I clean my B&R bar every week, and this is how I do it. I use Singer sewing machine oil instead of the 3-in-1 oil and it works fine.
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10 Reasons Why I Train
I read a couple of articles not too long ago entitled “Why Do You Train” by Travis Stoetzel and “What’s Your Why?” by Molly Galbraith, which inspired me to write this blog post.
It made me think, “Why Do I Train?”
I know that having a strong “reason why” motivates you to do things, be it starting something new or continuing something you’ve been doing for years.
On the other hand, a weak “reason why” may prevent you from getting started, or persevering through difficult times.
Some of the reasons why I train might be typical of why most people exercise in the first place. Other reasons might be something that’s not commonly said, but is shared with many other people, possibly including yourself.
Here are the reasons I came up with:
1. I Feel Big Even Though I’m Short
I’m 5’4”, or 163cm. That’s a bit taller than Wolverine (the comic book version who is 5’3″ tall, not Huge “The Giant” Jackman who is 6′ 2½”).
Maybe I train to get bigger and stronger because of the Napoleon complex.
My growth plates have sealed many moons ago so I won’t grow any taller, and limb lengthening surgery is out of the question, so I might as well get bigger, stronger and be a compact package of awesomeness.
2. Being Strong Is Useful
I know of no better example of functional strength than a 600-pound deadlift.Except a 700-pound deadlift. – Mark Rippetoe
Being strong is useful. See for yourself:
I don’t think I’ll be helping people out by physically moving a car out of a tight parking spot like Franco Columbu anytime soon (who is also short, at 5’5” or 165 cm), but being strong has served me well.
I don’t have to worry about asking a female flight attendant to help me lift my overweight carry-on luggage into the overhead bin (I’ve seen MANY cases where guys would need assistance from significantly smaller flight attendants).
3. Instant Respect
He probably gets more instant respect than the typical customer at Burger King.
I think there’s something subconscious to it, possibly something primal or evolutionary, but for some reason, at least for guys, it seems as though big arms will get you instant respect. At least initially.
I know it happens to me when I see someone with massive arms. I think, “wow, this guy must lift a lot and dedicate a lot of time in the gym”. (Actually, these days a massive posterior chain is more impressive to me).
4. Comforts Of A Routine
There’s something comforting about having a routine. From a weekly standpoint, you know what days you’ll be in the gym.
And not only do you know when to exercise, but you also know what to do.
At the workout level, thinking is eliminated when you’ve already worked out a plan before going to the gym. With strength training protocols such as Starting Strength, Texas Method, 5/3/1 and others, the “plan” is more or less determined weeks in advanced.
There’s no feeling of confusion or indecision about what exercises, weight, reps and sets I need to do for the day. It’s already part of a larger plan.
All I need to do is execute.
5. The Feeling Of Getting In The Zone
Otherwise known as “Flow”
All problems and worries in life seem to disappear when there’s 200lbs over my head or 400lbs on my back. These numbers might vary for you, but one thing is certain: there’s one focus when you’re lifting weights that are pushing you to your limit.
There are 10 factors accompanying the experience of flow. I’ve listed them below (courtesy of Wikipedia) and comment on what I experience under the bar:
1. Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities). Moreover, the challenge level and skill level should both be high.
- The obvious goal is to lift the weight for the prescribed number of reps and complete the set.
2. Concentrating, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
- I experience tunnel vision, usually when I’m lifting my 1-5RM.
3. A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
- When I’m experiencing flow while squatting, I don’t care if I have a massive wedgie or not. I just want to get the bar up!
4. Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered.
- Sometimes it feels like FOREVER when struggling to push (or pull) heavy weight, but when I see the lift on video, the entire set was only a few seconds.
5. Direct and immediate feedback (successes and failures in the course of the activity are apparent, so that behavior can be adjusted as needed).
- I know if I lifted the weight or not.
6. Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
7. A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
8. The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
- Breaking PR’s is intrinsically rewarding. I wouldn’t call it effortless though.
9. A lack of awareness of bodily needs (to the extent that one can reach a point of great hunger or fatigue without realizing it)
- Hunger becomes secondary during a heavy set.
10. Absorption into the activity, narrowing of the focus of awareness down to the activity itself, action awareness merging.
- Speaks for itself.
6. Breaking Personal Records
Even if I don’t win any medals or share it with others, there’s a sense of accomplishment when I break a personal record.
I find myself mentally flicking my invisible suspenders with pride, knowing that all the hard work had paid off to break a personal record.
It’s a high, and it’s an addicting feeling. At least for me.
There will be a time when I’ll be too old to break any more personal records. But that time is far in the future.
Setting goals and achieving them is one thing. Breaking them is another.
7. Seeing Results Over Time
Progress is addicting. It’s also motivating.
It lets me know that what I am doing is working. And tracking my progress using numbers makes it easy to objectively see results.
Seeing results over time is motivating because if I see I’ve gotten results in the past, I’ll know I’ll get results in the future, which pushes me to carrying on with my training.
