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!
1. Rope Work
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.
2. Tire Drags or Pulls
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.
3. Plate Pinch Holds or Walks
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.
4. Bulgarian Bag Training
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.
5. Newspaper Tearing
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..
6. Goblet Squat
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.
7. Zercher Squat
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!
8. Rack Core Holds
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.
9. One arm BARBELL Snatch
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.
10. Forward Rolls
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.
11. Sand Bag or Punching Bag Get-Ups
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.
12. Plate Slams
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.
13. Crazy Jump Rope Workout
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.
14. Heavy Bag Crawls
15. Overhead Barbell Walks
16. Heavy Plate Walks
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.
17. Sled Pushes, But I don’t have a sled (Weight on plyo box)
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.
18. Heavy Backpack walk
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.
19. Ring Hand-Stand Push-Ups
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.