“Exercise: you don't have time not to”
Anon

Well, perhaps the word gym conjures up an image a bit more grand than the reality in this case. In our back garden we have a wooden built structure which we refer to as 'the office'. The previous occupant built it for that purpose, but I've never used it as such despite the fact that I work from home.

Over the years we have used it for storage of my band gear (I play in a barn dance band), my windsurfing gear (which I haven't used in four years), garden furniture and general junk. I've now cleared out just enough space to accomodate my rowing machine, my partner's son's weight bench and weights and my newly acquired lat pulldown machine. I'll be blogging further about these bits of kit in the days to come. At some point I also want to add a hyperextension bench.

When I say 'just enough space', well it really is extremely tight. For example, I have to shift the weight bench out of the way to do a standing exercise such as a barbell curl. But for all that I'm really happy with it. It's a lot cheaper than a gym membership and I also save on all the travelling time. I can have the radio on the station of my choice, I don't have to queue for the next bit of equipment and I can grunt and groan on that final, blood-vessel bursting rep without disturbing anyone other than a few sparrows.