8. Helping & Inspiring Others
It feels good when I read or hear that I have inspired others with their training.
Helping someone with their technique and seeing that they improved and seeing that they broke their own person records makes me feel proud of them.
I can say the same to others who lift more than I can. It’s inspiring to see someone who can lift a lot, because I know with hard work, I get get to their level some day.
9. Investing In The Future
I believe that getting physically fit is the best investment you can do for your health. I also believe that STRENGTH is the foundation for fitness.
Walking apparently has a lot of impact on health and I’m sure strength training has an even greater impact.
Not only do I want to be physically fit and healthy throughout my life, but when I get older, I want to look like a 60+ years young Sylvester Stallone:
To me, weight training is an ongoing habit that will lead to feeling good and looking good, even when I’m 60+.
10. Makes Me Happy
I know this to be true:
“A weak man is not as happy as that same man would be if he were strong”. – Mark Rippetoe (from Starting Strength, 3rd edition)
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Well, those are my current reasons why I train and strive to get stronger.
What’s yours?
My Home Gym, Cost Breakdown and Virtual Tour
For those who want to workout at home and are planning on setting up a home gym, I’ve written this blog post that will hopefully guide you in the right direction as far as equipment selection, and cost.
This is my home gym so far:
I decided to start with, what I believe are the essentials to any home gym.
When I used to train at a commercial gym, I would occupy the squat rack (or power rack) and perform most of my training there. The selection of exercise equipment I’ve invested in is based on what I have used on a regular basis at the gym, which really isn’t much.
To minimize cost, I try to buy the equipment used. But this isn’t always possible because I prefer to have items delivered rather than picking it up myself.
Gym Flooring (Used)
The last thing I want is the steel plates damaging the concrete floor after a heavy deadlift, so proper gym flooring is essential.
My original plan was to buy horse stall mats from the Tractor Supply Company (TSC). But it’s a bit of a hassle to go there, pickup 10 rubber mats that’s 4’x6’, weigh 100lbs each and 3/4” thick, put it in the car and transport it home.
Luckily I found an ad on Kijiji (a classified ads website similar to Craigslist) from someone who was selling about 30 stall mats.
Turns out that these mats were used at a Crossfit gym in Waterloo! At the time, Crossfit Waterloo just moved location and wanted to sell their old stall mats.
These gym mats are made from virgin rubber, 4’x6’, 1/2” thick and weights around 100lbs. It was listed for $35 each, but I struck a deal and purchased 10 for $300. Best part is, it was delivered! (And no tax!)
It’s awesome for weights, but when tried hitting the “Body Opponent Bag” while barefoot, the bottom of my foot was all black. I’ll need to get some proper mats designed for martial arts in the future if I don’t want to be scrubbing my feet for 10 minutes after kicking the bag.
Cost: $300 for 10 mats.
Amstaff TR023 Power Rack
Next I needed a power rack or squat rack. I was debating about the Amstaff TR023 or a Rogue power rack, but in the end choose Amstaff.
It’s a solid rack with band attachments and monkey bars at a low price. Check out my review here.
Cost: $449.99
AmStaff TS015F Commercial Heavy-Duty Flat Bench
Purchased this bench along with the power rack.
Cost: $98.99
Total cost for the power rack and bench with shipping: $732.55
800lbs Olympic Plates
540lbs York & CAP Olympic Plates
I managed to find some good deals on Kijiji, and this is the best deal I’ve encountered to date.
A lady wanted to get rid of twelve 45lbs Olympic plates. I’m not exactly sure why she even had so much weight in the first place. She wanted $50 to have them removed from her premises. AWESOME.
The only negative about this was I had to pick them up myself, and the plates were rusty (I have since refinished half of plates). But at 50 bucks, it was a deal I could not pass up.
Cost: $50
245lbs Bollinger Plates
I also found this on Kijiji. Not a killer deal, but the price was fair at $170 delivered. It also included an Olympic bar. The plates are:
- 45lbs x 2
- 35lbs x 2
- 25lbs x 2
- 10lbs x 2
- 5lbs x 2
- 2.5lbs x 2
The plates are marked “Bollinger”. I don’t think this company makes Olympic plates anymore. I’m not even sure it still exists.
Cost: $170
Weider 5lbs Olympic Plates (2)
I bought this from Sears.com. I wanted an extra pair of 5lbs plates so I can have all possible combination of weights.
Cost = $20
Rogue Fractional Plates
Purchased these from Rogue Fitness. Expensive, but very very useful. My review of the Rogue fractional plates here.
Cost: $75
Total Cost
- 540lbs York and CAP plates = $50
- 245lbs Bollinger = $170 *included a crappy Olympic bar
- 10lbs Weider = $20 *including shipping, taxes and rounding up
- 5lbs Rogue Fraction Plates = $75 *including shipping, taxes and rounding up
- Total: 800lbs for $315
Ivanko COT-1.25 Olympic Pressure-Ring Training Collar
When I was living in Bangkok, Thailand and training at a gym there, the plates kept on sliding on the Olympic bar, even when I used spring collars. Purchased these collars from Amazon and haven’t that problem since.
