John Greaves III's Blog, page 23

Weekly Motivation Featuring Bud Jeffries

Training in the garage by yourself is tough. You usually don’t have the camaraderie of other gym members to help push you.  To help out, we combed the web to find videos that will help motivate you to keep striving to be your best.

Today’s video features drug free performing strongman Bud Jeffries who trains in his backyard in Florida.   Bud is super strong and amazingly flexible, not just for his size but for ANY size! Check out his Instagram page if you want to see this giant of a man do full splits on a paddle board or do cartwheels while holding dumbbells. This video compilation is a collection of shots of Bud picking up anything that happens to be in the vicinity.  Check it out!

Stay motivated and keep training until people want to post videos of you!

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Three Reasons A Garage Gym Business Makes The Most Sense

The garage gym business model for coaching is usually thought of as a stepping stone.  Good to start, but you want to move into a bigger facility as soon as you have the clientele to support it.  This is the third post in the series about the benefits of using garage gyms you can read parts 1 and 2 by following the links but this one stands on its own.

To be blunt I think some strength coaches might be best served by sticking to the garage gym format even as their client base grows. When you’re starting out and cash is an issue, you might want to

Lifestyle and physique transformation coach Anna Woods getting coaching tips from the legendary Glenn Pendlay.

use your garage to avoid paying two sets of bills.  But as you grow, you’re going to be tempted to get a bigger place with more visibility.  More potential to attract walk in clientele.  That’s a bad idea for a number of reasons. Let’s talk about three.

 

Distractions

When you train people in your house or even in a warehouse in the back of some rundown neighborhood, everyone who walks through your doors is there specifically to train to get better at their chosen sport. There’s mutual respect between the athletes and anyone who doesn’t uphold that can be asked to leave the team.  When you’re in a visible location, you have to deal with random people strolling in to rubberneck at your athletes which can be a distraction especially if you have a significant number of female athletes.  Remember what squatting does to the female rear end?  Now imagine you’re next to a grocery store for example and your female clients now have to deal with unwanted attention from the public as they arrive or leave a training session dressed in yoga pants or booty shorts.  Granted your athletes aren’t from Mars. They exist in our society so they’ve developed the ability to handle the attitudes of non lifters but you don’t want them thinking about that during training time. You want them focused on training.

This is not a tennis ball. It’s a tortoise. And that’s not a hallway; it’s a desert. Just work with me here.
Tennis Balls In A Hallway Syndrome

What I mean by that is a successful team has a sense of community.  Community is tougher to build, the larger the space that your people exist in.  Jack Donovan describes in his book, The Way of Men the different unit sizes that we gravitate towards, 11 men in a military squad, the eleven on a soccer team, eleven on a football offensive or defensive squad.  Five on a basketball team.  You can be close with a few people not many.  Unfortunately, a large facility doesn’t look successful if you’ve only got eleven people in it.  Plus eleven people won’t pay enough to keep the lights on unless all of their names rhyme with Schwarzenegger. And if you’ve got one of them, you don’t need to read this article.  If you have too large a space, your team will look like a lone desert tortoise in the desert. I would have used a picture of tennis balls in a hallway but I couldn’t find one.  The point is too big a space makes a space seem empty until you add more people and then you risk losing your team identity and dilute the quality of coaching.  That’s my next point.

Degradation of Instructional Quality

You know how high school teachers are always harping on the need for smaller class sizes?  There’s a good reason.  The more students in a class, the harder it is to teach them. I once taught a Marine Corps Martial Arts class to 100 Marines.  The techniques were the basic level but it still took quite a bit of repetition and a TON of walking around, correcting form before I felt any of them were ready to test.  The sad truth is if you’re reading this an live in a Western culture, you’re dealing with a population that has lost touch with basic movement skills and they’ll need to rebuild some motor skills.  That’s including the kids.  That’s difficult enough when you’re in a small space and can see everything that’s going on.  Now imagine moving to a bigger space and adding more bodies.  Now you’re facing the same challenges that a high school strength coach does and your results are going to be similar, that is not good unless you have multiple assistant coaches to help you.  If you do; well and good. But if you’re going from a small garage gym where you’re the only coach to a large facility you won’t have support staff until after you’ve generate the income to pay them.  You could always use volunteers but then you’ll have to work around their work schedules at their regular jobs which then limits the hours when you can have a large crowd along with your potential income.

