suspiciously low for a “complete” gym.
When the boxes arrive, the equipment is huge, heavy, and comes with instructions that look impossible. Will starts building, immediately questions his life choices, and ends up calling in help. He names the gym “Budget Barbell,” matches the black-and-red color theme across pieces, and even makes a liability waiver because the whole setup feels like it could hurt someone.
The key drama is the barbell showing up late. It arrives just in time, along with a couple budget posters (Ronnie Coleman and Arnold) to make the room feel like a real gym.
Then Will tests everything. The squat rack is cheap and scary but usable. The bench surprises him and feels solid, but the “leg extension” is basically useless. The barbell idea fails because it doesn’t fit his dumbbells. The lat pulldown/row/ab combo works decently, but sounds sketchy. The chest press looks like a commercial machine, but the mechanics feel weird and the shoulder press function is awful. The cable trainer is fun, but it should be wall-bolted and TEMU didn’t include the bolts.
Finally, Cooper Mitchell from Garage Gym Reviews shows up and rates each piece. He likes the creativity, compact footprint, and some surprisingly decent equipment, especially the chest machine and cable setup. But he still scores the full TEMU gym a 5.5 out of 10, mainly due to safety issues, awkward design choices, and cheap build quality. Will takes the hit, then teases that a real home gym build is coming next.
When the boxes arrive, the equipment is huge, heavy, and comes with instructions that look impossible. Will starts building, immediately questions his life choices, and ends up calling in help. He names the gym “Budget Barbell,” matches the black-and-red color theme across pieces, and even makes a liability waiver because the whole setup feels like it could hurt someone.
The key drama is the barbell showing up late. It arrives just in time, along with a couple budget posters (Ronnie Coleman and Arnold) to make the room feel like a real gym.
Then Will tests everything. The squat rack is cheap and scary but usable. The bench surprises him and feels solid, but the “leg extension” is basically useless. The barbell idea fails because it doesn’t fit his dumbbells. The lat pulldown/row/ab combo works decently, but sounds sketchy. The chest press looks like a commercial machine, but the mechanics feel weird and the shoulder press function is awful. The cable trainer is fun, but it should be wall-bolted and TEMU didn’t include the bolts.
Finally, Cooper Mitchell from Garage Gym Reviews shows up and rates each piece. He likes the creativity, compact footprint, and some surprisingly decent equipment, especially the chest machine and cable setup. But he still scores the full TEMU gym a 5.5 out of 10, mainly due to safety issues, awkward design choices, and cheap build quality. Will takes the hit, then teases that a real home gym build is coming next.
