“Some read a self-help book, some find themselves under the pull-up bar. Some do a variation of both.”
Flipping The Switch.
When I think about it, I really do spend an inordinate time in my basement, which houses my make-shift home gym.
It would never be confused with the qualitative equipment you will find at your local commercial facility, nor does it hold any aesthetic beauty, but it is mine.
When I was in my very early twenties, I bought a few hundred dollars (my life’s savings at the time) of used gym equipment.
Olympic plates, a barbell, old-school power rack, a metallic preacher bench that just screamed 1970’s, a curl bar etc.
Solid equipment that I most definitely overpaid for at the time, but has resulted in dividends I can never put a price on.
I’m still using it to this very day.
I have had this stuff with me longer than virtually any current relationship, friendship, association etc, that I have in my life, other than basic family.
It has joined me in my various moves in location, has seen every aspect, the personal records, the wins, the the achievements, the injuries, the failures, the literal sweat & blood.
I haven’t belonged to a commercial gym for at least six years.
There are some aspects of the paid gym that I miss, some I do not.
It is awesome to have fixed dumbbells at your disposal, it is not awesome to try to perform farmers walks in a gym full of people and equipment.
I love the atmosphere, the camaraderie, the great people I have met that have inspired me, but don’t love when someone claims “squatters rights” in the squat rack, or elsewhere.
I love the extra push I seem to have in the commercial gym environment, but hate when someone decides to follow me around asking questions, or unloading all their problems on me as I’m trying to get a workout in.
The commercial gym is a ubiquitous cross-section of our populace, and also another avenue of personal development and self-improvement.—Some read a self-help book, some find themselves under the pull-up bar. Some do a variation of both.
Like everything in this life, commercial gym training and training at home both have their pluses and minuses.
A huge positive of training at home is that I can spend virtually all of my training time uninterrupted, focused, and for the most part un-distracted.
When I sold my business a few years back, my schedule improved, but my finances took a hit.
I figured that I was blessed to have everything at home, so a gym membership was a luxury I would not indulge in.
This focused, uninterrupted (for the most part) time allowed me to experiment. I was finally able to fixate on programming specific to goals, whether personal or vicarious.
Experimentation in frequency.
Experimentation of movements.
Intensity, volume, density.
This was, and still is my science lab.
Will I ever return to the commercial gym?
Never say never.
A switch can always be flipped.
