I want to know what YOU want to see next! I’ll be starting a DIY project at the new year and I want you to decide what it will be.
Sandbag
Atlas Stone
Slam Ball
Sled
The decision is yours, vote here or on in the DIY Corner!!
Building Better Humans
By Jerred Moon
I want to know what YOU want to see next! I’ll be starting a DIY project at the new year and I want you to decide what it will be.
The decision is yours, vote here or on in the DIY Corner!!
By Jerred Moon
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By Jerred Moon
It doesn’t matter what kind of training you may do in your garage gym, these exercises are for anyone. Some of them are more advanced than others so try them at your own risk. I always like to try new things and mix them together for different workouts. Give one of these a try today!
I will not dare say that this is a “new” workout, but it certainly has gotten more popular over the last couple years. It will kill your arms and shoulders and is great for overall conditioning. I will have a post up soon that will show you the best places to get a rope like this, and I may just show you how to make your own.
This is from my post on how CrossFit Equipment: Tire and Reverse Hyper. The different variations and combinations you can do with a simple tire and rope (or strap in my case) is insane! Tire dragging and pulling will be a tough workout by itself. You can also try loading the tire down, strapping it to yourself, and then just go for a 10 min walk. Believe me tougher than it sounds, but load the crap out of it!! I use kettlebells.
Wondering why your hands give out before you do on the deadlift? You’ve got no forearm strength!! Grip strength is one of the most neglected aspects of training. Then you get really strong and wonder why your grip strength sucks. You gotta train it. Try pinching plates and walking till you drop them or just stand and hold.
These things are great! You are going to have to learn a little about Bulgarian Bag Training and learn some of the workouts you can do, but after that it is a great addition to your arsenal. Side note: don’t you dare go buy one of these bags!! (Unless you really want to) I will have a DIY post on this coming up soon too! So cheap and easy it is almost funny.
Another grip training exercise. This is for those of us who may want to work up to ripping phone books in half one day. Just take an old news paper and fold it in half a couple of times and rip. Make sure you choose a challenging thickness. Then after you rip it place the halves on top of each other and rip again, etc..
Goblet squats are great because of their versatility. You can pretty much use just about any object you want. If you are just starting a garage gym you could do a quick medicine ball DIY project and get some serious work done.
My advice for the Zercher Squat: Take what weight you think you can do for this lift and cut it in half. Start out low and advance your way to the heavier weights. You have to be conscious to keep you core tight, back straight, and have the proper placement of the barbell in your arms. They are a lot of fun!
Pick a heavy weight that you can clean into the rack position. If you can’t clean it don’t use it, and don’t go too heavy. I normally like to use between 185lbs and 205lbs. I clean the weight and hold it in the rack position. That’s it. I hold the weight in the rack position for 30 seconds rest 15 seconds. Repeat 3 times. During those 30 seconds I concentrate on holding my abs as tight as possible. I am concentrating keeping my back straight and tight as well. What this does is actually develops your core and gives you muscle memory. After you do this in your warm-up for a while you will realize that when you actually lift you automatically tighten everything and have really good control over your core.
All training effectiveness aside…These are just plain fun!! I feel like a little kid having a good time when I do these. Try them out. Be safe. It takes a good amount of balance and coordination. After you learn where to grip it and how it is just a little bit different than a normal snatch you will be good.
CrossFitters can’t forget those gymnastics skills. Make sure you have a nice mat to roll on, because they are not forgiving on garage gym concrete. These are great to add to a beginning or end of a workout just for skill work. I wouldn’t add them into a metcon or anything like that.
I started doing these once I started to do SEALFIT on occasion. This alone can turn into a workout, but SEALFIT uses it as their warmup! It really is a great warmup though.
I like to do these since I have an old mattress in my garage gym. I take a 45lb. plate and slam it on the mattress as hard as I can and then catch it on the rebound. If you don’t catch it, it doesn’t count. Similar to a slam ball, but more fun.
When is the last time you did jump rope  by itself for your workout? Have you ever? A jump rope can easily kick your ass. Somedays I will only do jump rope for 20-30 minutes. They are intense and it beats the hell out of running.
Watch the video and you see all three. This is me semi-back in the day. I had just moved into my new house, built my power rack, and got my weights to start my garage gym. This is a workout I put together as a functional strength crossfitish workout. Try the workout if you like. I think that is 160lbs. on the walk and there is 160lbs. in the bag for the heavy bag crawls. Overhead barbell walks are a lot of fun and take a good amount of core strength and coordination. It would be best if you just did a straight line and didn’t have to turn around like I did.
We don’t all have an expensive sled. So what! Throw some weight on top of your plyometric box and push away. I recommend putting a piece of cardboard below your box first and pushing on smooth concrete. It is a good workout so long as you have some good tread on your shoes.
