Congrats on the job!
And that’s a mighty fine rack you’ve got there. 
[quote]rrjc5488 wrote:
Congrats on the job!
And that’s a mighty fine rack you’ve got there. :P[/quote]
agreed!
also, mighty fine job on the wrapping paper! Hilarious.
The basement rack is working out really well. I’ve figured out good benching, squat heights, etc. I can use it for abs and as a glute ham raise. The one thing I would like still is dipping handles somewhere.
Squatted up to 5x225 yesterday. For whatever reason I’m falling forward really bad in the hole. Weights feel heavier at home than they do at the gym. I did some weighted hanging leg raises, calf work, and pistol squats after the back squats.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I’ll never have to wait for a rack again. Merry Christmas to me![/quote]
I can’t believe how much your basement looks just like mine! Right down to the carpet. I’m going to get a rack real soon damnit.
Merry Christmas!
[quote]debraD wrote:
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
I’ll never have to wait for a rack again. Merry Christmas to me![/quote]
I can’t believe how much your basement looks just like mine! Right down to the carpet. I’m going to get a rack real soon damnit.
Merry Christmas![/quote]
Haha, I stole that carpet from my first firm, when the BossMan hired his son in law to install really shitty wood floors. It’s much nicer than concrete, except the cats always roll all over it so it always needs vacuuming.
Oh, and Merry Christmas to you too, Deb!
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
The basement rack is working out really well. I’ve figured out good benching, squat heights, etc. I can use it for abs and as a glute ham raise. The one thing I would like still is dipping handles somewhere.
Squatted up to 5x225 yesterday. For whatever reason I’m falling forward really bad in the hole. Weights feel heavier at home than they do at the gym. I did some weighted hanging leg raises, calf work, and pistol squats after the back squats.[/quote]
Basement floor might not be level. Serially.
Maybe its tempurature… I go to two gyms one is hot one is freezy
everything is heavier in the colder gym
I bet it has everything to do with the floor. Like said above, I’d check to see if your basement is level - probably isn’t, they’re usually graded for drainage - and then build a level lifting platform and bold your rack to that. If your gym has rubber matting you might want to add that as well to replicate that feel or at least staple down some thin carpeting so your shoes have something to grip.
Also think about your lighting. I’ve found that my athletes lift more and are generally more energetic when it’s really bright.
I’m a little late but great numbers PMPM, inspiring.
Thanks, nlmain!
I’ll check the floor tonight or tomorrow. If the basement is divided into quarters, the sump and drain are in the NE quarter, and the rack is in the NW quarter. I’ve got decent - not awesome, but decent - light in there, but I would like to have more light and mirrors. It is probably colder in there than it is at a real gym…maybe it’s time to suck it up and buy an EFS hoodie for training…
Another angle.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Thanks, nlmain!
I’ll check the floor tonight or tomorrow. If the basement is divided into quarters, the sump and drain are in the NE quarter, and the rack is in the NW quarter. I’ve got decent - not awesome, but decent - light in there, but I would like to have more light and mirrors. It is probably colder in there than it is at a real gym…maybe it’s time to suck it up and buy an EFS hoodie for training…
Another angle.[/quote]
It may just be that you are doing it alone without other people around. I find things like that affect me. However, I’m mostly training in my garage now and am used to it. My garage floor for sure slopes but I haven’t found it has had much affect except when I pull and have to put down plates so the bar doesn’t roll out the door.
I don’t know if I’d put down rubber mats like the gym. I built my own platform out of three layers of plywood and I prefer it to the mats because there isn’t any give so I get more power out of my lifts because I’m not sinking at all. It’s kind of like lifting in chucks vs. squishy runners.
My place is certainly getting nipply now. We insulated the garage door a couple of weeks ago. It’s a total ghetto job but really works well. I have to run a space heater to get the frost off the bar 
Did some benching, pullups, dips, bis, and shoulder work yesterday. My left lat cramped up a bit from my arch during what was supposed to be 5x155, which threw me off pretty good. Everything else was fine, except I really need dip handles or something - I don’t like bench dips. Even with a 45 in my lap, they are really light.
I’m trying to work on my shoulders and whatnot to maybe get my raw strength up. I’ve not worked much on my pecs and shoulders, but it’s pretty annoying to have a stalled bench like I do. Raw Nationals is in July and I want something respectable.
The floor is level, so I think it’s just me being a vagina that makes the squats harder. I have thin carpet over a concrete floor, so it’s nice and grippy just like a platform. I’ll get some plywood to put under it if we decide deadlifting is too abusive to the concrete.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
The floor is level, so I think it’s just me being a vagina that makes the squats harder. I have thin carpet over a concrete floor, so it’s nice and grippy just like a platform. I’ll get some plywood to put under it if we decide deadlifting is too abusive to the concrete.[/quote]
Get a friend or your husband to do some squat rack curls or other silly gym things while you’re down there. It’ll help bring in the normal gym atmosphere and make you more comfortable. lol.
[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
The floor is level, so I think it’s just me being a vagina that makes the squats harder. I have thin carpet over a concrete floor, so it’s nice and grippy just like a platform. I’ll get some plywood to put under it if we decide deadlifting is too abusive to the concrete.[/quote]
Get a friend or your husband to do some squat rack curls or other silly gym things while you’re down there. It’ll help bring in the normal gym atmosphere and make you more comfortable. lol.[/quote]
Haha! Yesterday I was doing ez bar curls, and I looked over at the oly bar in the cage. I thought about doing curls in the cage just because I can. Then finished my curls, felt dirty, and took a shower.
[quote]pushmepullme wrote:
Weights feel heavier at home than they do at the gym. [/quote]
Well, yeah, you’re lifting in the same place you do your lying on the couch and slacking.
That’s how it works for me. I have a hard time gutting up any intensity at home, even though I’m in the basement, because I’m still home, not “at the gym.” It’s just context.
Throw in a carpet like that and I totally see how you’d snore in the rack.
That’s how my brain works, anyway.
Ok, now that that is done…
JEALOUSY!!! Dammit!
[quote]rcfromdb wrote:
Also think about your lighting. I’ve found that my athletes lift more and are generally more energetic when it’s really bright.[/quote]
Install a disco ball, strobe light, and a fog machine.
Sweetest home gym ever. Well, except for push’s stripper pole gym.
I suggest you get a stripper pole, too.
Really sweet up PMPM.
Yesterday - deadlifts up to 5x245, 30 glute ham raises (I can adjust a safety bar in the rack to hold my ankles while I kneel on a bench - it’s set up for this in the above picture), barbell rows up to 6x205 (I thought the bar felt heavy - I was thinking it had 185 on it), ab roll outs (these work very well with my 10s and my ez bar), good mornings 3x6x135.
I’m definitely liking the home gym. Definitely definitely.