Covid-19 and the Garage Gym Renaissance

I have written posts over the past few years about building my garage gym and restoring used weights. As I have mentioned, building a home/garage gym has been a dream of mine for a long time. I decided to push through with this dream after moving to a new location and failing to find a reasonably-priced place to train.

This decision ended up paying huge dividends in 2020. Covid-19 arrived in the USA, and draconian lock downs policies forced many local businesses to close. Gyms were one of the first victims. I would have been unable to train for several weeks if I was a member of a commercial gym (I know there is stuff you can do at home, but I’m talking about traditional weight training).

Fortunately, my wife and I were able to train whenever we wanted. Covid-19 affected other aspects of our lives, but we were able to continue working out. I’m thankful–I can only imagine having to endure the lock down without lifting weights.

It seems the lock down caused a renaissance of sorts with garage gyms–demand for home training equipment skyrocketed. I remember checking out websites (Titan, Rogue, etc.) and seeing almost all their equipment listed as “out of stock.”

This also affected the price of weights on buy/sell groups. I usually shoot for under a dollar/lb when buying used weights. People were charging two dollars a pound (and presumably getting it) for Olympic weights. Other equipment, such as squat racks, were way overpriced. It was a seller’s market, and I was very thankful that I had already bought everything I need.

I’ll be interested to see where this leads in the future. Will those who have started training at home never look back? Will there be a return en masse to commercial gyms once all this mess is over?

If the second option happens it would most likely mean a glut of home training equipment flooding the market over the next year or so. That would be good news for bargain hunters like myself. It could even help gym owners that want to add equipment. The market will eventually level out, regardless.

I personally don’t see myself going back to a commercial gym (the only exception would be the unlikely case of moving overseas again). I would, in fact, like to keep expanding my current garage/home gym in the coming years. The Covid-19 pandemic has made a very convincing case for me to keep training at home.

 

Garage Gym: One Year Later

About a year ago I decided to switch from using commercial gyms to my own garage gym. As I mentioned in that original post, the unreasonably high cost of the local gym membership is what made me switch. But I had always kind of dreamed of building my own gym, so the economic issue was more of a catalyst than anything else.

I decided to write this follow-up post because . . . well, because the mood has hit me. Maybe it’s because I recently found a sweet deal on a really nice elliptical machine. Or maybe it’s the used weights I bought for about half price and restored a couple of weeks ago.

Whatever the reason, now is as good a time as any to make an assessment.

A few things that I miss about commercial gyms:

Equipment: I’m pretty happy with what I’ve put together in my garage gym so far. But it was nice to have access to pieces of equipment like a high-end leg press, seated calf machine, etc. I may add some of these to my garage gym in time, but it just isn’t very practical for now. I’ve spent as much as I’m comfortable with for the time being.

Comradery:  I’ve always gone to the gym to train, not to socialize. But I must say I’ve met some really cool people and made good friends at places I’ve trained. I even landed a good job (back in the 90’s) through a direct result of networking at a gym.

Having said that, things have changed significantly over the years. It’s very common for trainees to put their earphones in and tune everyone out, making even short conversations much less common (in the USA, anyway). I’m not sure how many new friends I would really make if I was still training at a commercial gym.  But I still miss that aspect of commercial gyms.

Temperature: One of the biggest advantages of training in a commercial gym is a fairly reliable temperature range (assuming the management keeps the place heated/cooled). I’ve struggled with this just a little training at home in my current location (El Paso, TX). There are weeks of scorching heat during the summer and some really cold days during the winter. My garage isn’t insulated very well, so this has made working out a little challenging during certain times of the year.

These are the only things I really miss about commercial gyms. I’ve heard more than one person say he just doesn’t feel the energy or motivation when training at home. This was an adjustment for me as well, but I’ve never really had much trouble getting motivated to work out.

One Year of Garage Gym Training

Here’s my assessment after about a year of training at home: it’s pretty awesome! Every advantage I shared in the original post has been a big plus for me. And I think I’ll be more consistent with cardio training now that I have an elliptical machine in my garage (I used to have a really hard time getting motivated to go to the gym just for cardio). Getting my cardio in has become more important to me as I get older.

Below is a video I shot a few days ago. But before that, let me share some of the things I’ve added to the gym since I started:

Inexpensive Garage Gym Upgrades/Additions:

Trap Bar: This has been a great investment. I’ve always wanted to train with one of these–great for some variation in deadlifting and for farmer’s walks.

Kettlebell: It’s not always easy to find these used. But a 40-pounder is a pretty good deal on Amazon, especially if you are a prime member (free shipping).

EZ Curl Bar: I prefer this to a straight bar for curls and “skull crushers.”

Clamp Collars: These are much easier to use than the old wire versions.

Weight Rack: I spent a few bucks to get some of the weights off the floor.

Used Plates: I bought (and restored) 300 lb. of used plates for about half of what they would cost new.

Elliptical Machine: I found a really nice, fully functional Precor machine (on Craigslist) for a fraction of what it would cost new (or even refurbished).