My solution is to consider moving from a home based garage gym into a small space in a warehouse or business district.  That’s what Joe DeFranco did. He’s said in the past that he intentionally put his business where it’s difficult to find so his athletes stay focused.  I’d make the space relatively small and open and I’d make sure that I had a mix of paid and volunteer staff to make sure athletes are getting good supervision and feedback.  Yes, this may cost more but your facility will continue to maintain a reputation for high quality and a good training atmosphere even as it grows.  Once you grow past the capacity of that space, consider opening a second location rather than going bigger.

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An Introduction to Affinity Marketing — F Your Funnel

Garage based trainer Michelle Woods has built her clientele by not relying on a shotgun marketing approach

Garage Gym Life has some awesome contributors who make this site a great resource for home based athletes. But I freely admit that we don’t know everything. So I scour the web to find the best articles from yesterday and today (I’d get them from the future as well but the DeLorean is in the shop) and bring you the links here. Today’s article comes from author and successful business owner Chris Cooper by way of EliteFTS.com.

Garage gyms don’t have the advantage of walk up traffic.  This is usually by design. You don’t want a bunch of weirdos ogling your clients while they’re trying to focus on getting better.  But, that means you’ve got to be creative about growing your customer base. This is a great article about doing just that. If you want your gym to be successful and your clientele base to grow, you need to take that traditional sales funnel and flip it upside down.

Source: An Introduction to Affinity Marketing — F Your Funnel

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What to Do As A Novice Strongman — Writing Your Own Program

We have some awesome writers and athletes who contribute to Garage Gym Life. But I freely admit that we don’t know everything. So I scour the web to find the best articles from

Aspiring Strongman Marc Wittrowski benching with a DIY Multi Grip Bar

yesterday and today (I’d get them from the future as well but the DeLorean is in the shop) and bring you the links here. Today’s article comes from EliteFTS columnist CJ Murphy and is targeted at the novice strongman.  Since strongman competitors are a significant portion of the Garage Gym/Backyard Gym population, I thought this would be a good read for you.  You need a lot in a strongman program: basic barbell lifts, accessory work, practice with the events, conditioning, flexibility, mobility, and recovery work. Use these ideas to build your own training program after following the link.

Source: What to Do As A Novice Strongman — Writing Your Own Program

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SheStrength: Get To Know Anna Woods

You’ve been involved in fitness for roughly 13 years but everyone’s fitness journey starts somewhere, so tell me about yours.  

Had a start with weight lifting in high school, but never pursued it more.  Then I tore my ACL and lost my college scholarship and had to rehab a LOT.  I was really into running a lot at that point and had to find a new way to exercise my body since running wasn’t an option for 6-9 months post-surgery.

I started lifting at our local college gym and researched what I needed to be doing to heal up and get stronger and my body just began to change SO much.  I learned I could manipulate my appearance with strength training.  I changed my major to exercise science from art and the rest was history.  After a while, I started personal training at our local college wellness center in 2003.  I graduated with a degree in Exercise Science in 2005. And I opened my fitness business in 2006 after my first daughter was born and we moved to a new town far away from family and anyone we knew.  I wanted to still use my degree but didn’t want to sacrifice my time home with my new baby.

Tell me more about your background.  I know you’ve done obstacle races and that you’ve got an Olympic lifting and CrossFit background.

