Is Tabata Training Effective?

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I’m sure by now you’ve heard of tabata training, or as I like to call it, 4 minutes of suck. In 96, Dr. Izumi Tabata conducted a study that showed both anaerobic and aerobic systems were improved with high-intensity intermittent training, while aerobic exercise(chronic cardio) only improves aerobic systems. That’s great and all, but is tabata training effective? You can check out the study here, but what it boils down to is that intense bursts of activity are better for your overall fitness than drawn out, extended periods of low/moderate intensity cardio.

hot women posing

image search as yet to let me down

So why would you ever do anything else!? Gyms and tracks should be full of people sprinting like the zombie apocalypse just started. Signs over treadmills should now read “please do not use longer than 4 minutes”. Anyone who wanted to go on a light jog or run a marathon should be taunted and have rocks thrown at them. Am I right? Put down your stone for a second and don’t be so hasty. Since when has there ever been a magic bullet for anything, much less fitness and fat loss.

First off, all most people are doing during their so called “tabata training” is replicating the interval, not the actual training. Any tabata training done with resistance bands, kettle-bells, or medicine balls is not the actual tabata protocol. It’s hard as fuck, but it isn’t tabata. The weight begins as sub-maximal, and turns into maximal towards the end, but in true tabata protocol, each effort has to be at maximal intensity. Maximal intensity, as in “ohgodicantbreathi’mgonnapuke” intensity.

Second off, Tabata’s research had nothing to do with fat loss or metabolism, or post-exercise calorie expenditure. It only looked at the effect of HIIT on VO2 max and anaerobic capacity. Anyone that claims more than that is wrong.

Lastly off, a lot of people tend to think that just because the tabata protocol happens to be better at increasing VO2 max and anaerobic capacity in a given amount of time that moderate intensity cardio is not good at all. Not true. During Dr. Tabata’s study, the moderate cardio group also saw a significant increase in their V02 capacity, which means they got more fit.

Should you incorporate tabata training into your routine? Absolutely! The tabata interval is an intense 4 minutes for sure, but don’t bash the chronic cardio group too hard. I actually enjoy a trail run every now and then. There is no perfect routine. Build yours based on your overall goals and you can hardly go wrong.

 


Front Squat vs Back Squat

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When I first began working out in my garage gym, I wasn’t able to do squats at all. Until I built my bad ass squat stand I repented by drinking five Bloody Mary’s and cranking out rep after rep of body weight squats and dead lifts. Once I had my squat stand though, I started squatting like a good boy and haven’t looked back since. I was near fanatical about Crossfit at the time and wouldn’t vary front the main page WOD if I had a gun to my head. I never really understood how front squat were any better than back squats, but I didn’t really search for the answers either. So what exactly are the benefits of front squats?

She squats more than you

Front Squat vs Back Squat

Besides the obvious difference of having the weight rest across your shoulders instead of your back, there are a few other key points to consider.

Back Squat:

1. Works your entire lower and middle body. Indispensable for balancing your strength through your hips and legs. It works the quadriceps, gluteal muscles, adductor muscles, hamstrings, erector spinae and abdominal muscles.

2. Glute dominant. Or at least it’s supposed to be. Many heavy lifters are quad dominant even on back squats because they have weak posterior chains. This can stem from partial squats and weak hamstrings

Front Squat:

1. Quad dominant. But only slightly so. Like I said before, most heavy lifters are quad dominant anyway, so why would you want to exaggerate the problem?

2. More technically difficult. The back squat is hard enough to master, and the front squat even more so. To maintain proper form, less weight is used, which decreases any slight benefit your quads might get even if you don’t have weak glutes (which you do).

The Journal of Strength Conditioning and Research did some….research, and guess what they found? There was almost no difference in the front squat vs back squat. The only difference was that the front squat caused less pressure on the knee than back squats, and was only slightly more effective at targeting the quads. The less pressure in the knee could be explained by less weight being used on front squats and that they stopped at parallel instead of going ass to grass which actually reduces knee pressure.

The JSCR’s only recommendation was that front squats may be preferable if athletes had knee injuries (can I see your doctor’s note please).

I’m a big fan of Crossfit, but I don’t blindly follow the WOD anymore and neither should you. If there is no benefit in performing one movement over another more technical and no more effective one, then go for the easier one to master.

