Never go to the gym again!

Are you tired of going to the gym? Paying your dues every month just to go stand in line and wait for the piece of equipment you want. Finally its your turn to lay on the bench and you wonder to yourself, how many strands of DNA am I laying in?

If so, your not the only one. Check out this email I recently got from Mark.

Hey man, my school gym closes early n Im tired of going to the commercial gym during peak hours. Im wondering what basic equipment I would need to get an effective workout at home?

Thanks bro,
Mark 

The good news is, you really don't need much to get a killer training session done in the comfort of your garage or basement. Hell, I've even seen a guy deadlift 500 pounds in a spare bedroom! Below are my essentials for anyone looking to start training at home.

1. Barbell and plates. Buy used to keep the cost down, watch craigslist or local garage sales. Most sets come with around 300 lbs of total weight, but you can get as much or as little as you'd like. A good rule is try to get the equivalent to your own weight. i.e. if you weigh 180 lbs try to get at least 180 lbs worth of weights.


2. Pull up bar. Anything strong enough to support your own weight. You can use the rafters in your basement or garage really. Or look at getting a door mounted pull up bar, or a stand alone tower. Pull ups get you strong.

Those two things are really all you need to get strong at home. But for the sake of this article I will round out my top 5.

3. Jump Rope.  There is a reason you always see boxers and MMA fighters using jump ropes in their training. It adds a certain level of explosiveness that is otherwise hard to get. They take up zero space and are cheap.

4. Heavy Hands. OK so this is a nickname the guys at my training facility came up with. Heavy hands can be anything that is heavy and you can carry in your hands/arms for things like farmers walks. At my gym we use buckets full of dirt, heavy dumbells/Olympic plates, kegs or stones.

Last year my buddy and I did some landscaping for a company. We got to keep some huge boulders and they got cheap manual labor. Anyways, those rocks must weigh 75 lbs each and are very diverse tools. If rocks aren't an option, run down to your home improvement store and grab a couple of 5 gallons buckets, fill 'em up with dirt and just carry them around. Farmers walks (or even holds) are a great movement and will add great muscular endurance to your whole body.

5. Foam Roller / Lacrosse Ball. Recovery work sucks, I'll be the first to admit that. It hurts, its time consuming and its boring as hell. And often when you are training at home it can be easily skipped. But don't let it happen! This shit is damn important, because in the long run it won't matter how much you can squat, press and deadlift if your to fucked up to enjoy yourself. So please guys, get them both and use them at least 3x per week. Take care of your body and it will take care of you.


Got questions? Leave a comment below or shoot me an email!

Caleb

Why we quit and what we can about it.

Hi everyone, I hear all too often "I need someone to workout with." I hate hearing those words. As a fitness professional all I hear when someone says that is; I don't have the motivation to get off my ass unless someone is forcing me too.

Well I'm sorry to break it to you, but that's not how shit works. If you cannot find the drive from inside, you wont be able to find the drive from the outside either. You have to desire the change and have it manifest from your own self. Having a gym buddy is great, but you still have to have intrinsic motivation to keep going. I don't care how great of a gym partner you might find, they cannot keep you motivated. You have to keep you motivated.  

You may be thinking, yeah that sounds great, but how? The truth is, you have to find a fitness program that works for you. You will never stick to a routine if you do not enjoy it. This advice is worth gold in both fitness programs and diet routines. Find something that makes you excited and go after it. 

I'll use a personal example. I fucking hate running. Anything beyond 1.5 miles feels like a marathon to me. Therefor to choose running as a way to get fit would be virtual health suicide for me. Several things would happen if I decided to choose a program that I hated doing: First I would last about 4 days before I got fed up and burned out. If I pushed it much past this breaking point my form and technique would start going to shit and I would be at risk for injury. I wouldn't enjoy the process so I would just want to get it over with. Second after my fifth day when I decided I was done, I would lose all motivation to begin something new and probably drowned out my defeat with an unholy amount of chocolate cake. 

The same is true for diets. Do not start a diet that is to extreme for your goals. Another personal example. I really don't enjoy eating meat. However this didn't stop me from trying the paleo thing out a few years back... Yeah, colossal failure. Despite eating clean and training hard, my body did not process the change well and my cholesterol sky rocketed. Despite being a great diet, it just wasn't right for me.

The bottom line; find things that you enjoy doing. In both fitness routines and nutritional plans. If you do not enjoy it, don't do it. You won't stick with it and could end up hurting yourself in the process. 

If you need some pointers on different routines or nutrition then drop me a note. I am always willing to answer questions.  

Caleb