Here’s a list of some homemade gym equipment tutorials that I hope you find useful.

• Sleds – I made a sled recently using a car tire and a bit of plywood.  Rob Russell has made a deluxe version using two car tires, some wood and two dumbbell handles.  If you have access to concrete and know how to use it, then this version (also using a car tire) might be best of all.
• Sandbags – I made a sandbag a long time ago out of an old army kitbag and it is still in use.  However, for a more detailed explanation of how to make sandbags from various materials, try this article.
• Plate rack – I have made a plate rack of my own but it isn’t really a space saver.  It’s more of an organised way to keep the plates so I don’t end up just piling them around and tripping over them.  This plate rack is a real space saver and I’m very tempted to make something like it myself.
• Plyometric boxes – Again, I’ve made my own plyometric boxes but they are completely square-edged so if you use them for jumping onto you run the risk of taking a layer of skin off your shins if you miss.  I actually use mine more for checking depth on squats (they are exactly 13″ and 12″ high), for creating a rack when I’m floor pressing or bent-over rowing and for resting my feet on to do press ups.  If you want to make your own plyometric boxes and want an angled side, check out this tutorial.
• Atlas stones – This tutorial looks absolutely amazing and I wish I had the gumption to get the materials together that I need to make one of these and just do it.  I could make several and pretend that they were lawn ornaments…
• Weight for height – I don’t really have the space for or interest in flinging heavy objects around but this looks like a good tutorial on making a weight-for-height implement if you’re interested in highland games.
• Thick bar – I have made my own thick bar but there are a number of other ways it can be done.  Check out this video tutorial for one.
• Thick dumbbell – here’s an explanation of various ways you can make a thick-handled dumbbell.
• Farmer’s walk bars – I’ve made my own farmers’ walk bars out of dumbbell handles and two sturdy pieces of wood but there are other methods.
• Parallettes – if you’re interested in gymnastics or you just want something sturdy to do press ups off, check out this explanation of how to make yourself a set of parallettes.
• Medicine ball – a homemade, superheavy medicine ball.  Just what the doctor ordered.
• Weightlifting platform – for the really dedicated, here’s a tutorial on making your own weightlifting platform.
• Power rack – and for the completely insane, here is a completely different approach to getting a power rack for your home gym.  I can’t in all honesty recommend it but you pays your money you makes your choice.
• Slosh pipe – no list of homemade gym equipment would be complete without Dan John’s slosh pipe.  Don’t know what a slosh pipe is?  Find out here.

And as a bonus, here are some other pages of links to homemade gym kit:

• RossTraining
• Dave Draper
• DIY Strength Gear
• Homemade Gym Stuff

If you have a really great page of links I’ve missed, or you’ve made something really cool that you think I should try, please let me know.

I have since had a go at making a pair of farmers’ bars that are a bit bigger, using some spare pieces of wood but I’ll write about that next week…

What you need

You don’t really need very much.  That is the attraction.  However, you will need:

• 2 dumbbell handles (with or without the collars)
• Four 2ft slings or similar lengths of rope
• 2 carabiners (ask a friend who is a climber if you don’t know where to get them)
• some weights plates (but you have these already, right?)

How to set up the dumbbells for farmers’ walks

First, put a prussik knot on one end of a dumbbell handle using one of the slings.  A prussik knot (also known as a lark’s foot) starts like this:

And then you do this:

Once you’ve got one end on tightly, then you can do the other.  Together, they should look like this:

After that, repeat with the other dumbbell handle and one of the slings so that you have two the same.  You can slot the carabiners on at this point too.

Once you’ve got your farmers’ bar handles, you can add your weights.  You can do this by looping your other 2 slings through some weights plates and then clip them to the carabiners like this:

You’ve finished!  All you have to do now is take them for a walk.

I hope you found this useful and if you know of any other easy ways to make farmers’ bars or other strongman implements, please do let me know.