I Finally Did It....

Off Topic
1

I had put my gym membership on freeze, as I was tired of going to my gym for the past 10 years with no A/C, dirty, rusty weights, having to look for matching dumbbells and plates, etc.

But, after four months of bodyweight and kbell exercises, I just wasn’t getting what I wanted, and I really missed the free weights.

This weekend I decided it was time to put together a good home gym so I could say “goodbye” to the dungeon or commercial fitness center for good.

I now have a wonderful new power rack, a complete 300lb weight set and a bench to go with my Swiss balls, medicine balls, an EZ curl bar, push-up bars, chinning bar, jump rope, some dumbbells, an additional 100+ pounds in free weights and my dragging sled.

So, it’s back to nothing but the basics for me. I’ve already begun, and it’s freakin’ awesome. Oh, how I missed the free weights. It’s unbelievable how much strength I’ve lost in four month’s time, but I will get it back quickly and then some.

Ian’s new article was great because I’m pretty much restricted to doing just the basics and nothing fancy. So here come the squats, deadlifts, benches, overhead presses, rows, chins, shrugs and some other solid exercises.

I just hope none of this falls through my apartment floor and comes crashing down on the people below me. LOL!

2

Hey Nate

I am in the same situation as you - cant find a decent gym around here so am struggling with lifting. So far all I have purchased is a incline/decline bench. 90lb set of powerblock and a spanking new stand alone chin/dip station.

Now all I have to do is find some sort of program that can utilize what little equipment I have.

I can’t imagine putting a power rack in my apartment - lol looks for an empty spot in my apartment

congrats !

3

Right on, I just did it too. My gym closed down to move to a new location, they stated it was going to take only 1.5 weeks, well we are now at the 2 month mark without any progress. I got really pissed after 3 weeks and I got my own stuff, it sounds like everything you got. It is great to listen to the music I want, lift how I want, hell I even like working out in my undergotch.

Your right, having only this type of equipment keeps it very old school, sometimes it is hard not to get sucked into a fad.

4

You’re right. I’ve finally realized after all these years why I would make gains for a period of time, and then not make any gains or regress. It was because I kept switching from doing the basics to trying to do something new or fancy, or something that didn’t require all the basics, but a bunch of other stuff.

I’ve made awesome progress in the past with Renegade Training. That is one of the things I’ve done that always worked well, especially with my conditioning. But depending on what program I was doing, I usually lost strength and some size, even though I looked great, felt great and was in the best shape ever.

Back in the day, I did a simple 5x5 type of routine, and I’ve even done Olympic lifting. Both of those were the times in my life when I was my biggest and strongest. Everytime I tried something new, I lost what I had worked for and had to start over.

So now, I’m sticking with it. The only thing that will change for the most part is the set/rep schemes I uses. Right now, I’ve gone back to basics and am doing the classic 5x5 routine to get my base of strength back. Once I’ve made good progress on that, I’ll start doing something like Chad Waterbury recommends (8x3, 3x8). I’ll always use the same exercises and just a few variations of them so I can stay consistent.

You know, I never thought I’d have enough room for my own home gym, but surprisingly, you can put together quite a gym in an extra bedroom if you get a Power rack, Olympic bar, weight tree and weights. I still have room for my computer and a desk on the other side of the room. So it’s worked out well. And being at home enables me to work out when I want and listen to whatever music I want, and I have A/C and a fan! I even put a mirror in front of the Power rack so I can watch my form when doing squats and such.

It’s awesome. The best investment I’ve made. And surprisingly, it’s quite affordable. I purchased everything new from Play-It-Again sports in town, and with some discounts, I got everything for under $500 with tax. You can’t beat that, as it’s cheaper than some fitness center memberships! And it’ll last a lifetime and do me quite a bit of good.

Give me a few months, and I’ll post new pics of my updated progress. As the only pics I have now are some from my Hawaii trip in July, and my updated Renegade pics from last year when I was in great shape.

