Our fitness journeys started a little differently, but both eventually led us to the same place.

I had put on about 40 pounds over six years and realized I needed to make a change. I joined a CrossFit gym and quickly got hooked. I enjoyed the workouts, but what really kept me coming back was the community and being around people who pushed themselves to improve every day.

For my wife, fitness started with occasional trips to a commercial gym during college. While she enjoyed working out, it wasn't until she was introduced to CrossFit that she discovered a love for barbell training. Learning how to deadlift, squat, and bench press opened up a whole new side of fitness and sparked a desire to become stronger. In 2020, while caring for sick patients, she became even more focused on her own health and wellness. She wanted to make sure she was healthy enough to show up for her patients, her family, and herself.

Training at home has given us something that feels impossible to get more of these days—time.

Since we both work from home, having a garage gym saves us 30–40 minutes every day that would otherwise be spent driving to and from a gym. At the end of the workday, we simply move the cars out, turn on the mini-split, and our gym is ready to go.

The convenience has been a game changer. We don't have to worry about traffic, crowded gyms, or waiting for equipment. For my wife especially, it removes the stress of trying to squeeze a workout into the busiest hours of the day while competing for machines or waiting for someone to finish a set. The gym is always available, and that makes consistency much easier.

Over time, our garage gym has become more than just a place to work out—it's become a space where we can invest in our health together.

The first part of 2026 was focused on maintaining our fitness while we transformed our garage gym. We reorganized the space, painted it, and added new equipment to create a place that we genuinely enjoy spending time in.

Earlier this year, I also launched a small personal training business. It's not my full-time career—just a passion project that I work on outside of my regular job. Being able to train friends and family in our home gym has been incredibly rewarding. I enjoy helping people build confidence, get stronger, and realize that fitness doesn't have to be intimidating.

As for our personal goals, we're both focused on becoming healthier and stronger versions of ourselves. My goal is to reduce my body fat percentage to around 15% by the end of the year and maintain it while continuing to build strength. My wife is focused on improving her cardiovascular endurance, getting stronger, and hopefully setting some new personal records in her lifts.

At the end of the day, our biggest goal is simply to continue building a lifestyle that allows us to stay healthy, active, and capable for years to come.