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Home Workout Challenge

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BostonCharlie
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Home Workout Challenge

Post by BostonCharlie »

I used to go to the gym, but the virus scuppered that. I had hoped to return to the gym this year, but then I realized it will still be a very long time before it is safe -- I am in my 50s and my octogenarian mother is living with us, so I am naturally more cautious.

Therefore, I am going to set up a home gym. All I have right now is a doorway chin-up bar, a couple little dumbbells, a big mirror (left over from a bathroom reno) and the Men's Health Home Workout Bible. My personal challenge is to set up a workout routine that fits my goals but also fits within my time, space and budget constraints. I will post my progress here, and I hope that anybody on this same path will chime in with their experiences and advice.

I go into this knowing almost nothing about working out, which is a disclaimer. My background is that I have been pretty lean my whole life, but never fit. In college I would bicycle around and I loved it. In my 40s I started gaining weight. Approaching 50 I developed some funny minor complaints, probably from working at a desk all day (my new standing desk seemed to introduce new, different complaints). At 49 I started going to the gym, and to my surprise I enjoyed it. My minor complaints went away. My "numbers" started returning to healthy levels. The bigger surprise is that I started getting buff. I never thought of myself as a buff guy, but I find that I now enjoy it. (Confession: while some things are easier to do now, like working on stuff over my head, opening a stuck jar is just as hard as ever, lol.) What I did at the gym was simple stuff: cardio machines and resistance machines. Free weights and all that other equipment required more knowledge than I was willing to learn, so I just watched those guys while I hung out in the machine area with the other old guys (lol).

Given my budget, my home gym will be mostly free weights. First I need to make some space in our garage, which I think will be the best location. Onward and upward!
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by watchpalooza »

This is great! i had a similar experience in 2018, but the ipmact to my motivation from COVID has pretty much undone all of it. I will gladly join in here.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by tommy_boy »

Excellent plan. Keep us posted.

When my club closed in March, I ordered a machine (Bowflex Max Total) and waited four months for it to arrive. Fortunately I had a bench, resistance bands and enough weight to manage that part of the mix. Finding more plates or kettle bells is still a challenge. I ordered a curling bar on Amazon (from a "domestic shipper") and it took two months for it to show up, presumably while they waited for a container to arrive from China.

I have been a gym rat since college. What is in my home gym is adequate for the time being. But I can't play racquetball or use the gym's more effective machines. Sux.
Last edited by tommy_boy on Sat Jan 02, 2021 2:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by Sussa »

I was fortunate to be able to get three new pieces of workout equipment during quarantine: a pullup bar, sandbags, and a rowing erg. I already had adjustable dumbbells, a Bosu ball, and resistance bands. It doesn't completely replace the gym, but I've been able to decently recreate the PHUL program I enjoyed before lockdown. I'm good at erging 3-4 days per week, but regular strength training is a struggle.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by BostonCharlie »

After comparison shopping online, I might have gone overboard on the bench I chose. The cheap ones worried me because of occasional reports (some with photos) of joints failing, etc. I know cheap. My bike is cheap, and it landed my ass in the street one day (in front of a car of course). I don't want to worry about that kind of thing while exercising. Elsewhere, the mid-priced benches didn't seem like a much better value, and some owners still reported problems. So I bought this Rogue flat utility bench which has very good reviews. It could take a month to arrive :roll:

OTOH, if anybody thinks I made a grave mistake, let me know and I should be able to cancel it.

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On the economy side, judging by the exercises in my workout book, I should be able to go a long way with just a flat bench.

Really this is the kind of thing you want to try before you buy. I hope it is a good fit.

[mention]Sussa[/mention]: how do you like your adjustable dumbbells? Would you recommend them?

