Preserving work life balance when you own your own business is tough! Being an entrepreneur bleeds over into the rest of your life in so many ways it's a cliche. I've tried to strike a healthy balance between working twelve hour shifts at my full time job, being a good husband and father and building our brand in whatever time I have left. That makes for a lot of late nights and early mornings!
I'm sort of on my own page when it comes to building business relationships. Meaning, I like to get to know people before I do business with them. I tell them my story, try to find out theirs; tell them a random story— see how they react. That. Continue reading
The Talon Barbell collars from PRx Performance are getting pretty good reviews on their website and I was intrigued as soon as I saw their Instagram posts about it. I've been testing them for a few months and here's what I think:
Stop complaining about what you don't have and start celebrating the ADVANTAGES of a home gym workout!
I've shared my story time, and time again. I've shared it so much with others I'm practically blue in the face. I sat down to write this, looked at my husband and mentioned how I think my story might be getting repetitive at this point in my weight loss. He looked at me and said, "Why not keep telling it? It's a great story, and its yours.."
My Overall Impressions of the Gripster Attachments I think the Gripster Attachments are an extremely unique offering for the grip-enthusiast that will certainly add abilities and progressive overload to your training. If you aren’t a grip. Continue reading
Relationship Goals We all see images and videos on social media of fit couples like Ryan and Julia di Pompeo with the hashtag relationship goals. We see Stan Efferding post images of his wife spotting him on bench press in their garage gym. Tim. Continue reading
This second installment of Big Gains in Small Spaces is going to teach you how to transform your spare bedroom into a fulfilling exercise space. You can read part one of the series, Big Gains; Small Spaces Part 1: Apartment Gym Setup here. Spare. Continue reading
David Dennis, founder of Gorilla Strength Equipment is a throwback to an era of American craftsmanship long thought forgotten. Interact with him on any level and it only takes a few words before you find yourself captivated by the passion with which. Continue reading
For those that have never been on Reddit, a quick primer. Reddit acts much like a forum. People have user accounts with whatever name they choose. They can post new content (pictures, links, or text posts) or view and comment on topics of their. Continue reading
The Bear Mattress is a great blend of springs, memory foam, and gel to provide comfort and support for all sized and style sleepers, even if a few of their marketing items are BS, it is a rather expensive bed, and what makes it great for sleep. Continue reading
So you want to get started with Armlifting? Armlifting is a great sport that can be done anywhere, so it’s perfect for home gym athletes! It all starts with a loading pin, a carabiner and some attachments. For a more detailed look at. Continue reading
Solitude is strength; to depend on the presence of the crowd is weakness. The man who needs a mob to nerve him is much more alone than he imagines. – Paul Brunton Solo training isn't easy. There's no one around to keep you accountable. It's. Continue reading
Picking the right dumbbell set for your home gym It doesn't have to be rocket science. Picking the right dumbbell set for your needs comes down to the amount of space you have, your budget and what you're going to be using dumbbells for. Continue reading
Time for my review of the Edge Fitness Systems Rickshaw. I wanted a replacement for my trap bar, and farmers walk bars for deadlifts and weighted carries, plus a solution that was user friendly for set up, for both my wife and me. It needed to. Continue reading
Change the game is more than an old Jay-z record. Barbeller has made it a part of their mission in the fitness equipment industry. Interested in having a custom bar with your logo on it? Maybe you want to commemorate an event or give a personalized. Continue reading
Living in an apartment can make exercising a struggle, especially if your building doesn't have an apartment gym. If you have a small space like I do, imagining all of that equipment filling every inch of your apartment can be dissuading, however it. Continue reading
In Part one of this series, I shared my decision to use a non-surgical shoulder rehab approach for my shoulder injuries over the past year. It was an emotional decision and a struggle somedays to stick with this decision. But along this path, I. Continue reading
