Fitting Fitness into Life: Dad Shredded

I’ve been involved in sports and fitness ever since I can remember.

I first got a glance at sports when my dad bought me and my brother a baseball glove and we would play outside for hours just tossing the ball back and forth working on our hand-eye coordination.

That was just the beginning…

As time went by, me and my brother started getting involved in more outdoor activities such as running, soccer, and other sports.

Always trying to outdo each other…

As we started getting older we fell in love with fitness and the physical changes that our bodies went through as we got stronger.

Once calisthenics got too easy our next step was the school gym.

Throughout high school and college, access to the gym is easy since it’s available while you’re at school.

However, as we grow older, most of us put our health on the back burner because we have jobs, kids, etc, but I wasn’t about to let that happen.

=====================

How the Garage Gym Started

=====================

So I started buying secondhand equipment from Craigslist and other online marketplaces.

I slowly started accumulating equipment inside my storage unit (aka garage).

I was able to squeeze in workouts and it got the job done, but I wanted to create an environment I enjoyed without feeling crammed.

And I also wanted to save my parking spot so I didn’t have to freeze walking to my car during the winter months.

So I started cleaning up the garage and getting rid of stuff I had no use for with the goal that one day it would become the garage gym of my dreams and not a storage facility.

Then one day while watching Shark Tank, I saw the PRx folding rack and my eyes opened wide.

That’s what I needed…

Owning a regular rack would take up too much space and wouldn’t allow me to park my car so the PRx was the answer for what I wanted.

I painted my garage walls, found every wooden stud on my wall, and decided to hang as much equipment as I could so I wouldn’t take up so much floor space.

The garage gym came out so good I even impressed myself lol.

I’ve never been a handy guy but this was easier to put together than I thought.

=====================

Brings the Family Together

=====================

Having a garage gym has been one of the best things I’ve done for myself and my family.

For me, it’s a place to continue taking care of myself and control stress so I can stay as healthy as I can.

I see it as an investment in my health and my family.

If I can’t stay healthy, others in my family who depend on me, are directly affected.

It has also set an example for my kids.

They love to go in there to watch me workout and sometimes even join me.

My 10 year old son has begun working out consistently doing calisthenics and his biggest accomplishment to date is 22 unbroken pushups.

My 7 year old daughter on the other hand loves to roller skate in circles inside the garage.

Hey I’ll take it, it’s a form of exercise.

And she wouldn’t be able to do that if my garage was crammed with junk.

The 18 year old is more into video games but he likes the way the gym came out.

The wife is happy that she’ll soon be able to park her car inside the garage as well for the winter.

This has also inspired me to create a fitness blog to help others in their fitness journey (http://ShreddedDad.com)

=====================

Free to do whatever I want, when I want

=====================

What I love most about having a garage gym is that I can work out whenever I want.

If I’m busy in the morning I’ll work out in the afternoon.

If I feel like working out at 6am, I can just open the door and I’m there.

I don’t have to wait on anyone to finish using a piece of equipment and I can blast my radio to any station I want.

I own the damn thing.

And once my kids get older, they’ll be able to thrown some iron around as well.

At 40 years of age, I’m in the best shape of my life because I can’t make any excuses.

The garage gym is there waiting for me to abuse it.

I don’t have to drive anywhere, I don’t have a gym membership, I don’t have to worry about the January rush to the gym filled with new year resolutions.

=====================

Start Your Own Garage Gym

=====================

For those who are looking to start their own garage gym, I would say get rid of all the junk that’s taking up space before anything else.

Many people don’t think they have space for a gym but that’s because it’s cluttered with stuff you might use once a year.

Trash it! Have a garage sale and use that money to buy gym equipment.

Once you see how much room you have to work with, you’ll notice how much bigger your garage looks.

Use your walls to your advantage and hang as much equipment as you can.

Use social media to look at other peoples’ garage gym so you can get ideas (follow me on IG @ dadshredded)

Then invest in equipment that will last you for years to come.

After all, you only have one body to live in.

Take care of it.

==========

Social Media

==========

IG: dadshredded

YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaDa57ymCY9-MrSs-JdQ3kg

Blog: http://ShreddedDad.com