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 :
- Görner the Mighty
- Gymchat 238 - Fitness Business Strategies (Matt Palfrey)
- Looking At : Week Ending Mar 2, 2014
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...
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This week :
Gymchat 238 - Fitness Business Strategies (Matt Palfrey)
We hold these every Wednesday, starting at 8pm Eastern. See you there.
NB : if you'd like to be interviewed in an upcoming discussion, we'd love to hear from you. It's great to find out how other people train.
And if you'd like to add your comments and suggestions on the Gymchats in general, you can do that here. Cheers.
setting up a home gym?
If you're getting ready to put together a solid Home Gym (fantastic thing), here's how.
And for more, swing by the full guide. Absolutely free.
what we're saying
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
Jedd
'Napalm' Johnson (@jeddjohnson, +Jedd Johnson)
Grip champion and Strongman
Kat
'The Mighty Kat' Ricker (+Kat Ricker)
Bodybuilder and Writer
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.
want more? no problem.
Looking At : Week Ending Mar 9, 2014
Echo Point, Blue Mountains. 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.
Gymchat 238 - Fitness Business Strategies (Matt Palfrey)
Matt Palfrey.UPDATE (5 Mar 2014) : Unfortunately a connectivity issue got in the way of this one, so we've rescheduled it for Monday (full details below). Apologies for that. Scott If you've been involved with the fitness industry for any length of time, chances are you've thought about setting up your own gym. Perhaps you've already got one. Either way - how do you promote it? Attract new customers? Learn about what works, and what doesn't? This week we'll be discussing this area in detail, answering all of the above and a whole lot more. Joining us is Strength & Conditioning Coach Matt Palfrey, together with Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Fantastic. NB : We'd love to hear your questions and comments. If there's a particular subject you'd like Matt and Josh to address, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat (during the discussion itself) and jump in the Q&A. And if you'd like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the 'share' button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.
Looking At : Week Ending Mar 2, 2014
Echo Point, Blue Mountains. 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 237 - Old-Time Strongman Training (Logan Christopher)
Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 237 - Old-Time Strongman Training [with 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, 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 237 - Old-Time Strongman Training (Logan Christopher)
Logan Christopher.Old-Time Strongman Training - Phonebook Tearing, Frying Pan Rolling, Kettlebell Juggling and a whole lot more. Love it. They're certainly uncommon areas: how do you train for them? What are the benefits of these approaches? What sorts of equipment is involved? This week we'll be discussing the entire field of Old-Time Strength in obsessive detail. Joining us is 'Physical Culture Renaissance Man' Logan Christopher, together with Personal Trainer (and Strength Athlete) Josh Hewett. Fantastic. If you've got questions/comments for Logan or Josh, just swing by the event page for this Gymchat. And if you'd like to point your friends/colleagues to the discussion, just use the 'share' button at the top of that page. The more the merrier.
Looking At : Week Ending Feb 23, 2014
Echo Point, Blue Mountains. 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 236 - Programming for Strength vs Hypertrophy (Jason Paris)
Thanks again to everyone who watched and sent in questions for the discussion Gymchat 236 - Programming for Strength vs Hypertrophy [with Strength Coach Jason Paris, 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.
reading
Görner the Mighty
Görner the Mighty.This is one of the books that Logan mentioned in the Gymchat last week - Görner the Mighty. Good stuff. Although I was lucky enough to read the original book many years ago, I'm extremely keen to dive in to this version - the 2012 reprint - as soon as possible. I suspect that things will look quite different now; after training for a number of years. Görner the Mighty. »»
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.