My home gym circa May 2018: martial arts and free weights

One of the first things we did when we moved to a house with a semi-finished basement was to declare that the basement would be a workout room.  And our primary exercise that time was taekwondo along with bodyweight exercises for DS5 (then) and I.  In addition, I had some lightly used exercise equipment (dumbbells, a weight bench, and a Total Gym exercise machine) and this became the start of the workout room.

First, we got 1" thick tatami foam puzzle type mats from IncStores that we laid on the floor.  The thickness was for normal martial arts (i.e. some impact, but we are not wrestlers or judoki.)  This was used to cover the larger portion of the basement floor in a checkerboard pattern (gray and black squares)  These mats were not difficult to cut with box cutters, so we cut them to fit the basement and the way the walls were laid out.  This was a good way of covering a concrete floor.  The way the basement is laid out, it is big enough for me to cover half a Songham (ATA style taekwondo) square for forms.  So as long as I start in an appropriate place, I can do a form with full extensions. (which I could not do at the old house).  So this floor gets used for TKD practice, forms, and drills, along with bodyweight exercises.

Taekwondo training gear

For Taekwondo we have a assembled a fairly extensive list of practice gear.  For my son and I, we both have our gear bags with uniforms, bag gloves, sparring gloves, foot pads, chest pads, and head gear.  We also have sang jae baang (nunchucks), ba maang ee (escrima sticks), and jaang baang (bo stick).  (we have declared that jaang baang is not for indoor use because of the ceiling).  But we also have a junior standing bag (Wavemaster weighted with 80 lb of sand in the base), a double kick pad (claps when struck correctly, now we have 2), a small target, large kick pad, and a pair of focus mitts.  The matted area is good enough for pretty much any standard or sparring drill.

For bodyweight exercises, we are used to this from taekwondo, but our real use is based on a fitness cards based on Stack 52 Strength decks. (review)  So (now) DS 7 and I will draw 7-10 cards (he uses both beginner and intermediate cards) and we will do them.  DD 4 also joins in and does her analogue of the exercises as well.

Weights and Total Gym

For weights, from my pre-grad school days I had a cheap dumbbell set (the standard 4x5lb weights, 4x3lb weights, 2 handles with spin locks for a total of 40lb of dumbbells).  I had added the bench when I moved to my apartment when first started working after grad school.  Again, back then running was my primary workout, then the Total Gym for cardio.  I was not trying too hard with the dumbbells, but I knew a few exercises from when I did a few sessions with a trainer back in grad school.  And while I was not so concerned about strength, I pretty much maxed these out on the stronger exercises (e.g. bench press) soon after getting these.  Combined with not having a good place for this in my old house, I did not use this much.

After moving to the new house, I added a pair of medicine balls (6 lb and 10 lb) to the mix.  These were good complements to the bodyweight exercise, as they could be used with pretty much any bodyweight exercise to add more of a challenge. In fall, I decided that I would use the winter to add strength to my conditioning and I purchased 4x10lb weights and additional handles, which more than doubled the weight I had and allowed for switching between heavy, medium, and low weight exercises much easier.  More recently, I got the weight tree for the plates (which used to live on the mat underneath the weight bench) and a lot more weight plates (taking advantage of coupons and a sale from Dick's sporting goods), improving both the maximum weight and the range of different exercises I could be set up for in a workout.  Another use of the weight plates is for conditioning.  I have a military grade Camelbak HAWK backpack that I will load with 20 lbs of plates for rucking when going on walks with my family (so what is good exercise for the kids is also good exercise for me).  One big thing, weight training has gotten much more interesting and enjoyable once I got enough weights for it to be a challenge.  Working with the 40lb dumbbell set was essentially a messed up conditioning workout.  I could not go fast enough for a proper conditioning workout, but there was not enough resistance to actually get stronger.

