Do-It-Yourself Exercise Equipment, Stuff and Crap

[Teh El Macho]

Nice! Now hit it with a sledge hammer!

Well, this morning the temperature dropped in SoFla (fucking finally.) So it was a good morning to hit the crap out of it, using my gymboss tabata timer... I was out of juice to hit it in a manly manner, though :dead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiGY8bL0Dsg


Another cool thing about a tire is that not only you can push it or beat the crap out of it; you can tie it to a belt and drag it around. After a couple of runs, I couldn't sprint with it anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4NEhXj3GyY

If I can place a 2x12 in the tire with a metal pipe in it, it should become a nice load-carrying sledge. This is convenient when you are in a crowded neighborhood (the noise generated from the tire is quite negligible.)

[Teh El Macho]

If I can place a 2x12 in the tire with a metal pipe in it, it should become a nice load-carrying sledge. This is convenient when you are in a crowded neighborhood (the noise generated from the tire is quite negligible.)

I take that back. You don't need a piece of wood or a platform to put load on it.



I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Having said that, one would have to use small dumbbells or plates, but that's ok. I have almost 200lbs in dumbbells, small plates, chains and **** I can throw inside the tire. Another nice thing about the tire is that I can use it to carry ****. To keep the tire from throwing dirt on my car or inside the house, I just throw a canvas on it (tire wearing a burka).




I don't have a harness, so I used my old belt instead to strap the PVC/chains rings I previously constructed (which are secured in the tire with another chain which itself weights about 13lbs).




I have to say it was fun doing a lot of **** with this contraption - presses, flies, pull-throughs, etc. Time went quickly, and in about an hour I was drained. I overtrained a bit however, and the right back of my lower back is bitching a little bit. I don't get that (usually) from squatting. No biggie, but it's something to consider. This thing wears you down before you realize it.

So there, you can make your own sled with a tire and some chains. You can drag it, push it with your hands, with your legs, run with it tied to your waist, whatever, and this is the promotional video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYz6ToIbDuo

[WhiteShark]

I've got a good one! Here are some pushup handles I made. I was inspired by the perfect pushup on TV but I wanted more stabilizer recruitment. These pivot and the handles spin and the whole thing can turn like the perfect pushup. If you make them be EXTREMELY careful on hard surfaces. I am doing it on carpet because it provides some friction. I can only do it on my knees on hardwood.

EDIT: I guess I should explain how these are made.
2 x 6" PVC Pipe endcaps
1 x 8' 1" pvc tubing
2 x 8" lag bolt 5/8" diamater
2 x 5/8" wingnuts
1 roll friction tape

Drill holes for the lag nuts in the side of the PVC endcaps. I put mine right in the middle of the side because I originally planned on putting one hole above and one hole below for different lever points. Cut the PVC tubing to a little more than 6" wrap it to the desired thickness with tape. If you can't figure out the assembly kill yourself.

[Teh El Macho]

WhiteShark, that's is so freaking cool!!! I mean, WOW!!! I gotta build me a pair of those!!!!

Thanks!

-- edit --

I'm sure more people in this forum have done their own useful contraptions. Please share them if you get the chance.

[colonelpong2]

Damnit! You lured me here with your misleading thread title!

[RunningDog]

Damnit! You lured me here with your misleading thread title!

Glad I wasn't the only one expecting whips, chains and harnesses.

[Domite]

Why is grip strength useful to you as a fighter?

[WhiteShark]

Why is grip strength useful to you as a fighter?

Seriously? Grappling is essentially holding on to people by their gi or wrists.

[Teh El Macho]

^^^ What he said.

In one bodybuilding book (don't remember which), Ronnie Coleman was answering a common question - how do handle pain, fatigue and injury. He didn't have a silver bullet for that question. He simply stated that pain, fatigue AND injury are part of the game. In his weightlifting programs, he trained his body to handle those. He conditioned himself to better handle the rigors of his training.

And although Coleman's field of expertise is weightlifting (and being one of the few bbuilders who are also powerlifterts), those words have relevance to any form of competitive physical activitity.

Weight training (coupled with flexibility training) provides strenght of muscles, strenght of ligaments, strenght of bones. All that allows a person to better sustain and recover from physical damage, from the rigors of physical training.

Grip and wrist conditioning are no exception. And the beauty of grip/wrist conditioning is that it is quite simple, and it is immediately applicable to most activities, including grappling.

Just for the health benefits, pple should include some form of grip/wrist conditioning in their routine.

I strongly suggest pple to read this article at Kesting's grapplearts website.

http://www.grapplearts.com/Grip-Strength-Training.htm

[WhiteShark]

Macho if you end up making those let me know what you think. An addition I was considering was using a jigsaw to trim the excess material from the sides where the handle doesn't attach.