Brandis Atwood discovered pole fitness while browsing Pinterest and what she calls her obsession with the craft has only grown over time. Let's find out more about this awesome wife and mother who's embracing the adventure of pole fitness, and. Continue reading
Growth. Without growth and change, life can’t continue. That applies to people and it applies to brands. What’s important to remember is that change can happen both in a positive and a negative direction. Last fall, we made some changes to. Continue reading
This is part two of a series on my journey as I learned to deal with my injuries and become a healthier, stronger and more durable athlete. You can read Part 1 of the series here. Summer 2017 I rented an office space at inMotion Spine Muscle and. Continue reading
So I made a DIY chalk bucket. I do very few DIY solutions in my gym and it is really only when the commercial products either are outrageously expensive or simply do not meet my needs. A chalk bowl, or in this case chalk bucket, happens to check. Continue reading
Armlifting began to catch my attention early in 2018 as I began looking for non-traditional sports that home gym athletes could pursue. I was already interested in grip strength as part of my discovery of physical culture so when I began to hear. Continue reading
Anthony DeAngelis has stood lat spread to lat spread with bodybuilding's best for nearly three decades. His only advantages are an unwavering dedication to the process and a hunger to always be better than the guy in the mirror was yesterday. Fellow. Continue reading
You have a Muay Thai background, Muay Thai is really big in the Netherlands, I still remember watching Peter Aerts dominating in K1. And of course, we can't forget Bas Rutten! How did you get into it? I followed the sport since early 1995 I believe. Continue reading
There is a growing wave of men in their forties who are unwilling to accept that their best years are behind them. Contrary to the dadbod stereotype, men like of Durable Dad are pushing to have their best life experiences well decades after entering. Continue reading
If I click back through pictures of my journey to strength training, CrossFit, competing and coaching...I can see where I went wrong. Not on purpose, but because I didn't know any better. I have said more recently, in relation to many things,. Continue reading
The Powertec Levergym is an incredibly compact and versatile piece of equipment for the garage gym bodybuilder, at a ridiculously fair price. You would be hard pressed to find anywhere near this functionality in almost any other options, without. Continue reading
BarnFit Gym is the passion project of Dillon Giesler a former high school athlete who is passionate about helping young people succeed. Funded out of pocket and built with sweat equity, BarnFit Gym is Dillon's way of helping the youth in his small. Continue reading
We discovered PRess It Wrist Wraps last year on Instagram when we were considering expanding what we offer in the Garage Gym Life online apparel store. Although we eventually decided to go in a different direction, I was really impressed with Rachel. Continue reading
Why the Spud Inc. Econo Hammer? As an amateur Highland Games athlete on a tight budget, the Spud Inc. Econo Hammer appealed to me as a safe, cost-effective way to practice throwing the Scottish heavy and light hammers. I received mine from Rogue. Continue reading
When you think of the Scottish Highland Games, traditionally you picture a large man in a kilt, strolling along carrying a telephone pole. Not a 5'5" former female swimmer. Well, Heidi King is here to take over and she doesn't care what you think a. Continue reading
So you got your Spud, Inc. Econo Hammer in the mail and you need some Olympic plates to use with it. Craigslist, OfferUp, Gumtree and Play It Again Sports are the garage gym athlete's ally when it comes to budget friendly equipment. Buying used can. Continue reading
Protein Bars At Home If you're looking for more ways to add protein to your diet, you may be tempted to add one of those expensive protein bars as a snack. But did you know you can quickly make your protein bars at home that will not only be. Continue reading
Sammy Sebok has taken the term "Renaissance Man" to new heights. He's juggling two careers that involve caring for people in addition to being a husband and powerlifting coach. That schedule hasn't stopped him from being named Athlete of the Year. Continue reading
I first met Stan "The Rhino" Efferding at The Arnold Schwarzenegger Fitness Expo in 2013. He struck me immediately as someone who loves to give of their time to help others. So when I found out that Stan has a garage gym in addition to the Iron. Continue reading