I spent the afternoon organizing my garage. Why did I wait so long? It looks much nicer now. I also picked up some mats at a nearby ReStore, which is a retail outlet for Habitat for Humanity. These mats had failed the mfg's QC, so they donated them to Habitat. I'll take a closer look at them Sunday morning.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by ohhenry1 »

Good on ya, Boston Charlie! I'm in my mid-40s and consider myself to be in good shape for my age (for context, I recently did 42 pull-ups in a row ... Yes, in a single set). I consider working out to be a bit of a hobby. My advice to anyone looking to start exercising, get in shape and/or set up a home gym: Keep it simple, in all aspects. For me, at least, one major aspectnof keeping it simple is to focus on BODYWEIGHT exercises. Push-ups, Pull-ups, dips, jump rope (or jumping jacks), bodyweight squats and leg raises get you 90%+ there, with just about zero equipment. You'd be surprised how fit (and even jacked) you can get with bodyweight training, especially if you learn how to vary angles, etc., to increase resistance. If you really want to go crazy, you can throw on a backpack with a sack of rice in it, or some heavy pans. Anyway, I don't think anyone is really soliciting my advice, and to each their own method, so I'll leave it at strongly recommending keeping it simple, in large part by focusing on a few major bodyweight exercises (aka calisthenics). And to bring it all home: I think there's an elegance to it that any lover of mechanical watches should be able to appreciate. [emoji1]
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by Sussa »

BostonCharlie wrote: Sun Jan 03, 2021 1:16 am @Sussa: how do you like your adjustable dumbbells? Would you recommend them?
I would recommend a different line from the same brand. I have the Powerblock Sports.
Screen Shot 2021-01-03 at 9.29.18 AM.png
They max out at 24 lbs each and can't be expanded. Powerblock also has an expandable line, which I would recommend. They would have been helpful trying to recreate some of the lifts I used a bar for (squats, deadlifts, bench, hip thrusts) and I'm moving more than 48 lbs. That's why I got the sandbags. The rectangular shape can be awkward for some moves, but it also works well for anything where I want two hands on one weight (e.g., kettlebell swings). The biggest benefit is how little space they take up.

BTW - I think you made a good choice with the Rogue bench. Going cheap with fitness equipment, especially something that's going to hold your weight + whatever you're moving, is never a good idea.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by BostonCharlie »

I dig your workout [mention]ohhenry1[/mention]. I have been doing a few pullups and pushups here and there, but I have never been organized about it. As I worked on the machines at the gym I would wonder why it made a difference. Why could I get excited about machines at the gym but not calisthenics at home? Is it the machine? The gym? Some mental game? I bet just dedicating time and space in my home to workouts will make a huge difference for me.

Thanks for the recommendation [mention]Sussa[/mention] -- I'll look into those.

Using my new mats I broke in my garage gym with 17 pushups this morning. I also did 3 pullups on my doorway chinup bar. Clever of me to leave so much room for improvement, lol.

State of the garage gym -- keep-it-simple edition:
IMG_0911.JPG
Yesterday I picked up a couple 4' x 6' mats (~1/4" thick) at ReStore (Plano TX) for $15 each. They were somebody's factory rejects and I finally found why: that closest edge is almost falling off -- some machine cut something too close. Placing one face-down on top of one face-up gave me a comfortable surface for pushups. I do pushups on my knuckles, which is uncomfortable on the wrong surface.

I can roll them up okay, but it I am thinking about putting grommets in them so I can hang them on the wall for storage.

mat1.jpg
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by recapt »

I’m in a similar situation. A year ago, in my early-mid-40s, I was in the best shape of my life thanks to 2+ years of consistent workouts at Title Boxing Club. It’s basically heavy bag training and a core workout rolled into one, plus you learn proper technique. I really loved it and I miss it.

So, I’m considering clearing out a corner of my basement, laying down some of those interlocking floor pads, and investing in a freestanding heavy bag, like this:

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(Not me pictured... yet.)

I’ve learned enough to know what I’m doing and be self-sufficient, but supposedly there are instructor-led boxing workouts on YouTube which I plan on looking into. I find it helpful to have some to ‘train’ you instead of making up the workout myself.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by BostonCharlie »

The invisible hand has made $300 powerblocks into $450+ powerblocks. Better than no powerblocks. Seems that *if* you can find an online seller willing to sell at MSRP (Amazon teased me off-and-on this evening), then delivery is months away.

After looking around I went for a pair of new Elite EXP "2020 model" 5-50 for $460 incl. free shipping from a small eBay seller with a good rep. Says it should arrive in a couple weeks. "2020 model" seems to identify a model that powerblock sells only through Amazon and other online retailers -- it is made in China and its design is slightly different from the USA Elite EXP they sell on their site.