Stronglifts 5×5 Review

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Those of you that frequent Two Bar Garage regularly know that I am a huge fan of Crossfit. The daily WOD’s have helped me achieve levels of fitness I had only dreamed of before. I still flop around like a fish out of water, but I do it faster and for more reps at least. The longer I kept at it though, the more I felt like something was lacking. My endurance and stamina were through the roof, but my strength had plateaued long ago. I just couldn’t seem to get stronger. If you do your research and read the top Crossfit athlete profiles, you not only see impressive WOD times and rep counts, but crazy heavy weight on the Olympic lifts. The top Crossfit athletes are skrong like muhs, and I wanted to be skrong, too.

Always cracks my shit up

I came across Stronglifts 5×5, run by Mehdi Hadim, probably 6 months ago. I’m surprised I didn’t stumble on it sooner because there are some very strong opinions about the lifting program, both positive and negative. In hindsight, I might should have started with a program like Starting Strength, but hey, the ebook was free. Three months later I definitely have enough experience for a detailed Stronglifts 5×5 review.

The Basics:

The workouts are dirt simple. There are only two of them. Two workouts using only three separate movements three days a week. If you start on Monday with workout A then you would do workout B on Wednesday, then wash, rinse, repeat. Not much variety at all, but hey, keep it simple, right?

Workout A:

  • Squats 5×5
  • Bench press 5×5
  • Barbell rows 5×5

Workout B:

  • Squats 5×5
  • Shoulder press 5×5
  • Dead lift 1×5

What’s a little unorthodox about Stronglifts is that it recommends squats every single workout. I’ve known guys that didn’t squat once a month, much less every workout. It seems overboard, but I didn’t want to make changes to the program since the results it promised, and the examples it showed were so impressive. Another key to the program was that you were to add 5 pounds to each lift every time you did a workout. So for example, if Monday you do 5×5 at 225, then Wednesday you would do 5×5 at 230. Each movement follows the 5×5 set/rep and plus 5 pounds per workout scheme except for dead lifts. For dead lifts you only do 1×5 and add 10 pounds per workout.

Because you expect it

My results:

I think I started Stronglifts 5×5 with some decent lift numbers. Nothing amazing, but I wasn’t the weakest guy in the gym either.

  • Squats: 225
  • Bench: 185
  • Dead lift: 285

Not a 90 pound weakling for sure, but not nearly elite. Fast forward 12 weeks.

  • Squats: 330
  • Bench: 215
  • Dead lift: 380

Hell of an improvement in only 3 months. My squats and dead lift rocketed up almost 100 pounds each! I even had to take off nearly 2 weeks when I tweaked my back during squats one day. My bench gains weren’t quite as impressive, but I’ve never been very good at it for some reason. Keep in mind also, that these weights are all at 5×5 except dead lift. So I am now squatting 330 for 5 sets of 5 reps and dead lifting 380 for 5 reps. Numbers like these would easily put me in the top 5% at most gyms.

Pros and Cons:

I honestly couldn’t be happier with the results. Squatting so often is a bit out there, but the proof is in the pudding. I talked about the things I learned while lifting heavy in a previous post, but I think this bears repeating. My weight hardly changed, I lost only 5 pounds in three months. However, my pants went from being a bit snug, to practically falling off. The change was very visible in the mirror. I was eating like it was my second job, but the inches kept falling off.

I’m stronger than ever and I’m dropping weight…..but. Mehdi defends squats every workout, but I have come to believe that’s excessive. I began to get aches and pains in my knees and hips. Nothing debilitating, and it didn’t affect my performance. It was just a dull aching that just never went away no matter how much I warmed up and stretched.

Also, they weren’t the longest workouts ever, but they weren’t the shortest either. Especially when the weight starts to get heavy and your rest periods get longer. I was keeping a pretty good pace and it still took me over an hour to finish my workouts towards the end. I know it’s only an hour, but that seems like an eternity when you are used to Crossfit workouts which can be completed in less than 10 minutes sometimes.

Final Thoughts:

I’m very glad I did the Stronglifts 5×5 program. That being said, I was very ready to move on when the 12 weeks was up. My strength was through the roof but squats every workout was taking it’s toll on my joints even with strict form. Will I ever revisit the program again? Possibly. I really enjoy being strong, but my ultimate goal isn’t to be a competitive power lifter. I prefer to be more well rounded. If you believe your strength is lacking and would like to make thrusters laughably easy, then I recommend a strength program. There are worse out there than Stronglifts 5×5, too.

Did you like my Stronglifts 5×5 review? Do you have your own experience with the program and would you be willing to share it? Send me an email and I’ll post it on the site.

