This will be a two part blog – this week I’ll be talking about our philosophy on how fitness keeps our family functional and how J built this rad kid’s version of our Rogue Fitness Power Rack.
I’m not necessarily huge on New Years resolutions, but a new year is certainly a good time to re-evaluate what worked for you and what didn’t in 2016 and health goals are something I think we all think about – especially after having kids. Fitness is and always has been important in our family for a multitude of reasons. My husband and I started working out together regularly just before I got pregnant and that time has become an important time for J and I to reconnect (and now that we have the girls - also to get to have an uninterrupted adult conversation 
). When we lived in Virginia, we had a really great workout routine and fantastic childcare, so two nights a week we were able to go out to a gym and then have a post workout smoothie date night. That was awesome but moving to South Carolina shook things up a bit because we don’t have as great a childcare setup and our lifestyle changed a little bit with work/commute, etc, and we just weren’t sure where that workout time was going to fit into the day if we had to leave the house to do it. We ultimately decided to invest in a Rogue Fitness Power Rack and some other cool toys (a rower, some kettle bells, dip bar, wall balls, etc) which has actually turned out to be even better since we now work out in the garage five nights a week after the kids go to sleep. While this might not work for everyone, it has been really great for us – we feel better physically (and let’s face it, we look better too) but also mentally since it’s a chance for us to talk through the day and the things that pop up that we can’t always talk about with munchkins running around (ESPECIALLY now that they are basically like having two pet parrots ).
Since we have the equipment at home now, the kids were getting curious about it, especially once they saw us using it on weekends while they were heading outside to play. That got us thinking that it might be a good time to introduce them to the idea of fitness and make it a family activity. Once we caught them doing squats with their toy broom and mop in the living room, we knew it was a definite go. So crafty husband who is really good at things like MATH, LOGIC, and building stuff, among other things I should have paid more attention to in school – drafted out a plan to build the kids their own mini rack. J designed the rack by scaling down the measurements of the original Rogue version. Taking into account the fact that we move a lot (and also have a lot of stuff), he decided to design it so that it could easily be taken apart and put back together quickly. We figured that would help with storing it when we are here and also moving it to the next location. In an awesome stroke of fate – it turns out the extra lumber we had lying around was perfect for this project, so he only ended up buying a couple new things – like the pull up bar, attachments, dowels, and the bolts for easy assembly.
Another cool aspect of this project was that once J had all the pieces cut and the other more kid dangerous things finished, he taught the girls how to measure and sand the wood. They LOVED that and got so into it that he ended up getting them their own measuring tape for the next few projects (stay tuned) and for Christmas they even got their own workbench. Below are some pics of the mini rack and its aseembly/testing phase – next week I’ll share the painting, final touches, and teaching the kids to use it!