Load up a back pack, strap it on, and walk. I did about a mile with this pack. Of course the blood vessels on my traps were toast and I couldn’t breath during the walk, but it was fun. Great when you feel like changing things up.
Maybe you have tried these, maybe you haven’t. See I have the mattress under me? Yea it was my first time, and after nailing the concrete twice I got smarter. These are good to do by themselves for strength. Also they are good to throw into a CrossFit workout, but I would practice them before you go down that route.
By Jerred Moon
I don’t like to say I was formally a bodybuilder because I was never on a pro or amateur stage, but that is how I trained. Constantly worried about symmetry and size…ugh. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. I am glad that was my background because it made any weight in CrossFit easy to workout with, but that style of working out had my mind warped.
It’s not like ripping off a band-aid, you can’t just pull it right off. You have to teeter and totter then finally make the plunge, or decide not to. Especially if you are suffering from body dysmorphia then this is a really difficult process. I would like to share how I made the transition.
These were the steps I took (keep in mind this took about a year)
PRO: I fixed my brain. I was no longer obssessed with my body image and constantly wanting to gain weight. You really can’t understand how important this is unless you have been there.
CON: CrossFit is not a strength program. I knew this, but I didn’t realize how much I loved being “strong” (relative to CrossFit)Â until I wasn’t that strong anymore. Sad part is I didn’t realize it until I went through some old training journals. A combination of getting surgery and not being able to lift for a long time and solely doing CrossFit before took a 445lb squat to a 365lb squat. I hate a 3 at the front of a squat.
PRO: I didn’t lose near as much as I thought I would. For those of you wondering if you will just shrivel up if you start CrossFit, you won’t. I have maintained a lot of my mass and have actually leaned out quite a bit. So the weight loss is seen as a pro.
CON: Wasted time transitioning when I could have just been focusing on quality training.
If you read my about page you will see that my current fitness goal is to complete Paul Smith’s Kong. I like this goal because it keeps me seriously strength focused and I have to focus on CrossFit general conditioning.
I am strictly adhering to Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Strength Program and using CrossFit as my conditioning 3-4 time per week. So far I love the results.
By Jerred Moon
This one comes up quite a bit. What kind of flooring do I get!?!?! Flooring is important for your safety and for your equipment. So what do you use and how should you use it?
You do not need to completely re-do your garage gym with a specific type of flooring. All you need is enough to where your weights would hit the rubber and not the concrete, or just enough for you to stand on.
If you prefer to buy in store and you have a local Academy around you can get cheap flooring (mats) there. It is pretty cheap and you can expect about the same on the quality, but it is great for the price.
If you like to order online, Amazon carries just about everything. They will have the same stuff Academy has AND they have horse stall mats which I will introduce in the next option. Even if you go to Academy for you mats I would check out the Amazon reviews. There are some good reviews posted with pictures, complaints, and praises.
Academy Options: Â CAP Barbell Puzzle Mat 6-Pack
Amazon Options:  Horse Stall Mats  or Cap Barbell Mat
This option really only works if you have a Tractor Supply Co. in your local area, but most people do. You can check out their website Tractor Supply Co. and type in your zip code to find a store near you. You are looking for horse stall mats. They are a little bit more expensive than the Academy/Amazon option, but they are certainly more durable.
This comes down to how much money you are willing to spend, just like everything in a garage gym. Rogue Fitness has the mats/flooring that will last forever. I have not owned it, but I have worked out on it. Very durable, practically indestructible, but you will pay for it, and then you will pay for the shipping too. Do a search on their site for flooring and mats. They are different. One you will have to contact them for pricing and the other is just expensive.
Got an old mattress? This worked for me for a long time. I had an old futon mattress from college that was banished from the house after I got married. I would use an old piece of plywood, or most of the time just make sure the concrete was swept, for my platform. I do not drop my weights unless it is actually necessary. A lot of CrossFitters drop the weight because they think it is cool, it’s not cool. Especially if you spent a lot of money on your equipment….ANYWAY…if I needed to drop I would drop on the mattress. Saves my weights and my money. Definitely is an option. Not as visually appealing, but it works! Long live functionality!!
By Jerred Moon
CrossFit had a big announcement yesterday, well that’s what they said on twitter. So I checked back yesterday for their announcement of the CrossFit Tour. So what is this thing?? According to the UPS looking commercial below they are making six stops, in six cities, they are having a party, and everyone is invited. Click on the CrossFit Tour logo to head to their website.
In all honesty I am not sure what any of it actually is. The second video below adds a little more description. I think it is just going to be a tour to help promote CrossFit and the CrossFit games, as it looks like it will run into the CrossFit Open season. I am assuming they will have some seminars, workouts, and maybe have some actual parties.
Sounds like an absolute awesome time to work for CrossFit HQ. These guys are going on an around the world trip to party at six different places. I saw yesterday that one of the stops may be Fort Worth, TX. So I’ll be there if it is true!!