For exercise equipment, I had a Total Gym from many years ago.  It was an incline based equipment that I have had from my apartment days.  It was always lightly used, generally it got the most use during winter when I ran outside less than before.  And after kids it got a little problematic because the track that the pad rolls on is an obvious pinch hazard.  And I probably had it on its steepest (hardest) setting from basically the time I bought it, so it really only was good for making my muscles move, not really for building strength or endurance.  To give me conditioning equipment to go along with the strength equipment, I got a suspension trainer (no longer available when the dominant company, which will remain nameless, used to court system to push them out of the market).  Since we have a semi-finished basement, the beams in the ceiling were exposed and I used one of these to mount the suspension trainer.  Similarly to the bodyweight exercises, I have a set of suspension exercise cards from Stack 52 to provide variety in my routine. This takes over from the Total Gym as it is easier to set up the exercise to be more difficult even as I am getting cardio in from lots of reps (at the end of the day, these are slightly harder versions of bodyweight exercises, but not as hard as using my dumbbells, so I use this for cardio as I am doing a large number of reps.  With the Stack 52 cards I have a range of exercises for upper body, core, and lower body.  And I can generate a fairly long circuit for conditioning.

Rep Fitness Sandbag with 15lb and 35lbs in filler bags

To the TKD, bodyweight, and cardio equipment, I recently added a sand kettlebell (20 lb) and sandbags (currently set at 15 and 35 lbs).  These are in the category of freeweights and along with dumbbells, were the featured equipment in the book Push, Pull, Swing by Myatt Murphy published by Mens' Health. The goal of the book was to explain that strength came from three types of motions (push, pull, swing), across three planes of motion. And if you did this, you would have all muscles in the body engaged (the contrast would be isolation training focusing on specific muscles, which is the principle behind the exercise machines you see at fitness clubs and home gym equipment).  The comparison between this and the dumbbells is that they are more unstable, so in addition to lifting the weight, you have to deal with the instability of the sand.  A second advantage is that they are made of sand, so I don't worry as much as the kids hitting or tripping over them since they have some give compared to iron plates in my dumbbells.  More recently, I've been building up my strength training so that in addition to the obvious presses and lifts, I learned more complex moves such as cleans, presses, and swings so that I can use strength training (dumbbells, kettlebell, sandbags) in exercises that hit a wide range of muscles and types of motion simultaneously.  Again, I also have Stack 52 decks for dumbbells and kettlebells. While I don't think the randomness is useful here, I have used the cards, the Push, Pull, Swing book, and YouTube to learn how to do even technically difficult exercise that require stability of the cores along with strength.

Assembled 50 lb Rep Fitness sandbag

So, the current state of the home gym.  I know have 132 lbs of plates, and I am up to 86 lbs on bench presses and squats (the hightest weight exercise I do)  The dumbbells, kettlebell, and sandbag also  makes conditioning workouts more time efficient than the running or Total Gym used to be for me, with the suspension trainer and a range of kettlebell swings filling in for cardio.

I can see adding another sand kettlebell to round out my medicine ball and kettlebell weights, and I have room to add more weight to my sandbags.  My son has started using freeweights too.  I have him doing bodyweight exercises with the medicine ball (and I join in using the kettlebell) so this adds resistance. There are a few exercises designed for the kettlebell that medicine balls also work with so this will add to strength while maintaining stability and balanced development of many muscle groups at a time.  To add to the bodyweight exercises, I recently purchased an agility ladder, which both of the kids enjoy immensely.

Product setup: CAP Barbell Standard Plate and Bar storage rack

The basement workout room had a problem.  I had a 40 lb dumbbell set and an adjustable bench for many years (I think I had it pre-grad school).  Last fall I finally got additional weight plates since it was getting too easy. But now there were too many plates on the floor, and we were worried about the 3 yr old kicking the weights (she liked to play acting like the bench was a sales stall).  Solution: get a weight tree.

