John Greaves III's Blog, page 14

James Fuller Hub Cleans and Presses a Large Hub 45lb Plate

James Fuller has competed in powerlifting, strongman and the less well known United States All Around Weightlifting Association (USAWA). He’s got records in a ton of strength disciplines and now he’s attacking the two barbell bench press.  James was the Garage Gym Athlete of the Week on November 28, 2016, so be sure to check that out to find out more about his no limits training philosophy. This video is of him cleaning and pressing a 45lb plate by the Hub! Yes, in case you’re wondering, that is very hard. Very, very hard.

You Are Not Alone

I know that training in the garage by yourself is tough. You usually don’t have the camaraderie of other gym members to help push you.  Remember that there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world training at home like you and my mission is to connect each and everyone of us. Welcome to the movement.

You can get in touch with James on Facebook through his open group Strongman Archaeology where he and other fans of Iron Game history and no rules lifting hang out and discuss all things strength.  Until next week, stay motivated and keep training hard until people want to post videos of you!

 

The post James Fuller Hub Cleans and Presses a Large Hub 45lb Plate appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Inside 1st Platoon Garage Gym

The Origin of 1st Platoon Garage Gym
Some people will come by and say they want to work out but they see the intensity and I think they’re a little scared.

Leondre tell me about your background. You served in the Army—

I’m still currently in the Army National Guard, I just recently rejoined on the Marines’ birthday (10 November)

Yeah, I saw your swearing in for your re enlistment. Nice.

Thank you. But I’ve been in since 2003, I took a break between ’13 and ’16 obviously. I was a Cav Scout for the first five years and I was infantry for the last five years.

Okay, that’s good stuff. So is that where you began your fitness journey?

Mainly it was when I was in Afghanistan, I was on a counter insurgency team and we would work with different branches of the military. Besides going out on missions when we weren’t doing that we were doing different types of training and that’s where it started. One day we would do battle focused training and one day we would do CrossFit. I really didn’t like going to the gym and pumping iron for 45 minutes or an hour and a half. It was boring to me but we got out there and we would run, we would do burpees and tire flips and I was like, “This is kind of fun!” and I just built off of that. I mean I didn’t really know anything about CrossFit when I first started it, so I just kind of made my own workout regimens and I just slowly learned from there.

When I was deployed to Falluja, we had all of these guys who had never exercised. I mean you’d have to drag them— at least as much as you have to drag anybody in the military; but they wouldn’t do anything until it was time to do unit PT. And you’re sitting there in an artillery position with nothing to do; there’s pull up bars and dip stations in front of every cannon and people started to work out.

Right. Right.

I discovered CrossFit in Afghanistan

So that’s why your story sounds so familiar. But unlike a lot of people in that situation, you continued to train when you got Stateside. So what motivated you to start the 1st Platoon Garage Gym?

I was at drill and I had caught a sinus infection on Friday and we had a PT test on Sunday and it was a record PT test. I didn’t know if I would be able to pass this. I was in pretty good shape. I could get up and take a PT test and pass it no sweat. But this one— I had missed it by 68 seconds. So I started running when I got home, I mapped out a little route where it was a mile and a half, sometimes two miles depending on what turn I took around my neighborhood and I would get up in the morning, 5am, go out run and I started from there. I said I’m never going to fail another PT test as long as I’m in the military! I got a kettlebell that Christmas 2013 and then I moved to Dayton where I’m living now and I was just like, I need to stay working out. Because when I get ten, fifteen years older I want to still be able to run around with my little ones. And that kind of just motivated me. So when I got here to Dayton, I was rolling around my neighborhood, just scoping it out and there was a house that just got bulldozed and in front of it were five tires. I went and asked the guy whose house was next to the vacant lot and he was like, “Oh that’s the city’s these guys are coming, you can ask them on Monday. Well, Monday came and went. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday was the 4th of July. I went and got two of them Thursday. I was nervous a little bit but nobody said anything so I stopped worrying about it. So two tires and a kettlebell. My sister in law came and knocked on the door and said, “I need you to help me. I need to get rid of this pudge.” Every day she would come over and I would do these different circuit workouts. I got on the Internet and started learning about this workout regimen that I was doing that ended up being CrossFit so I incorporated it into what I knew and next thing I knew I had 1st Platoon Garage Gym.

So seeing that it looks like I’ll be contacting Ohio Crimestoppers about the theft of some tires—

Oh man! Ha ha!

Location, Location, Location
I have regulars but occasionally someone new drops by to train

So where’s your gym? I mean is it in the garage or is it in a separate building?

It’s a detached garage and it’s not insulated so when it’s below 45 degrees, I’m kind of iffy about going out there.

I got you. Semi-private, private or invite only?

It’s semi-private meaning, people who are friends and friends of friends.

I ask because I’m a fan of the podcast Barbell Shrugged . . .

Yeah, I listen to them too.

Okay, yeah, so I was listening to one of their earlier episodes and this guy was describing how he started his CrossFit box and he said, originally he had it in his house. He thought it would be cool to put it up on the CrossFit main site and he said somebody showed up at his house at 6am wanting to work out!

Hey! That’s not cool! I’d be like, “I’m asleep”!

Like, “Good morning! I’m here for the WOD? Ha ha! Anyway, my brother put his backyard gym on the Starting Strongman site and he’s had people show up to work out because they saw it on there. Fortunately, I think they called ahead but I always wonder whether or not you guys do that. Throw your information out there so other Crossfitters can stop in when they’re in town.

I throw my information out there, I work out on these days, these times but I usually get the same people. Some people will come by and say they want to work out but they see the intensity and I think they’re a little scared.

It’s difficult for people because, you’re home so you’re comfortable, but they still have to get up and drive over.

They still have to do it. Yeah.

So they do what they would do if they trained at a commercial gym but without the amenities so I think it takes a special breed of person to be a part of a barbell club like 1st Platoon Garage Gym that’s in someone’s home. 

