The Garage Part I

The Garage

By Alex Vasquez

There is a spirit which lies within each one of us. It is a creative burning drive to be unique, exceptional. At the heart of this Spirit is the firm belief that greatness lies deep within each of us. This greatness is something that we are born with. A pathway to greatness exists. There is truth. A magic elixir. A way for everyone, regardless of sex, race or creed to achieve more than they ever thought possible. This is the belief that all things worth having are worth working for. And once people come to accept this they will also come to see that all things are possible.

And so our journey begins...

This series is intended to help beginning Renegades get a foothold in what seems to be an incredibly complex way of training.

The pathway to greatness does not require money. Hard work is the cornerstone of achievement. Hard work also forms the cornerstone of all Renegade Training programs. If you train hard and smart you will achieve.

Performance Training does not require access to huge, pristine training facilities. No need for multi thousand-dollar chrome machines. In fact there really isn’t a need for any machines. A couple would be helpful but you can begin your own garage gym for under $200, if you search around you can start for under $100. No start up fees, hidden costs or cancellation charges. Despite working as a trainer at a couple very nice fitness centers I would never train at one. I have been training in my garage since I began and I love it. I would venture to guess that most of my fellow colleagues are also garage trainers. Why?

In an article Louie Simmons wrote he stated that the first thing a gym needs is... a cable crossover... er I mean Attitude. Yes ATTITUDE. This is a quality that is lacking at every fitness center I’ve ever visited. You can’t use lifting chalk. Trainers are always telling you that what you are doing, be it squats or the unusual Turkish Getup, is dangerous. You have to wait to do your squats behind some moron doing barbell curls in the squat rack. You get stuck watching the hot fitness chicks in spandex doing the, well, their whole workout. Then you have to somehow muster up some intensity while listening to Brittany Spears. It’s enough to make any serious strength and power athlete want to quit training and start sweating to the oldies.

What you are left with is either finding a small hard-core gym or starting your own. I started my own. I call it The Garage. Cold dusty cement floors. Plenty of room for overhead exercises. You can do chin-ups from the rafters. You can listen to the music you want as loud as you want. Hell, the wheelbarrow is already out there. You can even decorate your gym (no pastel colors though). I have some inspiring photo’s of people to help get me going, like Louie Simmons squatting 900 lbs or a ripped and freaky Lou Ferrigno. The garage presents an unbelievable opportunity to create your own piece of Renegade heaven filled with as much attitude as you can muster.

Remember the first thing your gym needs is free.

Since I mentioned music earlier I wanted to add my favorite workout albums, in no particular order.