We got the rack unassembled.  Included were:

• Main support.  
• Two legs.  
• Four standard plate holders.  
• Two long 90mm bolts, 
• six 50mm bolts.  
• 6 nylon ocktight nuts. 
• 17 washers (one spare).  
• One 6 mm allen wrench.  
• Instructions and "please call for help before declaring that this product does not work because you could not put it together properly notice"

Plate and bar storage rack parts

CAP says you do not need additional tools, but I don't see anyway that I could have generated the required torque on the locking nuts with the included allen wrench. So I supplied a 6mm allen wrench and a wrench to work the nuts and bolts.

Tightening locking nuts

The order of assembly is to start with the legs on the main support.  Next are the four plate holders.  This is where it really helps to have additional hands, as the bolts want to fall out before you start putting on nuts.

Adding on standard (1") plate holders

Assembled, the legs splay out 33".  The back of the main support to the line drawn between the ends of the legs is 21".  The height of the rack itself is 31".  Of particular importance is 33" for the legs. This gives it a wide base of support, wider than other plate trees so it feels very stable.

Assembled CAP Barbell Standard plate and bar storage rack.

In addition to the four plate holders, there is room for two standard dumbbell bars on top, and a post that is meant for a standard barbell bar.

With dumbbell bars and weight plates

As it is, it holds a pair of dumbbell handles and I have a second pair laying across the legs (i.e. off the ground).  It feels very stable, and well able to manage the weights I have, as well as my next planned purchase of weights.  Each bar looks like they can hold 8 plates if I am careful, and 7 plates each easily.  I like the fact that it has room for the dumbbell handles and gets them off the floor and organized as well. And the fact that the base is wide discourages the kids from getting too close (and I'm not worried about the whole thing tipping over.

Overall, easy to assemble. Feels solid after tightening everything up. Feels stable.  I like the dumbbell handle holders (not a part of alternative racks).  Certainly good for dumbbell use.  I can see that if someone lifts a standard barbell, four plate holders may not be enough and you could run out of space quickly.

Product unboxing and setup: Rep Fitness Medium Sandbag

Rep Fitness is currently offering a sale on sandbags, and I was looking at the fact that I was on pace to maxing out my strength equipment so I was beginning to plan what I was going to do next.  I currently have dumbbells, medicine balls, a sand kettlebell, and suspension trainers.  I was not interested in barbells because of their size and I think with a pre-schooler in the house I thought it would be a hazard.  So sandbags seemed like a good addition as it is two handed, but not as dangerous in the house as a barbell.

Rep Fitness Medium Sandbag with 50 lbs sand

The Rep Fitness bag is essentially a reinforced duffle bag with two filler bags to hold the sand.  They are supposed to be 25 lb and 50 lb, but I filled them to 15 and 35 (i.e. I used one 50 lb bag of construction sand to fill them with).  Like all sand based weights, the Rep Fitness is shipped without sand, so I needed to fill it.

The box with the sandbag, along with the sand, Homer (Home Depot) bucket, and a scale for filling the filler bags

First step is opening the box.  The bag comes with two filler bags that are intended to span the length of the bag. Note that this is different than some of the cheaper ones, which would have more square filler bags.

Shipping contents.

The next step was to pour sand into the bags.  I poured the construction sand into a bucket, and poured from the bucket into the filler bag.

Loading sand into the filler bags.

To start out filling the bag, I would hold the bag standing with the opening open, and folding the top over the outside to keep the bag open while I was pouring in.

Bag with 15 lbs of sand

After filling in the bag, I closed it folded it to remove as much air as possible, then folded it down (there is velcro on the inside of the bag, and velcro to fold the top down one.)

Folding down the top after putting in sand.

After closing off the bag, I shaked it so the sand that was in the bag could shift naturall from side-to-side.  Next I filled up the other bag, then laid the bags down and spread the sand out on both filler bags.  I then used duct tape to further seal the end and keep the end folded down.