Owner Financing

As a barbell club not a for pay facility how do you pay for new equipment and gym maintenance?

It’s mainly me. Right now, I have six kettlebells. One of which I just got from one of my members actually, he brought it like, “Hey, I’ve got a gift for you!” He’s out, he recently had surgery on his ACL so he’ll be out until spring at least. But usually it’s just me. I’ll buy one piece of equipment here and another there. Because let’s face it, I’ve still got three kids and a wife—

Yeah, I understand that. I mean my wife’s into cycling so she gets stuff that’s related to that. And I’m sort of a miser too so I get stuff but I’m always trying to see if somebody could make it for me, if I could get it used.

Ha ha! Me too! Me too.

What’s on your wish list to get next?

I want either an assault bike or a rower. Because you can only do so much running; so many burpees and double unders. You get a different type of burn when you’re on a rower or on an assault bike than you do if you’re sprinting or you’re doing burpees. You know what I’m saying?

Who’s been your main supplier of equipment? We talked about being thrifty.

I’ve purchased a few kettlebells from Play It Again Sports. They have new and used, so I’ve purchased three from there. Two from Wal-Mart and then like I said, one got donated.

Have you had to replace or upgrade anything to accommodate group workouts?

Not yet. We have replaced a couple of sandbags but I can just go to the Post Office for that.

Training Philosphy and Set Up

How many members do you have training at one time?

It’s just two because I only have one barbell right now.

It’s small group training so that works. Dan John works out in a garage with a small group of people every day that he’s not traveling. And he said, he on purpose gets people from different backgrounds because everyone gets to pick one movement. So let’s say the yoga person would pick something that they’re good at so the questions that people ask when they’re trying to figure out how to do it are important. It’s like a mental stretch for the yoga person because they have to explain it—

So everybody’s learning . . .

Right and I had heard something similar when I’d been doing martial arts for a while and Joe Lewis came in, I forget how the question came up but as a 10th degree he said, that he learns from beginners because a beginner would do something that it would never occur to me to do!

Because you’ve got it figured out and they don’t! So for them it’s trial and error.

So that mix sounds good because if there were just two of you then it would be a case of let’s just do what Dre’ says but with three people start to research—have you experienced that?

Oh yeah! Because I’ll listen to WODCast Podcast or Barbell Shrugged; just something about weightlifting or fitness or calisthenics and they’ll just say something and I’ll just go, “Huh! I never thought of that or let me look that up!”

Click to view slideshow.

Tell me about your certifications and/or training philosophy. Are you strictly CrossFit or do you guys incorporate other training philosophies?

Strictly CrossFit and honestly I don’t have any fitness certifications. I do have a friend who’s a fitness trainer in Chicago and he says sometimes he

copies my workouts and gives them to his class. I thought that was pretty awesome. I’m not going to let anybody do anything that one they don’t feel safe doing or two that I don’t know how to do. I’m not going to say we’re going to do muscle ups and handstand walks and I can’t do either. Or we’re going to do power cleans and squat snatches and I don’t know the first thing about it because that doesn’t look good on my part.

That makes sense because you have to stay in your lane—

Your scope of practice, yeah.

Are you a licensed massage therapist? You said on IG that you’re nice with your hands.

I am, that’s kind of how I make my living. I do it on the side now but that’s what I was doing when I first started. Actually one of the girls that was coming; she’s a licensed massage therapist too.

So not being certified, if you want to know the answer to something, who would you reach out to or what website would you look on for the answer?

I follow Catalyst Athletics. And then one of our local CrossFit coaches, I touch base with her. I have a friend who’s a fitness trainer in Chicago and he says sometimes he copies my workouts and gives them to his class. I thought that was pretty awesome.

Does 1st Platoon Garage Gym compete or are you simply training for life?

No, we don’t have the team for it yet. The one that is a massage therapist she was training for a 24 hour obstacle course challenge in Las Vegas and she just continued training with us afterwards.

How did she do?

She was on a team with two guys and another girl and she said she didn’t finish it. She said the people that were there weren’t as motivated as she was. But I want to do a Savage Race, a GORuck Challenge and a Tough Mudder.

What motivated you to post, “I don’t understand why people are so scared to discover how strong they actually are?

I guess that you kind of see that I’m full of quotes. That was one that stuck out to me because it seems that we as a people are scared to take risks. And there are a lot of people that are scared to jump out the window. And some people just don’t know what they can do until they’re faced with doing it or running away from it.

How much are you actually around people like that?

It’s just at work or if I’m at the store. People will say I saw your workout on Instagram or Facebook. And I’ll say, “Oh! Want to come get down?” And they’re like, “No, working out will make me sore, you can have that!” I’m like, “Really?”

I’m a fan of Zach Even Esh, Ross Enamait, they both talk about how people just don’t want to work hard. I think we do have a culture that kind of fosters that because we have gadgets. I’m not just talking about fitness gadgets either. It’s like we want to speed this up. Take a car, we want our cars to go faster. Why? Because you want to get where you’re going faster and when you get there, you want everything to happen fa st while you’re there. And then when you’re ready to leave, you want to leave quickly. It’s like we don’t enjoy the process anymore! It seems like you enjoy the process. You enjoy the training itself.

Sometimes I could be having a bad day, or I could be having the best day ever. I just stop and take a couple of fresh breaths and realize I’m in that moment. Because we never do that! It’s always, I can’t wait until vacation. And then as soon as vacation comes, it’s over and we’re like, “Man! Vacation’s over that fast?” And it’s because we didn’t cherish the moment.

You’re on vacation thinking about work! Or you’re looking on your phone looking at what other people are doing, not enjoying your vacation.

I learned that from Sade. Cherish the day.

Before We Go

Tell me about 1st Platoon Garage Gym Beer and WOD Fridays.

