DIY: Home-Made Gym Equipment
Ready to build your own? Here's how.
by Scott Andrew BirdFiled in : Equipment
Tags : brain, clubs & maces, conditioning, DIY, grip, grippers, Highland Games, leverage, Olympic Weightlifting, stone lifting
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Parts list.
Big Steel - Building a thick dumbbell handle Tom Black
Making wooden handles for your dumbbells. You'll find more great stuff on Tom's article page including notes on the construction of a plate-loading sledgehammer and a modified adjustable gripper.
Brian's Strength Training site
Equipment for Janda Sit-ups and other fun things.
Everything from bars to a belt squatting setup.
Building a Lifting Platform (Ironmind)
Randall J. Strossen
Now all you need is a set of bumper plates.
Building Your Own Set of Atlas Stones
Jason F. Keen
Making stones using an old - but effective - recipe of plaster, cement and water. And a couple of inflatable balls. A similar article appears at Body Results.
Some good discussion on the ins and outs of equipment, both store-bought and home-made.
Edgewalls - How to Build a Home Climbing Wall
Construction of a bouldering/traverse wall.
Plastic shopping bags, pipe, a tennis ball and of course lots and lots of duct tape.
A forum for DIY gymrats everywhere.
Building a spring loaded mat. Superb.
If you've ever considered the idea of having your own Glute-Ham Raise, take a look at this. While you're there, check out the home-made slammable medicine ball (based on instructions [.pdf, 1.21mb] from Pierre Augé).
Free instructions for building squat stands and plyometric boxes.
Some great articles here, including Make Your Own 200m Track [.pdf, 204kb]
Plans for a home-made squat rack
Bill McBride
What more could you want?
Want to know the exact dimensions of that bar you're about to transform? They're all here.
Photos of various home-made equipment.
How-to articles on construction of Hammers and Weight for Height/Distance equipment.
Assorted DIY goodness including photographs of a home-made pulldown attachment and a Reverse Hyper bench for the rack.
Ross Enamait forum - Training Equipment
Some great ideas here (start in this thread). If you're hungry for more, take a look at his articles on constructing (and using) a waterball and a sandbag [.pdf, 344kb].
Notes on the construction of various Highland Games equipment.
Excellent advice on joining materials to other materials.
Construction history of many items in the outdoor Toffe's Gym (which is in a superb forest setting, incidentally) including calf-training equipment, a heavy-duty bench and of course the power rack. Excellent stuff.
After reading those, it's time for a trip to the nearest hardware store. Plenty of fun things to experiment with.
Scott Andrew Bird is a writer, photographer and a guy who just loves this stuff. He's been at home in front of a computer for more years than he cares to remember (OK, 31) and is now making amends for years of many mistakes noted in the De-constructing computer guy articles (part 2) on T-Nation.
Stalkers may wish to track his every move via Twitter or Google+; everyone else is cordially invited to hop over to his online home. Enjoy.
Like this? Check out some of their other articles :
- Gymchat 245 - Feats of Strength (Grip Strength) (Jedd Johnson)
- Looking At : Week Ending Apr 20, 2014
- Improving Your Pull-ups (Frank DiMeo)
And if you'd like to join the writing team here and share your own thoughts on strength-training, get in touch. Look forward to hearing from you.
And Perhaps...
Over to you. Leave a comment below, or send us a tweet :
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This week :
Gymchat 245 - Feats of Strength (Grip Strength) (Jedd Johnson)
We hold these every Wednesday, starting at 8pm Eastern. See you there.
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setting up a home gym?
If you're getting ready to put together a solid Home Gym (fantastic thing), here's how.
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Gymchat 245 - Feats of Strength (Grip Strength) (Jedd Johnson)
Yep, we're talking about grip strength. Perfect.
Looking At : Week Ending Apr 20, 2014
During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
Looking At : Week Ending Apr 13, 2014
During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
Video for Gymchat 243 - How to Improve Your Pull Ups (Frank DiMeo)
Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 243 - How to Improve Your Pull Ups [with Strength Coach Frank DiMeo, joined by Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett] - much appreciated. If you haven't seen it yet (or simply want to go over a particular point again), here's the entire video.
