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Thanks for hanging in there with me
Joseph Gray
October 16, 2025
GML - 9 new articles, wowzers!
Community - New Cable Attachments
GGC - Bells of Steel and 2 Weeks To Go
r/HomeGym - Freak AMA
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Gray Matter Lifting
Last week I published 9 new articles on the website, including 7 reviews and 2 buying guides, all related to the Adjustable Bench Showdown project. I also recorded everything and passed it onto my Editor, so he is tinkering with the video as we speak.
Hopefully the YouTube video will drop on Saturday, but to give you an idea of the size of this project… All said and done it is 313gb of video clips, pictures, and details. This one took part of my soul with it!
Reviews
We have two reviews on accessories from Gentleman Fitness Club. I connected with them after HomeGymCon, and they sent over some interesting pieces.
I pushed their Compact Belt Squat to its limits, and came out with some mixed feelings. In my experience, a Belt Squat needs three things to get a passing grade. This managed to get two of them.
They also sent a Universal Leg Developer, which can be used with ANY bench. This one didn’t perform very well in my gym. Cool idea, but lackluster performance all around.
Benches
The following bench reviews are all live:
I also tossed together a buying guide around Adjustable Benches, which takes all of my general experience with these benches and others I have used previously, and puts it into one article.
And to take that bench guide one step further, we’ve got an article around Leg Developers.
What Is Up Next?
I’ve got one more piece from the Gentleman Fitness Club lineup to finish here soon. This week I am working on a review for the CHIRP Contour. And then I’m going to be handling the review for the FEIER Fitness Treadmill we’ve been using.
After that a few things are TBD based on timelines, holidays, and more… but I’m hoping to knock out half a dozen more reviews before we close out 2026 including the Freak Athlete ABX, Prime Prototype Trap Bar, Nordbench Pro, ANCORE Pro, and some REP rack attachments.
Whats New In The Community?
Mutant Metals had another cable attachment release on the Rogue website this past week. It looks very interesting. I haven’t used a tricep bar with such a drastic V to it, could be interesting.
At this point, I think most new release notices will wait for the Black Friday window. Hopefully you’ve got your eyes on some cool stuff. If you do, remember that I’ll have a dedicated page to Black Friday deals so you can save some cash and support my work at the same time.
Merch Newsletter subscribers get Merch at a 10% discount, the biggest discount I can give ya. Thanks for being here and doing what you do, so I can do what I do. You just need this code: FAM9731a60 | Discount Codes Remember that these discount codes are active all year round for you to save some cash and support what I do. |
Garage Gym Competition
We are so freaking close I can FEEL IT!!! 2 Weeks to go for the Fall GGC. Over 80 prizes are available in the 2025 Fall Garage Gym Competition, including 14 Barbells, $3500 in Gift Cards, 13 Cable Attachments, 2 Custom Belts, 4 Machines, Multiple Prize Packs, Shirts, Banners, Strongman Equipment, Storage, Rack Attachments, Recovery Devices, and more!
And it all goes out in our Open Drawing. You participate, you get a ticket, and you have an equal shot of winning no matter what you lift! Even kids qualify!
Sponsor Highlight
Bells of Steel owner Kaevon began selling kettlebells out of his trunk. Over the course of the past decade they have grown to be a Top 5 Home Gym Equipment company. Racks, Bars, Benches, Belt Squats, and a ton more. What began in Canada has jumped across the boarder to the States as they continue to offer quality equipment at a fantastic price.
They work with powerlifters, crossfitters, and anyone who pursues big lifts at home. In the past several years they have expanded their processes to include true R&D, where they aren’t simply offering good stuff at a good price, but producing things no one else does. Bells of Steel continues to grow, adapt, and change… just like the Home Gym Community.
For the Spring they tossed up a Cable Machine, and for the Fall we’ve got 3 Winners that can choose from: SS4, Barenaked Bar, Arch Nemesis Bar, Curved Squat Bar, and Open Trap Bar.
So three people are taking home their choice of specialty bars from Bells of Steel.
Training Tip - What Should You Do In The Last Few Weeks?
Since we are so close, I asked our GGC Coaches about what you should be doing right now to try and squeeze out a few more pounds on the bar. This is what they had to say:
First and foremost, to get the most out of yourself at the GGC, redouble your efforts on making sure you eat enough and sleep enough to ensure that your training (and the subsequent competition) will be successful. While being well recovered doesn't guarantee success, being poorly recovered almost guarantees a poor performance!
If someone is a rank novice and still doing the basic NLP, then I'd stay the course with your training plan until the week of the competition. If someone has moved beyond that and isn't regularly practicing singles (taking singles is a skill that requires practice), about a month out, I'd start to decrease slightly on your volume and start to do one to three heavy singles to practice that skill set each week. If you're doing a 4 day split where you separate training into volume and intensity days for the lifts, then I'd add the singles into the intensity days first (i.e., work up to the singles, then back off and do whatever intensity work you have planned).
In general, if you're trying to figure out what your attempts should be, selecting your first attempt should be (conservatively speaking) something that you can do for a set of 3. Depending on your level of training advancement, this is going to be between 85-90% of your 1RM. Depending on the lift and how confident you're feeling (along with a variety of other factors), the next attempt might be 2.5% to as much as 10% more than the prior attempt.
There’s not much you can do in these last few weeks to get substantially stronger. The risk isn’t worth the reward so stick to the plan. You’re near the finish line, all your hard work is getting ready to pay off.
Listen to your body and do what you need to do so that you are coming into the meet as healthy and primed to lift big weight as possible
My biggest advice for the last two weeks is rest and keep things the same. Training will be a taper but food, water and supplementation should be kept as similar as possible. Crash dieting to make weight or a big water cut can throw you off and only should be attempted when it is for a major competition or world record. And, rest is such a key. I once heard someone say, if everyone is of similar strength, the healthiest person will perform the best that day. Limiting stressful physical activity and letting the body heal up from weeks of pushing yourself is a huge key.
It is normal to feel like shit. Normal powerlifting programming and progression is going to bring you into the peaking process feeling beat up, tired, possibly even feeling week. These can make you want to jump ship and call for an audible when you just need to stay the course.
Your goal isn’t to be the best a week out, it is to be the best on the day of competition. A good program will help you shed that fatigue when it counts.
So if you are reading this and questioning why everything hurts, it might be part of the process and completely normal.
Speaking Of Our Coaches
Remember that by participating in the GGC, you have the FREE opportunity to get 1 on 1 coaching feedback on your submissions. This feedback will include ways that you can get better in your training… What more could you ask for?
r/HomeGym
Two more AMAs for the year, with one going on RIGHT NOW from Freak Athlete. They are giving away $4000 in stuff, so make sure to check that out ASAP.
In two weeks we will have Freedom Fitness finishing off the year for the AMA schedule, as we then roll right into the Black Friday window. I’ve been skipping Targeted Talks and other items as we get ready for the season, because it is a LOT to manage.
One Last Thing…
If it isn’t clear, I want to clarify it here. At any point if you have a question, idea, think I should review something, change my mind on a topic, or anything else… You can always reply to these emails and let me know.
Those of you that have taken that opportunity to do so, THANKS! I appreciate knowing that my words aren’t just bouncing off the walls of the internet. Looking forward to hearing from more of you in the future.
Joe