Just to have a good time. Socializing and a nice ending to the work week and the start of a good weekend. And what I’ll do when I do a Beer and WOD

Cherish the moment.

Friday is take the movements of the week and keep the same scheme but make a more intense WOD. After that: two beers!

So it makes it an experience.

Right. We might do farmer carries and power cleans and running throughout the week and then on Friday we’ll run a mile and a half with a sandbag. Plus in between each movement we’ll do some burpees.

I’m a reader and I can tell when someone else is a reader. What’s the name of the book currently on your night table?

It’s called The Map of Heaven. It’s by Dr. Eben Alexander. I think he was on Oprah and he didn’t really believe in God. He was a neurosurgeon and he believed that you don’t have any cognitive memory when you’re in a coma. Well, he ended up in a coma for seven days and he was supposed to be brain dead. He came out of the coma and he was remembering all of these memories from when he was in the coma. I read his first book, “Proof of Heaven” I haven’t really gotten through it because I’ll read a couple of pages and I’ll get sidetracked.

I get it. It may seem strange to people that you’re reading that but you’re reading about the transformation of someone’s belief system because of a life changing event. You’re all about metamorphosis.

I want to motivate people because I was one of those people once upon a time who didn’t want to exercise. I’m a regular person so it’s something that everybody can do. If you have two legs and two arms and you can walk, you’re an athlete.

Well, man I appreciate you taking time to talk to me. How can people contact you to follow the training or come work out at 1st Platoon Garage Gym?

On Instagram: @1stplatoongaragegym

 

Related articles

From Living Room to An Awesome Workout Space
Weekend exercise on a par with daily workouts
An expert explains why you should try a high intensity workout like the ‘7-minute workout’
Meet the swarthy barbarians behind Lithuania’s Viking Age Crossfit
CrossFit is intense, competitive, demanding and not for every ‘body’
Good fitness is self-defense
Ukraine’s wounded soldiers get pumped up
Gym Culture

The post Inside 1st Platoon Garage Gym appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Weekend Read January 10, 2016

This Old House Builds An Accessible Home Gym

This Old House is one of the first home improvement shows I remember watching. In this episode, the team builds an accessible home gym for a SEAL injured in Afghanistan. It’s worth it just for the tools list provided in the show notes on YouTube and the opportunity to watch the initial steps of the process. Many of us don’t put a lot of thought into square footage before we start ordering equipment so this video is a good example of how a professional would do it.

Live On A Park Bench Not At The Bus Stop

Dan John is without a doubt one of the best writers in strength sports today. I always catch myself highlighting so many passages when I read his stuff that I have to stop or risk turning the entire page Sharpie yellow.  This article is a comprehensive explanation, in easy to understand language about the importance of park bench workouts as the mainstay of training.  Don’t skip over this.  It might change your training and your life. Seriously. Read it here . . .

You’re Not A 12 Year Old Indian Boy: The Perils of Pigeon Pose

Pigeon pose is one of the most used yoga hip openers but according to yoga instructor James Miller of adamantineyoga.com, it was never intended to fill that role and it might even be hurting you if you use it to force the issue. These poses were intended to challenge Indian boys who had excellent hip mobility from sitting cross legged on the ground. (Maybe that’s why we used to call it Indian style?) Read more to find out a better way to open your hips . . .

Accountability: the golden ticket to fitness

One of the reasons so many are already struggling to keep their New Year’s Resolutions is a lack of built in accountability in their training plan. According to personal trainer and fitness coach Rachel Flanagan, accountability is your golden ticket to achieving your fitness goals. She lists some easy to implement ways to use the power of accountability in  this blog post.  Check it out!

Improve Your Mobility for Kicking

Whether you practice combat sports or you only want to feel more coordinated during your Core de Force workouts, having better mobility will make your kicks more fluid and give you better training sessions. The key a successful round kick whether or low or high is hip mobility to let you pivot on your foot and turn your hip over on your kicking leg. Confused? Just watch this video from Vahva Fitness and you’ll understand.

Related articles

7 Desk Stretches to Ease a Tight Neck, Shoulders, and Wrists From Sitting All Day
We tried a workout which combines boxing with yoga – here’s what it was like
Hot yoga has health benefits, but it’s not for everyone
5 Fun Exercises to Try With the Whole Bridal Party

The post Weekend Read January 10, 2016 appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Accessible Home Gyms with This Old House

This Old House Builds An Accessible Home Gym

This Old House is one of the first home improvement shows I remember watching. In this episode, the team builds an accessible home gym for a SEAL injured in Afghanistan. It’s worth it just for the tools list provided in the show notes on YouTube and the opportunity to watch the initial steps of the process. Many of us don’t put a lot of thought into square footage before we start ordering equipment so this video is a good example of how a professional would do it.

Live On A Park Bench Not At The Bus Stop

Dan John is without a doubt one of the best writers in strength sports today. I always catch myself highlighting so many passages when I read his stuff that I have to stop or risk turning the entire page Sharpie yellow.  This article is a comprehensive explanation, in easy to understand language about the importance of park bench workouts as the mainstay of training.  Don’t skip over this.  It might change your training and your life. Seriously. Read it here . . .

You’re Not A 12 Year Old Indian Boy: The Perils of Pigeon Pose

Pigeon pose is one of the most used yoga hip openers but according to yoga instructor James Miller of adamantineyoga.com, it was never intended to fill that role and it might even be hurting you if you use it to force the issue. These poses were intended to challenge Indian boys who had excellent hip mobility from sitting cross legged on the ground. (Maybe that’s why we used to call it Indian style?) Read more to find out a better way to open your hips . . .

Accountability: the golden ticket to fitness

One of the reasons so many are already struggling to keep their New Year’s Resolutions is a lack of built in accountability in their training plan. According to personal trainer and fitness coach Rachel Flanagan, accountability is your golden ticket to achieving your fitness goals. She lists some easy to implement ways to use the power of accountability in  this blog post.  Check it out!