Cost: $60 including shipping
B&R Bar
The B&R bar a solid bar that’s probably going to last me the rest of my life if I take care of it properly. Read my review of the B&R bar here.
Cost: $350 *included shipping & taxes.
Cap Barbell RK-1 Standard Plate Rack
I was thinking I could save some cash by having my weights on the floor. That thought lasted about a day, since I couldn’t stand seeing all the plates lying around.
I bought 2 of these because I wanted a weight tree on each side of the rack. It would make it convenient to load the bar on each side. I also need 2 because one weight tree wasn’t going to hold 800lbs of plates. Check my review here.
Cost: $110 *included taxes. Shipping was free.
Chalk
1.5L bucket of “Teknik Chunky Yeti Chalk”. Purchased this from MEC. 1 tub cost $8. I’ll round this up to $10 with taxes.
Cost: $10
Ironmind Headstrap Fit for Hercules Neck Harness
I got this while I was living in Bangkok. I wanted a neck harness that was durable, but lightweight. Most neck harnesses I’ve seen uses chains, but the one from Ironmind is made from nylon (I think) and supposedly can hold over a ton. Works for me!
Cost: $119.95 *including shipping
Ironmind De Rigueur Dipping Belt (Used)
I also purchased this while I was living in Bangkok. There wasn’t a dip belt at my gym, so I scoured the interwebz to find a durable but lightweight dip belt. I found the this Ironmind dipping belt on eBay at a great price. There’s no metal chains, so it’s very light. Also, it’s made by Ironmind, who makes equipment for the World’s Strongest Man competitions.
Cost: $49 *including shipping
Fatgripz
I’ve seen these advertised everywhere, so I decided to pick up a pair and see what’s all the fuss is about. They’re actually pretty good.
Total Cost: $40.26 *including taxes and shipping
B.O.B (Body Opponent Bag)
When I was planning my home gym, I knew I watched something to punch and kick. It was either a heavy bag, or a free standing bag. I got this off Kijiji. Right now it’s being used as a place to hang some of my gear.
To be honest, hitting a freestanding bag is not the same as hitting a properly hung heavy bag. Even when filled to the top with water, it still moves around when I kick it.
Cost: $200
Ikea Jerker Desk (Version 1)
I’m currently using this as a standing desk. I got this off Kijiji for $35 delivered.
Combined with a laptop and speakers, I use this area to:
- Keep a record of my workouts on my blog
What I used to do is log my workouts in my iPod Touch. I would make a draft, and then upload it to my website. But now I can do everything straight from my laptop which eliminates the extra step uploading from the iPod. - Play music during my workouts
I hooked up an old pair of Monsoon MM-700 speakers and usually play the Trance or Goa-Psy Trance channel from di.fm - Write
I’m finding that having a separate computer and location to do specific work really helps with productivity.It also helps being surrounded by exercise equipment when writing about exercise as well.
Summary
So far, in total I’ve invested $2321.76 in my home gym.
You might think that’s a lot, but $2321.76 pays for a little over 3 years of a gym membership, assuming the monthly cost is $60 (not including the cost of transportation).
But since there’s 2 people using my home gym on a regular basis, $2321.76 will cover about 1 year and 7 months worth of a gym membership. I plan on lifting weights until I’m on my death bed, so the way I see it, $2321.76 for my current home gym is good investment.
If you’ve got the space and you TRAIN on a regular basis at a gym, I would seriously consider setting up a home gym. You don’t need to buy all the equipment at once, and you can find some pretty damn good deals on classified ads websites such as Kijiji or Craigslist.
Best part is, you don’t have to deal with any of the annoyances typically found in a commercial gym!
How To Add Whey Protein To Coffee
I like to kill 2 birds with 1 stone, and adding whey protein powder to coffee is a way to get my morning dose of caffeine along with some high quality, flavored whey protein in one mug.
I need about 3 cups of coffee in the morning, so adding 1/3 scoop of vanilla flavored whey protein isolate to my morning coffee 3 times gives me about 25g of protein.
Adding up to 1/2 scoop of coffee is fine, but I find that a full scoop makes the coffee too thick for my liking.
You can think of the whey protein as a protein-enhanced, flavored & sweetened coffee creamer. It taste a lot better than the normal non-dairy creamer such as Coffee Mate and is a lot better for you too (more about coffee creamers here). And if you’re using whey protein isolate, it’s lactose free as well.
Benefits
Make Instant Coffee Tastes Good
Supplement manufacturers appealed to our tastes buds and have produced a variety of different flavors of whey protein. Combined with coffee, it tastes pretty good. For example, adding vanilla whey protein isolate to my instant coffee tastes like French vanilla. Chocolate whey protein and coffee tastes like mocha.