Why Mace Training? When choosing the home gym lifestyle, we tend to have lulls in training where we not only get stuck in ruts, but become our own personal Golem, refusing to leave our precious caves. My own personal reasoning for being a home gym. Continue reading
We all know what a timeshare is. And many of us are familiar with Uber. Because home gyms are nothing new, they have been around before the Internet came along. But like anything else post-Internet, home gyms, and garage gyms especially, have. Continue reading
Who Is Jessie Hilgenberg? Jessie Hilgenberg is basically a rock star. She is an IFBB Pro, an athlete for NLA For Her, as well as a BodyBuilding.Com athlete, she is the JESS in “Jessie’s Girls”, a mother of two girls, and a wife. She has. Continue reading
High level Olympic Weightlifting competitor Kristin Pope, like many strength athletes before her, trains in a garage gym! The driving factor for a lot of us in choosing the home gym lifestyle is being able to pursue our training without abandoning. Continue reading
If you already have a SSB and Multi-Grip bar, want a multipurpose specialty bar out the gate, or are looking for a specialty bar that more closely mimics a straight bar back squat without the shoulder strain, the Edge Fitness Cambered Squat Bar. Continue reading
Origin of Brian Pankey #thewinteruncle The hashtag #thewinteruncle came from a video Brian Pankey and I did Thanksgiving 2016. It's a play on a scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But Brian Pankey's story began years ago. He's built his. Continue reading
Yolanda Presswood will not be silent or ignored. Don't like her revealing photos or aggressive stance on veganism? Well get over it! This fan of Wu-Tang, powerlifting and her husband, Steven, is unapologetic about living wholeheartedly. She's a. Continue reading
The Twisted Gardener is one of the coolest blogs on the web! There you can find musings on getting out of debt, training philosophy, faith, productivity and of course setting up a garden. The founder, Joe Robinson, is an intensely thoughtful, humble. Continue reading
During my first in-person workshop, I was witness to something few have ever seen. I watched the Grandmaster Strongman, Dennis Rogers roll up a teflon coated frying pan so tight, that after snapping off the handle, he was able to stuff the. Continue reading
The Home GHR, according to inventor Brian Schwab is "a floor based glute ham raise that is affordable for home gym users with the benefits of a full scale model. It adjust from 39.5" to 46.5" in length an dis 21.5" in width. It' is lightweight yet. Continue reading
MAG Grips? What are those? You know that Movie/TV Show that everyone is always like "Oh my gawd!!! You haven't watched it? Its the best. Seriously, stop what you are doing and go binge it now!!!' You wait and wait, and then one cold winter day you. Continue reading
3 Quick DIY Additions for every Garage Gym Owner Here are three quick DIY additions every Garage Gym Owner can build in a weekend. It will make your garage gym workouts more effective, offer much needed assistance work, and create variety to. Continue reading
Garage Built champion Andres Gomez began his exercise journey through CrossFit but switched to powerlifting because heavy training motivates him more. It seems like a wise choice. He's already collected four Spanish championships, two in the 83. Continue reading
At 5'2, Jerome Bloom doesn't immediately look like a world record holding strongman. But this modern day Mighty Atom, holds so many world records that we couldn't list them all and keep this article under the word count limit! After a back injury. Continue reading
Ross Enamait is Never Gymless Ross Enamait has confessed to having a hard time staying still. It's evident from a casual glance through his social media feed or from a review of his body of work over the years that he's passionate about training. Continue reading
International Powerlifting Federation champion Dennis Cornelius is one of the coolest dudes around. Whether he's competing at the highest level international meets or doing a normal training session in his garage, he calmly approaches each lift with. Continue reading
EARTHQUAKE!!!!!! OK, not really. But it is a DIY Earthquake bar. Why you need a Earthquake bar is almost as easy as making it. Everyone loves to bench and if you are about that garage gym life you love a challenge, this bar gives you both. Lets. Continue reading
You could do a quick Google search and find a laundry list of cold shower benefits. For me, it just feels good, after. There is often a little self talk prior to stepping in a 40 degree shower. And of course there are times, just when you are. Continue reading