Improve Your Mobility for Kicking

Whether you practice combat sports or you only want to feel more coordinated during your Core de Force workouts, having better mobility will make your kicks more fluid and give you better training sessions. The key a successful round kick whether or low or high is hip mobility to let you pivot on your foot and turn your hip over on your kicking leg. Confused? Just watch this video from Vahva Fitness and you’ll understand.

Related articles

7 Desk Stretches to Ease a Tight Neck, Shoulders, and Wrists From Sitting All Day
We tried a workout which combines boxing with yoga – here’s what it was like
Hot yoga has health benefits, but it’s not for everyone
5 Fun Exercises to Try With the Whole Bridal Party

The post Accessible Home Gyms with This Old House appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Get Real World Tactical

Weekly Motivation
Tony Sentmanat Gets Real World Tactical

Today’s motivation video features former Marine, former SWAT officer Tony Sentmanat going through a tough series of outdoor workouts designed to push him to his limits and prepare him for whatever tactical situation might come his way!

Combat Conditioning

When I was in the Marine Corps most Marines were as the saying goes, “Big and mean or skinny and mean”! That’s because hard chargers either gravitated towards the weight room or cardio for exercise, despite the tactical demands of the job and fact that the annual physical fitness test required a mix of both with pull ups, crunches and a three mile run.  The simple truth is that most Marines excelled in one area or the other.  That time has passed and savvy military personnel and police officers embrace tactical athletic programming because they  want to go home alive at day’s end. Tony is part of the new breed leading the charge to inspire, educate and motivate our sheepdogs to become real world tactical!

Stay Motivated

Training in the garage is tough but these videos are here to help motivate you through the rest of the week. Stay encouraged, whether or not you feel like training is progressing. Everyone you see in magazines or on the Internet started somewhere. No matter where you are in your Iron Journey, stick to your basics and train hard until people want to post videos of you!

The post Get Real World Tactical appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Parents Shift Your Focus! Blessings Are The Solution

Many have asked me about incorporating fitness into my son’s life

Guest post by Christina Geri Jogoleff

Blessings Are the Solution

Parents, it’s time to shift your focus your focus off of problems and onto blessings. Count your mutha f***ing blessings! When you’re focused on obesity, then you feel guilt for eating bad, you attract bad eating habits, you indulge, you just keep spiraling down and you believe you have a PROBLEM, that needs to be fixed, but the problem is so large we don’t know where to start – EEEKKK!  Honestly, many adults are products of our environments and do not know how to give our bodies the proper nutrition, let alone create a workout regimen to build our desired strength and physique.  We have come to believe that we must settle for a body, a life, relationships, jobs, everything really. If you believe this, it is time to shift your focus.

Why Shift Your Focus?

In the United States more than 1/3 children are obese or overweight and more than 3/4 of adults according to a 2012 study conducted by the CDC . We have the worst health as a nation compared to other 1st world nations (I hate this term, but whatevs). If we focus on this problem, it is an epidemic! The more we focus on this problem the bigger it gets – just like the war on drugs, the war on terror, the war on poverty – none of these “wars” solve the “problem,” because they are focused on the problem and not on that which we want to create –> which is HEALTH, PEACE, FINANCIAL ABUNDANCE or PROSPERITY… However, we have the power to shift anything – any problem, any epidemic, any issue. The conundrum though is realizing that the only way to “solve” a problem, even if it’s a national or global problem, is two fold:

Shift the focus
Become the change we wish to see (please know this is Ghandi.. please).

You must focus on becoming your version of what it means to be the healthiest ever – in doing this, you will attract more healthy, you will be more healthy, only healthy will exist in your reality, and all will become healthy.

Start with ME

I am a stay at home mom. I tell myself daily, I am so blessed to have a body. I am so blessed to have my health – it is literally keeping me alive! I am so blessed to have a body that is capable of moving, tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, smelling, lifting, running, building, etc. And, so why would I not workout, take care of me, preserve my body and show myself love?

Tending to my spirit, my mind, and my body is the best way I can give to my son.

My mind, body, and spirit are inextricably interconnected… What I do or don’t do in one area directly impacts the other. I take this very seriously and this is the basis to my approach to fitness, to parenting, to being, and living in this world.  I want to create vitality, strength, freedom. In reminding myself of these things then I tend to eat healthy, workout, and get my rest.

It is about taking charge of our lives and bodies, tapping into the being God made us to be – this is different for everyone, I am not saying we all need to be superhuman soldiers, but for me this is about creating that which I want – tapping into my inner strength, which manifests in the physical through my workouts. I understand the beautiful relationship between my body and how I feel, think, and act in this world. I feel empowered to dig deeper, find more clarity, become more at ease, live in love, and live in my strength.  As I take care of my body it takes care of all of me and I can better take care of my son and all that is in my life.

The Best Way I Can Give To My Son

Tending to my spirit, my mind, and my body is the best way I can give to my son. In creating what I want, I allow my son to create what he wants. He sees that I can create, and he knows he can create. It is NOT about me teaching him to love himself, or even teaching him to workout, eat healthy, and be active.  When I am at peace with my spirit, grounded in my body, and clear in my head, I do not lash out at him, I am more patient. I don’t track how long it’s been taking to do a simple task or what we haven’t gotten done; I am not layering stress upon stress upon stress. When I show my body love – by working out daily, by giving it the foods it needs to be vibrant, and by being well rested – then I AM LOVE. And this is the BEST thing I can do as a parent.