Personally I’ve only tried vanilla, chocolate and unflavored whey protein isolate, but @elizabethwhit20 on Twitter told me that even BANANA flavored protein tastes good with coffee!
@JohnPhung tried banana myofusion..pretty good crazy as it sounds Haha! creamy!
@elizabethwhit20
IFBB Pro Elizabeth W
I’ll have to try that myself.
One day.
Get Protein First Thing In The Morning
If you’re like me, I drink a few cups of coffee in the morning before having breakfast. I wake up around 3:00AM and usually don’t eat until 7-8:00AM. Before this meant I had 4-5 hours without any food in my system.
By adding whey protein to my coffee, I’m getting around 25g of protein first thing in the morning.
How To Mix Whey Protein To Your Morning Coffee
The process is pretty simple. The trick is to cool down your coffee before adding the whey protein. If it’s not cooled down then the whey protein will curdle and get all sticky and lumpy once you add it to the coffee.
Here’s how I mix whey protein into my coffee:
Step 1: Prepare Your Coffee
Prepare coffee like you normally do.
For me, I’ll add 1 heaping teaspoon of instant coffee, and half a pack of Splenda. I don’t need to use the entire packet of Spenda because the whey protein already has sweetener.
Make sure you fill the mug about 3/4 to the top. You want to leave some room for the milk and whey protein powder.
Step 2: Cool Down The Coffee
Next I add a little bit of 2% milk to the coffee. I don’t measure the amount of milk I add; I just add until it turns light brown in color.
Adding the milk will cool down the coffee, but you can use cream, cold water, or just let the coffee sit for a few minutes.
Step 3: Add 1/3-1/2 Scoop of Whey Protein
I use Whey-Factory.com vanilla whey protein isoloate, but other brands and flavors would work fine.
Sprinkling it on little by little allows the whey protein to mix faster and easier, but dumping 1/3-1/2 scoop of whey protein all at once work fine too.
If you want to add an entire scoop of whey protein in your coffee, mix in 1/2 scoop first until the powder is dissolved, then mix in the 2nd half.
Step 4: Mix
This might take a little patience, especially if you’ve added a little more than 1/3 scoop of whey protein to the coffee (which I normally do). But mixing it takes less than a minute.
There will be some clumps, but you can use the back of your spoon to press it against the inside of the mug to break it down.
Step 5: Drink
Enjoy your protein-enhanced, flavored coffee!
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Another way of doing this is to mix the whey protein and milk first, then pour it into the coffee.
The downside to this method is that the some of the whey protein will stick to the spoon and to the mug, which will require extra hard scrubbing to remove. Steel wool makes this easy.
Anyways, try it out! Adding whey protein to your coffee might become a new addition to your morning routine.
Basement Home Gym
The garage and the basement were the 2 locations I wanted to set up my home gym. They’re similar in size, but ultimately, I choose the basement. In this blog post, I’ll explain why.
My Basement Home Gym: Version 1.0
Now, before I go on, my situation and my personal considerations might be different than yours. Some of it might apply to you, while others may not. Either way, I hope you find it helpful if you’re planning on setting up a home gym!
Benefits Of A Basement Home Gym
Floor Is Leveled
In my basement, the floor in the area where I train is level.
Because of the leveled floor, there’s no risk of a loaded barbell rolling on the ground and slamming into walls, equipment or anything else in my basement.
Furthermore, I don’t need to worry about building a sloped lifting platform or level my basement with self leveling cement. This would be an additional cost to my home gym, and a headache that I’d rather not deal with.
I can just lay down the horse stall mats, setup my equipment and begin training.
Temperature & Humidity Control
In the wintertime the basement will be warmer, and in the summertime, it will be a lot cooler compared to the garage because of the heat from furnace and cold air from the air conditioning unit. This will allow a more comfortable and consistent environment to train.
There are some people who prefer training in extreme temperatures. Personally, I’d rather keep this variable constant and focus on improving my strength. Getting stronger is my goal, tolerating varying temperatures while training is not.
Also, because of the stable temperature and humidity levels (with a dehumidifier), the Olympic plates, B&R bar and other metal equipment won’t be subject to varying temperatures and humidity levels, so they’ll less likely corrode.
Sound Proofing
I could be wrong, but I’m assuming sound proofing is a little bit better in the basement compared to the garage. At least with mine.
Dropping a deadlift with all-steel Olympic plates would only annoy anyone upstairs. Whereas in the garage, anyone within the general vicinity could probably hear the crashing of the weights onto the floor.
I’d prefer not deal with neighbors complaining about excessive noise.
Negatives Of A Basement Home Gym
No Fresh Air
The air in the basement feels a bit stale and stuffy. Also, all the sweating, huffing and puffing from exercise doesn’t exactly freshen up the air.
I could open up a small window in the basement to allow fresh air in and the perspiration-laced air out, but (depending on the weather) this would not be as effective as opening a garage door.
