Joey's $25,000 Home Gym: From Flooded Shed Gym to Barndominium Setup

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Joey’s $25,000 Home Gym: From Flooded Shed Gym to Barndominium Setup

Joey built a $25k home gym setup in a barndominium after his shed gym was destroyed in a flood.
Get expert advice from Joey on building a home gym around your passions, researching equipment, and creating a seven-day workout routine that combines various fitness disciplines.

Meet Joey, he’s been working in communications and business data networking for over 22 years. He jokes that he is a glorified Wi-Fi guy.

Despite his busy work schedule, he has always made fitness a priority, fitting it into his daily routine to ensure that he can be the most useful version of himself. Joey believes that fitness is not just a hobby, but a way of life, and he is dedicated to inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.

With a passion for multiple sports and coaching his son in soccer and baseball, he had always dreamed of having his own home gym. In 2016, Joey made his first big purchase and built a drop-off shed gym on his property, which unfortunately was destroyed in a flood that year. Despite the setback, Joey was determined to continue his fitness journey and started designing a new space for his home gym.

Follow Joey’s home gym evolution and fitness journey on Instagram @JoeyJungleGym. And if you’re looking for some equipment that Joey loves, he recommends Crandall Fitness Equipment

Meet Joey 👇

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Home Gym Challenges

Instead of rebuilding his shed gym, Joey decided to design a new barndominium with a gym as part of the plans. The barndominium is a 50x85ft space, with an 1100 sq ft playroom.

The biggest challenge Joey faced was deciding how much housing space to allocate for his gym. He had a constant debate with his wife, who insisted on having a kitchen, living room, and laundry room. Nevertheless, Joey persisted in making his dream come true.

Joey faced a challenge with temperature control in his home gym due to the hot Louisiana climate. He installed an 18,000 BTU PTAC unit, but unfortunately, it was not powerful enough to keep up with the heat. To maintain a cool environment, he would need a separate cooling system running all day.

With high ceilings measuring 14 feet, he found it impractical to even attempt to use the PTAC. Instead, he opted to open the garage doors and turn on the shop fans to circulate the air.

Home Gym Owner Advice

Joey’s advice for new gym owners is to buy equipment around their interests. He believes that the journey to fitness should not be restricted to basic lifts, but should be driven by one’s passions.

Joey suggests starting a savings jar and putting aside $20 out of every paycheck towards the gym, treating oneself occasionally with a new toy.

He also stresses the importance of researching and comparing the available equipment, with new companies constantly appearing and offering excellent options. He cautions against buying top notch equipment just for the sake of posting pictures.

Additionally, Joey advises anyone planning to set up a home gym to consider flooring options carefully as concrete can be slippery, and foam locking pads are not a practical choice.

Building the Perfect 7 Day Routine

Joey’s fitness routine has been dubbed the “Shotgun Blast Routine“. He describes it as controlled chaos, combining a healthy mix of strongman, Olympic lifting, calisthenics, powerlifting, explosive cardio, gymnastics, and plyometrics.

The routine allows him to work out seven days a week without overtraining, with lots of compound movements, sandbags and carries, isolation, stretching and holds, burst cardio and HITT, and cooldown days of distance walking or swimming.

While it is geared towards advanced lifters, Joey substitutes beginner-friendly alternatives when his teen son wants to join in. He prioritizes strength that he can use to pick up a body and run if needed, rather than just being able to lift a balanced object.