The Zen of Weight Lifting

I’ve been stuck with 185lb on my chest (modest difficulty at the time). I couldn’t lift it due to fatigue. That particular time, I was able to get it onto my lap.

My solution after a few uncomfortable situations was to buy a squat rack with 1 inch safety increments. Rouge fitness sells one. Most racks have 2” safety holes but that’s not enough granularity for full range and safety imo.

They're small enough that you can store and use them in most rooms, and in my experience, the ease with which you can add and remove weight reduced the friction of deciding whether or not to work out, which helps a lot when trying to start a consistent habit.

They're not as versatile as an actual gym, but I got a pair of these when between gyms for a couple of years, and you can do a lot with them if you're creative. (For example--instead of squats and deadlifts, which would have required far more weight than I had available, I switched to lunges and one-legged squats).

This year, though, I got to enjoy it a bit more when I tried some "triathlon", sprint distance, which encompasses 20km of cycling (a joke for every serious cycler). Maybe next year I'll try to tackle the olympic distance.

https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/routine

I've never been able to keep doing a program like this, but I'm a couple of months in and loving it.

Do one set of pushups each day for the next week (one set of pushups for me is 30-40 pushups in a row, I basically keep going until I can't anymore). After the first week, add in another exercise, situps are a good one. And the week after that, get a pullup bar or some dumbbells and add in another exercise. Keep adding a different exercise until you have 5 or 6. Do one set of each exercise with little to no rest in between each exercise. This should take less than five minutes each day. At any point if you fall out of habit, go back to square one, i.e. one set of pushups each day.

Once you have made this into a regular habit, you can start adding more reps or add a second workout (i.e. one in the morning, one in the afternoon). Continue to add more reps/exercises/workouts until you feel satisfied with the routine. For me, I do one set of 6 strength exercises per day. It takes me less than five minutes each day. Keep in mind this is just my strength routine. I also run, hike/walk, bike or surf 3-4 times a week. If I wasn't already in the habit of doing that, I would add some cardio to my daily workout (jumping jacks, up/downs, etc...)

I wouldn't even consider getting a gym membership unless you have a very specific need for a certain routine or set of equipment. For example some folks like to mix in cardio on a machine (rower, elliptical, etc...) with weight machines in a single workout. Keeping all that gear at home would be tough. That is fine, but just remember that getting to and from the gym requires a time and effort, and that can result in losing the habit. So only go this route if you either have a very specific need that you can't replicate at home, or if you know you won't drop the habit.