Also, the window is a little difficult to open (it’s located near the top of the wall, and I have to manually slide 2 windows), whereas I can just push a button to open and close the garage door.
Stairs
It is, was, and will be a pain in the ass to move all the equipment to the basement.
Exercise equipment isn’t exactly light, and much of it is long and awkward to carry, which makes it quite a challenge when trying to move everything downstairs without damaging the walls and floors. The good thing is I only have to do it once (or twice if I decided to move out).
Moving 10 pieces of 4’x6’ dirty stall mats weighing about 100lbs each from the garage to the basement was challenging. Moving 700lbs Olympic plates was hard labor. Long, rectangular boxes filled with metal pieces for my power rack wasn’t fun either.
If I had my home gym in the garage, it would be a lot easier to move equipment in and out.
Ceiling Height
As mentioned in my previous article, standing overhead press with two 45lbs plates on each side is not an issue for me because of my height (5’4”).
Someone who is 6’ or taller probably could not do this in a basement with a ceiling that’s just above 7’ high.
Jump squats and other plyometric exercises wouldn’t be a good idea in my basement either.
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Ideally, I would have preferred my home gym to be in the garage, but decided on the basement because the floor was level. For me, it would be less of a hassle to move equipment downstairs into the basement than to deal with a sloped garage floor.
At this point, this leaves me to question: what am I going to do with the garage?
I’ve thought of a couple of options:
- Build a sloped lifting platform and do Olympic weightlifting movements in the garage
- Use the garage for plyometric training
- Hang a heavy bag on a wall mount in the garage
- Some the above
- All of the above
This would mean I would have 2 home gyms: basement home gym for weight training, and anything else that doesn’t need a perfectly leveled floor in the garage.
Something to think about. Hmm…
Garage Home Gym
Going from the commercial gym to a home gym was one of the best decisions I ever made.
For those who are considering setting a home gym but are torn between garage or basement, I’ll share with you some of my thoughts and notes while going through the decision making process. I hope it helps if you’re deciding to quit your gym membership and train at home.
Now, my situation might be a little different than yours. I recently moved, so the basement and the garage were empty. That means that I did not have to deal with having to move or re-arrange stuff that’s stored in the garage or basement. Also, the basement is unfinished and the floor is bare concrete, just like the garage.
I ultimately choose the basement as the location for my home gym, however the garage was my first choice.
I mean, take a look at this picture and tell me it’s not awesome (note: not my home gym!)
Anyways, here are some of my notes of the positives and negatives of having a garage home gym:
Benefits of A Garage Home Gym
Moving Equipment
It’s easy to move exercise equipment in and out. This is beneficial because if I order heavy equipment and/or anything that requires assembly, I can tell the delivery guy to unload everything into the garage. From there, I can unpack, and assemble everything right in the garage.
With a basement home gym, all the equipment would need to be brought into the house and then moved down stairs. During this move, extra care would have to be taken to make sure that the walls, floors, and whatever else are not damaged. I can tell you that I have a few black marks on the wall from moving 10 4’x6’ rubber stall mats from the garage to the basement.
Moving all the equipment out from the garage would be easier compared to the basement. If I decide to move and don’t want to take apart my power rack, I move the entire thing (without having to disassemble it) through the garage door, and then into a moving truck and be done with it. But because my power rack is in the basement, I would have to disassemble everything, make sure I don’t lose any bolts and washers, and then reassemble the rack. Hauling hundreds of pounds of weights, equipment, and those stall mats up the stairs not be fun.
Ceiling Height
The height of the ceiling in my basement is about 92”, whereas my garage is 112”. It’s fine since I’m somewhat vertically challenged at 5’4”, standing overhead presses with 45lbs plates is no problem in the basement.
But for someone taller, pressing a bar with 45lbs plates on both sides may not be possible without hitting the ceiling. A taller person could substitute the seated barbell should press, but this exercise is far more inferior than the standing overhead press.
If I decide to program plyometric exercises into my training (such as box jumps, etc.), I wouldn’t be able to do it in the basement. Whereas the garage, with an over 9’ ceiling, wouldn’t be an issue.
Also the Rogue power racks are 90”, or 7’6” tall, which will barely fit into my basement. Doing pull-ups and chin-ups would be an issue if I only have 2” of head room to work with. However, according to this video, you can request a customized 7 foot version of the Rogue power rack for an extra $50. You’d probably want to contact Rogue’s customer support for details about a 7’ rack.
Opening The Garage Door
Opening the garage door allows you to let in the fresh air from the outdoors while letting out any sort of odours from your training session. A garage door screen can be used to keep the insects, dust & debris out.
Any sort of strongman training that involves carrying a weight and walking around would be easier with a garage because you could make use of the driveway. Training outside would be as simple as opening the garage door.
And lastly, for better or worst, training with heavy weights with the garage door open will probably attract the attention of your neighbors.
Negatives About A Garage Gym
Temperature & Humidity Control
I live in a part of the world where it’s too damn hot in the summer, and too damn cold in the winter, and not enough in between. Because of this, the garage, if not properly insulated, will be subject to the temperature and humidity levels outside.
