Short Basement Ceiling Height - Dig Hole in Concrete?

[Humanwithoutidentity]

I've been a following SS for a few months and have been a garage gymer for about 3 years now.

Live in New England so it gets mighty cold in the winter. I'm getting too damn old to freeze my ass off in the garage from November through March so I'm looking to move my garage gym to the basement.

I've been thinking of moving my garage gym into the basement but have one problem - I'm a pretty tall guy (6'4") and my basement is about 7'6" so I can't go overhead. Even if I go between the joists I'd hit the floor above me.

I was getting pretty dejected until I saw THIS ARCHIVED THREAD which featured THIS GUY WHO DUG A HOLE IN HIS BASEMENT FLOOR TO PRESS IN!


Questions for this community:

1. Has anyone ever done this?
2. If yes, how'd it go?
3. I highly doubt a hole that's reinforced by concrete blocks will have any impact structurally but interested to see if anyone has different insights.
4. Are there any other suggestions on workarounds?

[Satch12879]

Don't cut a hole in your basement floor slab. How do you walk heavy presses out of the rack while having to get down into a hole?

Just get a kerosene heater for your garage.

[Adam Fangman]

That is Saw like dedication to training and I've never heard of that because it seems literally crazy. Seated press or loading up on 25lb plates if you can make the clearance are both valid training options. I ripped out the lofted storage space and disconnected the garage door opener at my original space for the clearance without telling my landlord. Really nice guy who didn't mind at all, luckily, otherwise I do not recommend destroying old folk's homemade storage space. He sold the place and made almost a million dollars though so he's probably okay.

[Humanwithoutidentity]

That is Saw like dedication to training and I've never heard of that because it seems literally crazy. Seated press or loading up on 25lb plates if you can make the clearance are both valid training options. I ripped out the lofted storage space and disconnected the garage door opener at my original space for the clearance without telling my landlord. Really nice guy who didn't mind at all, luckily, otherwise I do not recommend destroying old folk's homemade storage space. He sold the place and made almost a million dollars though so he's probably okay.

Yeah. Starting to think just getting a patio heater to take the nip out of the air should do the trick!

[Humanwithoutidentity]

Don't cut a hole in your basement floor slab. How do you walk heavy presses out of the rack while having to get down into a hole?

Just get a kerosene heater for your garage.

Didn’t really think of that. Sounds like a good way to fuck myself up in a hurry. You make valid points. Just need to put on big boy panties and buy a patio heater to make it somewhat tolerable.

[AdamBlalock]

I used to live in Iowa and winter was long and brutal. I had two space heaters going and doubled up on the clothing layers and was still cold. South Carolina is much better...

I don't know what your basement is like but look to the late Tommy Kono for motivation. He trained in his parent's basement with a low ceiling for a long time before moving to Hawaii and set many World Records in the C & P and C & J along the way. He would shift the weights so that they would fit between the rafters when he jerked! I don't recommend that but it worked for him. He would do the same for presses. He was also a big fan of the seated press. It might not be orthodox SS but it is a solid variation.

Kono's last World's records were a 337 C & P at 181 and he "ate" his way into the 198s to do a 350 C & P weighing all of 183.

[Satch12879]

Didn’t really think of that. Sounds like a good way to fuck myself up in a hurry. You make valid points. Just need to put on big boy panties and buy a patio heater to make it somewhat tolerable.

Training in the cold is far more preferable than training in the heat. It's precisely analogous to sleeping.

[Lasse Høi]

Jesus, what exactly is the problem here people? Are you promenading the bar through the whole house for a walkout? I Dug a press pit in my workshop floor inside the rack. With a lid, which was simply cut out of the platform. Works like a charm. You only need about 40x40 cm. Safety bars are reccommended in case you trip.

[danomite!]

Jesus, what exactly is the problem here people? Are you promenading the bar through the whole house for a walkout? I Dug a press pit in my workshop floor inside the rack. With a lid, which was simply cut out of the platform. Works like a charm. You only need about 40x40 cm. Safety bars are reccommended in case you trip.

Hell you could use the safety arms to rack the bar. In which case your feet wouldn't even move when unracking. Just a little knee bend to rack/unrack. Post a pic of your setup when you get a chance. Sounds pretty creative.

[danomite!]

Hell you could use the safety arms to rack the bar. In which case your feet wouldn't even move when unracking. Just a little knee bend to rack/unrack. Post a pic of your setup when you get a chance. Sounds pretty creative.

Never mind, I found one of your form checks. Pretty slick set up. YouTube