Hail to the Dinosaurs!
I received a great email from Kevin H.,
one of our many Scottish Dinosaurs. He
has a terrific backyard gym featuring
a massive power rack, barbell and tons
of plates. (What more do you need?)
He shared a photo once, and it was
one of those places that I saw and
thought, "Wow, I want to train there!"
But things change. We downsize, upsize,
right size and move. And when we do,
we need to change our training quarters.
It can be a real problem. I know,
because I've done it. Many of us
have done it. Or will be doing it
in the future.
Here's how Kevin is handling it:
"Hi Brooks,
I hope this message finds you well.
I'm going to be moving house soon,
and my back garden gym shall be no
more. However, I purposely sought
out a ground floor flat for my training
purposes.
The place I intend to buy has a massive
living room, and my rack and barbell
will fit.
The idea of storing my stuff and joining
any gym, even an old-school one, didn't
sit right with me.
Anyhow, my living arrangements will
not affect any lift other than the deadlift.
I aim to just double my squatting efforts
and use the Romanian deadlift.
The floors are very sturdy concrete, and I
reckon I could construct two sturdy boxes
for partial deadlifts. I could even pad them
with thick rubber to reduce any noise.
In all honesty, I'm more of a squat man,
but the idea of not doing a heavy pull is
not an option.
I envy you Americans with big houses that
come with basements or garages.
Kevin"
I read that, and I had several thoughts.
First, I'm sorry the garden gym is going
to go -- but as I said, it does happen. All
of the great gyms of the past are gone
now -- or have been resurrected in new
surroundings. It's the nature of things.
The old York Barbell Club gym may have
been the most famous gym in the world
in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. It's gone now.
The building has been demolished.
All that's left are some bricks. You can
buy one from the York Barbell Company.
Second, I'm glad to see that Kevin has
found a new home for his barbell and his
power rack.
I'm looking forward to seeing photos of
the new training quarters. It sounds like
they're going to be great!
It also sounds like the focus is going to
be on the most important things: heavy
iron, basic exercises, and lots of squatting,
pushing and pulling.
In short, it sounds like my kind of gym.
Yours in strength,
Brooks Kubik
P.S. There's a great chapter on home gyms
and home gym training in Strength, Muscle
and Power. It's chapter 14 -- "In Praise of
Cellar Dwellers." And there's lots more in
the book. Go here to grab your copy:
http://www.brookskubik.com/strength_muscle_power.html
P.S. 2. I also cover home gyms and home
gym training in this little monster:
http://www.brookskubik.com/dinosaur_training.html
P.S. 3. My other books and courses are
right here at Dino Headquarters:
http://www.brookskubik.com/products.html
P.S. 4. Thought for the Day: "Where there's
a Dinosaur, there's a great gym." -- Brooks
Kubik
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