Buying home gym, bar, weights (uk) ?

New to crossfit, my gym offers few of the facilities needed.

Looking at buying olympic bar and weights in uk but am baffled by the options.

What length of bar? How much weight to start? What is suitable surface for lifting on?

Any help much appreciated

[Lincoln Brigham]

Get the usual Olympic-size 20kg bar (50mm sleeves, 28mm grip) and some rubber composite bumper plates. 10kg and 15kg sizes are good to start with, plus some smaller iron plates in 1.25kg, 2.5kg, and 5kg. A double layer of plywood makes an excellent lifting surface.

[Beth Moscov]

Lincoln and other O-lift experts - I was reading that the bar for women is smaller and lighter. My husband and I want to buy a "real" bar instead of trying to buy more plates and stuff for my "K-mart special". I am trying to better understand the benefits vs negatives of getting a women's style bar or a men's style bar. The folks in the house who will use it are me and my husband and maybe later on my young son. But I am the one who is really getting into the O-lifts and toying with the idea of competing one day if I can ever lift enough to make it a fun thing to do. On the other hand, my husband is healing from a shoulder injury resulting in surgery and I am concerned that a shorter bar might limit his ability to place his hands so that he has a wide enough grip.

Thanks for the advice Lincoln I'm looking into it.

[Paul Symes]

Darren, www.gymratz.co.uk deliver free in the UK, you'll be able to get a bar and weights cheaply there, they also sell rubber mats, I don't know about the oly platforms though. For more gear go to www.pullumsports.com they're the the UK version of IronMind, but quite expensive

Thanks for the links Paul, I'll be getting it within the next few weeks I hope.

darren try www.fitness-superstore.co.uk i found them to be the cheapest for olympic weights and rubber matting.they also offer free delivery.
cheers mark

Darren
www.proactive-health.co.uk did the cheapest bumper plates I could find in UK
fitness- superstore.co.uk as Mark said is the best for Oly sets.

J

[Rick Worthington]

Darren - another good option for the home gym is to look into the CFJ that covers it in detail - it's Sept 02's issue. Great stuff in there!

Thanks guys, I'll look into that journal backissue. Great to find forum where people are actually helpful to newcomers