Have you ever gone house-hunting for a home to rent using nothing but Google Street View and Craigslist? Me neither… that is up until 3 months ago in a state of near desperation. I can’t count how many times I called up a homeowner a mere THREE days after they posted a listing to hear, “Oh, the house has already been rented.”
So, when I came across a listing for a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house, I pounced on the opportunity to rent it simply because:
1. It had a yard for my dog.
2. It had a 2-car garage for the Garage Gym of My Dreams
3. It had no HOA so we can drop all the weights we wanted.
We knew NOTHING about this Colorado house other than what we could discern from Google Street View. Yet, faster than you could say “3…2…1…GO,” we had called the property manager and filled & faxed out a renters application simply because we NEEDED that 2-car garage!!!
And now that we have the space, here is what we’re envisioning: A power rack, barbells and weights, a platform, rings, pullup bar(s), kettlebells, box jumps, a small area for mobility WOD and foam rolling…
The real challenge will be deciding which equipment we can do the most with given the small amount of space.
View From Garage Door
Please note: There is no room for a car in the 2-car garage! In fact, The Rules are that only the following may be stored in the garage:
- Bikes and boards used for transportation
- Gym equipment
- Tools used to fix bikes or make gym equipment
Top View
And here is the rest of the Garage Gym Wishlist. The power rack, barbells, and weights are absolutely essential. If I can do nothing else in that gym, I atleast need to be able to squat, bench, deadlift, press, and powerclean. Next would be a set of gymnast rings – most everything I can do on a pullup bar, I can do on rings and then some. My last essential item is a sled for conditioning… I already have cash set aside specifically for it! I think I’ll be able to do A LOT with just these items. But, just for fun here are the other things we dream of eventually having:
If you have a garage gym, I’d love to hear what your Essentials are. What items do you use the most? The least?
Awesome Jess, good luck with the dream gym. The power rack is definitely the most essential. Things to consider: safety bar spacing, (Louie Simmons’ rack has very incremental spacing) Height of the rack, weight of the rack, pull- up bar attachment, and whether or not it has to be bolted into the floor. My rack is free standing but has attachments on either side to store plates so it’s pretty stable, even when doing kipping pull ups on it. I also drilled holes into the other side of the rack and installed a climbers hang board. Highly recommend that. Oh, almost forgot but make sure it has some way to easily attach stretch bands. If you remember the rack at CF Love has a platform connected to the rack so their is no way to easily slip bands underneath the base. Kind of a bumer.
Not that you need it anymore, but http://www.padmapper.com/ might have helped with your house hunting – it’s a GMaps+Craigslist+other toys mashup.
The gym looks fantastic. I’ll also have a 2-car garage in a couple weeks, and I want to gym it up a bit, too. I’m thinking bouldering area, outdoor gear stashing, and … well, I don’t know what else yet. Hoping I’ll still be able to get the car in there, though – we’ll see.
Also, you seem way better at SketchUp than me – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sellout42/3650445066/in/photostream (plans for bouldering in the low-ceilinged basement at my last place).
Oh, yeah… I’m familiar with PadMapper. I like it and, yes, we used it.
Your sketchup for your garage bouldering gym is awesome! That’d be so rad to have that in your garage. I, too, was hoping we would be able to fit our car in just ONE side of our 2-car garage. But between bikes and lawn care stuff, barbells and power racks, something had to give!
just found your blog today and wooooohoooo! score for me! love everything so far. i’m not a member of a cross fit gym; i did do a one month stint last summer, but after doing my budget, i realized that it wasn’t in the cards for me. i’d been weightlifting for about two years, so i already had a good foundation of form and technique. but by following crossfit.com, blogs, Facebook, etc, i can get all the workouts i need for free! i’ve also been putting together a basement gym in my house so i can workout whenever i want. here is what i have:
lots of weight plates – 45×2, 35×2, 25×2, 10×4, 5×6, 2.5×4. along with a squat rack/bench press rack, oly bar, curl bar, some clamps and a bench (which i hate; i’m in the market for a new one), these were all scored for only $200 off craigslist!!!
a pair of 10# bumpers. the floor was getting beat up from me dropping 200# worth of bar/plates. the bumpers are awesome. i now feel confident dropping bars from OHS and cleans; the bumpers are always the biggest plates on the bar (even when i have a 45 or 35 plate on it as well) so they always take the impact w the floor when i drop the bar.
a box for jumping (http://josephhinson.com/2011/04/plans-for-building-a-20x24x30-crossfit-plyo-box-with-pdf-download/) my dad built this for me; i added some non-skid tape. LOVE it.
a hyper stand (http://www.amazon.com/Apex-Roman-Hyper-Extension-Bench/dp/B000ASB66O/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header) just got this last week for GHD sit ups. the price was right, even if it wasn’t as spiffy as the rogue equipment
a dip station (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Body-Press-Dip-Stand/dp/B000ICHPIK/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1326035948&sr=1-1)
kettlebells (some from amazon, some from craigslist) 10, 20, 25, 35, 55
pvc pipe for warm ups
fitness balls for ab stuff and stretching
a pull up bar (http://www.amazon.com/Iron-Total-Upper-Body-Workout/dp/B001EJMS6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1326036056&sr=1-1)
foam roller (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040EGNIU/ref=oh_o04_s00_i02_details?ie=UTF8&redirect=true)
i also have random dumbbells from when i was first starting out; 15 and 20# pairs
i got a ton of foam mat flooring too, to help make sections/stations and keep the floor safe.
Ummm… HELLO! Can I work out in your garage gym?
Seriously, sounds like you got a nice setup. We actually converted our garage into a gym because we knew our budget would be really tight while we make the transition to life out in Colorado so most of our equipment is either DIY’d or bought off craigslist! I can’t believe you got all those weights AND a power rack, oly bar, and bench for $200 – wicked good steal. Props to pops for building the plyo for you. I’m jealous of your dip station and hyper stand. WOW! I’m impressed. NICE WORK!!! P.S. – thanks for the link! Yeah, online shopping! 
and how could i forget…i also have an old-school concept rower! another craigslist score for $120. the seller used it for practice when he was on a crew team…back in the mid-80′s! no computer, no resistance, it’s pretty much a sliding seat, a bike wheel, different sized cogs for levels, and a chain with a handle on the end. but it’s a horse and gets the job done.