Be The Change You Wish To See

I return to counting my blessings. Not everyone has the ability to be mobile. Some can’t use their fingers, hands, arms, toes, feet, legs, neck, back, or spine. Since I was given my body, fully capable of everything, it would be an insufficient act of gratitude to not tend to my body. I am thankful for my health and to keep my vitality thriving I must continue to love and be thankful. What we see is what we have been and are focusing on… I encourage you to focus on the beauty, love, and strength within yourself and this is what you will begin to see in your outside world. My son sees me take care of myself.  It is NOT about me teaching him to love himself, or even teaching him to workout, eat healthy, and be active.  Our children see everything. I understand that he is not me and does not have to do what I do. But if he sees me do a pull up, he will want to do his own thing on the bar, and therefore I allow what he wants to try. Be the change you wish to see in the world, and you will see your world change. 

Like what you read? Interested in learning more from Christina or just want to see more of her training and how she parents her son? Read more of her thoughts on her blog or follow her training on Instagram xtina_geri_fitness!

Related articles

7 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Work Out at Home When You *Really* Don’t Want To
Tips For Finding Time To Exercise
5 Fun Exercises to Try With the Whole Bridal Party
Obesity focus for Waitemata B4 School checks
British children among the least active in the world, with exercise ‘stripped out’ of modern lives
A year after getting help, Napa family counting its blessings
A psychologist says parents of healthy kids have these 10 things in common

The post Parents Shift Your Focus! Blessings Are The Solution appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Intermittent Fasting with Charles Forbus

Intermittent fasting wasn’t always a part of Charles Forbus’ lifestyle. That is until he decided at age 45 that it was time to fully commit and get in the best shape of his life. Three years later, he’s still improving, looking better every year than the year before. I caught up with Charles by phone just as he finished his normal 5am workout session.

Life Before Intermittent Fasting

Morning Charles! I know you’re probably trying to get your day started so I won’t take a lot of your time. As far as Facebook and Instagram go, it looks like you started your quest to be in top shape about 2013. But is that when you started exercising or had you been doing it before?

I’ve always been into it, I mean, how old are you?

I’m 43.

Okay, you remember back in the Bill Philips Body for Life Days and all of that stuff—

Yeah!

I’ve been in it since then.  Probably around my middle to late thirties I let myself go too far and then I just had to mount a comeback.

I looked on your Facebook page and I was scrolling through your pictures and it looks like you were a musician. Never really overweight but you were fairly thin. It looks like you’ve only started picking up significant muscle since about 2013.

Yes, that’s true.

Looking At The Man In The Mirror

So what was it that made you say at 45, I want to get in great shape?

I absolutely didn’t like what I’d seen in the mirror. And then my wife, she’s always been in good shape and I saw a picture of us at the beach and she looked great and I looked terrible. I was like Wow! That was the number one trigger.

Trying to get in shape at that age, you’ve got a lot of obstacles. I mean, you’ve got aches and pains, you do a fairly physical job so you’ve got to deal with being tired from working all day. What were some of the things that you did that made it possible for it to stick this time?

Well, being a little older, I had to alter a lot of exercises just a little bit. Like I realized that like on bench press, if I stop short of touching my chest about an inch or so that my shoulders would stay in better shape. I mean I would go out there with about 180 and if I touched my chest with it, my shoulders would start aching. But if I would stop a little bit short of that, or on pulldowns and chins I never go to a dead hang because it will start making my shoulders ache. And I probably haven’t done a standard squat in years. I do like trap bar deadlifts. It’s just a little bit of a change in the motion I guess. Just enough that I never have any lower back pain if I stick with the trap bar deadlifts. It’s little things like that; just altering exercises if I find anything that’s going to cause me aches and pains, I’m going to find a way to do something a little bit different.

That exercise where you talk about stopping just short of touching your chest seems like it’s easier but it’s called a Spoto Press but it’s actually harder! So you’re actually doing more work than you would if you went all the way down to your chest because you can’t rest the bar. The entire time the tension’s on the muscle. So do you find that helps you with gaining muscle, trying to keep muscle tension on all of the time when you’re lifting?

Honestly I only did it because of the shoulder pain. I got a pec tear about two years ago. I was being pulled behind a boat on an inner tube and I got slung and got a pec tear so I’ve got a little bit of an issue with the bench press now anyway but I’ve found that stopping short right there, I’ve actually been doing it even before 2013 so I really couldn’t tell you the truth about whether it helps me build more muscle or not. I just know it keeps me healthy!

Well with age comes wisdom, you know that there are certain things you just can’t do. Did you already have all of your gym equipment or did you start buying it when you decided to get in shape?

I bought some more when I decided to start. Some of it’s been around for a while. I bought that Powertec the multi gym they make—

The leverage gym?

Yeah, and the main reason I got is because of the pec tear I was trying to rehab. I was trying to make sure that I did stuff that was a little bit safer until I got back into the groove.  Plus it had that squat station on it so I didn’t have to do free weight squats if I didn’t want to.

Where’s your gym? Is it in the basement, garage, out back? Where is it set up?

It’s out back in a portable building.

And how long have you had that? Did you have the building and then put the gym in there or did you get the building because you had a gym?

I lived in another house when I was single and I had the gym in a spare room. And when me and my wife got married and we got this house, there wasn’t a room in here that really it fit in and I got that building and put what I had at the time in there.

don’t underestimate the power of somebody else doing the same thing you’re doing

You mentioned that your wife has always been in great shape so it was probably fairly easy to convince her that this was something to do because you were spending money on new toys. Does she exercise with you?

Yes and I tell you, don’t underestimate that power that somebody is doing the same things you’r e doing. If she was able to eat fudge brownies and do anything she wanted to do and look good, it would be hard for me to do the things that I do. We do the same things, like she’ll watch what she eats, she works out so it’s like we’re both doing the same things and motivate each other.

Do you all exercise at the same time or do you just both know that you work out and that’s one of the topics of the day that you all discuss? I saw a couple of pictures where you guys were in the gym together but I can’t tell if that’s a regular thing or not.

Not too regular. She likes to work out in the afternoons and I like to work out in the early morning.

I mentioned the fact that you have a physically demanding job, is working out in the morning one of the ways you manage to stick with it?