 

The Elite Require No Motivation

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Mental Toughness

The cream naturally rises to the top. Those who possess the will and determination to be great don’t subscribe to daily motivational Facebook pages. They definitely don’t need a trainer to spout feel good “rah rah” dribble, encouraging them to do “just one more”. The elite are in a league of their own because they are not only physically, but mentally stronger than the average human. They don’t need “atta boys” and “you can do its”. They know they can do it. It’s just a matter of getting their body to match the strength of their mind. Mental toughness is an elite quality.

She actually squats, so she is definitely more elite than you.

I used to spend a lot of time trying to convince friends and co-workers to join me in Crossfit and mud runs. I would give them every reason I could think of, but I succeeded in converting very few. I did notice a pattern though. Those that saw the light needed little convincing. They were already elite. The average human is just that, average. Motivation and cajoling will only ever convince them to be average. You can’t make anyone do anything they don’t want to do, and you certainly can’t pull them up to a higher level.

If the elite do use motivational speeches, it’s to prep them for something they already decided to do, not to goad them into the chute when they really don’t want to. Motivation is a training tool for them, not a cattle prod.

You wouldn’t do it if I ran it for you.

I think mud run’s are really the perfect example of this. The first time I ever heard of the Warrior Dash, I signed up immediately. I was so excited that of course I told everyone I knew about it. As you probably suspect, most people looked at me like I was insane. “I wouldn’t pay to run in the mud” or “that’s insane” were common reactions. One particularly vocal friend of mine said, and I quote “I’d do it if it were free.” As fate would have it, another friend of mine had to drop out of a race because something unavoidable came up. Perfect opportunity for my other friend to make good on his word, right? Didn’t happen. “Dude, I just don’t see the point in something like that”.

Can you cultivate mental toughness?

Some people seem to think so. I don’t remain entirely convinced. I tend to believe you either are or you aren’t. David Yukelson, Ph.D. seems to think it’s possible though. His paper, What is Mental Toughness and how to Develop It, is an interesting read no matter what you believe.

Are you tough enough? Do you not stop when it hurts a little? Do you love to push yourself and get down and dirty? Congratulations my friend. You are made of tougher stuff than most. Be excellent and don’t let the masses of average people drag you down to their level.

Have you overcome major hurdles recently or achieved something momentous? Contact me and I’ll post your story for all to see.

What Is Water Weight?

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I’ve been lifting heavy for the past three months, so I haven’t given much thought to my waistline. Plus it’s not very manly to notice you get a little puffy when you eat certain foods. Then again, summer and pool weather are just around the corner so I’m definitely going to be upping the intensity to drop a few L B’s.

Oh you're bloated? Maybe you should take a Midol.

When trying to lose weight, it can be easy to obsess over the scale. Measuring every ounce and stressing about every fork full is no way to live. It can even be devastating and derail all future progress if god forbid you actually gained weight after being so diligent and working so hard.

How can weight fluctuate so much in the course of one day? You can blame it on glycogen (damn you, glycogen. Damn you) During intense exercise, glycogen is your bodies fuel source of choice. It will readily burn all available stores before moving to something else, like fat. Your liver contains about 8% of your bodies glycogen stores, while the muscles contain another 1-2%. The average human liver weighs about 3 pounds and the average lean mass for a man is roughly 150 pounds. Do the math and this comes out to roughly 1.75 pounds of just glycogen. Not so bad right? Here’s the kicker. Where glycogen goes, water follows. For every gram of glycogen lost, you lose nearly 4 grams of water! Water loss plus glycogen can be total nearly 9 pounds!

This weight loss is only temporary. Everyone looks best in the morning before breakfast, right? as soon as you replenish your glycogen stores with carbohydrates and drink water, you puff up like the stay puft marshmallow man. Not a pleasant surprise. Depending on you size, diet, and level of activity, your weight can swing nearly 10 pounds without a single ounce of fat being lost or gained. Slightly depressing isn’t it? This is part of the reason you see such jaw dropping weight loss on the first week of shows like the biggest loser. Suddenly exercising, coupled with drastically reduced calories creates a prime situation for massive weight loss via piss without much actual fat being lost at all.

Drop the weight lady

Now that you know why it happens, just expect it. Even a person who is a healthy weight can expect their weight to fluctuate a few pounds each day depending on activity level and diet. I don’t like obsessing over pounds anyway. If I look good in the mirror then damn the scale.

