anyone have any links, plans, descriptions, or ideas about homemade exercise equipment? im particularly interested on how to make a GHR bench… and before you suggest the floor version, rest assured i have and will continue to do it i would just like to have the bench… this could grow into a good thread and im curious about the genius of poor students like me on this forum…
To make your own medicine ball simply deflat a basketball. Next, fill the bathtub with about 4 inches of water or enough to submerge the intake of a tire pump. Then simply suck water into the pump and pump it into the ball. BTW, u need a ball needle if you did not figure it out by now.
How did you make the homemade RH for your power rack? Is that the contraption pictured?
I just got my own power rack myself, but I’m having some issues that maybe you guys can help me w/. Many of Westside’s supplemental work has to do with some machine or specialty bench (RH, G-H Raise, Scott Curls, Pull Throughs, etc.). The only gym in my area is over 45 minutes away, so I’d just rather stick to the home gym at hand. For those of you using Westside’s Schemea, are the suggested supplement exercises that require either a special bench or machine absolutely crucial? Can a similar free weight exercise be substituted w/o much change in performance outcome? I have a few bars (thick bar, cambered bar, oly bar, e-z curl bar), a dip attachement, and a multi-position bench, but that’s it.
Well the two main bits are the pad and the swing arm.
The pad is just 12mm (1/2") plywood upholdstered in some high density foam that I bought from a textile supplier and covered with vinyl. I glued the foam to the ply and then stapled the vinyl over that. I then bought some furniture support legs and attached them to the underside to use as handles (BTW you can’t see them in the pic). I rounded the edges off with a router to stop it cutting into me.
The whole pad is then mounted on the safety bars using 4 1" pipe clips that you can buy from a builder merchants or plumbing supply store.
The swing arm is made up of 1" steel scaffold support tube, I measured my inside leg length (about 30") and cut a bit longer. Its not actually scaffolding but similar stuff for making up support frames for industrial installations. I got it from work but you can buy it from a good builders merchants.
The pivot point is just an eye joint used as part of this modular support system. I got a friend to wield it to the length of tubing for extra strength. it is again 1" diameter which luckily enough is the same size as the power rack safety bars. I cut some a strip of 1mm PTFE to act as a rudimentary bearing and this makes for a smooth action. The PTFE is often used as gasket material. You may be have problems getting hold of it but it worth getting. Try an industrial bearing supplier. To stop the top pivot eye joint sliding laterally along the safety bar I used some 1" spring collars I had lying around.
At the other end I used another of those eye joints and had that wielded on to. Through this I mounted an olympic dumbbell by removing the sleeves. And then put them back on after slotting it through the eye joint. The eye joint has a hexagon grub screw built into it already which is used to fix the dumbbell in place.
For the ankle attachment I used some 1/4" chain and a deluxe ankle strap. The chain is fixed to the tubing by another 1" pipe clip. This has a female thread in the bottom. I attach the chain by screwing a bolt through the middle and into the bottom of the pipe clip.
good idea on the reverse hyper, you could also do them from any high flat surface (top of a trailer, high shelf?) and strap weights to your feet but its somewhat awkward. any more ideas?