Years ago my family gave up on trying to buy me gifts...they realized my basic needs were met and that my hobby, my training, and my work had become quite unique and that they’d have no clue what to get or where to shop. Years ago special equipment and cool conditioning 'toys' could be found in perhaps 1 or 2 catalogs, these days they aren’t quite mainstream but we certainly have many more choices!
If you'll allow me to take a trip down memory lane before I point you to some resources...
My first set of weights were plastic filled with cement, a gift from my Dad 28 years ago...he wrote a note on the card along the lines of; "So you may train and grow strong like your Dad", (I'm still working on it…).
I was hooked on training and only months later purchased a door frame chin-up bar...that same exact bar had still been mounted in the Hill house for the past 28 years; only 2-weeks ago my parents called to tell me they finally took it down! It survived thousands of pullups by me, my siblings, and yep even my Mom could be seen cranking out a pullup or 2 back in the day. A funny note regarding the ripple like effect of inspiration; when I told my Mom about all of the progress and success our CrossFit Team has had with our pullups she told me; "hmm...maybe I should put that bar back up." Yeah, I think you’ve got a few more chinups in ya Mom!
So...in the first few years of my training I played around not really knowing what I was doing until I met someone who made a real impact and espoused the virtues of deadlifts, snatches, pullups, pushups, rope climb, and chopping wood (I think someone in my house paid him to say the chopping wood thing). I might have been 16 at the time, so around 25 years ago. My equipment needs pretty much stayed the same for years and in fact are the same today...One can build elite fitness with a simple formula; hard, consistent work on the basic movements (with a barbell, bodyweight, and a chinup bar)…but...adding in extra toys sure is FUN!
So wham, there we are, back to the original thought in this post; toys and gifts.
The 3 main extra’s we use in class are Gymnastic Rings, Xvest, and Kettlebells; Links to these 3 products can be found here;
If you’re looking for really unique gifts and ones that are quality made you absolutely have to check out Iron Mind = Awesome!
Now you have some links to give your family and friends, they’ll appreciate the uniqueness of it, I know my family does.
Happy Holidays!
We hit “Fran” today in class, we’ll hit it again tomorrow and I’ll post up some results and pictures then. There were some absolutely amazing efforts today and tons of personal records…it’ll be tough to name an official “Most Improved”!
4 comments:
yay for holiday shopping ideas! bah humbug for no Fran totals from today! I was really looking forward to seeing what the 7:30 class pulled. I just may bust by the time tomorrow's scores are posted.
Y'all be safe getting to class tomorrow, folks. It's crazy out there...I should know cause my car wound up in the front yard, protected from the tree by the trash can and a brave little yellow recycling bin which gave it's life for my Ford Focus. Lesson: Recycling really does save trees (and cars)!
Wow Georgia - I'm glad you're okay!!!
Jerry, Even I hit that pull-up bar a few times back in the day! LOL, now that brings back memories!
In my house here in Silver Spring I have my very first pull-up bar. When we cleaned out my grandparents house I found it and brought it here to have. There are very few people who would be sentimental about a pull-up bar!
The best gift of this past year would have to be the two bumper plates you gave me! I'll let you know if that gift ever gets out done! It's hard to convince people that I would rather get a new KB, Sandbag soo on than a gift card to the Gap!
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