🏋️ The Best Cold Plunge Tubs

Author

Andrew Gutman
March 15, 2024

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Welcome to Home Gym Club! A 2012 study found countries that consumed more chocolate had more Nobel laureates. Do what you will with that information, and while you digest this delicious redefinition of “brain food,” give the rest of this newsletter a read.

What’s in today’s newsletter:

  • Our list of the best cold plunge tubs.

  • A three-step guide to de-rusting your precious barbell.

  • Our review of the Beyond Power Voltra.

  • BowFlex (yes, that BowFlex) filed for bankruptcy.

Our Favorite…

Cold Plunge Tubs (Brrr)

If you’re reading this newsletter, it’s a safe bet that your Instagram algorithm has fed you videos of gym bros hacking ice off the top of a cold plunge tub. The masochist practice is trendy thanks to some potential benefits: a boost in metabolism, stress management, and a more robust immune system.

If you’re in the market for a cold plunge, our team of professional product testers has hopped into nearly 10 of the most popular tubs to help you (ahem) take the plunge. We’ve got choices for nearly everyone—folks on a budget, taller people, plunges for small spaces, and more. Read the full review by clicking the button below.

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Watch Party

Fight Back Against Rust

This edition’s Watch Party is a throwback to pre-mustache Coop doling out some simple but useful advice: How to get rust off your barbell.

Barbells can cost upwards of $300 and are meant to last a lifetime. While barbells are relatively low-maintenance tools, they do require some occasional TLC. Watch the entire video for more in-depth directions from Coop, but the process is essentially…

  • Step 1: Remove your barbell from its rack and place it on a steady, flat surface.

  • Step 2a: Rub your bar with a plastic bristle brush. This brush probably won’t remove much rust, but we suggest trying since plastic bristles are kinder to your barbell.

  • Step 2b: However, you’ll likely need a bronze bristle brush to scrape the rust off. Channel as much patience as possible and then start rubbing the bar down.

  • Step 3: After a little while, apply some 3-in-1 oil to the barbell and keep rubbing with the brush until all the surface rust is removed.

That New-New

The Future of Home Gyms?

Not too long ago, Coop said he considers cables a tier 2 addition to your home gym. They provide near-constant resistance to your muscles and allow for oodles of exercise variety. However, adding a cable machine to your home gym is a significant space issue, requiring enough square footage to house a functional trainer or the depth to add an entire cable pulley system to your power rack.

Beyond Power’s VOLTRA 1 is a rack-mounted cable system the user can control through an app or touch screen. VOLTRA can mimic a resistance band or cable stack machine, and the user can add resistance to the concentric and eccentric portion of the lift. The big downside? This machine will cost you. Click the button below for our full review.

Rack City

Exercises For Your Squat Rack

The more equipment, the better, we say. Still, you don’t need much more than a squat rack, a barbell and plates, and a resistance band to get a full-body workout.

Garage Gym Reviews contributor Roger Lockridge outlines 10 exercises you can do in a squat or power rack. Perform a few of these as an addition to your training plan or do an entire workout in a power rack for when the gym is too crowded.

Quick Hits

Scary-Tasty Supps