The Theory of the Sweet Science
The Theory of the Sweet Science
Aswell as participating in boxing I have also tried to maintain and incorporate a reasonable level of weight training into my program. For the most part I solely focused my weight training efforts on compound exercises as they are the best for achieving superior levels of strength. To be even more specific there are only 2 main exercises I perform. Bench press for overall upper body strength and squats for power in the legs, but they also help with overall body strength. I now do all my weight training at home with a very simple A—frame made from steel and I have combined that with an Olympic weight set.
For years I did all my weight training in a commercial gym, but I found a few major problems with that arrangement. After a day’s work, the last thing you feel like doing is jumping in the car at 6pm and fighting traffic whilst heading off to the gym. There’s also:
But worst of all is that this takes time out of your day and takes you're focus off training efficiently, quickly and effectively. I see the main attraction to gym’s as having to do with the variety of equipment they have on offer, but if you just stick to compound exercises and free weights you won't need any of that because a home gym will set you up very well indeed.
Citing all the problems mentioned above, I set about making a simple home gym. To the right you can see a picture of my set—up. It's very simple but also very effective on many levels. I’ve had this thing for eight years and in that time I haven’t had to waste time traveling to a gym or pay a cent in gym fees.
Costs for setting it up
So, all up it cost me about a $1000. Last time I checked it was about $10 for a one off visit to a commercially run gym. Let’s say you weight train 80 times a year. 80 × 10 = $800, then add petrol costs for the car to get to and from the gym. That simple A—frame and Olympic weight set has paid for itself many times over. I consider it an investment because it has saved me a lot of money, hassle and time.
Obviously squats and the bench press are what the frame is set—up for. But, you can turn the frame onto one side, hop in the middle and perform some dips for upper body strength. Another exercise is to sit the Olympic bar across the top rungs and go about performing some pull-ups, which again are very good for upper body conditioning.
The A-frame is made from 5mm rectangle box steel with two sets of notches to hold the bar in two different positions. The top rung is for squats and the bottom is for the bench press. I’m about 6’ foot tall, so I made the frame to cater to my height only. The base is 1m × 1m. The height is roughly 170cm. To stiffen the frame I added the rear bar about half way up the main frame and that serves to stabilize the whole structure.
I’ve also constructed it so that it’s bolted together, to be more specific, the base is one piece and the A—frame bolts onto that. The reason I made it so that it’s bolted together is because if I change my location it can be taken apart and moved about easily, I don’t have to leave it behind.
Given that I work out at home alone, I need a safety mechanism to take the bar when I fail to complete a lift on the bench press so as to avoid having the weight crush my chest or neck. I adjust the ropes to allow the bar to just touch my chest when it's at its lowest point when performing the bench press. To put my mind at ease I regularly perform a quick inspection of the ropes to make sure they are in good condition. The ropes are just hung over the top rungs where the bar would sit if you were performing squats.