DIY Landmine A DIY Landmine is an awesome way to add a powerful tool to your garage gym toolbox. So, if landmine exercises are not in your arsenal, they should be. And if you have searched the Internet for these fixtures, you will soon find out. Continue reading
Meditation Confession As much as I'd like to say I have a dedicated space for meditation, I don't. I used to have a time and space specific to my practice that was non-negotiable; but as I am constantly reminding my kids: everything changes. If. Continue reading
Why DIY Chain Collars? DIY chain collars will let you add a little variety and challenge to your training. If you have thought about trying chains and bands this project will get you using both in no time. Remember You're Not a Public Gym Most. Continue reading
Val Airing is on fire and motivated to reach her full potential by helping others! When I saw her YouTube channel and Instagram profile, I knew right away that this is someone who deserves to have their story told! Get to know this fitness. Continue reading
marcbewegtschwereszeug Marc Wittrowski is a strongman who I discovered on Instagram while he was playing amateur American football in his native Germany. He's got a ton of cool pictures and video of himself lifting and carrying heavy loads in a. Continue reading
https://youtu.be/0FC09QqaW7k Who is Azekhumhe Omoh? Azekhumhe Omoh was the first home based athlete to be profiled on garagegymlife.net. Since our conversation, he's gone on to bigger and better things, but has never lost sight of his. Continue reading
Who is AnnieLori Thompson? AnnieLori Thompson is one of only two athletes I know of who combine strength sports with ultra long distance running. Annie Lori (yes, she's so strong that her mom gave her two names!) is an ultra-marathoner, powerlifter. Continue reading
https://youtu.be/bJ0wCGEPPhY Who knew that Batman and Wonder Woman were Canadian? If you’ve been following Jerad and Basma Penner on Instagram like I have, then you definitely did! I’m a huge fan of this awesome super couple and I think. Continue reading
Norwegian powerlifter Erik Røen has been on my radar since I first saw him training in his shed bundled up against the cold and deadlifting like a madman. I immediately started calling his gym the Viking Cave. We caught up through a combination. Continue reading
Why a sheStrength app? Why a sheStrength app?Well, it's an easy sell if you want female focused training in an easy to use app that comes with a supportive online community! Check out the sheStrength Sisterhood of Steel that our good friend Anna. Continue reading
Many lifters hate to do dedicated stretching. They pay lip service to mobility work with some casual passes with the foam roller before squats but rarely have a dedicated program intended to keep them injury free and building strength year after. Continue reading
4 Tips for More Effective Mobility Work For your benefit, when you think of mobility work, I'd like you to think about maintaining or reclaiming your movement patterns. Examples could be your ability to perform squatting patterns or overhead. Continue reading
Jim Redd is a certified life coach and trainer. Despite being born with spina bifida and then suffering a herniated disc that left him wheelchair bound, Jim enjoys a full and active life. The certified personal trainer and life coach maintains a. Continue reading
https://youtu.be/wi7GYAK63q0 The Audacity of PRx Performance Billionaire investor Mark Cuban said in a 2014 Inc magazine article, "Many bold companies don't set out to be audacious. They see a better way to do something and work to make. Continue reading
Setting a Planned System in Place to Achieve Long Term Success For long term success, smart athletes stack blocks of training one after another, focusing on recovery and executing good reps. Instead of focusing on a weakness for a short time to. Continue reading
Secrets of Permanent Fat Loss Revealed What are the secrets to permanent fat loss? I always go back to three powerful things that I find are vital for my clients to understand about the journey to their goal weight: Sacrifice,. Continue reading
Be More Athletic If you're like me, you're constantly bombarded by articles and images of all of the cool stuff we should be doing. We all want to be more athletic. We also know that athletes pay attention to mobility, conditioning and recovery. Continue reading
Searching Craigslist like a pro is a good idea if you're outfitting or upgrading your garage gym and want to save time and money. But you'll need a plan of action and a standard operating procedure. Veteran garage gym athletes I interviewed said. Continue reading
Intermittent fasting wasn't always a part of the daily routine for Charles Forbus. That is until he decided at age 45 that it was time to fully commit and get in the best shape of his life. Five years later, he’s still improving, looking. Continue reading
