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A side quest in Kerala
A side quest from my working holiday: getting a simple gym up and running in Kerala — what's in, what's on the way, and the freedom of building from scratch with more room.
Published
by Adarsh Gopal
One of the fun side quests I went on during my working holiday was to get a simple gym up and running in Kerala.
The set of dumbbells from 5 through 25 kg were ready. That didn’t take much work. The trap bar, pull-up bar, rack for the lever squat and adjustable pull-up bar were in storage, and I moved them over in two drives.
It’s a really simple setup. There are two long legs, two arms to house the straight pull-up bar, and two arms to house the rack. It takes eight bolts to hold it all together. I came armed with the large spanners, and the whole project took an hour — drives included.
The trap bar can be loaded up to 177 kg at the moment. That’s plenty for now. Plyoboxes are on the way, as are rubber mats. All that’s left is a lever squat, a t-bell, a weight vest, a glute-ham, landmines, plates and handles for farmers’ carries. And, of course, a monkey bar, climbing ropes and more rings.
One of the fun bits about building a new gym from scratch is the chance to really rethink what you actually use. And I have a little more room here — so there can be a permanent platform for deadlifts, and more room for climbing, carries and lunging too. Fun times ahead.