At Home Training

Training Bodybuilding
1

Chris Shugarts recent blog really got me thinking about the current situation that I’ve been in lately.

I live in a very small town and for years have worked out in a larger city about 45 minutes away. I always went to a small gym that had all the equipment I needed. One day after work I stopped off at the gym for my evening workout and everything was gone! Were they remodeling? No, they freakin closed the place!

After that I began working out at home in my basement. Right now I do not have a lot of equipment but I have enough for a great workout. I have to say that I enjoy working in my basement more than any gym I’ve ever been in. I also live right next to a park. This park has a side walk that surrounds it that is roughly the same length as a track. This park also has a jungle gym, so after each lap I’m able to do a set of pull ups. Yeah, occasionally I have to chase some little kids off but I’ve got a body to build for crying out loud!

Recently the city I use to workout in opened up a new gym. I went there the other day to check it out. Everything in there is mostly machines, very few free weights… and it’s all purple! The walls, the carpet, the equipment… all a horrible purple color! I stood there looking as if someone kicked me in the nuts when one of the “fitness instructors” walked up to me and asked if I’d like her to take me through a sample strength training circuit. I told her “no thanks” and walked out.

It took me awhile to get over the purple nightmare that had taken place but with the help of intense basement training, Mixed martial arts videos and metal music I’m finally back to normal.

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similar situation happened here about 8 years ago - my town had a hard core gym loaded w/bodybuilders, powerlifters and strong gym bodies - it was in a 8,000sq ft warehouse space - all the equipment was made by the owner, he welded all the benches and dumbbells together - the power platform was on top of 12 car tires - he built a elevated platform on the tires to allow the lifters to drop the weights - it was awesome

the owner had 2 gyms - one of his gyms closed down, and then he spent all his time at the one in my town - the day he returned i remember no more rock music - lots of commercial crap radio

1 week later they removed the tape deck so we couldn’t bring our favorite tapes back then

shortly after, we saw signs posted everywhere

no chalk, no work boots, no dropping weights, return weights, bring towel, yadda yadda

then came the repainting of the equipment,from brown, to white and baby blue - NOT KIDDING!!

the serious lifters disappeared into thin air, soon older men started drifting in who would spend their time doing cardio and just trying to get in shape

1 yr later my friend showed up to find a sign posted we closed, etc, etc - these other gyms will honor your membership…

once all the rules and pretty equipment rolled in i was smart enough to travel 30 min. ea. way to diamond gym in maplewood, nj - i did this for 7 years…once grad school became so intense, i purchased a 300 lb wt set from cosco - it was crap, but i trained in my unheated garage with nothing but that barbell until mid december and i eventually got super sick

in my new house i revamped my 2 car garage,new sheet rock and insulation, heat, and got a power rack from sorinex, 3 pairs of russian kettlebells, and lots of free weights, dip bar, 3 dragging sleds, med balls, sand bag and some other home made stuff

my home gym is bar none the best gym for me and i love it

i will be ordering the reverse hyper from westside to finish off the gym

all my equipment has been won from e bay or snagged from gym closings, so all of it is commercial style - i can’t emphasize enough how great it is to have your own dungeon created :slight_smile:

enjoy it my friend :slight_smile:

–zach–

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I finally saw the light (see my “thanks to everyone at T-nation” post in “Building a Better Body” forum) and set up a home gym. It’s the BEST thing I’ve ever done for my progress–ever!

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