Josh Maxwell, MD, CPT
Josh Max(well) is a Pediatrician, NASM certified personal trainer, and home gym design specialist. Dad, garage gym owner, GGC participant, and proud member of the 999lb Club.
Movement Is Medicine
Hey fellow lifters! I’m Josh – aka Rebel Strong – aka Dr. Maxwell – and I’ve had a blast being a part of the Garage Gym Competition as a participant, coach, and contributor.
My education and training is in biology/medicine and I am a practicing pediatrician (MD) based in Utah, but my passions have always revolved around physical activity ranging from competitive sports as a kid and high school sports/ intramurals (basketball and soccer), and now hiking, skiing, and lifting. I am also NASM certified as a personal trainer, online coach, and garage gym design specialist.
I officially started my home gym in late 2020. During my medical training, I had very limited time to go to the gym, and when I did, I was constantly modifying my planned workouts due to equipment availability and was too often frustrated by the time wasted just waiting for machines, benches, or squat racks to open up. After completing my residency training and moving to a more permanent location, starting a home gym was a top priority and has been the best investment I have ever made for myself. I started with a small garage gym only taking up half of the garage space, but have now expanded into most of the garage and have officially achieved “No Parking” status for my garage gym. I now have flexibility with my training and can include my daughters in my gym, inspiring them to be active and strong!
I typically train 3 times per week with a powerlifting focus, but also do accessory training for a few minutes on most nights. One of the most important things I’ve learned in my fitness journey is about making my training functional. To me, this means realizing that it’s ok to modify my workout plan, change my goals, and deviate from my programming depending on my current life situation, personal needs, and/or family needs and having a home gym allows me the flexibility to do this.
The Beginning
As I began building out my garage gym, I found myself really enjoying the deep dives into different types of equipment, brands, maximizing my space, finding the best deals, and all things home gym related. I randomly came across the Garage Gym Competition after listening to the Garage Gym Experiment Podcast and shortly after competed in my first GGC in the Spring 2022 competition. I’ve been a regular participant since!
Because of the inclusiveness of the GGC and the lifting community as a whole, I found it easy to jump in and get involved with the community myself. It’s one of the few sports where fellow competitors cheer each other on and legitimately want to see each other succeed, and for the average lifter, it’s one of the best ways to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. It has been a perfect fit to combine my medical background with my own home gym experience to give back to such an inclusive community. We are Stronger Together!
Now let me take you on a tour of my garage gym!
I came up with the name Rebel Strong mostly as a Star Wars reference to the Rebel Alliance, but also because I like to do things outside of the status quo. I have always been the person to find a more convenient or efficient way of doing things, and I typically will not buy a piece of equipment unless it will serve multiple functions (or unless it has a price point that’s just too good to turn down).
Lastly, I want to mention my programming journey. As mentioned above, my training has shifted to a more functional approach allowing for flexibility with my current life situation, personal needs, family needs, injuries, etc. Between my medical background, personal trainer certification, and deep dive into the world of home gym fitness, I now prefer to build my own templates and training programs in 4-8 week blocks and address specific areas I need to improve, modify based on injuries, or focus based on personal preference. I am grateful for the programs I have used along the way that have contributed to my knowledge base including programs such as JuggernautAI and Barbell Logic. Regardless of which program you choose, whether you lift with a coach/trainer, with friends, fitness classes, or by yourself, I’m here cheering you on as part of this all-inclusive community via the Garage Gym Competition and knowing we are all STRONGER TOGETHER!
Josh Maxwell
Instagram @josh.max
TikTok and Youtube @Rebel.Strong
https://rebelstrong.wordpress.com
I’ll be doing an in-depth run through of the equipment found in my garage, my thought process when purchasing, and some alternatives that I considered so be sure to follow my blog at https://rebelstrong.wordpress.com and my socials @josh.max, @Rebel.Strong.