You can combat this by first insulating the garage door. I’ve read the “Owens Corning Garage Door insulation kit” makes it easy, but there are other DIY solutions as well.
Next would be heating & cooling the garage. Cooling the garage would be easier because you could just use a fan and/or open the garage door.
As for heating, portable electric heaters and utility heaters designed for garages works well, provided that the garage door and walls are insulated (I’ve tried heating the garage with an un-insulated garage door made of wood using a Garrison oil heater and it has no effect. However, the same heater can heat up the basement just fine).
Humidity would need to be controlled, or else it can make all the weights, racks and bars corrode. Which is the last thing I want, since I removed the rust and refinished my Olympic plates, and do not want the bare steel B&R bar to rust.
Sloped Floor
From what I understand, garage floors are normally sloped down towards the outside.
Dan Thomson writes:
“Heavy things and liquids go downhill.
To maintain safety in the garage, it is necessary to slope the garage floor 1/4″ per foot so things like gas fumes (which are heavier than air), fuel, water, etc. can exit the garage safety without building up and possibly causing a hazard.”
This is not good because the last thing I want is having a 400lbs+ barbell rolling into the garage door (or worst, rolling outside onto the driveway into the road!)
There are ways around this, such a building a lifting platform to accommodate the slope, or level the garage floor with self levelling cement (I don’t think I can do this because apparently a sloped garage floor is part of the Ontario building code).
Either way, it will be a pain in the ass and add addition work and cost into the home gym.
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Overall, I decided against setting up my home gym in the garage because I didn’t want to deal with the issue of a sloped floor. Even though a garage home gym has many benefits, the negatives pushed me towards a choosing the basement as the location for my home gym.
And now, I have to figure out what to do with my garage! Right now it’s just a storage area for boxes that I’m too lazy to break apart and recycle.
For my next blog post, I’m going to talk about the benefits of a basement home gym, so stay tuned.
10 Things I MISS About Commercial Gyms
One of the comments left on my last blog post entitled “10 Thing’s I Do Not Miss About Commercial Gyms” was from Craig Hirota, who suggested a great idea about writing my top 10 things that I DO miss about commercial gyms…so here it is!
Some of these might not apply to you, but I’m sure there will be a few you could relate to:
1. Observing Others
Human females with a symmetrical face and a waist to hip ratio of about 0.7, wearing form fitting gym apparel, and performing just about any exercise correctly using a full range of motion are nice to look at by most, if not all heterosexual human males.
It can increase performance for some, but distracting for others.
2. Secretly Competing With Others
I do something similar, in the weight room, lifting weights.
I’m sure I’m not alone on this one.
I like to be the strongest one in the gym. When I am not, I push myself to get stronger.
When I was living in Bangkok, there was a really big guy (well, big upper body at least) who used to partial bench more than I could bench press.
This motivated me to bench more weight than he did, but with full range of motion (that is, the bar touching my chest with every rep), which I did.
Training at home, I don’t have anyone around me to compete with. Although I do compete with myself, trying to break my previous personal records, it’s really not the same as out lifting someone you see on a regular basis at the gym.
3. People Watching You
I’m not an attention whore, but having eyeballs on me when I lift weights is motivating, especially during my main sets. This is also known as social facilitation.
There’s a sense that an audience is around me and I would have to perform.
And because people are watching (at least, I think they’re watching…), I don’t want to look like I added too much weight to the bar and bit off more than I could chew, so there’s an extra bit of motivation to complete that last rep and not fail.
4. Mirrors
I don’t have any mirrors in my basement home gym. At least not yet.
I’m not the type of guy who trains for aesthetic purposes, but I have to admit it’s pretty awesome seeing yourself in the mirror after getting a huge pump.
Often times I would look in the mirror and see some guy with a big traps, huge back and a bubble butt. I’d think, “Damn, this guy is huge!”
Then I’d realize that I was looking at a reflection of another mirror on an opposite wall…and it was me all along. Sweet.
5. Answering Questions
I’m not the most approachable guy at the gym. I tend to be focused on my training and tune everything else out.
However sometimes people would ask questions, and I don’t mind answering as long as people listen (and as long as they’re not interrupting my training or taking too much of my time in between sets like that Mr. Million Questions guy who seems to manifest himself in every gym).
It’s rewarding to see that I helped make an impact on other people’s training, strength, and overall health.
6. Non-Verbally Inspiring People
At least in my past experience, sometimes I don’t have to say anything to inspire others in their training.
For instance, when I used to go to a gym in Bangkok, there would be a group of kids (either fresh out of high school or just starting university) who I knew watched me while I trained. After a few days, I would see them attempt the same thing, albeit a bastardized version of what I was doing. For example, my squat in the squat rack became their squat in the StarTrack Maxrack (a 3D Smith machine).