Things I Learned When Lifting Heavy

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I know I normally talk about crossfit and how awesome it is (and it is) but I’ve shelved the metcons for a bit and have been lifting heavy for nearly three months now. And I mean heavy. I switched gears with my training after reading the numbers that several of the elite crossfitters posted for some of their lifts. Squats in the 400′s and dead lifts in the 500′s are not uncommon. Amazing stamina and endurance aside, these athletes are strong. I’ve been following the 5×5 stronglifts.com program and I have to say I’m a fan. My strength has exploded. My squat starting out was 225 and my dead lift was 285. To date I am squatting 310 5×5 and dead lifting 360 1×5.

Annie Thorisdotti is stronger than you.

This post isn’t really about how to lift heavy and get insanely strong (that will come though). It’s about the things I’ve learned along the way that go hand in hand with a heavy lifting program that may often go unnoticed, or you just might not think about.

Eat Like It’s Your Second Job

If you lift big, you have to eat big. You have to consume the raw building blocks of muscle in order to build muscle. Duh, right? You’d actually be shocked just how much you need to eat. I never thought I would not look forward to eating as much as I could stuff myself with, but it happened. Because I literally had to stuff myself. Most people that think they eat a lot don’t nearly enough for a heavy lifting program. I ate so much sometimes that I felt sick sometimes. It was necessary though.

Also, my meals weren’t fancy. The simpler the better. Figure out what macro-nutrient breakdown you require and tailor a few simple meals around that, then chow down.

You Wont See Results Until You Are Really Pushing Yourself

I started out squatting 225 and dead lifting 285. Pretty decent numbers I guess, but they weren’t weights I wasn’t already capable of lifting. So for a while, I didn’t notice any difference in my weight or size. Once I started struggling with the amount of weight I had on the bar though, the weight just fell off. I went from 40 jeans, to a size 36 while dropping only a few pounds. Body re-composition is totally possible with heavy lifting.

You Will Likely Gain Weight at First

This kind of goes with my previous point. You have to eat a lot to build muscle, but you wont see results until you really push yourself, so odds are, until the weight gets heavy, your weight will get heavy. Don’t freak out, though. I nearly stopped when my jeans began to fit tighter. Thankfully I didn’t, because once I began to strain with the weights, my weight practically fell off.

You Will Crave Sleep

When you lift heavy, you get tired. Sometimes after a particularly difficult workout, I would just be a zombie. My diet has been pretty clean, so I don’t really attribute my grogginess to that. Lifting heavy is just plain hard and it really takes it out of you. You need 8 hours of sleep minimum when lifting serious weights. I even had to increase mine to 9 when I began to stall on my weights.

You Have to Practice Your Form

I hear it all the time. “Heavy squats are bad for your knees.” They certainly can be, too. If you have god awful form and don’t know what you’re doing then, yes, you can seriously fuck ups your knees with squats. However, if you take the time to study and practice this very technical lift then you can enjoy injury free knees and impressive PR’s for years to come.

Should You Lift Heavy?

Heavy lifting may not be your thing, which is fine. However, there is nothing quite like the feeling of being stronger than 90% of people that go to gyms. Plus, there are practically no sports or activities which won’t benefit from more strength. Find a program that fits you and your lifestyle, study up, and remember my little tidbits.

Home Gym On A Budget: $100

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Times are tough these day and budgets are tight. Lack of a lot of expendable income is what inspired me to workout from home in the first place. When people tell me that they can’t get in shape because they can’t afford a gym membership I see red. I’ve lost over 60 pounds in the past year without once setting foot in a Globo gym or spending brown sacks full of cash on equipment. It got me to thinking though. What equipment would I buy if I had a tiny budget? With all the fancy gizmos and gadgets on the market right now how could anyone create a home gym on a budget of only $100? Dedication and creativity, that’s how.

I Didn’t Buy New Underwear For 10 Years To Save Up This Money

You worked hard for your money, so you should definitely get your….money’s worth. Most of my benders usually end up with me watching infomercials at 5 A.M. about the latest do-dad that will give me chiseled abs for only 13 easy payments
of $69.99. All the fancy equipment has convinced everyone that this crap is actually necessary. Repeat after me. Keep it simple stupid. Words to live by, especially when it comes to fitness.

Shut Up and Take My Money

Come on, you know the drill by now.

