Throughout high school and college I was always athletic. I was 140 lbs when I graduated high school and 170 lbs when I graduated college. I played soccer and tennis in high school and played Division III soccer my freshman year of college. Due to heavy class load I did not continue to play soccer in college, but I did workout with my roommate and played intramural soccer.
So it snuck up on me when I graduated, got a full-time programming job and started gaining weight. Within a year of starting my first job, I was 190+ and felt the most out of shape of my life. My wife and I had just purchased our own home, so I decided I would turn part of it into my own home gym. I hated the thought of paying for a monthly gym membership and traveling, so this seemed like the perfect option.
Version 1.0
The first version of my home gym was nothing to be proud of. It consisted of a very cheap weight bench and some standard size weight plates in the corner of our basement storage room. Even though I was out of shape, it very quickly became inadequate.
Since I was fresh out of college and broke, I decided to search online for “DIY workout equipment”. One of the first things that came up was a homemade pullup bar made from gas pipe. After spending a few dollars at Home Depot, I added the second piece of equipment to the gym.
Since my initial weight bench was no longer sufficing, I started searching around on craigslist for a more substantial bench. I found one for a good price that doubled as a squat rack. It also used Olympic weights, which was great. With 300lbs, this would keep me busy for a while.
This new bench and weights was enough to keep me working out, but I yearned for a nicer home gym. Stay tuned for the future to see home gym version 2.0.