Outdoor Gyms Ruff?

[Dakota]

I know a few here have outdoor gyms. Ruff being in the SE also has to deal with the same elements I do in the upper midwest, plenty of precipitation. How do you run your set up? I have been depending on my labor to keep me fit and hard and that has worked but I am loosing size and becoming more lean and "wiry" verses the more mass look I want to keep. I need to start to get back into the grind of pumping iron. I really miss it too. Driving fence posts is a serious workout but doesn't give you the same adrenaline and dopamine fix that we are addicted to.

[Roc]

Sure don’t! I feel ya! I have some weights in the garage I brought home from my gym, since they all know I’m serious, and haven’t touched a one! 6 weeks with no training and I feel great, size kept but I’m eating big still and that’s where most guys fall off.

[Roughrydr]

Well, let me begin by telling you how I began lifting seriously. I had the old Sears concrete and plastic weights since I was young. But in 83 when I went to prison the first time I began lifting seriously. The oic of the weight pile noticed my natural strength, put me on his power lifting team and taught me proper technique. I was benching 275 for reps at 145 lbs, squatting 315 for 10 reps each set. So I spent all my time on the weight pile training all day every day for years.
The weight piles in prison are very rustic. Square metal tubing with pressure treated plywood for the seats or bench part. Most of them are out in the sun under the elements. A few institutions around FL have indoor equipment. Most dont.
In my set up at home now i.have it exactly like the prison weight piles I cut my teeth on. Very rustic. All sturdy equipment. For me the hardest part is the heat and the mosquitos. Yesterday I did arms and I was dripping sweat, mosquitos were buzzing me. It sucked. So if it's raining I dont mind. I like the coolness and the lack of mosquitos. If its heavy, I just get my missed training in on the next day it's not raining. I dont sweat missing a day or two. After all these years I've built my physique to the point that it's not going to disappear over a missed training session or two. Now if I go months without training, that would be a different story. Sorry for the long answer. But I'm lonely and have nothing else to do. LOL

[Dakota]

I was going to sell all my weights and bench with this move but I think I am just going to set up a covered pad for this summer and see if I can get some kind of indoor arrangement set up by winter. Gyms are too far away from me to go daily. I know I would start copping out. Who knows, I remember reading one of Arnold's books and he worked out outside in the winter too.

[HDH]

Rusty back porch gym...






Gotta agree on this being one hot ass workout. Fuck some Venice beach back in the day, lol

[Dakota]

Nice set up. Prior to my divorce I had a similar set up. Now I just have a bench with leg extension/curls and preacher and 450lbs+ of plates and dumbbells, a curling bar, and a straight bar for squatting. I like having a big selection of dumbbells for a variety work out.

[HDH]

There used to be a lot more than that. It's all pretty old, between 15 and 30 years. I recovered all the cushions a few years back. It was easier than I expected. It used to be a garage set up but I ended up needing the garage.

[Roughrydr]

Yesterday was one of the drawbacks of a back yard outdoor gym. It was in excess of 90 degrees and very high humidity. It was miserable. Even the dog didnt want to go outside. I skipped working out. No.way I could have recovered from working all day then lifting in that heat.

[HDH]

Yesterday was one of the drawbacks of a back yard outdoor gym. It was in excess of 90 degrees and very high humidity. It was miserable. Even the dog didnt want to go outside. I skipped working out. No.way I could have recovered from working all day then lifting in that heat.

I'm still off from work for now I just waited for the sun to go down a bit, it was legs too.

[Dawgpound_Hank]

Yesterday was one of the drawbacks of a back yard outdoor gym. It was in excess of 90 degrees and very high humidity. It was miserable. Even the dog didnt want to go outside. I skipped working out. No.way I could have recovered from working all day then lifting in that heat.

Takes me back to the 4 years I lived in SE Asia. The climate is like that there all the time. The gym I went to had no air-conditioning, and not even an electric fan. On top of that, the heat index was often 125-130 degrees - the air was like soup. All my clothes would be totally soaked within 20 mins - yeah socks and underwear too. My workouts were usually 90 mins, so I had to take a big jug of Gatorade with me to keep from passing out. But unlike you, I didn't work, so it was only 90 mins of it. No way in hell I'd survive there working an outdoor job, and then working out to boot.