My Gym

A year on, this is how it looks.

If you are thinking of building a gym, FitnessTown has an excellent article on building a Crossfit gym on various budgets. And check out the Crossfit Journal Garage Gym article.

I’m fairly happy with my gym. I use the power rack, bars and plates most days. The rings and parallettes are new, but I think they’ll be invaluable. I also have a 5kg medicine ball that is regularly put through its paces. The cable system has been great for various rehab activities and is used a lot in the offseason/hypertrophy phase of training.

The Smith Machine has been less useful. I think hubby wanted me to have it because he knew I’d never have a spotter. But I set the power rack up so that I can perform my sets safely, and if I want to squeeze out a few more reps, I simply rest for, say, 20 seconds and go again, which I figure will have a similar effect to having some assistance with an extra rep performed immediately. That said, it’s still my apparatus of choice for shrugs and various pullups, and I can also set it up for leg press and inverted calf raises.

The dumbbells get most use in the offseason/hypertrophy phase, but I also use them in place of kettlebells for Crossfit WoDs.

So am I done? Well, probably not. I need a whiteboard, for one. And I’m taken by the idea of building a lifting platform. I’m a cheapskate, though. I’ll have a look to see if we already have sufficient materials. We have a number of plywood sheets and plenty of gym matting, so it may be a goer. I found a nice, illustrated article on building a lifting platform that I will likely follow. I actually feel like building it now, but it’s nearly 11pm and I really ought to be sleeping.

Other than those things, I’m good for the moment. I really don’t want to clutter up the space with any more equipment.

gym · lifting platform · weights

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