I have always been an athlete. Played softball in college.  I was introduced to CrossFit in 2011 and began using it to help me train for a half-marathon and my triathlon training because my ACL injury kept rearing its head in the form of extreme pain, so I had to find a way to fuel my need for competition but not overdo my running.  So I started doing it at home in the basement of our new house we had just moved into. I remember snatching with my curl bar and a 10# dumbbell.  I used our 10# sand ball for some of the movements and a small mat.  I just made due with what I had.  I followed the CrossFit Endurance website for probably a year.  We had another child and I had to give up my gym space inside to a nursery so we moved our equipment outside, my husband started lifting with me at this point.  And we just grew from there. We had rings and a rope hanging from our old tree in the backyard.  We had trailer horse stall mats on our garage floor.  We got rid of our smith machine/cable pulley and bought a cheap squat rack we could use for bench press too.  I eventually bought a bigger barbell as I got stronger and needed more weight.  I met some friends who were thinking of opening a CF gym in a local town and I began training with them when I worked over there with my adults with special needs.  I eventually got my Level 1 certification with CrossFit and also had my ACE personal training certification from college, so I worked at several gyms in town.  And it just went from there, I got really good at CrossFit and weight lifting and finally found a place for my strength. We eventually moved again and I left those gyms and continued lifting at my garage. I hired an online coach to help me keep pushing and became a member of RxBound, based out of Florida, and really upped my game.  I have competed and won several CrossFit competitions within a tri-state area.

I love the Mommy and me video on YouTube of you and your daughter doing some medicine ball training. How else is your family involved in your fitness journey?

My entire family is active because that’s all my kids know.  Their friends love coming over and playing in our barn gym.  We set up obstacle courses, climbing walls, circuits, games, and Ninja warrior courses. It’s the cool place to come.  They workout out there with us when they can, we give them workouts to try or challenge them to various things. We joke we spend more time out there than in our house.  But it’s the environment we have created for them to be a part of.  They have their bikes out there, their trampoline, their scooters, and chairs and chalk…so if we are working out, they are doing something active alongside us. It is sort of a family event.  We have a PR bell they get to ring when they do something fun or new they couldn’t’ before…again, it’s all they know.

Convenience is obviously part of the attraction of a home gym but do you ever feel like you can’t get away from work because it’s right there where you live?

I have 2 kids with special needs so having a home gym has always been a requirement for me, in two ways. First, for the accessibility because of their appointments, lack of babysitter’s who can watch them, I can’t typically just drop them off at a gym daycare, and it’s a great way for them to work on PT and see me working so hard at my health as a motivation to them.  Second, I need a home gym for the stress relief. We live in a high stress household having 1 child with Down Syndrome and 1 child on the Autism spectrum, so I NEED to have an outlet. I always joke the stress level in my house is what drives me to be a good athlete, I work really hard when I need to let off some steam.  Ha!

Still, I’m assuming that you’re not on house arrest so even though CrossFit and Beachbody are both pretty home gym friendly do you ever get out and visit local boxes or commercial gyms just for a change of pace?

I try to when I can. I will go workout with other ladies in the community at their home gyms. I also drop in at a few local CrossFit gyms in the area. There are only 2 within an hour of here so the options aren’t huge.  I have taken a few barbell classes with Glenn Pendlay at a local town here where he has since retired and lives.  I will meet other women at local globo gyms to lift and socialize as well.  SO I’m not opposed to any type of fitness or gym, I love learning new things.  And meeting new people!

Okay, so back to your background. What was your progression from CrossFit to Beachbody?

I pursued a run for CrossFit Regionals 3 years in a row but always just missed making it. In December of 2014, God spoke very clearly to me that I was NOT to keep pursuing my desires in CrossFit and He needed me for ”something more.”  After months of battling this, I resolved to do His will and closed shop on my intense training.  It was an adjustment.  Because I had worked so hard for what I thought was “my calling.”  But it wasn’t.  We finally moved to what I hope is our last house move, hah! And we have a HUGE garage/barn on this country property in the middle of nowhere.  I had left all of my clientele at the old gyms and needed a way to continue training them virtually because we moved far enough away to not be able to continue meeting face to face.

They encourage you to share your workout journeys and life happenings, so I started posting videos on how my life had been called to a slower pace, how I had resolved to step back from competing in CrossFit. The response was overwhelming!  The pieces started falling into place for me.  I was to train other women, who were once competitive like me, or who were the strong girls before, how to get in shape from home by creating an awesome online community of women like me, to encourage and provide “community.”

That’s pretty much what I’ve been trying to do with Garage Gym Life here and on Instagram. Unite the home gym fitness community as a whole, so that was something that immediately made me interested in telling your story!

