We’ve been running the TT through its paces for the past 6 months. There is a lot of good here, but some pretty strong iffy stuff too. The thumbnail captures my thoughts exactly.

You can check out the written review right here, or the video review at the button below.

I mentioned in the last newsletter that REP had reached out with some new toys. I’ve been offered new plates more times than I can count, but if you’ve followed along for any length of time you know that my plates are the one thing I’ll never part with. So I’ve always turned them down.

But these were offered at a very opportune time where a lot of the stars aligned for a cool project. My buddy Darnell recently set a California Deadlift Record. He also just brought home his first born child from the hospital. So he is going all in on the garage gym life, but needed some real pieces to the puzzle to make it work.

He houses my Texas Strength Systems Combo Rack the majority of the year, except when I need it for my GGC Local Meet. These plates are going to live a similar life. Darnell will be blasting them as his primary plates throughout the week, with some monster deadlifts (he already pulled 700 with them) and more as he eyes down bigger and badder lifts while enjoying that new Dad life.

In the Spring, he’ll bring the Combo, Plates, and Deadlift Platform to me, we’ll set it up, and we’ll host a full GGC Powerlifting Meet for the #27SpringGGC. We’ll live stream it, have some fun, it’ll be awesome. And after almost a year of his use, paired with that meet, and my own comp plate perceptions, we’ll put together a full comprehensive review video. Thanks to REP for letting me tackle a project that won’t come to fruition for nearly 11 months.

The other REP item sent over was the PEPINs alongside the dumbbell cart. These are going head to head with some of the other offerings I currently have/have access to. Out the gate notes…

The cart is by far the nicest looking, but a little squirrely in terms of control. The PEPINs are gorgeous and compact. They have a similar “box” feel like the Powerblocks, but because of their small build, feel very “balanced”. Best way I can explain it currently, is that it feels like wearing a weighted boxing glove, like the weight is all around your hand, not teeter tottering back and forth. The adjustment mechanism is a little finnicky, definitely not as smooth as the NuoBells. The NuoBells also win for being more traditional dumbbells in terms of their design.

This is almost certainly going to come down to something like the adjustable bench video, there isn’t a winner for everyone, but some key things to consider for YOU.

I hopped on a little different of a podcast awhile back, where I got to talk with Tobias Young about the business side of being a content creator. He talks to a lot of coaches and personal trainers, and he was interested in what I do and how I do it. This was a cool chat. FYI, I’m planning some more content like this in the future (business stuff) based on survey feedback.

One big takeaway from the Annual Survey, was a request to do more smaller videos on Cable Attachments. So I just planned out a LOT of them. I’ve got 10 planned for just this year, and then planned another 17 into the end of 2027. And insanely enough, that isn’t even all of the cable attachments I own. These will be shorter videos focused on one particular cable attachment. So expect a “What Is it? What Does It Do? Do I Like It?” and then we’ll be building an S-F Tier List as we go, adding each individual cable attachment as the videos compile.

In the annual survey I was asked to add some tidbits about my own training, so here we go. As always, I’m testing and reviewing equipment, so that is built into whatever I am doing. Lots of dumbbell work, a LOT of cardio on the stair climber and the rower, and then a lot of time tinkering with the VOLTRAs based on what I’m learning from my VOLTRA Expert calls. I’m looking at adding some Isometrics and Isokinetic stuff into my program, and I’m dialing in and tweaking my VOLTRA settings.

You can expect a V2 of the VOLTRA Spreadsheet here soon. I’ve made changes to a lot of stuff. Not drastic, but as I progress and make it through actual working sets, on repeat, over and over, paired with the calls, I’m leaning into what feels right for me. You can see a follow up video from Dan on Isokinetic priming that I’ll be tinkering with.

Also, I’m of course still hitting the big lifts. As we come back from vacation, I’ll be diving into a more “meet prep” mode and focusing on hitting my biggest 1 rep maxes for the Fall GGC.

I did this awhile back and got good feedback. So lets try it again. Bells of Steel reached out and let me know that they have openings for some positions. I don’t know the specifics, but I believe the majority are Canadian positions. Regardless, I know people love mixing their experiences… so if you have years of home gym experience alongside some other focus (HR, Finance, Warehousing, etc.) and want to combine the two, these kinds of jobs are pretty cool.

