by Henry Gould – June 17th, 2020

Weekly roundup! A few things I’ve stumbled across on the “information super highway” the last few days, which I figured might be of interest…

GQ: “Meet Marc Miller, NYC’s Underground Dumbbell Dealer”

If you’re like me, as soon as Yard Athletics had to close in March due to COVID-19 you were scrambling to find exercise equipment. And wouldn’t you know it, so was everyone else.

Skimming Craigslist every day was hopeless, either littered only with the saddest, rustiest, most pathetic looking equipment, or just the most blatant price gouging imaginable. I’ve heard about “a dollar per pound” for weights, but 2 x 8lb dumbbells is not worth $50, pandemic or not.

It seems Marc Miller in New York City thought to make lemonade out of lemons. Originally an entrepreneurial gym owner, when the lockdown hit he found himself hustling all over the city (deliveries only between 3am – 6am) to sell gym equipment.

It’s a VERY wild interview… well worth the read.

Obi Vincent: “What I Eat To Stay Shredded Year Round (Full Day Of Eating)”

Eventually the YouTube algorithm comes for us all. You can’t escape it. One day you’re harmlessly searching for recipes, the next thing you know your entire homepage is littered with home cook influencers that are waaaaayyy too enthusiastic. You know what I mean…

Now, maybe it was because I’ve been on the amazing Yard Athletics YouTube page (have you…?) that the algorithm suspected I had an interest in health and fitness. Correct! It then started showing me videos of Obi Vincent, a fit-fluencer who from thumbnail preview image alone is what could be modestly described as “insanely jacked”.

Turns out Obi is a very popular fitness guru with a wide variety of great videos and tutorials, lots of which are for bodyweight exercises that can easily be done at home with no equipment.

There’s also an interesting rundown of his daily eating plan (link above). Now, the vast majority of people are probably never going to look like Obi, or have no desire to. Regardless, I think it’s valuable for anyone interested in health and wellness, who might be on their own journey of trying to lose weight or gain muscle. Being aware of your daily macronutrients (proteins, carbs, fats) as well as vitamins, hydration and other supplements is crucial to finding success.

“100 Chinups Per Week” Challenge

In the last few months while gyms were closed, we all had to get creative. Lots of the Yard community came together to do the Yard From Home Zoom Workouts, which received amazing feedback and kept everyone going during lockdown. Other scavenged like Marc Miller above, and were able to get a hold of the odd dumbbell or kettlebell, but it was definitely a case of making the best of what you have.

One thing I found particularly good for staying in shape was a small challenge to myself of “100 Chinups Per Week”.

Tons of parks around the city have chinup bars, and if they don’t, jungle gyms or playground often have something to grab onto. Even a low hanging soccer net works great if you can grip around the bar.

A few times per week I would jog up to the school by my house and do ~30 chinups in sets of 3-5. It’s definitely not easy, but it also doesn’t completely drain you so it’s doable with a days rest. Done 3 times per week (with a few extra to round out 100) it proved to be an amazing way of staying in shape, and improved my grip and back strength immensely.

So if you find yourself a good chinup bar close to where you live, or fancy using the awesome chinup bars in the new Yard Athletics, give it a go and see what happens.