Punch Kettlebell – 40kg Bulldog – New Home Gym Gear

Admin Equipment March 21, 2015

Enter the Bulldog

My newest piece of gym equipment arrived and I’m surprised the UPS guy didn’t suffer a hernia when he unloaded it from the truck.

92 pounds is what the label said thought the Bulldog actually weighs in at 88 pounds or 40kg.

I’ve been doing 250 swings per day since February 16 and started off with a 32kg. I bumped up to 36kg a couple weeks ago and that was even starting to get light but was the biggest I could go with adding a Kettlebell Buddy to the 32kg bell.

Now with the Bulldog in the house I can even go up to 44kg if I want to. From there it would be on to the Beast – a 48kg colossus, but I can’t seem to find where Punch/Art of Strength makes one that size. I’ll just have to see if I can get one of these monsters made for me.

Rogue Kettlebells – New Home Gym Gear

Admin Equipment December 29, 2014

New Gear Day – Rogue Kettlebells – 32kg & 24kg

New Gear Day – Rogue Kettlebells – 32kg & 24kg – basking in the Florida sun!

With the number of times we visit my wife’s family in Florida each year I finally broke down and had some kettlebells shipped to their house leading up to our Christmas visit. Once you’ve worked out in your own well-equipped home gym it’s tough to go down to the local L.A. Fitness, though we always end up there anyway.

Plus, I tend to eat quite a bit more than usual as her mom is always cooking up awesome food so it’s a nice bonus to wake up and grab a kettlebell for a quick workout while my wife is getting ready.

Hi Temp Bumper Plates – New Home Gym Gear

Admin Equipment October 29, 2014

New Gear Day – Rogue Hi Temp Bumper Plates – 45lb

New Gear Day – Rogue Hi Temp Bumper Plate – 45lb

With getting towards the end of the Vodka and Pickles workout and looking to do a “sort of” max attempt next week, I needed to add some weight plates. I currently max out around around 310# of iron plates and bumpers. Add in 45# for the barbell and so I’m coming up short when I look to do 405# next week.

With that, I placed an order yesterday morning for a pair of 45lb Hi Temp bumper plates from Rogue. Much to my surprise they showed up at my mailbox today so I was able to test them out during my deadlifts tonight.

How to Build a Home Gym: Step by Step

Admin Equipment October 28, 2014

How to Build a Home Gym: Step by Step

Step 1: Determining how much space you have.

When planning the setup for building your own home gym the first step is figuring out where you’re going to put it. Do you have a spare room, or a basement, or a garage? Will you have the whole room or just a small corner? You’ll need to figure out the best use of space and how much room you have within that space.

If it’s just a portion of any of the above then you’re going to have to make do with a smaller overall setup than if you have a larger utility room in the basement or a garage. Don’t worry if you’re lacking in space as just as there is equipment for any budget there’s also equipment for any sized space.

What Home Gym Equipment I Use

Admin Equipment October 8, 2014

Here’s a list of the equipment I currently use in my own home gym.

Rogue S-3 Squat Rack
Being 6’4″ I really wanted a squat rack I could attach a pullup bar to at the top and not have to bend my knees while doing dead-hang pullups off the Skinny/Fat Bar. As we live in the city, we rent so I needed something that would be stable without being bolted to the ground, so that nixed any kind of power rack. Plus, with super high ceilings in our basement utility room I could afford the 110″ of height needed for the S-3 squat rack.

I also have the following attachments:
Rogue Flat Utility Bench
Rogue Matador dip attachment
Safety spotter arms

Fitness Gear Weight Plates
2 – 45#
2 – 35#
2 – 25#
2 – 10#
4 – 5#
2 – 2.5#

Crossing Over To A Home Gym

Admin Equipment October 3, 2014barbell, Chris LaLanne, CrossFit, Dan John, deadlifts, free weights, home gym workout, kettlebells, Pavel Tsatsouline, Reg Park, Vince Gironda

With Chris LaLanne (Jack’s grandnephew) at LaLanne Fitness CrossFit in San Francisco, October 2008

The category of how to build a home gym is so broad in scope that I’m going to focus more on old-school fitness and weight training. Think along the lines of picking things up off the ground and putting them overhead rather than contorting your body on machines.

Granted, I used machines when I first starting training in 1998 because, like most people, I didn’t know any better. On my first day, I had a free training session with a guy whose calves Rep. Steve King would envy. He took me through the machine area of the gym and showed me how to use the lat pulldown machine, the leg curl machine, and the leg extension machine, etc. Of course, he used free weights to look as impressive as he did but that was a small area of the gym where I, as a lanky newbie, I feared to tread. I spent the next eight years wasting time with various Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Men’s Journal workouts as well as consulting a champion natural bodybuilder trainer. He got me not skinny-fat using machines and then bulked me back up using free weights.

Build Your Own Home Gym

Admin Equipment October 1, 2014barbell, build your own home gym, Chicago, deadlifts, how to build your own home gym, kettlebells, Lincoln Park, squat rack, XSport Fitness

Why build your own home gym?

There are some pros and cons when you build your own home gym but definitely more pros than cons.

Pros:

Save time – When my wife and I lived in Lincoln Park we were a five-minute walk from a Bally’s and a 10-minute drive from an XSport Fitness. I belonged to both and used Bally’s in the morning for easy treadmill cardio and XSport at night for lifting weights since my wife only belonged there. Fast forward to our move to Northwest Chicago and we were suddenly 20-30 minutes from the gym on top of our one-hour commute each way to work. Needless to say we didn’t have much time to work out once we did get to the gym. Then it was time to head home, eat, shower, and head to bed. Now we just get home from work, change clothes, and walk downstairs to either hop on the treadmill or grab a barbell in the squat rack or swing some kettlebells. My wife often doesn’t get home until after 7:30 P.M. so she still has time for a quick workout. Or if we’re heading out of town I can get in a workout before we leave.
Better equipment – when it’s your gym you don’t have to worry about bent barbells or ripped benches or battered kettlebells that shred your hands, unless you’re an animal and don’t respect what you’ve spent hard-earned money to buy. And no more dreaded hex plates like they have at the gym, which are actually designed that way so you won’t deadlift.
Your own music – no more will you have to listen to the
Chalk – use it and love it.
You can make as much noise as you want. You don’t have to worry about menacing looks from the cardio bunnies when you’re grunting and straining to get that last deadlift rep off the floor. Or getting the same menacing look from said cardio bunnies when you drop that last deadlift rep.