Well I finally reached the limit on what I could accomplish on my door mounted pull-up bar, and since it’s winter here, using the rings on the large oak out front isn’t always feasible, let alone safe. I needed something sturdy that could support me (Still 214 lbs) and wouldn’t break the bank. So the search was on, yet again, for the best solution.

I was up early this morning and was thinking about building an outdoor pull-up/ring station and began a search on google. After about an hour I had compiled this list of instructions and videos to help in my quest. The links below range from good to ridiculous and everywhere in between (Some are just plain dangerous). I have not tried any of the designs and recommend you use your head before using any of them. After reviewing the list, my best suggestion is that if you suck at building stuff or your unsure about those abilities at all, you might want to buy a bar from a company. 

If and when I decide to build my own, I’m gonna make sure it’s very sturdy, uses a lot of metal and more than likely uses welds to hold the thing together (I’m not a welder, I’ll have to hire someone). I might even try the stuff made by speed rail, but haven’t decided yet.

I don’t think I would use any bar attached directly to the ceiling unless I had very sturdy beams. The ones that attach to ceiling joists scare me, because I don’t think the lower portion of the joists are designed to carry weight like the tops are.

Anyway if you’re Mr. Build it, some of these links might help, while others will make you laugh and wonder how long it was until someone ended up in the hospital.

Year two of my CrossFit Garage Gym Christmas buyers guide is here. Not much has changed over the last year except that I found a bunch of links on Amazon that sell the same stuff I use everyday and at lower prices than when I bought my gear. Plus I added photos as well so you have an idea of what you'll be buying. If you're unsure as to what to buy that elite athlete in your life here is a pretty good start. Oh and if you don't have anyone to buy for I am always open to free gifts from strangers. 

Well I’ve been at my official training for next years “CrossFit Games Open” for a week now and I’m hurting already. Mayra, true to form spent countless hours devising a workout schedule, which targets my weaknesses (everything). But the two obvious standouts are running and muscle-ups. Tackling the running is easy, I need to do a lot more of it. As for the muscle-ups, I just don’t have a place to mount the rings in the house; my ceilings just aren’t high enough. Currently I do ring dips and ring push-ups in a doorway where my pull-up bar is mounted, but because of the lack of height, there is no way to even attempt a muscle up.

So the search began for the best solution to my dilemma.

Well I finally got some squat rack stands! 

On Christmas I got one more piece to my ever-growing garage gym. When I woke up Christmas there was a box sitting next to the fireplace that was not there the previous night, man was I excited.

At Mayra’s request I had given her my Christmas wish list in November and squat stands were on that list. I also went one step further and found specific items that I wanted and where the best deals were. I did a little research online and found these racks on Ebay. They are made by Valor athletics and had decent reviews. The reviews said they were sturdy, plus they could double as a bench press (No bench included) plus they had a small weight tree for stacking weight. Anyway, I didn’t want her spending a bunch of money on racks and they looked like a great deal. Since they were listed at about $170 bucks they were well within the Christmas budget we had given each other for presents.