Should You Insulate Your Garage Door? Deciding to insulate your garage door seems like a great idea at first. Garage athletes experience temperature extremes daily. After all, your garage was designed to keep the rain off of your car and to store. Continue reading
Former Olympic Luge team member Dean Purcell has a Garage Gym Project to let people know that fitness doesn't need to be complex or intimidating. Let's check out this New Zealand entrepreneur right now! So Dean, before we get into the Garage Gym. Continue reading
The Origin Story Everyone’s fitness journey starts somewhere. Talk to me a little about yours. In our first conversation you said that you’ve hung out with athletes for most of your life and some of it’s rubbed off. Expand on that and the. Continue reading
The Legend of Strong and Bendy Strong and bendy started out as a cool hashtag on Instagram when I started posting bridge press videos. It got worse when I started doing Steinborn Lifts. The image in my head when I thought of it was Gumby lifting an. Continue reading
The Origin of DeadliftPro6 Wes Jenkins or deadliftpro6 as he's known on Instagram is a guy who just seems to get stronger by the day. Not given to flashy training methods, every visit to his IG account yields footage of no frills barbell and. Continue reading
Who Is Kimberly Walford? York Barbell Hall of Famer, Steve Goggins, calls Kimberly Walford "courageous". Maliek Derstine, who has the third highest squat and the highest bench of any 198lb class lifter in the world, calls her "awesome". Drug. Continue reading
Katja Mäkynen is a mother and aspiring personal trainer who specializes in the little known sport of pole fitness. As soon as most people hear pole sport, they think of adult oriented entertainment but in reality, pole sport dates back to Indian. Continue reading
Bud Jeffries is one of the most accomplished, yet controversial figures in strength sports today. As a performing strongman, he's got to be ready to go any time he's called on. Beyond that, Bud proudly lives what he calls the unconventional life,. Continue reading
Truck stop workouts are turning Damir Sarcevic into an Instagram legend! He's only got 358 Instagram followers as I write this but he's definitely someone who deserves more of the spotlight! Like I said when I used him for Weekly Motivation last. Continue reading
Michael Wailes is a Garage Gym Life original. The man I call "Powerlifting's Lionheart" is a survivor of three heart attacks who competes in powerlifting! This guy's got a growing social media following and once you read his story you'll see why he. Continue reading
Menna Yousri has a passion for fitness! Her motivation level is apparent from her Instagram posts and every email exchange that I’ve had with her. She lives in a part of our world not typically known for its devotion to fitness and health but. Continue reading
Yoga Benefits For Lifters? Yoga benefits lifters in several ways. For one thing, you probably already practice some yoga asanas (poses) without realizing it. Garland Pose for example is a deep squat. Anyway, we all know the benefits of a good. Continue reading
bench session plus accessory work The Overlooked Mental Aspect of Physical Training Mental warm ups don't get much thought in our culture. Most people just go in the gym and start training or worse they choose equipment without forethought. Just. Continue reading
Mace training is growing in popularity. Elite athletes like Ed Coan and Chris Duffin are huge proponents this ancient training method. That's because it's supposed to be awesome at improving shoulder mobility and athletic performance. Okay, sounds. Continue reading
Food is not your enemy I was a pudgy kid in middle school, thinned out in high school and then began to get fat again after I got married and several injuries. As I tried over and over again to loose weight I began to see food as the enemy. There. Continue reading
Anthony Springman's story could have come straight out of one of those old Charles Atlas ads in the back of comic books. But nobody's kicking sand in this multi sport champion's face now! Read on to find out how he does it! Anthony, thanks for. Continue reading
Anna Woods is a wonder. She's not only a devoted stay at home mom, but also a personal trainer specializing in adults with special needs, an online coach and a business coach to other fitness coaches. Plus she still competes in Crossfit,. Continue reading
There is No Magic to Monday I received a text recently that read, "I'm feeling better. Should I train today or wait until Monday?" My answer was, "There is no magic to Monday". If you feel good enough to train today, do whatever you would have. Continue reading
