Ep. 22: Spike Camp - $1,000 Home Gym
In Pursuit
MeatEater
4.9 • 6.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
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Summary
On this episode of In Pursuit with Rich Froning, we kick off a series on building a no-nonsense home gym, starting with a strict $1,000 budget. The goal is simple: what equipment actually matters if you want to train hard, stay consistent, and be prepared without wasting money. Next up is the $5,000 gym, followed by the $10,000 build. The crew debates sleds versus barbells, benches versus vests, dumbbells, sandbags, and pull-up bars, breaking down what gives you the most return when space and budget are limited. There’s plenty of disagreement, practical experience, and real-world perspective from years of training in stripped-down setups.
They also touch on the end of whitetail season, property management, getting kids into shooting sports, and Conquer 90, a 90-day challenge built around discipline, fitness, and consistency.
If you’re building a home gym or rethinking what you really need to train well, this episode delivers.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.1 | This is the $1,000 gym. We are going to do a $1,000 gym this week. Next week we will do a $5,000 gym. Yep. Should we do an intermediate, like $2,500 or no? No. You're either $1,000 or you got some coin, right? Yeah. $5,000. And then $10,000. 10,000. |
| 0:20.2 | That's practically an unlimited budget. |
| 0:22.3 | 10,000, 10,000 you can do. |
| 0:24.3 | Yeah,000. And then 10,000. That's practically an unlimited budget. |
| 0:21.6 | 10,000, you can do. |
| 0:23.6 | For yourself, yes. |
| 0:24.6 | 10,000, if you need another thousand, you're probably good. |
| 0:28.6 | Yeah, exactly. |
| 0:29.6 | Out here, the stakes are real. |
| 0:33.6 | Effective preparation starts with fitness, but it requires so much more. |
| 0:41.3 | This show explores the tools, knowledge, resilience, and skills needed to be ready when it matters the most. |
| 0:48.4 | Join me, Rich Broning, as we apply the decades of wisdom I have gained through training and competition to hunting in the backcountry. |
| 0:57.1 | This is In Pursuit. |
| 1:00.1 | Brought to you by Mountain Ops. |
| 1:04.1 | In collaboration with Mayhem Hunt. |
| 1:07.3 | All right. |
| 1:09.0 | What, uh, this is a spike. |
| 1:11.4 | Spike camp. |
| 1:28.7 | It's from, who's this going? It was Pat Spinoza. Pat Spinoza. Pat, good dude. Um, never really worked out. He said much prior to. And we threw him to the wolves. He's like, oh, yeah, yeah. On that bench, wait. He's like, I can handle that. And then after the first set, I think he quickly realized. |
| 1:29.6 | How many reps did you do? |
... |
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