How to become a DIY strongman
July 27, 2008 11:18 AM Subscribe
Handy, but out of shape? Make your own exercise equipment—mostly out of PVC tubes, steel pipes, webbing, and the occasional mouse pad. Instructions (with lots of pictures) for making chinup/dip/pushup bars, various grips, isokentic devices, isometric devices, isotonic devices, and martial arts equipment from Grunt and Shen's workshop. (Warning: Angelfire hosted site)
Those wooden "Iron Crosses" look like a painfully obvious accident just waiting to happen.
posted by lemonfridge at 11:29 AM on July 27, 2008
posted by lemonfridge at 11:29 AM on July 27, 2008
In the absence of weights, I am employing isometrics!
As a cheapass who needs to exercise, I am intrigued.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:44 AM on July 27, 2008
As a cheapass who needs to exercise, I am intrigued.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:44 AM on July 27, 2008
like a painfully obvious accident just waiting to happen
Autocrucifiction.
posted by jouke at 12:00 PM on July 27, 2008
Autocrucifiction.
posted by jouke at 12:00 PM on July 27, 2008
I also love how they find old fitness equipment, and chop it up to make fitness equipment.
posted by lemonfridge at 12:03 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by lemonfridge at 12:03 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
Angelfire hasn't died a quiet death yet?
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:32 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:32 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
Unfortunately the piece of equipment whose action is the hardest to duplicate without equipment (chinup bar) is also the one most likely to hurt me badly when it inevitably fails.
posted by facetious at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2008
posted by facetious at 1:24 PM on July 27, 2008
This is great!
Although I kept wondering where they got the stuff until I went to the Useful Information and Resources links.
As someone who has built some of his own cheap workout equipment in the past, I would like to suggest that you actually do a bit of searching for prices. Sometimes it is a hell of a lot cheaper to buy from Big 5 or GI Joes. Not to mention it saves you the time, and is actually safety tested before put onto the market.
It kind of sucks to have some crappy PVC bust and take out a chunk of flesh, or maybe worse, when you could've just picked up the real deal.
posted by P.o.B. at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
Although I kept wondering where they got the stuff until I went to the Useful Information and Resources links.
As someone who has built some of his own cheap workout equipment in the past, I would like to suggest that you actually do a bit of searching for prices. Sometimes it is a hell of a lot cheaper to buy from Big 5 or GI Joes. Not to mention it saves you the time, and is actually safety tested before put onto the market.
It kind of sucks to have some crappy PVC bust and take out a chunk of flesh, or maybe worse, when you could've just picked up the real deal.
posted by P.o.B. at 1:26 PM on July 27, 2008 [1 favorite]
First off, thanks for the warning that it's AngelFire so I know not to click the link.
Secondly, I don't exercise cuz I'm a lazy fat fuck, so I don't know why I care about this.
Third, I never understood the mentality behind "exercise equipment" except in terms of weightlifting, cuz lifting the refrigerator instead is inconvenient, but most of these doodads designed to improve your performance? Looks like a pushup or a situp would do just as nicely without shelling out money or playing jigsaw with junk yards.
Some years ago, a friend had purchased this big machine where she could run in place every day while watching tv or whatever. It cost her hundreds of dollars and she was real excited.
I know what you're thinking. I should have said, "why can't you just go outside and walk?" But this is Texas. Tumbleweeds get heat stroke here. In this case I could kinda understand jogging inside while watching TV where it's air conditioned, so you don't sweat too much.
A couple weeks later I visited her again and the running machine had several boxes and other things on it. It had become this object upon which she put other things to get them out of the way and now this pile of junk was accumulating in the center of her TV room. A few visits later the machine just disappeared. She never talked about it, and I never mentioned it.
Expensive exercise equipment is just another way to try to get money from us fat people. And now you want us to build our own expensive exercise equipment? That sounds too much like work. I might lose a calorie.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:02 PM on July 27, 2008
Secondly, I don't exercise cuz I'm a lazy fat fuck, so I don't know why I care about this.
Third, I never understood the mentality behind "exercise equipment" except in terms of weightlifting, cuz lifting the refrigerator instead is inconvenient, but most of these doodads designed to improve your performance? Looks like a pushup or a situp would do just as nicely without shelling out money or playing jigsaw with junk yards.
Some years ago, a friend had purchased this big machine where she could run in place every day while watching tv or whatever. It cost her hundreds of dollars and she was real excited.
I know what you're thinking. I should have said, "why can't you just go outside and walk?" But this is Texas. Tumbleweeds get heat stroke here. In this case I could kinda understand jogging inside while watching TV where it's air conditioned, so you don't sweat too much.
A couple weeks later I visited her again and the running machine had several boxes and other things on it. It had become this object upon which she put other things to get them out of the way and now this pile of junk was accumulating in the center of her TV room. A few visits later the machine just disappeared. She never talked about it, and I never mentioned it.
Expensive exercise equipment is just another way to try to get money from us fat people. And now you want us to build our own expensive exercise equipment? That sounds too much like work. I might lose a calorie.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:02 PM on July 27, 2008
It's people like this who keep America's Funniest Home Videos on the air.
God bless them.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:09 PM on July 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
God bless them.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:09 PM on July 27, 2008 [2 favorites]
It depends, ZachsMind. In my experience, the simplest equipment gets used the most. I have some push-up grips that actually do improve the motion. You see, standard push-ups cause me wrist pain since the natural motion would call for your arm to rotate. The grips allow that rotation, so hooray for them. And I agree about weights. I own a couple of dumbells, and they have seen a lot of use over fifteen years. Of course, one of the links purported to give instructions on how to make your own dumbells, which sounds intriguing to me.
On the other hand, my dad has a treadmill and one of those bowflexes, and he actually has been using them regularly for a couple years, now. Typically, these kinds of things can end up being expensive box holders and clothes hangers, but it depends more on the person than the machine.
posted by Edgewise at 9:46 PM on July 27, 2008
On the other hand, my dad has a treadmill and one of those bowflexes, and he actually has been using them regularly for a couple years, now. Typically, these kinds of things can end up being expensive box holders and clothes hangers, but it depends more on the person than the machine.
posted by Edgewise at 9:46 PM on July 27, 2008
I have some home made dumbells siting next to the couch I am on right now. Each one is made of a length of pipe embedded in large (costco sized) tin of beans which has been filled with concrete. They work great.
posted by Nothing at 3:50 AM on July 28, 2008
posted by Nothing at 3:50 AM on July 28, 2008
« Older PBS falls on hard times | Nubby Twiglet Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:27 AM on July 27, 2008