My number one thing is if I did it when I came home, it’s always . . . everybody’s home with me. In the morning, nobody’s awake but me. If I wait until I get home in the afternoon something could come up like, “Hey we’ve got to run by So and so’s or one of the kid’s got a practice you’ve got to take him to or I need you to go to the store . . . something could come up and get in the way so easy. It happens so often! I realized that it could be tough to get in four workouts per week trying to do it in the afternoons.

How many kids do you have and how old are they?

Two, one of them just turned seven and the other is thirteen.

Oh yeah, you’re in the thick of it! You have practices, youth sports the whole nine.

I know you’ve had your stuff for a long time but what did you start out with?

The very first thing I bought was a power rack.

Really? Wow! And what year was that?

Oh I’ve had that thing a long time! Probably about fifteen years.

Now what led you to buy that? Because most people don’t realize they need a power rack at first so what led you to get a power rack?

when I was younger it was hard to put on muscle

Well, like I said, I’ve always been into working out some. When I was younger, and on the go in the band, it was really hard to put on muscle I guess because I was doing so much stuff. I was going to a commercial gym but I was single so my life revolved around just me so when I wanted to go to the commercial gym I’d just go. Then the band had taken off and I found that my hours were so weird . . . like if I didn’t want to work out until ten o’clock at night the gym wouldn’t be open here. So I bought that power rack and started doing it from home. And at the time, I would do some at home and some at the gym if I was up and around while the gym was still open.

What are some of the places where you like to buy equipment?

That power rack, I think it was Yukon Fitness. Mostly I look in the pawn shops and the traders now, craigslist. Because somebody will have some weights they ain’t never used and are ready to get rid of.

Yeah, I do that too. Even though I have pretty much everything I want, I’ll drive down the road and still keep an eye out. Here in Georgia there’s always weights on somebody’s porch and I’ll check it out see if it looks like anybody’s using them. I’ve stopped before and just asked, “Hey how much would you take for that and I’ve gotten some pretty good deals. Of course then sometimes they won’t sell you what you want unless you agree to take a whole bunch of junk that you don’t want. But then I usually take that to Play It Again Sports and trade it in for something I do want. That’s part of the fun of it too, buying and selling stuff.

Plates is what I’m looking for most of the time because if you buy a brand new 45 it’s pretty expensive. Somebody’s trying to get rid of an old Olympic set you can get a pretty good deal on it.

So how do you keep things organized? Because you’ve got fifteen years’ worth of stuff how do you keep it from being just a junky mess?

It’s a really tight space as far as the amount of stuff I have in there. And some of the machines are only used by me and so I’ll just leave the weight I’ll start with next time on there. And as far as the little plates, it usually is a bit of a mess. Where the end of the bench is, there’s usually some of them laying on the floor, some of them laying on the floor where the squat station is. I do have one of those weight trees but I’ve always found that whatever weight I need usually has something in front of it because it’s not a enough room on the tree to get everything on there anyway.

I asked that because you’ve got kids and whether they train with you or not, their tendency is to wander through the gym. So what do you do to get the kids involved in fitness and how do you keep them safe while they’re in there?

Oh yeah the little one will take one of those fitness bands and stretch it around the machines and next thing you know it’s like you’ve got Spiderman in there while you’re working out.

Ha, ha! That’s part of the fun of it too though.  That chaos because they’re growing up seeing you exercise and they’re saying, “Daddy and Mommy must think this is important. Do either of them work out or do they just like to come out there and hang out with you?

The little one will come out there and hang out and the oldest one will go through phases where he’ll work out for a few weeks, say six weeks and then he won’t touch it for a few months.

He’s the one that’s got the picture where he’s flexing?

Yeah, he’s pretty well built for a little skinny kid anyway so I guess he ain’t got the motivation right now.

Gotcha, we’ll revisit him in about ten years or so.

Yeah, exactly.

I’m a big believer in how environment plays a role in keeping you motivated. What do you do for motivation inside the gym? I mean it’s five in the morning do you have posters on the wall? Do you have a TV in there? Do you play music?

All I have is music inside the gym. Motivation, that’s one of the reasons I do Instagram posts. To keep myself accountable and if I look on there at my pictures and I realize that I look worse this year than I did last year, that fear of going backwards and everybody seeing it on Instagram is kind of a good motivation for you too. So I keep that as a progress tracker. And I do have some fitness pictures on my phone for goals like if I could look like this that would be A plus!

How does it play into it, seeing all of the people around the world on the Garage Gym Life Instagram feed, exercising in different ways.  Like we’re all alone but we’re not alone, know what I mean?

It is neat to see other people’s gyms and to then see them doing certain things. I’m like, “I’d have never thought of that!” And then seeing how they can work with way less equipment and it’s amazing to me and that’s pretty inspiring. It ain’t the equipment that does it, it’s you!

Well you inspire me! I wasn’t kidding when I said that on Instagram.  I’m at the point where just lifting weights to get stronger in power lifting isn’t a good idea. I honestly think my performance will get better if I get in better shape. Let’s say, I compete in the 198lb class. If I put on more muscle and have less bodyfat so I can stay in 198 that means more of my weight is going to be something that helps me lift weight. And then I’ll be healthier too. I’ve had three chest injuries related to bench pressing and then just aches and pains from my elbows etc.

Do you go to the chiropractor or anything like that?

No, I was never a power lifter anyway. I have gotten fairly strong at some of the exercises; I tried to be smart enough to realize that. Now if I was a competitor like you or like my buddy that’s a strongman competitor there would be a goal to be strong. But for me I’m just doing it for my health and my looks. For me to push and push to get stronger is probably begging for an injury. If I can get stronger I will if I can add reps I will but I’m not looking to make sure of that. Because it’s just like dieting if I diet for a year, you know sooner or later you’re going to quit losing weight. You just can’t diet all of the time.

