DIY and Custom-Built Workout Gear

Benzonirama

Benzonirama

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Does anyone else enjoy building their own workout gear? I figured I'd share a few things I've put together and actually used. The attached image shows a tbar for swings that I built using pipe and threaded rod from tractor supply. If you've got pictures of equipment you made yourself, share them in this thread.
 
Nice. At one point I built a pretty neat chin up bar out of iron pipe. It attached to the steel beams up in my basement ceiling. The shape was like an "S," which let it simply hook over the beam, and taking it down was no trouble. Then we relocated to South Florida, where basements simply don't exist. I'd bet YouTube is full of thousands of videos packed with good ideas.
 
FartfulCodger said:

Nice. At one point I built a pretty neat chin up bar out of iron pipe. It attached to the steel beams up in my basement ceiling. The shape was like an "S," which let it simply hook over the beam, and taking it down was no trouble. Then we relocated to South Florida, where basements simply don't exist. I'd bet YouTube is full of thousands of videos packed with good ideas.
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Down here in South Ga, we don't have basements either. My gym has never been something I could keep fully inside. That said, I do have a decent in-ground pull-up setup that I built myself and put to use. I'll share a picture of it in this thread.
 
Way back, I put together a "foam" roller using the thick cardboard core left over from an industrial textile roll. It had absolutely no cushioning whatsoever and measured roughly 3" across. Back then I thought it was great, though I suspect that if I tried it today, it would finish me off.
 
7.62fmj said:

Way back, I put together a "foam" roller using the thick cardboard core left over from an industrial textile roll. It had absolutely no cushioning whatsoever and measured roughly 3" across. Back then I thought it was great, though I suspect that if I tried it today, it would finish me off.
Click to expand...
A foam roller is something I could use — seems like it would hit the spot at this moment.
 
My pull-up bar was built from 4x4's along with conduit pipe. Years back, I'd drag it out of the garage and knock out pull-ups in the driveway.

One night I forgot to bring it in, and it got stolen. Whoever took it must have really wanted it. That thing weighed no less than 150 pounds.

I get a kick out of imagining some unemployed bodybuilder who was desperate for a pump grabbed it.
 
For farmer's carries, I built weights out of concrete. I used small cat litter buckets, filled them with 60 lbs of concrete, and put 1" pipe in as handles.

There's also a 30 gallon drum holding 120 lbs of concrete. I pull it around my land.

As of today, I strapped a 1/6 barrel keg onto a backpack. Water fills it halfway. While I walk, it sloshes from side to side. My core really gets worked.

A second backpack I have holds 60 lbs of rocks. I take it with me on walks. That 60 lbs is the amount of weight I lost. It serves as a solid reminder of how difficult it used to be to move.

Dumbbells made from concrete and pipe too.
 
Benzonirama said:

A foam roller is something I could use — seems like it would hit the spot at this moment.
Click to expand...
Locate a solid MT. Thanks to mine, I was put back together well enough to return to the gym.
 
Shittersfull said:

For farmer's carries, I built weights out of concrete. I used small cat litter buckets, filled them with 60 lbs of concrete, and put 1" pipe in as handles.

There's also a 30 gallon drum holding 120 lbs of concrete. I pull it around my land.

As of today, I strapped a 1/6 barrel keg onto a backpack. Water fills it halfway. While I walk, it sloshes from side to side. My core really gets worked.

A second backpack I have holds 60 lbs of rocks. I take it with me on walks. That 60 lbs is the amount of weight I lost. It serves as a solid reminder of how difficult it used to be to move.

Dumbbells made from concrete and pipe too.
Click to expand...
One thing I still need to add to my routine is farmers carries. I've got dumbbells, but I'd like a set I can leave out in the yard without worrying about it. Years back I cast some weight plates out of concrete, and now that I'm getting back into working out I've been putting them to use. Here are a few pics from when I built the forms out of cardboard and tape. I'll put up a picture of my rack later on.
 
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