🏋️ Can this budget bench hold its weight?

Welcome to Home Gym Club! Did you know that there are more than 15,000 CrossFit affiliate gyms around the world? That’s a whole lot of pull-ups happening at any given time.

What’s in today’s newsletter:

• Is the FLYBIRD budget adjustable bench worth it?

• Are the new lululemon Cityverse Sneakers worthy of the high price tag?

• We took the Beyond the Whiteboard CrossFit app for a test-WOD.

• We asked a personal trainer how many sets per muscle group you should do per week.

Bench Warmer

FLYBIRD Olympic Weight Bench Review

We spend a lot of time testing fitness equipment. However, no one has spent more time testing it than GGR founder, Cooper “Coop” Mitchell.

Professor Coop took a microscope to the FLYBIRD Olympic Weight Bench, sharing his detailed feedback and opinion of this budget bench. We then carefully scored this bench according to our equipment testing methodology, which looks at specific features like:

• Stability

• Construction

• Aesthetics

• Storability

Dive in and see what Coop had to say about the FLYBIRD Olympic Weight Bench.

OMG, Shoes!

lululemon Cityverse Sneaker Review

Founded in 1998, lululemon has exploded from a humble yoga pants dealer to a multi-billion dollar clothing behemoth synonymous with “athleisure”. The brand now mainly sells sleek, minimalistic gym wear that you can wear anywhere. More recently, lulu is breaking out into the shoe game with their newest release: the Cityverse sneaker.

The GGR team, of course, had to snag a few pairs and run them through workouts, walks, and runs to determine if these kicks possess the same staying power as lululemon’s iconic leggings.

In our review, we cover how these casual sneakers feel and perform with unique 3D-molded support, and, ultimately, we’ll tell you if they’re worth the $138 price tag.

CrossFit Central

Beyond the Whiteboard App Review

Need a method for tracking your WODs right in your pocket?

As an Olympic lifter and former CrossFit gym owner, senior staff writer Caine Wilkes has a lot of experience with CrossFit exercises and programming, so he was eager to try out Beyond the Whiteboard for himself. Even Team USA weightlifting athletes use the app as a workout log, he says, so he had to see what the hype was about.

In this Beyond the Whiteboard review, Caine takes a deep dive into the app, looking at the workout and metric tracking available, the training programs on the app, and the in-app community.

Expert Training Tips

How Many Sets Do Your Muscles Need?

There’s no perfect answer to the question: “How many sets should I do?” It depends on your experience level, goals, and progression. Some people can gain muscle by performing six sets per week. Ten sets seem to be a sweet spot for most lifters; then again, more grizzled gym-goers may need upward of 15 to 20 sets per muscle.

Train with too little volume and you risk slow to no progress. Train too hard, too fast and you may burn out or injure yourself. We tapped certified personal trainer Ravi Davda to break down the differences between training volume, training frequency, and training intensity based on three fitness goals. He’ll also share sample workouts and outline the possible risks of your weekly training volume being too high.

Quick Hits

Hot Take: Don’t Deadlift for Muscle

• Controversial opinion? Our friends at BarBend suggest you stop doing deadlifts if you want to build muscle.

• Here’s our list of the 5 best protein chips for on-the-go macro snacking.

• A registered dietitian tackles the question: What are BCAAs?