The Gray Matter Lab – Pilot Testing

Last updated on January 11th, 2024 at 12:15 pm

Nothing is worse than going full blast into something, and realizing you made a big mistake right out the gate. In the learning world, even after months and months of planning, analyzing, developing and reviewing, we still aren’t 100% sold on our product. Our next step, is to pilot test. This pilot test could take several forms. Often a small test with your internal team, then a slightly larger test with a sampling of your target audience. THEN after testing, a full scale roll-out. But the key here, is taking small jumps before you take a big leap. Enter The Gray Matter Lab – Pilot Testing.

What Did The Gray Matter Lab – Pilot Testing Look Like?

Knowing that I was looking at a roughly $2k investment in my gym, I didn’t want to regret it. I had never worked out from home before. So, I took a similar approach with my gym and slowly “pilot tested” the transition.

The Gray Matter Lab – V 0.1

I bought a roughly 2″ thick by 5′ long hollow pipe from Home Depot and 4 clamps. Paired with roughly 100lbs of misc. weights from Play-it-Again sports. This was my first barbell and weight set. I started on Saturdays doing some misc. barbell circuit work, like curls, rows, etc. Total investment was roughly $65. I probably could have found a decent used deal on Craigslist, but this was perfect as a simple entry test. I ran this for a few weeks.

The Gray Matter Lab – V 0.2

I bought a legit barbell and a bench off Craigslist, along with two sets of mismatched Olympic plates. I had two home depot buckets with lids that I used as “blocks” for pulling. My Friday gym day, Snatch Grip High Pulls, was the first workout moved to the garage. I’d simply set up the two buckets and start loading the bar with plates and ramping up. The bar was a crappy CAP Hex Bolt bar, and the plates weren’t all the same size. Every Friday for about 2 months, this was my routine. I knew if I could make a shifty set-up work, on a Friday, consistently… then I’d be money.

The Gray Matter Lab – V 0.3

I bought a handful of horse stall mats, and moved my Monday deadlift workout to my garage as well. So I was deadlifting on Mondays at home, and High Pulling on Fridays from home. I had the weights, I had the bar, and the bench mostly was used for stretching and mobility work at that point. The mats were enough for my deadlift to not damage the floor or the plates, and keep the noise down. I ran with this for another few months, and then built my 4×8 platform. This wasn’t anything too different, still deadlifting on Mondays and Pulling on Fridays, I just now had a nicer spot to do it from.

In total, this pilot test took me about 6 months, and after the bar, bench, plates, platform, and misc. pieces, I spent roughly $400-$500. If I had bailed at any point before the deadlift platform, I would have been in for about $300 and a few hours of Craigslist shopping and cleaning and painting. I could have easily turned around on Craigslist and got my money back, went back to the commercial gym, and went on with my life. Luckily, it all went smooth. The transition let me test the waters, let me test my Craigslist skills, my cleaning and painting skills, and adjust the parking situation in the garage accordingly.

TL;DR on The Gray Matter Lab – Pilot Testing

Even the best laid out plans fail. Take small jumps before a huge leap, and pilot test your garage gym.

I see plenty of people who jump straight into it, no commercial gym experience, and its the best thing for them. I don’t personally recommend this, because I see even more people drop their annual bonus on equipment because they don’t have the time to go to a commercial gym, use it infrequently for a month, and then quit. Now they have an expensive coat rack. The home gym isn’t for everyone, just like the commercial gym isn’t. Figure out what is right for you, but do it slowly instead of jumping in all at once.

In my next post, I’ll detail The Gray Matter Lab – V1, when I officially pulled the trigger and made the move full time to the garage gym and said farewell to my commute and days of commercial gym life.

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