HomeGymCon 2023 was a revolutionary idea created by Jake and Adam, the co-founders of Garage Gym Experiment. It was billed as the first convention for home gym owners, no matter if you lift in your garage, basement, backyard, attic, shed, barn, driveway or spare bedroom, HomeGymCon was an opportunity for you to get together with other people who live your lifestyle. Unlike the Arnold Sports Festival and the Olympia weekend, HomeGymCon 2023 was focused around the home gym subculture and I loved the concept. When you love something, you want to be around other people who love it and at HomeGymCon I finally got that chance.
Background on HomeGymCon 2023
I first heard about HomeGymCon in 2022 and I immediately reached out to Adam and Jake to see about getting them on my YouTube channel to unpack what the weekend would entail. As a home gym owner for over twenty years, I’ve been to my share of expos, both as a consumer and to livestream competitions. But the majority of the people there, while they were into fitness like I am, there was still a sense of being other. If I ran into another home gym owner, it was like a mini family reunion on the spot. “Oh this guy/gal gets it!” I immediately saw the potential for home gym owners to FINALLY be able to put their hands on and try out equipment before shelling out sometimes thousands of dollars only to get pieces that didn’t quite fit them. This isn’t something that average fitness consumers care about because their gym owner takes care of all of that. But it’s a golden opportunity if you’re a home gym owner.
My Reaction to The Weekend
I thoroughly enjoyed HomeGymCon 2023! At HomeGymCon I was surrounded by my community. These were people who were just as excited to nerd out about the effect the powder coating on the Black Widow Custom Power Rack Pull up Attachments had on grip texture or the difference between the Bells of Steel Open Trap Bar 2.0 and the REP Fitness Open Trap Bar. We got a chance to workout with the equipment during the 7:00 – 9:00 AM Workout time and ask any questions of the vendors that attended. Some of the biggest names in the home gym equipment industry were there from Bells of Steel to REP Fitness as well as smaller brands like the manufacturer of the finest training sandbags around, Freedom Strength Company, Canadian adjustable dumbbell manufacturer, BAADAss Dumbbells and Weights, Surplus Strength and probably the most popular booth with a fully set up playground set up with integrated squat station, SwingSesh!
Meeting With Vendors
As an independent journalist focusing on the home gym community, HomeGymCon was a chance to talk to vendors and ask them questions about their products. I was able to spend time with Bells of Steel, finding out why they discontinued their Industrial Trap/Hex Bar in favor of the Open Trap Bar 2.0 which while a great bar, has significantly shorter sleeves and is subject to tip over because of its narrow profile. I spent time with Black Widow Training Gear, getting what might be the first ever interview that Dean from Black Widow has EVER granted and finding out about his products that he customizes to fit whatever rack you already own! I spoke to Freedom Strength Company about why the handles of their training sandbags are in a different place than the others on the market and why his throwing sandbags have a different handle than the other throwing sandbags made by bigger companies. This would have represented WEEKS if not months of scheduling and effort but I got it done in a single morning because all of these vendors were in one room and appreciated the chance to talk about their product without being drowned out by hundreds of scantily clad women offering supplement samples or being shoved into small, out of the way ballrooms that nobody visits like at the Arnold.
The Venue
I had my doubts when I heard that HomeGymCon 2023 was going to be held in French Lick, IN. Indiana is one of those forgotten states that’s on the way to somewhere. I’ve driven through it on my way to Chicago and I know because of my age that NBA great, Larry Bird is from French Lick but it NEVER appeared on my list of places to either visit or avoid. But I was BLOWN away when I got to the resort and saw all of the attractions that are there apart from the reason I was there. The Arnold is great but there’s not much to do in Columbus, OH for your family if they’re not into fitness. The Olympia is in Orlando or sometimes Vegas but to get to other attractions, your family has to drive. Because the French Lick Resort is so far from everything else in America, they have everything your family might enjoy doing right there. From mini golf to a bowling alley to an honest to goodness old school arcade where my daughter and I defended the planet from Space Invaders and she proved that she will NEVER get the keys to my car in an immersive race car game! Several people were enjoying the expo while their significant others were off getting mani-pedis in the on site spa. You have your choice of either the onsite pizzeria or fine dining in one of several onsite restaurants. The rooms were nice and relatively inexpensive especially with the special HomeGymCon rate.
Final Thoughts
HomeGymCon 2023 was great. I got to play with a lot of equipment that my audience is interested in, I had the chance to cover a Log Liftoff and an EPIC deadlift party where I saw over 700lbs pulled for reps AND someone pulled 225lbs for 60 reps! Best of all, I spent time with my community both in the event hall and at the first night dinner, just talking shop and the experience that we all share. Can’t wait to do it again.