The Shack – A Workout Haven

The shack in my backyard is very important to my weight loss success. I want to take this time to show my appreciation, not only for the shack, but for what is means to me. The Shack is going to help me in my journey. It is like my secret weapon, except that it isn’t so secret.

It all started when I was a kid. A fat kid. I have always wanted to have my very own gym. I grew up in a low income household in the project buildings in New York City. Having your own room was hard to come by, so you can imagine that my dreams of having my own workout facility were slim to none. Around the time I was in high school I started working out with my cousin at home. We had a couple of dumbbells and did some push ups in my bed room. That was as close as I had ever come to having my own gym. I then joined the football team and opted to make that “my” gym. I would be the first guy in the weight room and the last guy out. It was my home away from home.

Then I moved to Florida and bought a house. Better said, started renting a house from the mortgage company for 30 years. One of the main reasons I got the house was because of the little shack in the back. It was perfect. It had plenty of room for a weight bench and a treadmill. And best of all, it was my very own personal home workout facility that I had always dreamed of.

This is my backyard and a look at The Shack. We had just gotten some pavers installed so the backyard was demolished. I am happy to say that it is back to normal now. I took all of these pictures when I first started the blog. I had meant to post about The Shack, but I guess it slipped my mind. Sorry for that Shack, sorry.

This is a close up of the outside.

While The Shack is awesome and is helping me achieve my goals, it wasn’t complete until I got my equipment in there. The treadmill was purchased at Wal Mart for about $200. It is only supposed to sustain a weight of 275 lbs, but it manages to hold me up. The bench set is a Nautilus. It allows for various exercises. I can bench, squat, incline bench, decline bench, lat pull down, seated row, tricep extension, bicep curl, military press, and a couple more exercises that I can’t remember. My best bud Lukas gave it to me as a gift. He knew that it meant a lot to me. He even helped me put it together. It also serves as a weight rack for the extra plates I have. I purchased the olympic bar at The Sports Authority. It came with 300 lbs worth of weights.

The Shack’s carpet was already installed when I got the house. The walls on the other hand were not there. I put the walls in with my uncle’s help and painted them with my sister’s help. I have been meaning to buy some large mirrors and some motivational posters but I haven’t gotten around to it. The space isn’t too large but it gets the job done. I have the Nautilus set in there, the treadmill, large speakers and a radio system, some loose dumbells and I still have room to move around.

One thing that I definitely want to add real soon is an air conditioner since it gets extremely humid and hot in there. There are times when I can hardly breathe. It feels as if I am suffocating. I used to workout with the door closed, but now I leave them wide open.

I wake up everyday with no reason to not workout, I have my own gym. This is something that I prefer since I really dislike going to public gyms like Bally’s Total Fitness. Ugh, just thinking about it annoys me. It is not my type of environment. I like dingy, dirty personal dungeon gyms. So those clean, prissy public gyms aren’t for me. I think that started back in high school. We used to call our team workout room the Torture Chamber. It used to get so crazy in there that the walls would sweat with water.

I have built an emotional attachment to The Shack. It has become part of my life and will always be a part of me. The Shack doesn’t need to be a physical entity. For me it was mostly in my head at first. It’s my personal place to think, reflect, and better myself. I would just treat wherever I worked out as my Shack. It didn’t get fully realized until I moved here a couple of years ago. Everyone should have their own “Shack.” Whether it’s a small room in your house, your living room, a local gym, the garage, the park or in your head. Everyone should have a shack to escape to.