I even saw that they purchased the same equipment as me. I have the Schiek weight lifting straps that I use for deadlifts. One day, I saw the group of kids with the same straps using them for incline dumbbell bench presses and on the EZ-bar on the preacher curl bench.
I also carry around a belt at the gym. I use it during my main sets (and sometimes during my heavier warm-ups) during squat, deadlift and overhead press. After some time, I saw this same group of kids carry belts with them too and wore it for ALL lifts. But mainly the ones where you sit or lay down on a bench.
7. Personal Trainers with an Area of Expertise
At Fitness First Rama 3 in Bangkok, there were at least 2 former competitive Muay Thai boxers.
When I found out about this, I signed up for a few weeks of personal training sessions with one of the trainers and began my Muay Thai training (ironically, in comforts of an air conditioned commercial gym).
His English wasn’t that great, but through body language, he could communicate what I needed to do and what I was doing wrong.
Hitting the Thai pads with an experienced pad holder and former fighter sure beats any other conditioning exercise I’ve ever tried. And on top of that, he’s given me tips on improving my punches, kicks, knees and elbows.
There’s nothing like getting a killer workout while sharpening your skills under the guidance of someone who has been fighting in the ring even since he was a kid (children competing in full contact Muay Thai is normal in Thailand).
8. Rubber Coated Olympic Plates with Grips
I’m talking about something like this:
Simply put, those rubber coated Olympic plates with built-in grips are easier to work with compared to steel Olympic plates with a bevelled edge.
It’s easier to carry around, doesn’t make that clanging noise when the plates hit each other, and are less vulnerable to rust.
Perhaps I’ll upgrade my weights in the future.
9. Super Expensive Specialized Machines
I’m not a big fan of exercise machines, especially those that are designed to replace their free weight counterpart.
But there are some machines I miss, and although I could buy them myself, they would cost an arm and a leg.
The machine I miss the most is the Freemotion “functional trainer” machine, pictured below:
Now, why would I miss this somewhat gimmicky looking machine?
It’s because the adjustable height of the pulley makes it easy to train my neck. What I do is attach my Ironmind neck harness to the machine, and adjust the pulley at the lowest level to do neck extensions, and then adjust the pulley to around eye level to do neck flexion and side flexion.
I’ve tried attaching a plate to neck harness and perform neck exercises. It works fine for neck extensions, but it doesn’t work as well when I’m trying to train the front and sides of my neck.
I would also use the same machine for face pulls.
The other machine I miss, and have only seen it in one gym (Popeye’s, which is now World’s Gym in Kitchener, Ontario), is the 4-way neck machine. These machines don’t come cheap either.
10. Compliments
Getting compliments from others feels good.
It’s a small reward for the time, money and energy I’ve invested in the pursuit of strength.
There’s nothing like a “YOU’RE A MONSTER!” from someone after nearly crushing myself with 400lbs+ on my back.
Feels good man!
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Have you switched from a commercial gym and started training at home?
If so, what do you miss from training at the last gym you were a member of?
Leave your comments below 
10 Things I Do Not Miss About Commercial Gyms
Over the course of my life, I have been a member of numerous commercial gyms in Canada and Thailand.
But ever since December 2011, I have put together a home gym in my basement and have been training at home ever since.
Here are a few things that I don’t miss about commercial gyms:
1. Personal Trainers Who Don’t Know What They’re Doing
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen a personal trainer do upright rows at the same time their client is performing bench presses with the same bar.
Or the number of times I’ve seen trainers without a training log for their clients.
Or the number of times I’ve heard giving out the wrong advice or exercise instruction.
Don’t take this the wrong way, not all personal trainers don’t know what they’re doing, but it seems like (at least in my experience) there are more crappy trainers than good ones.
2. Commuting
I’ve always thought of commuting as a waste of time. The time spent getting to the gym and back can take as long (or longer) that the workout itself!
Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if possible, I’ll try to set up a situation for myself where getting from point A to B is minimal.
For the last 2 clubs I was a member of, I was fortunate to live close enough to be able to walk to the gym. It only took around 15 minutes each way, but that’s an extra 30 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. Multiply that by the number of times I go to the gym (3-5) per week, the number of weeks in a month, the number of months in a year, etc. and it adds up.
3. Waiting
Normally, the squat rack is never in use. However there are times when I need to use a bench. And more often than not, the people doing bench press aren’t even doing half-range of motion!
There are also people socialize in between sets, and/or use their phones while sitting on the exercise equipment. Often times they would spend more time on their phones texting and chatting than actually working out.
4. Crappy Exercise Equipment
This machine trains the "NO" muscles
Yes-No machines, Smith machines, elliptical trainers, & Nautilus circuit machines and countless others seem to get the most use in a gym serving the general public. They’re also the equipment that have the least impact on “getting toned”, “getting cut” and “losing weight”.
(I have to admit, I did use the Smith machine as an adjustable height pull up bar when the chin up area was in use).