I try really hard to recreate a gym feeling of community and support, while we all workout at home and have friends in the “computer.” Ha!

Anyway so now you’re the CEO of Team HomeGym and Anna Woods Fitness tell me about that.

The name Team HomeGym comes from the competition name I earned as a CrossFit competitor because people were always blown away that I trained at home and was as competitive as I was! They started calling me “HomeGym” and it just stuck. I felt it only appropriate to call my online team of coaches the same since it was my identity for so long.  But I opened my business as Woods Wellness.  It started in our unfinished basement. I advertised all over our new town! I started with a few ladies coming over to workout with my limited set of dumbbells and bands.  I had a medicine ball and a curl bar I got from my uncle.  And we had a cheap ProForm smith machine squat rack, bench, and pulley cable we moved from our old house.  I eventually bought a treadmill on clearance and a spin bike.  And as my clientele built, I kept re-investing in my equipment needs.  I started traveling with my services and grew my need for equipment to more bands and more dumbbells as I began exercising with the elderly folks at a local retirement community and eventually the day service provider in a nearby town that housed adults with special needs.  (which is where my heart always was with training-special populations). I opened Team HomeGym online in 2015.

Some people have the impression that people who follow Beachbody programs do it because they aren’t ready for “real training”.

I signed up as a Beachbody coach as well because I needed nutritional tools to help people.  PLUS the intro videos’ this company provided were fabulous to help people learn the moves to lift.  AND it was a way to help me coach my women who loved to dance, showing them how to dance for cardio. And my adults with special needs could follow the DVD”s while I was away, with the help of their caretakers, and so it was a tool for them.  I soon realized I could use Beachbody programs and adjust them to include my style of lifting and competition and so I did. I trained four gals for their first CrossFit competition using a combination Beachbody program and my own personal programming.  And two of us did our first Powerlifting Meet in Dec. 2015 by training online using BodyBeast.  So I found a way to make the programs work for me.

Your background includes a number different training methodologies; how have you been able to integrate your different training influences into what you do professionally?

In March of 2016, I felt called to create a program that didn’t’ revolve around body weight, measurements, and scale measurements. It was my only frustration with Beachbody … all the women’s programs were focused on fat loss and before and after’s.  I DON’T coach women to that! I coach them to strength and empowerment!  To learn what it feels like to be STRONG!  And I created sheSTRENGTH.  A journey to empowerment.  We focus on meal prep, workouts, but probably most importantly personal development, which I call sheTHINKS. And we spend a LOT of time working on mental toughness, addressing the need to set boundaries around our health and time spent investing in our health, about mom guilt, about who our critics are and what they are saying and how to deal with the inner demon’s in our heads, etc.  And I coach these women all in an online private group that is AMAZING.

I like this quote from you: “ My desire is to represent real women aspiring to be strong in an industry where vanity and comparison rules”. Tell me about the Internship Program you’re running. How do people get involved and what’s the goal?

As for my internship program, I am working to change the name of home fitness. I LOVE what Beachbody has to offer, but I don’t like the cookie cutter approach everyone associates with working out at home.  Dancing in front of a TV. I am working to show that it doesn’t have to be that way at all.  There is a market for people like me out there.  And its proving true. Our team is growing very fast, compiled of women just like myself who have the same vision as me for getting rid of the scale and working hard, making a lifestyle change…no longer chasing the black hole of the weight loss scale number. But learning new skills, realizing an hour at the gym isn’t the definition of a good workout, or that a lifestyle approach to fitness isn’t all or nothing, but daily decisions to show up and do something…so I am running an internship sneak peek bi-monthly for women to learn how I have made Beachbody work for me, how I have made my own path, and choose not to follow the crowd  yet still have success. I have a plan in place that is working and I deeply desire for other women like me to be able to experience that as well.  And this Is just the beginning for us, I KNOW. I am 100% sure this is just a small part of the “something more” God called me to a few years back….

You’ve helped 100s of women through your business but I love especially what you do with Adaptive Fitness.  The boxing, prone push up/pull up videos are flat out awesome! What do you want stay at home parents with children with physical, mental or emotional challenges to know about coping with their situation in general and taking care of themselves specifically?

