Of The Concrete Club

The first rule of The Concrete Club is you do not talk about The Concrete Club (but you can write about it)

The second rule of The Concrete Club is you do not talk about the Concrete Club (if anyone asks how you got so toned just smile and say you do a couple a press ups)

The third rule of The Concrete Club if someone yells enough or done the set is over remove weights

The fourth rule: only lift what you can handle

Fifth rule: One bench press session at a time

Sixth rule: Gym gloves necessary but not essential

Seventh rule: Do not forget to stretch before and after your session

The Eighth and final rule: If this is you first day at The Concrete Club you have to try out the Ab Wheel rollout workout.

Times like this when people are wondering how to exercise at home since they cannot go to the gym, I will be in the backyard on a makeshift bench doing bench presses with home-made concrete weights.

How did this Concrete Club start?

Like the next person I want to stay fit, healthy and also not be afraid to walk around topless like a TV hottie… if I am being honest about it its more about the latter than for the actual health benefits of exercising; vanity right?.

I was inspired and ready to get a gym subscription and get muscles on my muscles… then when I got the price…., I had to give up that dream as I could not afford to pay for a subscription. I read somewhere that some gyms charge a lot in part as an incentive or motivation for attendance since if you pay for it you will make an effort to not miss your gym sessions.

After having a board meeting with my siblings, it came up that for a fraction of the cost we could make our own gym… and so we set out to buy a bag of cement, pit sand some wires and pipes and now here we are.. The Concrete Gym Club.

Once upon a time, there was even a punching bag which was basically just a sack filled with sand hanging from a tree.

For ab workouts, a wheel salvaged from a broken lawn mower coupled with a steel pipe and *boom* you can do the ab wheel rollout workout.

Between Google and Youtube we were able to come up with workout routines for bench pressing, curls and all manner of home exercise while also figuring out how people’s body types react different to different workouts.

There are three basic human body types: the endomorph, the mesomorph, and the ectomorph.

Ectomorphs are the body type that is the most resistant to weight gain because of a fast metabolism. In other words, ectomorphs are often able to overeat while gaining little or even no weight.

Mesomorphs can lose and gain weight easily; with high metabolism and responsive muscle cells they are able to build muscle quickly.

Endomorphs naturally tend to have curvy, fuller figures with a high tendency to store body fat and sluggish metabolism.

**although you aren’t strictly bound to being one type you can be largely a certain type.

"where does all the food I eat go?"
~ Diary of a Hard Gainer

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) February 15, 2017

I used to envy those who by an accident of nature can get ripped by simply doing 3 sets of  3 reps and here I am I can bench press more than my body weight and it doesn’t really show that…

Fitness goals are so different, watching people struggling to lose weight and I am a hard gainer outchea struggling trying to gain

— ~B 🇿🇼 (@Beatonm5) August 22, 2016

I am hard gainer, on the upside I can pretty much eat whatever I want and it doesn’t show but consequently gaining weight let alone muscle is a challenge having to do high intensity routines will less cardio workouts.

Me when I was at my Concrete Club peak

Well I don’t do the insane routine I did back then and I am a little jealous of young me, but two words muscle memory…

If you ever think about starting a home a gym and cant quite afford fancy equipment, just know there’s ways of getting a workout at home…

~B

Ps I also hated going to the gym because the few trial times I went, working out beside mountains of men with muscles of gods had me be very self-conscious of my tiny form (but hey dynamite comes in small packages *boom*)