Always Better Than Last Year

That was going to be my next question. I notice that every year you set the goal of getting in better shape. How long do you diet, how long do you come off the diet for and how often do you do that during the year?

The last time, I started January 1 and went all of the way to July. I did take a few breaks in there where I’d come back up to what I would assume was my new maintenance level of calories just to get a break from the diet. Like I said, you can’t always go down. I’ve lost thirty pounds or really close to it.

What was your starting weight?

I was 220 and I weigh 190 right now.

Oh wow! How tall are you?

I’m 5’10. The breakthrough for me was I’d been doing it so long; doing the six meals a day that everybody does and when I tried the intermittent fasting plan where I could just skip a couple of meals and when I got home at night, eat most of my food then. That was a real big break for me so I didn’t have to take Tupperware and protein shakes with me everywhere.

Yeah, that’s a big deal. So intermittent fasting is how you do it now?

Yeah, pretty much. There will be days when I don’t do it exactly but most days after I work out I drink BCAAs, then I’ll eat an 800 calorie lunch maybe and then when I get home eat a pretty big meal. I’ll eat 1,500 calories.

Most of the time as we get older our metabolism slows and you’re taking in a lot of calories in just two meals but I guess it doesn’t matter because you work out first thing in the morning.

Right.

So you have a meal at lunch, another meal at dinner and then you have BCAAs right after your workout and that’s it. Is that right?

Yes, every now and then in between meals, I might eat some cookies or some kind of small snack but I try to eat lunch and dinner only and then when I’m on a diet, I track those macros pretty closely. But this last time I just made sure I ate 150 to 200 grams of protein a day and then kept my calories the same so I didn’t care if the rest of my calories came from fats or carbs and just ate like that. That worked the best.

So you’re taking in 2,300 calories over the course of two meals plus whatever’s in the Aminos. That’s a fair amount of calories to make sure you don’t shut your system down. How did you come up with that plan? Did you hire a diet coach or just go off of what you’ve learned over the years?

Just researching on the Internet.  I was looking around on the Internet and I was putting on a little more muscle. I guess because I was slowing down, getting on in life. It seems like muscle was coming on but I was also getting fatter. I could not stick with that six meals a day that I’d always heard was right. I was not able to make it work. And I’d seen an article on intermittent fasting and the guy was talking about doing it like that and when I did intermittent fasting for those first two years and on those meals I didn’t even count or watch what I ate. I ate everything I wanted and I still lost a little bit of weight. And then that stopped, that’s when I started having to count calories too.

How do you count calories?

My Fitness Pal. I’ve got a food scale in here and usually when I eat I just weigh it out. If I’m eating out, I have to take a little bit of a guess of course but if you do it long enough you’ll start to be pretty close anyway.

So that lets you eat what everybody else in the house eats? You don’t have to have a special diet? That’s a big deal again because you’ve got kids.

Yeah, I didn’t want to be on some special bodybuilding diet and then we can’t go out to eat or do anything you know?

That’s pretty awesome.

Now let’s talk briefly about your buddy Scott “@hulkssmash” Kendall. I think there’s probably a competition between he and another guy about who’s got the best beard braid but it’s close. With him being a competitive strongman do you guys ever train together? I realize that you don’t do what he does but do you guys get together to train?

Oh yeah, we usually go to a commercial gym then. One of those that’s got all of the Hammer Strength, things we never use—

Oh! So you make an event out of it. So do you guys live near each other?

Yeah, he lives about 45 minutes away from me. He used to live right here in town, but back then I guess he weighed about 170lbs.

Okay, like I said, I’m not going to take a whole lot of your time but how could somebody connect with you?

You mean like on social media?

Whatever you want.  I realize that you don’t do this for a living but let’s say someone wants to learn more about intermittent fasting or they’re 45 just want some encouragement or advice? I can’t give them your phone number so how should they get in touch with you?

A direct message on Instagram to @luggnut45 is probably the best way.

So you don’t mind people direct messaging you?

No, not at all.

No naked pictures of dudes though right?

Preferably not! Ha ha!

Related articles

Starting a New Year fitness routine? Here’s how not to fall off the wagon
Steelers linebacker James Harrison has a crazy workout to stay in top shape at 38 years old
6 Spaces For Home Gyms
What to eat before, during and after a workout
Track your fitness progress with My Workouts
The “Nature” of Exercise

The post Intermittent Fasting with Charles Forbus appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Bust That Pushup Plateau

Bust Through A Push Up Plateau

Anthony Arvanitakis is the creator of Homemade Muscles on YouTube and he’s come back from a devastating leg amputation to pack on impressive muscle with bodyweight exercises. Today he shows you how to get better at pushups, one of the few exercises that most agree are good for you. They’re one of the few exercises still taught in our laughable public school P.E. classes. So why aren’t we better at them?  Read more at Art of Manliness and purchase his book on Amazon!

Shopping for Home Gym Equipment with Black Spartan

I just discovered Anthony Calhoun, aka Black Spartan and I enjoyed his high energy, down to earth approach to vlogging. I also like that every video doesn’t happen inside his home gym although he is a garage gym athlete. Check out  this video of him going shopping for new toys for the home gym.How to Rehab Muscle Strains and Tears

If you train long enough, hard enough you will hurt yourself. You might never get injured, but you will likely pull or tweak something as you push your limits to get better. Don’t let that derail your progress! Matt Reynolds reveals Groundbreaking strength and conditioning coach Bill Starr’s had a rehab protocol that he swore by and Matt Reynolds detailed it in this article on The Art of Manliness. Read more

Thoughts to Consider When Starting A Home Gym

I got this from a little known garage gym focused YouTube channel called Optimal Training. He presents a different way of looking at what to buy when you’re starting you first home gym.  Check it out below!