With a small budget, garage sales and craigslist are you friend. With $100, there are really only 2 pieces of equipment I would even consider purchasing. A pull up bar definitely, and possibly a Gym Boss interval timer. You could buy the type of pull up bar that actually screws in place or ones that hang over the top and can be taken down without leaving holes in your door frame. A quick Craigslist search even had a free standing pull up bar with the leg raise option for only $49. Of course, you could always go the DIY route and build one yourself. The gym boss isn’t really necessary if you have a smart phone and can download an app that does something similar. They are programmable though and very nice to have.

How’mi Gonna Get Swole Without Benching?

With only a pull up bar as far as actual equipment goes your only option is body weight workouts. Don’t think body weight workouts can build muscle and get you in amazing shape? How many one handed push ups and pistol squats can you do? That’s what I thought. If you can truly master your body weight then you will be very powerful. Once you do, you’ll have leg of steel and triceps carved from granite.

Sample Body Weight Workouts

It is totally possible to get into amazing shape without ever touching a dumbbell. Here are a few sample routines you can try. If they get to easy, add more reps or start progressing to one armed movements. The man who has truly master then one armed push up is very rare.

Routine A:

As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes
3 pull ups
5 push ups
8 squats

Routine B:

5 rounds for time
5 pull ups
10 push ups
20 squats

Routine C:

for time
25 pull ups
50 push ups
100 squats

Pull Ups vs Chin Ups

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Pull ups are to the upper body what squats are to the lower body. If you worry more about how many variations of curls you can do in your workout than how many dead hangs pull ups you can do, then you sir, have a problem. Don’t feel bad. Some people don’t even really get what a pull up is. I’ve asked friends before “how many pull ups can you do”? To which they responded “I can do 10 like this”. They then demonstrated the close grip chin up. If I’d had a gun I would have shot myself in the face. That’s like me asking how many miles New York is from LA and then telling me its a 10 hour flight. So do you know the difference in pull ups vs chin ups? Let me make this as clear as possible.


These aren’t dead hangs, but I’m pretty sure she can do more pull ups than you.

The Difference

Pull ups and chin ups are not the same thing and they are not interchangeable. The basic pull up is executed with palms facing away from you. The basic chin up is done with palm toward you. Yes, there are countless variations of hand position and width and blah blah blah. When I say chin up or pull up, I mean basic.

Pull ups utilize the lats more fully and are better for general athleticism and long term shoulder function. Chin ups engage the biceps and pectorals more fully, which are typically the beach muscles. So which is better? Chin ups are generally easier to perform because they recruit a few more muscle groups, but since the pull up incorporates the lower trapezius much more fully it is significantly better for posture and general fitness. I’m married so I’m not really trying to impress anyone at the beach, but I do want to be healthy and ready for what life can throw at me. Plus a dead hang pull up is flat out more impressive than a chin up because it’s harder.


She can definitely do more pull ups than you.

Gonna Get Swole

Will pull ups make you bigger and more muscular? Only until you are able to do 12-15 or so. Any more than that and you are training for muscular endurance, not strength or size. If you want to increase your size using pull ups when you are up to that rep range then you will have to some weight using a vest or belt.

Move the pin for me brah’

If you’re thinking that you will just do lat pull downs because they are the same as pull ups, then I’d like you to leave my site right now. Leg extensions won’t improve your squat any more than lat pull downs will improve your pull ups. Cable machine are always inferior to free weights and body weight movements.

Get all Handsey

Both pull ups and chin ups are performed with hands just slightly wider than shoulder width. A common mistake is to set you hand to wide to begin with. If you can’t do at least 10 dead hang pull ups then don’t make things harder on yourself right off the bat. Place the bar at the base of you fingers. Any further down on the palm and it will be very uncomfortable and lead to pinched skin and even blisters.

How low can you go?

Half rep pull ups/chin ups, like half rep squats, are useless. If there is any bend in your elbow when you begin pulling yourself back up then you did a partial rep and it doesn’t count. Lower yourself all the way down until you arms are completely straight before you pull yourself back up.

It doesn’t matter if you can only do one pull up or chin up right now. Keep at it and work your way up. Every time you pass your doorway bar or a low hanging branch, grab on and knock out as many as you can. You’ll be surprised how quickly you progress. So now you know the difference in pull ups vs chin ups. Go make papa proud.