As far as helping other people see the need for folks with special needs living an active lifestyle it usually comes down to setting the example and never underestimating what they can do. Most folks with special needs LOVE the challenge!  I have gals I train with who have no feeling from the neck down but they want to be at every exercise class I teach for them and they do something! I will stack dumbbells on their arms and ask them to lift them…and they may not move much but the thought that their brain is sending impulses to that arm is ENOUGH.  There is always something they can be doing and be included in.  I use every opportunity to teach.  I give them choices…when you go out to eat today, you will choose what or what?  Pop or French fries? Ice cream or pop?  Not both.  Breaking it down into doable steps is easier for them.  AND most are very visual learners, so again, showing by example is KEY.  They can do so much more than we believe or think they can.  Let them prove you wrong!

How can people follow your training or get in touch with you?

I have a Facebook fitness page: Anna Woods Fitness

IG: shestrength

My blog: shestrength.com

And my email is: anna@shestrength.com

Thank you Anna and God bless you in all that you’re doing!

I appreciate you spotlighting me.  I have a feeling our paths crossed for a purpose.  Thanks again!

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Kids And Weight Training Good Idea Or Bad?

Eventually, someone’s going to bring up the outdated notion that kids shouldn’t lift weights because it will stunt their growth.  Hmm.  I’ve got a number of sarcastic answers to that but it’s probably best that you answer with science.  The National Strength & Conditioning Association is the recognized authority on strength training in America.  Not the American Medical Association; they’re better suited for things like disease treatment.  The NSCA has published a position paper on Youth Strength Training which I could summarize but I prefer to simply post a link to it here.  Use this any time someone tells you that it’s perfectly okay for little Johnny to carry out a twenty pound trash bag and charge full speed into another kid on the football field but not to lift ten pound dumbbells or squat a 45lb bar.

Youth Resistance Training: Updated Position Paper From The National Strength & Conditioning Association

 

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Weekly Motivation Featuring Perry Ellis, Jr

Training in the garage by yourself is tough. You usually don’t have the camaraderie of other gym members to help push you.  To help out, we combed the web to find videos that will help motivate you to keep striving to be your best.

Today’s video features drug free powerlifter Perry Ellis who trains in Steve Goggins’ garage gym.   I  was privileged to spot Perry for this squat and it was great just being in the room when this happened!

Stay motivated and keep training until people want to post videos of you!

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Garage Gym107: Get To Know Fitness/Nutrition Coach Michelle Simpson

Garagegym107 owner Michelle Simpson wears a lot of hats: Wife, Mom, Nana, Sister, Weightlifter, CrossFitter and blogger. She lives by the motto, “You’re never too old to reach for amazing” and she’s proving it.  A former Body for Life champion, Michelle has competed in a strongman show and coaches at a local CrossFit box and online as a certified Precision Nutrition coach. That’s on top of a full time professional career!  Many people would struggle to balance all of these competing interests but she manages it with smart planning and training in a garage gym. As her YouTube channel says, she is motivated by sharing a strong love of fitness, weight loss, and motivation to help other women her age realize that they’re never too old to reach for amazing! Let’s get to know this cool garage gym athlete!

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Michelle, as I said, you’ve got a lot of different things going on. Do you train for all of them in your garage?

I do most of the time. I also train at the CrossFit box I coach for; usually at 4:30 am before I coach at 5:30.

You’re a CrossFitter and weightlifter; do you normally stick to barbell and kettlebell work or do you have machines in your garage gym as well?

I do some unilateral work in my work gym during my lunch hour.  Good old fashioned body building. It prevents me from punching people in the face, just saying!

I know a little bit about you from reading your blog but for the benefit of our readers, what is your story? How did you start training?

15 years ago, I was morbidly obese. I took a fall down a flight of outdoor stairs and didn’t even know if I was ok. I was fat, lonely, and depressed. I met someone who handed me a book  called Body-for-Life by Bill Phillips. It was a game changer for me! I read the book from cover to cover the weekend I bought it and I followed the guidance in the book to a T.

