🏋️ Which workout apps are worth your money?

Did you know it’s good luck in Japan to let a sumo wrestler make your baby cry? Well, today is YOUR lucky day. Don’t worry; we won’t make you cry. Instead, we have yet another edition of the Home Gym Club for you, chock-full of training advice, product reviews, and more.

What’s in today’s newsletter:

• A guide to building your own squat stand.

• The 9 best workout apps on the market.

• A trainer-approved guide to back-squatting.

Build It

DIY Squat Rack

We love a premium squat or power rack as much as the next gymgoer, but you don’t need to shell out big bucks for appreciable gains. In this throwback video from 2020, Coop shows you how to build a squat and bench press stand for $50 (that’s $50 in 2020, so the project may cost a little more today).

Using wood, nails, concrete, and basic buckets, Coop built a rack that supported a 365-pound squat. We don’t suggest loading more than roughly 400 pounds on this contraption, but that’s plenty of weight for most people. If you want to budget, you can save big by building your squat rack.

Fuel Up

Food Fight!

HelloFresh markets itself as “America’s Most Popular Meal Kit.” Many find the nutritious meals, the pre-portioned fresh ingredients, and the reusable recipe cards hard to resist. 

That said, it would be a mistake not to explore all your options like Hungryroot. Similar to HelloFresh, Hungryroot eliminates your need to shop for groceries. The groceries that you receive stem from a custom meal plan curated to your individual dietary needs. The best part? Some Hungryroot dinners can be ready in as little as 10 minutes, a rarity for even some of the best meal kits.

So, in the Hungryroot vs. HelloFresh debate, which is the best meal delivery service? Our team of product testers tried both subscription services, so read on to see what we found out.

Reviews

Your New Lifting Coach

Gone are the days when you have to shell out hundreds of dollars a month for quality guidance in the weight room. There are dozens of apps you can download and buy to guide your workouts and provide training feedback. (Though we do suggest true beginners get some in-person feedback from a professional). Our team of product testers and trainers tried some of the most popular workout apps on the market, placing each one through a rigorous, 14-category testing methodology.

After rating various aspects of the app, we give each workout app our total GGR score. If you’re looking for a program to strengthen and build your muscles, read on for some of our favorites.

Train

Master the Back Squat

The back squat has been called the king of exercises for its superior ability to build and reinforce lower-body strength and mobility. Bodybuilders perform them for more leg muscle. Powerlifters compete to see who can squat the most. Runners and other endurance athletes squat so their legs hold up during long runs.

Whatever your goal, you probably want to be squatting in some form. We suggest learning the tried-and-true back squat. Check out our trainer-approved guide to getting low under a barbell.

Quick Hits

Does Creatine Make You Strong?

• One of our trusted registered dietitians wrote a stellar article exploring the strength effects of creatine.

• Here are the GGR team’s favorite REP Fitness discount codes.

• If you’re in the market for a cold plunge, check out our review of the Plunge All-In tub.