Over the last few weeks I have spent thousands of dollars and gotten many new toys. From the mat's to the bumpers and barbells, all of it has been fun and exciting! But today something unique and special arrived... a toy that one might call rare, especially in these parts!
What your looking at above are called jerk boxes, and will be an essential part of equipment for Akross The Middle! These will play a crucial role for ATM Athletics and its athletes! Each box easily weighs over 150lbs and together they can support over 500lbs landing on them! You can see in the background my york rack, while similar, the jerk boxes are much more flexible and useful for certain exercises such as the snatch balance series, the jerk and pressing series, numerous types of squat exercises, and many other exercises & movements!
When they arrived today I added the rubber matting to the top, partially because I thought it would help with noise and provide a bit cushioning, but also because it looks bitchin! On the internet these can sell for as much as $1000 or more, but at the end of the day, they are just a lot of wood and metal! So a few months ago I decided that I would build them, but as the to do list started to mount I began to realize that I would not have the time to do it, but even more importantly I lack the proper facility for a long-term project such as this. While I have the tools and no-how to build them, they are not a one day project, thus I would have had to build and leave them in the garage which doubles as my place of work, which is not an option. So, me building them was a no go. My thoughts immediately turned to a close friend who I knew would enjoy a project like this, this amazing friend also had the patience to do a much better job than I... so long story short he agreed to do it for me and seriously did an amazing job! One that I can not really properly thank him for!
This incredible friend is also a client and is one incredible athlete! His name is Craig Wobig and with a little help from these jerk boxes :), Craig has his sights on winning the Firefighter CrossFit Games in late July! I will definitely keep you all updated on his training and how he does! But for now, a big thank you goes out to a one of a kind friend and honorary lifetime member of ATM Athletics!
Thank you my friend, these will serve ATM and all of its athletes well for many, many years to come!
Until next time, peace out and thank you all for reading!