Do you do reviews on equipment? Or maybe you want to? And you’d like to be featured RIGHT HERE in a future newsletter. Let me know! It can be as simple as a quick paragraph on a product or a full video review. I was asked to include more strongman stuff, small space items, and more. But I only have so much bandwidth myself, so the goal would be to let some of you drop some insights. So hit me with a reply, and lets figure it out.

Threadless is the store platform I use for Merch, and they are running a Summer Sale. If you’ve been waiting to snag a t-shirt, check it out!

Remember that these discount codes are active all year round for you to save some cash and support what I do.

We are just under 3 months out from the Fall GGC, which means we should be working on getting better, improving technique, taking our Spring coaching feedback and turning it into action, you get it.

REP Fitness began in 2012 by brothers Ryan and Shane McGrotty. What started as a side project in the CrossFit world, has rapidly evolved into a prominent provider of high-quality fitness equipment, catering primarily to home gym owners. I have personally had contact with the owners at REP for over a decade, and chats with them have always been insightful, honest, and full of home gym goodness.

When I’ve personally shared frustrations or feedback, on anything from communications to products, the team takes it the way they should. As a way to get better. REP isn’t perfect. And at times I feel like they miss mark on some product launches (looking at you Leg Developer), but they are actively working to improve. And that desire to not settle for what they have, but take that next step, is why I continue to enjoy working with them.

This year they are tossing up a mystery prize. For the Spring, it was a barbell or bench of the winners choice. For the Fall? Not sure! Guess we’ll have to wait and see!

The GGC isn’t that guy on the internet yelling that you didn’t hit depth. BUTTTTT we still want to improve, right? So this week I asked our coaches about Squat Depth. How to make sure we are getting low enough, and if we aren’t, what we can do to fix it.

My quick take. When I’ve coached athletes on the squat, I try and let them find something natural. Some athletes naturally go wider, narrower, toes in or out, lean back more, you name it. From there, we probably need to adjust our understanding of depth based on the preferred stance. The wider your feet, the more your toes likely angle out, and the shallower your depth. The closer your feet, the more straight your toes, and the deeper your squat.

Trying to squat deep with a wide foot placement is probably a recipe for pain and frustration. And trying to squat with your feet close and trying to force your hips open is also, probably, going to cause more issues than it solves.

Find your natural squat pattern, what feels strong, stable, and hopefully doesn’t hurt. And then progress mobility and strength over time to get to depth. One of the easiest ways to do that, is to simply spend more time in that position. Squat down to your lowest point, hold it for awhile, and then squat back up. You can do this in the morning, throughout the day, before and during workouts, before bed, whatever. Accumulate more time in those positions and your body will adapt.

Matt Taylor has also provided 3 different resources on Squat Depth for us:

https://youtu.be/Fj_aUZxkhD0

https://youtu.be/q5t5e-aKf6c

https://youtu.be/AmyGXnUlXMY

This was a cool post on r/BeyondPower (that I also saw on IG). It is a new J-Cup style VOLTRA mount in the works from maxedstrengthco. I actually pitched a similar idea awhile back to someone, but no biting. Glad to see this idea was pushed forward by someone making some cool stuff.

We are chatting about moving, and how you would handle it for your home gym. Sell it all? Start over? Keep a few select pieces? Up to you… See what others said right here.

WOOOOOO!!!!! Beyond Power is joining us for an AMA next week. Very excited for this one.

The tail end of last week I knocked out the final prep for our vacation and HomeGymCon journey coming up in a few weeks.

We’ll be flying into Cleveland first, hitting up Cuyahoga Valley National Park. When we are there, we’ll meet up with Dr. TattyWaffles and family for a dinner date.

After a couple days we’ll head on over to Virginia for Shenandoah National Park. Then we’ll head to West Virginia for New River Gorge where we’ll do a White Water Rafting tour.

Then we’ll be on our way to Louisville for HomeGymCon. We’ve got our booth locked down, I finalized our scavenger hunt, we’ve got our dinner details planned, and I’ve got our Exclusive Newsletter HGC Details email prepped with all the special insights there.

A couple days of hanging out, chatting, looking at gym equipment, should be an awesome finish to a solid vacation.

Based on the newsletter schedule, I don’t think we’ll have any skipped newsletters as one will come out the week we fly out, and we’ll be back home by the time the next one is prepped where I can share HGC pics and stories.

Looking to finish a couple videos before we take off, and then excited to see some new places.

See ya in the next one.