While I love DIY projects, I know when it should or shouldn’t be built. A clock falls into this category, unless I was going to build a sundial, I would fail miserably at attempting to build a clock. However, this doesn’t mean there aren’t some great options for those of us that don’t want to spend $100+ on a Gym Timer.
Garage Gym Timers
1.) Laptop
If you do not mind bringing your laptop in your Garage Gym (be weary of the chalk) then this is a great option. I found the first link a long time ago and it works for most of the workouts I do.
The Speed Bag Timer has 20+ customizable options you can set/adjust to whatever you are doing that day. The Tabata Timer is exactly what it says it is. A very useful tabata timer that you can use on your laptop in your Garage Gym.
2.) Watch
There are 100’s of 1000’s of watches you could use to time your workouts. My watch is all I use these days. I got annoyed bringing my laptop in the gym everyday. I only use the laptop if I am recording a workout or if it is really important.
The watch I use: Timex Ironman 50 Lap Men’s Digital Watch
Why I love my watch
There is nothing super special about my watch. What I like most about it is the price and functionality. I have a Chrono Timer that counts up, a Timer that counts down, and Interval Timer that I can set work and rest cycles (great for tabata). Also, there is a recall function that lets me see what my “laps” were. So if I do a RFT (rounds for time) I hit the split button at each round that way I can see what I did for each round, my best time, and the overall average.
3.) Phone
While there are not quite as many options out there on the phone as the watches, there are still plenty. I am an Android user, not an iPhone user, so my apologies if I am not well-informed in the iPhone world.
iPhone
Android
I did a search for CrossFit Timer in the Android Market and got at least 5 free options, and a few 99 cent options. However, the only app I use on my phone for CrossFit is Xercise. To read more about this app check out my post “Helpful Fitness Technology For Your Day to Day“. Xercise has a timer, stopwatch, tabata timer, and a run timer.
How about you?
I know there are probably a lot more really cool timers out there I don’t even know about. These are what have worked great for me in my Garage Gym setting. What do you use?