50 lbs of filled sandbag

Filled filler bags with sand spread across the length

Filled sandbag

The bag has seven handles.  One pair on the ends, one pair vertical, one pair oriented horizontally, and one centerline handle.  The first time I tried to do a clean with the bag I smacked my nose, which I gather from videos is not uncommon.  

When I only have 35 lbs, the bag is harder to manage than I expect comparing it to using dumbbells.  And when the bag is only partially full, there is a lot of flopping around, so cleans and swings tend to fly around more than expected, making workouts harder.

I have used it for a few workouts.  I especially use it when I want something heavy (compared to my 20 lb sand kettlebell) but my kids are around, because sand is not as rough as metal.  I use it for clean, deadlifts, bicep curls, shouldering, and rotations.  The big difference compared to dumbbell weights is the fact that weight is not concentrated on the handle, so all dynamic movements have a big inertia component that I have to fight to stop a dynamic move. 

All in all, a good addition to the home gym. It provides a different type of load, and I don't mind having it on the floor where the kids might kick it as the sand is not an issue.

With this, and the sand kettlebell, and the dumbbells, I have the full set of equipment that Myatt Murphy describes in his book Push, Pull, Swing: The Fat-burning, Muscle-building Dumbbell, Kettle-bell, & Sandbag Program.  So I will be reviewing that book soon.

Product review: Stack 52 strength (bodyweight), dumbbell, and suspension trainer workout cards

Currently, my main exercise has been taekwondo.  And on the side I also run.  As part of taekwondo training, we use a number of bodyweight exercises as part of warmup.  I've wanted to start doing workouts at home, but I was not terribly interested in joining a gym, as strength workouts for me were a secondary workout.  But I really did not have much variety and lacked a trainer (other than the workouts we do in taekwondo class).  The Stack 52 workout cards proved to be a great way to both try new exercises, see how they are done, and generate workouts so they don't get old.

The Stack 52 cards have a series of 52 exercises per deck.  Some of the exercises are familiar, but then there are variations on a theme.  The thing is (and the weightlifting types already know this) that small variations in form will change which muscles are the most challenged.  So the 52 exercises, if done correctly, will challenge different muscles so they are in fact different.  There are three levels of difficulty (beginner, intermediate, advanced) and the primary muscle groups are identified.  However, these are not isolation exercises, so you will not get diagrams that identify specific muscles.

The Strength cards work as promised.  I use them to create random sets for warmup workouts.  And they are fun.  My kids (3 and 7) like to use them with me (when I'm with my kids I only use the beginner and intermediate cards).

With the suspension trainer deck I was in a similar position of not knowing many exercises.  One thing that is different about the suspension trainers is that the exercises have different positions: facing the mount, facing away, on your back facing up, on your front facing down.  So it is not convenient to constantly switch.  When I use the deck I would pull up cards, then I would reorder them in groups so that I would only do minor changes in between exercises, and major position changes as few times as possible.  But I still see a lot of value as I learned how to use my suspension trainer in new ways.  Here especially, the videos that are linked on the cards via QR code were very useful.

The dumbbell cards were probably the least useful set.  I quickly learned that there really needed to be an indication of how much weight should be used, low, medium, high (where low medium and high could be defined by the number of reps you can do a specific exercise)

Great for quick workouts. The many cards add to the variety in my warmups and for conditioning. I find that I can do the basic and intermediate cards, but the advanced workouts stretch me, and having them mingled keeps things interesting. My 7 yr old son loves them to. When we have workouts together, we use the beginner cards, and he flips over 7 and he leads us in the exercise. My 3 yr old daughter also likes to join in. She looks at her cards and does her own thing while I do the workout for real. I also enjoy taking these on travel. I usually take the extension deck and use these for morning and evening workouts in my hotel room or in their exercise room.

I already had the Strength Stack 52 cards and got these to add more variety to my workouts with dumbbells and suspension trainers (I have not broken open the resistance band or kettlebells decks yet, because at this point those are supplements for me). Note: I primarily run and do martial arts, so these decks for for strength and conditioning, but these are not my main workouts.