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I think my dumbbells and bench will keep me busy for awhile. I would like to make a chin-up bar in my garage a'la Rocky, except attached to my ceiling rafters:

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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by Boourns »

I am in a similar in situation to [mention]BostonCharlie[/mention] but 12-15 years behind. I am going to be 38 this spring and have always been skinny or at least lean. I gained a little weight in my late 20s when I was in graduate school and then a little bit more after my son was born in 2014. Then when I hit about 35-36 it became a lot easier for me to gain. In Nov./Dec. 2019 I started going to the neighborhood gym regularly. I managed to go 2-3 times a week doing cardio for about 45 minutes. That was enough, and I actually enjoyed it for the first time in my life. I kept it up until March 2020 when the gym closed. Since then we've moved (so no neighborhood gym) and I have gained the COVID 15+.

I had always just planned on joining a Planet Fitness or something to get access to an elliptical/treadmill and basic machine weights. But at this point it's going to be at least another few months before I could potentially get the vaccine. Plus, the more I read on the subject, it seems like working out in a gym won't be a great idea for a while even after I am vaccinated. So I need to start at home.

I have no workout equipment whatsoever. What would be the best bang for the buck if I only get one thing? A pullup bar? Weights? Should I just spring for a treadmill? My main goal is losing some COVID fat but I would like to keep up a routine after that.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by Sussa »

Boourns wrote: Mon Jan 04, 2021 9:35 am I have no workout equipment whatsoever. What would be the best bang for the buck if I only get one thing? A pullup bar? Weights? Should I just spring for a treadmill? My main goal is losing some COVID fat but I would like to keep up a routine after that.
The best bang for your buck is whatever equipment you enjoy using the most. That will help you keep up your routine. If you can stick to a bodyweight routine, get a pullup bar. It sounds like you really enjoyed cardio time. If running or biking outdoors isn't an option, I'd go for a treadmill or elliptical.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by BostonCharlie »

[mention]Boourns[/mention]: For cardio I am riding my bike around the neighborhood. I plan to try a jump rope. So simple, but I've never tried it.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by ohhenry1 »


Boourns wrote:What would be the best bang for the buck if I only get one thing? A pullup bar? Weights? Should I just spring for a treadmill? My main goal is losing some COVID fat but I would like to keep up a routine after that.
As for euipment, for me, it would be 3 inexpensive pieces: a door frame pull up bar, a suspension trainer (TRX is most recognizable and expensive brand, but you can go with generic/cheaper no problem) and a jump rope.

As for losing weight, I would say that that's much more about how one eats than it is about how one exercises. Very difficult (and exhausting!) to out-exercise bad eating habits.
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Re: Home Workout Challenge

Post by flypanam »

I recently got my dad to subscribe to the weight loss program Noom and he dropped like 25 lbs in 3 months. Unfortunately, he also lost a lot of muscle mass because he wasn't exercising during the time and was cutting so many calories.

I got him this book for Christmas, which I leafed through and found to be excellent for general conditioning for ANYONE, not just older folks. It's very comprehensive and highlights the importance of targeting all of your different muscle groups to build overall strength and conditioning:



Keeping your strength up is important, and can help with weight loss in general. Resistance training is shown to be a protective factor against falls and fragility bone fractures as you get older! At rest, muscle tissue uses more energy just to sustain itself, so bulking up increases your resting metabolism as well. I think free weights (i.e. dumbbells) are absolutely one of the most versatile tools you can use for resistance training, and they have the benefit of forcing you to use auxiliary muscles to keep them steady versus gym machines which specifically target certain muscles by design.

Cardio is excellent for heart health in general, but if your goal is weight loss try to do longer sessions. Your body burns sugars / glycogen stores for the first approx 20-30 minutes of cardio before it starts burning fat exclusively. Like [mention]Sussa[/mention] says, the best cardio is something you can enjoy and do sustainably / regularly. I ride a stationary bike for at least 45-60 minutes, and just watch youtube or netflix while doing it and the time flies.

Just my thoughts.
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