Here’s one of my Renegade pics from last summer.

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Here’s me from this past July. Bigger, but definitely not as lean or as in shape as last year, and still far behind where I’ll be in a few months.

6

Nate Diggity!!
/wave

Sounds like a nice home set up :slight_smile:
Elf

7

Natebiggdogg
That is great, I can relate to your experience. I gave up my membership at World Gym back in April and was doing some basic calisthenics a few times a week that in combination with a poor diet had me feeling weak and fat. Three weeks ago I started a membership at a new gym that I like and I am starting to feel good and get in the groove again.
Like you I am sticking to the basic compound movements and having to deal with the ego blow of lost strength, but as you stated it will come back and even better! A clean protein laden diet is also helping along with great Biotest supps! Hope to hear more of your development soon!

Elk

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[quote]Elkhntr1 wrote:
Natebiggdogg
That is great, I can relate to your experience. I gave up my membership at World Gym back in April and was doing some basic calisthenics a few times a week that in combination with a poor diet had me feeling weak and fat. Three weeks ago I started a membership at a new gym that I like and I am starting to feel good and get in the groove again.
Like you I am sticking to the basic compound movements and having to deal with the ego blow of lost strength, but as you stated it will come back and even better! A clean protein laden diet is also helping along with great Biotest supps! Hope to hear more of your development soon!

Elk[/quote]

I was in exactly the same boat. Eating crappy, only doing bodyweight and kbell stuff, and just feeling not that great.

It’s great having the equipment at hand anytime you want. If I see it, I tend to walk in the room and do a few sets of squats, benches, rows or chins in between my workouts.

Gotta love it!

More pics to come in the near future.

Here’s a recent one of my new tat.

9

NateDogg, you truly are a man of contradictions. You speak like a true DInosaur when you talk about 5x5, Oly lifting, sleds, etc, a real Kubik fan.

But then you write "no A/C, dirty, rusty weights, having to look for matching dumbbells and plates, etc. "

That sounds like an ideal Dino gym, real hardcore. No “chrome and fern land” populated with “bunnies”.

Ah well, who can contemplate the multitudes than make up NateDogg??

Haha

(BTW- I can understand not wanting to work out in the above gym and having to pay more than a few bucks a month for it.)

10

No A/C, dirt, and rusty weights is hardcore.

Needing to search for matching dumbbells and plates is just plain stupid.

Do we want “tidy?” No. Do we need “functional?” Yes.

Good call, Nate. May your new equipment yield years of fruitful training.

11

[quote]Sonny S wrote:
NateDogg, you truly are a man of contradictions. You speak like a true DInosaur when you talk about 5x5, Oly lifting, sleds, etc, a real Kubik fan.

But then you write "no A/C, dirty, rusty weights, having to look for matching dumbbells and plates, etc. "

That sounds like an ideal Dino gym, real hardcore. No “chrome and fern land” populated with “bunnies”.

Ah well, who can contemplate the multitudes than make up NateDogg??

Haha

(BTW- I can understand not wanting to work out in the above gym and having to pay more than a few bucks a month for it.)[/quote]

LOL! Seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? Kind of like “Microsoft Works” or “Jumbo shrimp.”

You know, I didn’t mind working out in a hardcore gym for the longest time, but it finally got to me, and I snapped. Also, I save time by not having to travel to the gym anymore. I come home after work and hit the weights. I’ll do a few additional stuff on off days or when walking by the room.

And it saves me a whopping $119 a year for my membership. But if I were to go to one of the other local fitness centers, it saves me more than $400 a year (or the cost of the equipment I bought).

It was definitely the best investment I’ve made in a long time and one that will last forever. My girlfriend and I train together, and now my dad is coming over to be trained by me as well. I’ll take it easy on him since it’s been at least 30 years since he has been active. I’ve given him stuff to read about training and nutrition, and now he’s finally making the steps needed to change his appearance for health and asthetic reasons.

Good stuff!