The 4 Tips You Must Know Before Setting Up a Home Gym

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I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging a few emails with Niko at noeXcuse Fitness lately. He’s a great guy that has a passion for fitness and enjoys sharing tips and tricks he has picked up over the years. He was nice enough to agree to write a guest post for Two Bar Garage which I am very excited about. Here are Niko’s 4 essentials tips for setting up a home gym

A simple home gym setup will make the world of difference if you are looking to get in shape, gain muscle and lose fat. Setting up a home gym is easy and can save you time and money, but without guidance you could be wasting your time. Make sure when you are setting up a home gym you do it the right way by following these tips…

Niko the Aussie from noeXcuse Fitness

Tip 1

The first thing to think about is what equipment you need. This is the basis of your home gym, so before you go out and start buying equipment, sit down and write a list of what equipment you ultimately want in your gym. What equipment you want in your gym will be dependant on what your fitness goals are. You don’t want to end up with equipment that you don’t need, or will never use.

Tip 2

The next tips is, once you have decided what equipment you want, consider buying it second hand. Most people buy fitness equipment, use it a couple of times and never use it again. The reality is second hand, most of the time, means near new. So start scouring eBay, local newspapers, yard sales and community notice boards for equipment.

Tip 3

When selecting weights, save money by buying standard weights, not Olympic weights. There are no specific criteria when buying weight, 5kg is 5kg, no matter what company makes it. It doesn’t matter if it looks pretty, your muscles can’t tell the difference. Buying weights will be the most expensive part of setting up a home gym, so if money is an issue following this tip is vital.

Tip 4

Don’t fall into the trap of buying an all in one multi station pin loaded training machines. They are too restrictive, very rarely are the weights heavy enough and you can’t add to them. Your money would be better spent simply buying a bar, a set of adjustable dumbbells and some free weights.

Setting up a home gym is one of keys to achieving your fitness goals. Millions of people around the world have spent their hard earned money on fitness fads and gadgets only to be disappointed when they don’t achieve the body of their dreams. Are you one of these millions?

Following these home gym set-up tips will definitely help you achieve your fitness goals, whilst also saving you time and money. Click the links below for more free tips on how to achieve your fitness goals.

Resources:

Click here now to follow my daily fitness sessions.
Click here for free information about training, nutrition, motivation or supplements.

Niko is a 34 year-old happily married, shift working, father of a two young boys. Niko’s site www.noeXcuseFitness.com.au shares his fitness knowledge and helps regular, time-poor people stay in shape and achieve their goals.
Good luck with your efforts and remember: ‘There is no such thing as a good eXcuse’

How to Benchpress Alone and Not Kill Your Dumb Ass

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I haven’t been bench pressing a lot lately (although I plan on correcting that soon). I’ll admit that when I was younger I got trapped and actually had to yell to my mom for help. How embarrassing, right? I’m sure that something similar is a fear of a lot of garage gym junkies. What if I had been completely alone in the house and hadn’t had anyone to come and save me? Turns out if you take just a few safety measures you can safely bench press even if you’re completely alone. And then later you can drown you sorrows in a few beers because you don’t have any friends that will spot you.

Damn, check her out! She's pressing the bar!

Don’t be a dumb ass dumb ass!

You know good and well when you won’t be able to get the next rep. Ego is great and all, but when working out alone you really need to be honest with yourself and know your limits. If rep 4 took everything you had, then rack it and call it done. As long as your giving it your max effort you’ll make gains. There isn’t anything magical about hitting 5 reps or 20.

Build or invest in a power rack

A power cage is definitely a splurge in a home gym, plus they take up a fair amount of space. However, they are hard to beat for functionality and safety. The store bought versions usually have multiples slots for safety pins which you can use to rack the bar in a pinch. If you go the DIY route(which I always highly reccomend) you will have to take some very careful measurements to put the safety bars at the correct height. If you can’t buy or build a powercage, you could even use some saw horses as safety racks.

Roll of Shame

This really sucks, but it is possible. I would always wear a shirt just in case this is your last resort. The hip bone has be the hardest part.

Phone a friend

All right, all right, I’m sure you have at least one friend. This isn’t exactly bench pressing alone, but if you are really uncomfortable with the though of being stuck under the bar with no help then you should definitely have a workout partner. Using the buddy system is good in a lot of different ways. You push each other a little harder, it makes the workouts more fun, you can tell each other how swole your getting, and if you actually get around to lifting you can even save your partners life!

Bench pressing alone is absolutely an option in your home gym. educate yourself, don’t be stupid, make some friends, and maybe practice the roll of shame.

Are you too chicken shit cautious to bench press alone? Have a horror story that you wouldn’t mind sharing? Drop me an email at trey@twobargarage.com and I’ll plaster you embarrassing story all over the interwebs.