But I was so heavy and out of shape! I began exercising and always felt shy and uncomfortable in the gym. I felt like people where always staring and laughing on the inside. Little did I know, most all of them were cheering me on. After about 10 weeks of following the program I realized I wasn’t going to be an “after”. Well, not in 12 weeks. I had a complete and total melt-down. I sobbed and sobbed, then the doorbell rang and the brown truck delivered a package. That package contained a video called Body of Work . I watched it through my tears in the beginning. Then I decided I could quit or keep going. There is no quit in me, not then and not now. I successfully lost 125lbs the first year.

Fast forward 8 years, I took a job with a different company and the elevator doors where mirrored. After my initial weight loss I became complacent where is was. Those elevator doors closed and before too many days had passed, I realized I had more work to do. I had gone from obese to average, then it was time to become extraordinary.  I lost the remainder of the weight, submitted my contest packet to EAS/Abbott Laboratories and officially entered the Body-for-Life Challenge. Eight months later I got the call letting me know I had won the 46+ category in 2009. And my photos are on the Internet forever.

In 2010 a friend said “Hey, you should try this thing called CrossFit!” and I fell in love with a new level of fitness. In 2011 I became a CrossFit L1 Coach. Maybe it was the weight loss, maybe it was turning 50. In the fitness industry, I’m definitely a Master’s Athlete at 53. I feel like I am I a race with old man time. But I am a firm believer that age is just a number.As long as I stay one step ahead, I am successful. I refuse to settle for status quo.

You’re a CrossFitter and weightlifter; do you normally stick to barbell and kettlebell work or do you have machines in your garage gym as well?

I do some unilateral work in my work gym during my lunch hour.  Good old fashioned body building. It prevents me from punching people in the face, just saying!

What advice would you give someone who’s setting up their first home gym?

I bought my equipment one piece at a time over the course of a year. I bought scratch and dent equipment when I could.  Paint the walls, put motivating posters and join the online community.  You can have all the equipment money can buy, but you can’t buy discipline! Get up and put out! I live by the motto “You’re never too old to reach for amazing!”

How do you stay motivated to train?

Helping others reach their goals by setting the example. As I progressed I had the calling to help others realize you can’t out train a poor diet.  I looked near and far and settled on Precision  Nutrition for my certification.  I spent the next 3 years completing  both my Pn1 and Pn2 certifications. I now offer on line nutrition  coaching using the Precision Nutrition ProCoach Software.

Looking ready for action in the Garage Gym Life Women’s Organic Logo T

How can people get in touch with you to take advantage of your services and how can they follow you on social media?

For online habit based  nutrition coaching contact me at: garagegym107@gmail.com.

Facebook page: garagegym107 

Instagram: @garagegym107 

You can also follow Michelle at her blog GarageGym107 for an inspirational and introspective peek into her life and philosophy.

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How Much Money Do Powerlifters Make?

When this man speaks on powerlifting, strength sports or business you should drop everything and listen

We have some awesome writers and athletes who contribute to Garage Gym Life. But we admit that we don’t know everything. So we scour the web to find the best articles from yesterday and today (we’d get them from the future as well but our DeLorean is in the shop) and bring you the links here. Today’s article comes from EliteFTS founder Dave Tate who definitely is an authority on all things powerlifting.

Unfortunately a lot of people have the mistaken impression that getting a huge powerlifting total is the key to fame and fortune.  Well, it’s not. Powerlifting is and has always been a niche sport for blue collar lifters, driven by personal desire to be the strongest they possibly can.

I hear from athletes all of the time that companies should sponsor athletes simply because they’re strong but that’s because they don’t see it from the company’s perspective.  I love this quote from the article:

“Will this athlete, who’s asking for $2000.00 a month be able to help our company more than a hired employee working 40 hours per week? More than cost per click advertising? More than traditional marketing campaigns?” Imagine you own a company which is the sole means of putting food on your family’s table and having to ask yourself that question when evaluating a lifter.

Want more of this timely topic? Check out Dave’s perspective on it by clicking the link below!

Source: How Much Money Do Powerlifters Make?

