Brian Shaw’s home gym is an iron paradise — sorry, Dwayne Johnson. Shaw, former World’s Strongest Man winner turned arm wrestler, has a personal weight room packed wall to wall with everything you could ever need to get jacked.
- Shaw’s home gym has plenty of strength sports staples, but there are some unique pieces that would catch the eye of any gymgoer.
Dumbbells up to 300 pounds? Expected. The Swiss army knife of squat racks? Par for the course. But three specific items in Shaw’s home gym caught our eye for their uniqueness, price tag, or straight-up weirdness.
3 Weirdest Items in Brian Shaw’s Home Gym
“This is my playground,” said Shaw on Sept. 18, 2024, while giving a complete tour of his updated home gym, including everything he uses to train for strongman, arm wrestling, and general health.
There are too many pieces of equipment to list overall, but we want to highlight three specific items that really stood out from the rest of Shaw’s inventory:
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1. Watson Curl Handles
Like the wheel, the dumbbell gets the job done just fine and doesn’t need to be iterated on — or so we thought. Shaw owns a pair of specialty plate-loaded “curl handles” made by manufacturer Watson.
- “It changes the angle of the curl a little bit,” Shaw noted. “It’s something I’m using for arm wrestling, mainly — it’s a unique feel.”
They certainly look like a great way to spice up your arm workouts or add some value to your home gym equipment array without having to splurge on a rack of dumbbells for your arm training.
The Watson curl handles are made to order and don’t have a specific price tag on the company’s website. If you want to get your hands on them, you’ll have to request a quote.
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2. Beyond Power Voltra
Cable machines are invaluable for their utility and freedom of movement. Bodybuilders love them for these reasons, but Shaw seems to have ante’d up on the standard cable tree by purchasing a Beyond Power Voltra.
- “You can go from five to 200 pounds in one-pound increments,” Shaw said. “I’m really excited about the benefits it can provide my training.”
To-the-pound calibration and completely unimpeded movement sound too good to be true, but it isn’t. As long as you’ve got a few thousand dollars to spare, you can pick up a Voltra on their website.
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3. Arm Wrestling Hand Sculptures
This certainly takes the cake. Sport-specific equipment is nothing new — there are more types of barbells out there than you can imagine — but Shaw isn’t a barbell athlete anymore. To train and hone his skills in arm wrestling, Shaw holds (sorry) an assortment of custom-made weighted sculptures of human hands.
- “They’re 3D-printed,” Shaw explained. “There are different ‘handle’ styles for all my arm wrestling training.”
Beyond progressively overloading your handshake game, these molds aid Shaw in becoming better at professional arm wrestling. If your interest is piqued, tough luck; Shaw mentioned that these hand molds were custom crafted by a personal friend, and aren’t sold commercially.
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A Home Gym Arsenal
Shaw spared no expense (seriously, some of his custom items are literally priceless) when designing his home gym. The three pieces of equipment above stood out, but there are certainly more items of note:
- A power plate, which Shaw uses regularly during his warm-ups and for active recovery.
- York vintage deep-dish weight plates. “I’m collecting these and have six pairs so far,” Shaw said.
- A custom-made and plate-loaded wrist roller station, which Shaw uses for forearm exercises.
- A single 350-pound dumbbell. “I’m not strong enough to get it off the floor yet,” Shaw chirped.
“This [home gym] has taken a lot of time and effort to build,” Shaw closed. “But it’s a fun outlet for me.”
More Strongman News
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- 2024 Strongest Man on Earth Mitchell Hooper’s Top 10 Strength Exercises
Featured Image: @shawstrength / YouTube