PROS: variety and instruction. For me, whose primary workout is not strength training, I don't have good access to trainers who could give me a workout and instruction, so these cards are good for giving me ideas on what exercises to do and basic instruction on how to do them. I had a set of dumbbells before getting this deck, but I really did not do much with them or my suspension trainer. These decks made both of them interesting.

CONS:
1. Unlike the bodyweight exercises of the Strength decks, the dumbbell and suspension exercises can actually require setup between exercises. So while I would use the bodyweight exercises in whatever random order they came up in, with the dubmbell and suspension decks, after I flipped the cards, I would reorder the cards to be in a natural order to reduce the setup (body position, position in the suspension handles, weights on dumbbells).
2. the dumbbell exercises probably require a range of weights (i.e. a low, medium, and heavy set) as these exercises are not meant to be at the same weight (e.g. you would not do circles with extended arms at the same weight that you would do presses or other high weight exercises) Given that part of the appeal of these decks is for those who do not have a large repertoire of exercises, it would have been useful to classify the dumbbell exercises by the type of dumbbell needed (I use light, medium, and heavy as these are specific to the person, and you can help people define them appropriately)

Overall, for general fitness and conditioning, I recommend the bodyweight cards without reservation.  I think that the suspension strap cards also work out pretty well.  I don't think the dumbbell cards would be helpful if your goal is strength or building mass, but could be useful as part of a general conditioning routine if you have a few pairs of hex dumbbell's available to you.

My kids, also give the bodyweight cards an unqualified endorsement.

Parenting Month 89: competition in youth

These past two month was dominated by competitions.  T went to a regional Taekwondo tournament, participated in a piano competition, and earned his black belt in Taekwondo. Along the way, we saw a lot of the culture around kids competitions.

Receiving instructions prior to sparring.

T went to a regional tournament last month. This was his second competitive tournament (meaning they award places) and much larger and more prestigious than the other one we went to in fall. But we are not competitive, so we signed up for the novice division. (as opposed to competitive). He did well, we were not expecting everything when we realized that most of the boys in his ring were in the ATA leadership program, but he got a 3rd place medal in sparring (which goes along with this 1st place medals in forms and weapons from his last tournament.)  He especially liked the fact that he met the American Taekwondo Association  Grand Master (only one of them!) and got his medals and belt signed.

Medals signed by Grand Master In Ho Lee

One of the things we noticed was that even though this was the novice division (as opposed to competitive, where points count over the year), most of the boys clearly had tournament experience.  The parents were very sophisticated, with several of them keeping track of judges points.  The boys were also reasonably sophisticated with outcomes. The boys were all aware that a "Spirit" award implied that they did not get any of the place awards in any category. Some of the boys were not interested at all in collecting their Spirit medals.

We also noticed that many of the "novice" boys were clearly serious about competing.  We saw a former state champion (meaning they had the most tournament points when competing in the "competitive" category in tournaments last year).  Several of the boys clearly had trained above their belt level (this was a red belt ring, and above belt level means they used moves and forms that were part of the black belt curriculum.  And our thought is why would they sign up for a novice division when they clearly usually were competitive. And if it was they were worried about being in a high prestige tournament so going novice would make the competition easier, the fact that so many others did the same thing made that fail.

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Piano Competition hosted by Chatham College

The reason we have T (and someday A) enter competitions is not because he will win. But we want him to get a sense of how good people other than the ones they saw every day could be. And that means that we do this so he can connect with the best people in real life.  And if he is going to compete with any seriousness, that means we would enter the competitive rings. He may not win, but at this point we are pretty sure that he will win his share of things as he grows up. But he will be tested in the best way possible, where he can see and be in contact with others and get an idea of how much work it takes to be very good at something. And hopefully realize that being very good at something is both possible and enjoyable.  Whether or not medals and prizes are involved.

Medals and belt signed by the ATA Grandmaster In Ho Lee