Gymchat 243 - How to Improve Your Pull Ups (Frank DiMeo)
There are certainly many, many varieties of chin-ups and pull-ups. Fantastic exercises.
Looking At : Week Ending Apr 6, 2014
During the past week we've discussed a number of great links; on Google+, Twitter, Facebook and so on. Here are a few of my favourites.
images of strength
Want to see (and learn) more Feats of Strength like this? Dive in.
recommended
It'll come as no surprise that we've reviewed many, many products over the years. Everything from books, magazines and DVDs to racks, benches and complete home gyms.
To give you an idea :
- Recover Better and Faster with Elite Recoup
- Carlson Labs Fish Oil
- Get Extreme With Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite
- Review : Fixing Elbow Pain
- Gettin' Swole, Part 2
- Gettin' Swole
- You Need More Drugs
Looking for a full list of the various equipment and services we use and recommend? No problem - it's all here.
the team
There are some superb writers here, looking at the world of strength training from a number of angles. The regulars :
Scott Bird (@scottbird, +Scott Bird)
Writer and Fitness enthusiast
Josh Hewett (@TopFormFitness, +Josh Hewett)
Strongman, Personal Trainer and Host of the Gymchats
Conor Doherty (@sfactoryfitness, +Conor Doherty)
Educator and Personal Trainer
Derek 'D-Rock' Peruo (@DerekPeruoCSCS, +Derek Peruo)
Personal Trainer and Creator of the Renaissance Fitness Supplement Kits
Dean Coulson (@DeanCoulson, +Dean Coulson)
Strength & Conditioning Coach and Martial Artist
Kat
'The Mighty Kat' Ricker (+Kat Ricker)
Bodybuilder and Writer
Jedd
'Napalm' Johnson (@jeddjohnson, +Jedd Johnson)
Grip champion and Strongman
NB : It's a big team - full list here.
In addition, articles are submitted from across the globe. Got a piece you'd like to share? Let us know.
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in the wild
It’s always great to see how other people train.
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the future of fitness
Over the years we’ve looked at the fitness industry from a number of angles - discussing the history, present approaches and potential future trends involved. Fascinating areas.
When it comes to the last part - discussing potential future trends - things get a little, well, unusual. If it’s an interest you share, or you just want to find out the types of things we think are likely, check out the posts tagged ‘Futurism’. And of course, Gymchat 224 (Roundtable) - The Future of Fitness. Superb discussion.
reading
Improving Your Pull-ups (Frank DiMeo)
Improving Your Pull-ups.Good stuff. I'm a huge fan the various forms of pull-ups, and the Gymchat last week was certainly an excellent exploration of the area. Nice one guys. Improving Your Pull-ups is one of the many superb resources mentioned in the discussion. This is the Kindle edition of Frank's own book on the subject, outlining a 12 week program that does exactly what the title suggests. And in no small way. Highly recommended. »»
If you're new to the world of nail bending, this is the perfect book to get. It'll show you the exact techniques you'll need to get started right away. Written by world-class bender Jedd Johnson.
The Diesel Crew's Card Tearing eBook
This is a fantastic book. If you've ever considered learning this incredible strength feat, the Card Tearing eBook is the perfect place to start. Love it.
If you ever wake up with that 'just run over by a truck' feeling, you need a copy of Tim Hull's Functional Correction Manual. Not only will it help you to locate and repair the problem, it'll help prevent it happening in the future.
When it comes to body transformation - whether that's an increase in strength, packing on a bit of muscle or losing a bit of excess fat - this is the perfect place to start. Dr Berardi's Precision Nutrition.
This is a fantastic book. As Josh explains, it superbly shows what's going on while you train. Love it.
101 Fitness Myths [Kindle Edition]
A superb combination of fitness mythbusting and no-nonsense advice. If you're not quite sure where to start, grab this.
The Art of Expressing the Human Body
If you've ever watched a Bruce Lee film and marveled at his strength, speed, agility, endurance, flexibility or muscularity, this book should take pride of place in your collection. Unlike many other writings covering everything from Lee's training methods to nutrition, this book is based not on the recollections of people around him; but on Lee's own notes. Brilliant.
For a full list of what we're reading and watching at the moment, just head over to the Recommended Books & DVDs page. See you there.