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Get To Know Endurance Athlete Marisol Inda

Marisol Inda is a true Renaissance woman. She’s a career teaching professional, a competitive endurance sports athlete and a full time parent! With all of that you might wonder when she gets time to train!  As you’re about to find out, she’s able to juggle her work/life and fitness goals because of her ever evolving garage gym.

Marisol, I’m glad we were able to do this! I mentioned that you’ve got a number of different athletic interests. What sports do you compete in?

Competing in kayaking, cycling and running is what I am passionate about now. I want to do a power lifting meet; that will be my next endeavor!

What’s the biggest sporting event you’ve competed in?

The biggest sporting event I have competed in was the three half marathons I completed.

You’re a school teacher right? What grade do you teach? How long have you been teaching?

I am an English high-school teacher with 17 years in the profession!

17 years! That’s awesome! And you’re also a parent.  How many kids do you have?

I am a parent of three great kiddos. My son who was born with Cerebral Palsy is 17 and my angel.  I have twin daughters age 9 whom continually demonstrate what it means to have a beautiful heart.

You’re juggling three kids and a teaching career? Wow! With the many things you’re interested in, plus the responsibilities of being a parent and a teacher how do you maintain a balance?

Maintaining balance is so important in order to live a happy life.  It’s critical to keep the body physically fit and to be that role model for your children.  Working out for me is my haven!

How long have you been training?  Where did you get your start?

I have been training since I was in high school where I lifted weights and competed in running.  Since I am now 43 that has been many years of physical fitness love!

Where do you normally train? I know you’re about that garage gym lifestyle, where in your home is your gym?

I think it is imperative to implement strength training with all endurance type sports!

I train in the good old garage and I love it!

Why does training at home appeal to you more than training in a commercial gym or even a CrossFit box?

The appeal of training at home versus a commercial gym or even at a CF box is TIME! I don’t have to apologize or feel hurried to get off the squat racket any other apparatus.  All the equipment is ALL mine whenever I want it. Having that freedom allows for more intense and longer workouts if I want!

What about kayaking and cycling? I’m guessing the kayak doesn’t fit in your bathtub (but if it does we want pics!) so are there waterways and riding trails near your home where you can train?

Living in Houston, Texas allows me to train for all my sports year round, although time adjustments have to be made in the summer because it gets so hot. I live close to the Gulf.  So hitting a bayou, lake or the ocean is not a problem. The bike trails are also amazing from novice to easy riding!

How has the garage gym evolved since you first started training at home?

I live close to the Gulf so I can train all of my sports year round

Collecting equipment has been made easy with companies that are seeing the need for people to acquire quality gym material at a reasonable price point.

Where did you get your equipment, did you buy most of it or go the DIY route?

I have acquired most of my equipment from GetRX and some pieces have been ideas that have come to fruition through heading to Lowes!

What’s your dream piece of equipment? The one thing that you don’t have but you really want to get?

I dream about having a complete dumbbell and kettle bell set.

You’re unusual in your love of strength training. Typically, endurance athletes tend to not enjoy strength training as much as their cardio sessions. Do the different types of training appeal to different parts of your personality?

I think it is imperative to implement strength training with all endurance type sports.  Lifting weights only aids in growth in the other sports.  My personality is one of wanting to try it all; I enjoy a challenge!

Some people find it difficult to train at home even with a partner. How do you stay motivated? Is there somebody who inspires you to train?

My sister, Marisa, is the person who inspires me.  She is a power lifter who holds world records and is very accomplished in her sport.  I have gone to see her compete and have been overwhelmed with emotion because I know the amount of training she has put in.  Her motivation and attitude are inspirational! But my motivation to keep on training is my pure love for being physically fit! Seeing growth and gains keeps me pumping the iron.

What advice would you give to someone who’s thinking about starting a gym in their home?

My advice for anyone starting a home gym is to be patient! Collecting quality equipment takes time but the rewards at the end are well worth paying that membership fee at a commercial gym!

How can people follow your training or get in touch with you?

If anyone would like to follow my journey I am on Instagram @advenracerchick! I would love to connect with like-minded individuals!

Do you have anyone you want to thank before we sign off?

I would love to thank my sister for always being there for me and being my hero!

Thank you for taking time to talk to share your story with us!

Thank you for interviewing me!

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