5. Crappy Workout Music
I would not have known about Justin Beiber, Kate Perry or Lady Gaga if it wasn’t for those Les Mills group fitness classes. I bet there’s someone out there who loves to lift heavy weights to “Somebody to Love”, but it’s not my cup of tea.
At home, I tune into Digitally Imported and listen to either Trance or Goa-Psy Trance, which is probably considered crappy music to some people.
The choice of music to listen to while training is subjective, but since I’m training in my home gym, I can listen to whatever “crappy” music I want.
One man’s crappy music is another man’s ear candy.
6. People Asking A Million Questions In Between Sets
Don’t get me wrong, I like to help people with their training and answer their questions to the best of my ability. But sometimes people ask too many questions at the wrong time (in between sets), and take up a lot of time with their interrogation.
7. Unhygienic People
I’ve seen people picking their noses in between their sets, people who don’t wash their hands after they use the rest rooms, and others cough or sneezing into their hands before they grasp the barbell.
Nasty.
8. Dealing With People Who Don’t Put Away Weights
Why can’t some people put away the weights?
It’s just common courtesy to put away those 35lbs dumbbells and put away the plates after doing quarter squats on the smith machine.
9. People Who Drop Puny Weights On The Floor
I’m not sure what the deal is with people who drop dumbbells on the floor after they’re finished the set. I’m talking about people who are dumbbell bench pressing 50lbs (total) for 12+ reps with little effort, and then dropping it.
No matter how loud the sound of dumbbells dropping make, it won’t make you look any manlier!
In my opinion, the weight shouldn’t be dropped on the floor unless it is unsafe or impossible to put it down in a controlled manner. Or if they’re lifting with bumper plates.
10. Initiation Fees, Recurring Membership Fees, Hold Fees and Cancellation Fees
‘nuff said.
How To Remove Rust & Refinish Rusted Olympic Plates
Before...
A while back I got scored a sweet deal on a bunch of used Olympic plates from an online classified ad. The lady was selling 12x45lbs plates for only $50…so cheap!
It was a great price, but the plates themselves were not in great shape.
They were stored in a shed, and most of the plates were rusted.
It was too good of a deal to pass up, so I bought them with the intention of refinishing them afterward.
I’ve read you could soak the plates in Coca-cola to remove the rust (something to do with the phosphoric acid in Coke that can apparently get rid of rust), but that seemed a little messy and is a waste of something I would rather drink. I’m a little skeptical and wasn’t sure how well this would work, and I wanted something that would surely take care of the rust problem, along with preventing rust in the future.
After some research online, I discovered an easy way to make rusty weight look as good as new. Turns out there’s a special type of paint made by Tremclad (the Canadian version of Rustoleum) that you can apply onto surface rust, that will penetrating rusty surfaces and inhibiting rust. On top of that, there’s no need for a primer and there’s many different colors to choose from. I went with the hammertone black because it looked like the original color of the York Olympic plates.
There’s a few steps and tools you’ll need to remove rust and refinish weight plates. Here’s how I did it:
Tools You’ll Need
- Wire Brush (I’ve read sandpaper works as well)
- Mineral spirits
- Rust preventive paint (I went for Tremclad’s/Rustoleum’s, but I’ve heard Krylon works too). I needed 2 cans of spray paint for 6 plates.
- Some old rags
- Cardboard
- Dust/face mask (breathing in the fine rust particles or any spray paint is probably not good for your health).
Preparation
Take large pieces of cardboard and lay them out onto the floor.
Make sure that there is no space in between the pieces of cardboard, or you’ll end up getting spray paint onto the floor.
Place the weights on top of the cardboard. The weights should be spaced apart, so it will be easier to paint the side of the plates.
Steps
- Take a wire brush and scrub the Olympic plates to get rid of any loose rust and dirt. Make sure to scrub along the sides of the plates, along with the insides of the hole. If your wire brush is too large for the hole, sandpaper will work.
- Pour a bit of mineral spirits onto the plates and wipe them clean with a rag. Supposedly what this does is remove any excess dirt and oils so that the paint will stick to the metal. Do this on both sides and let it dry. I’m not sure how long it takes to try since I left it overnight.
- With a can of Tremclad (or Rustoleum), spray coat of paint onto the Olympic plates. I’ve never used spray paint before, so I just sprayed from side to side, working my way from top to bottom. Don’t forget to spray on the sides of the plates, and inside the hole.I let it dry for about 15-20 minutes before painting on a second layer.
I repeated this for a total of 3 coats. After the 3rd coat of paint, I let it dry over night before flipping them over and painting the other side.
Before & After
Not bad!
The front and back surface of the Olympic plates looked pretty good, but the inside of the hole and the side of the plates were still a little rusty.
Looking back, I would have taken some wooden blocks and place them underneath the plates before painting them. It would have been easier to spray paint the side of the plates.
Alternatively, I would have painted the sides and inside the hole using a brush and the paint-can version of Tremclad.
There you have it – cheap, rusty Olympic weights looking as good as new!
