I’ve taken a break from organized Crossfit and revived my garage gym where I first experimented with the exercise regimen/cult back in the spring of 2008. Back then I lacked most of the basic equipment, but over time through some investments in weights, an Olympic bar, a kettle bell, gymnastic rings, jump rope, etc. I was able to do most of the workouts of the day posted on the Crossfit main site.
In 2011, after a decent finish at the CRASH-B sprints, I wanted to stay in shape and find an alternative to the monotony of the ergometer. So I joined Crossfit Cape Cod (then the only Crossfit certified gym or “box” on the peninsula) and found that working out in the company of other like-minded hardcore lunatics was a lot more fun that suffering alone in the cold on my garage floor. The husband/wife team of Mike and Sarah Lee did a great job teaching me the essentials of Crossfit, the various lifts and movements essential to good form, strong progress, and avoiding injury.
This past spring, shortly after my second anniversary with Crossfit Cape Cod, I realized my commuting schedule to New York City was keeping me out of the gym for most of the week. So I let my membership lapse and cleaned out the garage for weekend use when I’m back from the city. (I have a small gym with an erg in NYC, enough to keep me on my toes, but no weights).
I’m fortunate to already own the most expensive piece of equipment: the ergometer. I have about 400 pounds of weight and an Olympic bar — more than enough for my abilities and a squat rack so I can shoulder the weight from the right height for back squats and push presses. I found some instructions online on how to build my own plywood box for box jumps and glued and screwed one together by myself one morning in June. I don’t have a decent pull up bar, but that is no great loss as I try to avoid hanging on the bar after popping my bicep off the bone in 2012 doing toes-to-bars.