The post Bust That Pushup Plateau appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

Tony Walton Puts On A Show

Weekly Motivation
Tony Walton Pulling Big

Today’s motivation video features IPF champion Tony Walton pulling raw at a recent deadlift party in Steve Goggins’ garage gym. Tony has been featured on the cover of the IPF magazine and is the 2016 USAPL National Champion in the 74kg/163lb weight class. He’s a truly strong individual who is also extremely likeable and fun to be around. As a side note, Tony was one of my main influences in my decision to improve my fat to muscle ratio as a powerlifter.

No Fat Powerlifters Here

For years, powerlifters carried a stigma as overweight, former athletes who stuffed themselves with bad food then squeezed everything into a suit designed to help them lift heavy weight.  Whether that was accurate is a moot point. Times have changed and many powerlifters show up in condition similar to bodybuilders from the Golden Era of Bodybuilding.As you can see from the video, although Tony maintains a bodyweight between 162-164lbs, he has a high level of muscularity, meaning most of his body weight is functional tissue, designed to manhandle heavy weights over and over! Tony’s been known to pull 650lbs x 2 raw in training! That’s a big deal as he prepares to do his first raw meet in seven years this February.

Stay Motivated

Training in the garage is tough but these videos are here to help motivate you through the rest of the week. Stay encouraged, whether or not you feel like training is progressing. Everyone you see in magazines or on the Internet started somewhere. No matter where you are in your Iron Journey, stick to your basics and train hard until people want to post videos of you!

Related articles

Senior Amateur Powerlifting Championships tomorrow
Florida veteran sets weightlifting records
Gym Culture
CrossFit is intense, competitive, demanding and not for every ‘body’

The post Tony Walton Puts On A Show appeared first on Garage Gym Life.

UBALL Review

What On Earth is a UBALL?

Background

The above video gives the UBALL sales pitch but I found out about the product through Instagram and after contacting the inventor, Julian Sardinas to do a Garage Gym Athlete profile, I agreed to do an unbiased review. Full disclosure, I paid for my UBALL out of pocket and although Julian agreed to give Garage Gym Life subscribers a 10% discount, I received no consideration in exchange for my opinion.

Ordering and Turnaround

I ordered my UBALL Thursday, November 17, 2016 and received it November 22, 2016. No complaints about promptness there.  (note: UBALL.net is currently on back order but they are accepting pre orders. According to the site, you won’t be charged until your product ships.) I tried but couldn’t buy it with my Health Savings Account which was disappointing.  I signed up for the uball.net newsletter on the site in order to get a free bungee cord, taking $4.95 off of the price since you really can’t get the full value out of the UBALL without the bungee cord. I haven’t received a newsletter since placing my order and I assume that’s because they don’t sell any other products.

A Slow Start

Honestly, I let my UBALL sit on my garage shelf for a couple of days. Then I had the idea to ask an expert. I see a soft tissue specialist once a week and I left the UBALL with her to play with. When I picked it back up and asked for her opinion she was underwhelmed. She didn’t say it was a bad product, just she couldn’t see what advantage it held over an ordinary lacrosse ball. Of course, she also has access to a large array of chiropractic and massage tools that I don’t have. Anyway, I had a review to write so it was time for me to play with it for myself. Since the UBALL doesn’t come with any instructions, I wasn’t sure how to use it beyond strapping it to a barbell and letting the weight rest on me. Then I decided to go on Instagram and view Julian’s daily video tips. That helped a lot! I made the connection between what Julian was doing in the videos and the therapeutic care I get every week from my soft tissue specialist.

Pricing

Financially, $40 isn’t too bad for a mobility product.  The MobilityWod Supernova retails for $39.95 plus shipping and the mount to put it on a rack will run you $64.95 plus shipping. the MWod Roller does mount to a rack but you would have to get a lacrosse ball for floor applications.

Cons

One thing I didn’t like is that the bungee cord is so short. I can’t simply attach the UBALL to my power rack and attack my tight upper back muscles which would allow me to get away from using a lacrosse ball in a sock.  I was able to attach it to my rack mounted dip station to get the job done but if you don’t have one of those, you’ll have to keep the sock and ball handy or lie on the ground.

This is a mobility/rehab tool and therefore a medical product. It would be nice to be able to use HSA money to buy it. After all, I can use it for a simple knee brace from the pharmacy section at Wal Mart. Maybe this will become an option down the line.

The newsletter sign up seems to be a waste of a good resource. I’d like to see it used to post articles about how to use the uball or even post links to helpful videos from other customers who’ve come up with creative ways to use the product.

Results

Performance wise, I can tell you that my chiro has remarked that my shoulders, forearms and chest are a lot less ropy than when she first started working on them.

This move discovered by PT Sue Bradley is my favorite for calves

I’ve done nothing new except use the UBALL following the video tips on Instagram and YouTube. My current favorite is the calf massage as my right calf has really tightened up since I resumed martial arts.

I like using the legs to scrape along my neck and as a sturdy base to keep pressure on my calves. When my oldest son visited, I let him use the UBALL and he was amazed at how much pressure he could put on his tight pec –delt tie in with just the UBALL and an Olympic bar. Same thing happened when my youngest son pulled his shoulder slightly out of the socket doing deadlifts. After seeing the chiro and taking some time off, we used the UBALL to help keep his shoulders mobile as he resumed upper body training. He now reports no pain or shoulder weakness and in fact just got a trap bar deadlift PR!

Conclusion:

I wouldn’t say that the UBALL should replace a lacrosse ball or foam roller. Rather, it’s another option for addressing tight areas. For my part, I now keep the UBALL in my backpack along with my small first aid kit, flip flops, pistol and other things I keep handy. The best thing I can tell you is to play with it and watch the instructional videos to help get your creative juices flowing as you explore SMR with this product.

You can order your own UBALL along with a complimentary bungee cord by visiting www.uball.net. Use Promo Code: GARAGE GYM LIFE at check out for 10% off.

The post UBALL Review appeared first on Garage Gym Life.