Homemade Gym Equipment, Vol. 1 - Barbell

No Barbell?! 😱 No Problem! 😎

Keep reading to find out why ⬇️

In today’s climate, working out at home seems more and more appetizing (as opposed to working out at a fitness center). However, resistance bands can only do so much and not everyone can afford an “adequate” gym setup (i.e., squat rack, barbells, dumbbells, etc.) Sure, we enjoy doing bicep curls using nothing but rubber bands, a beach towel, and a gallon of 2% milk just as much as everyone else (just kidding, we know it sucks). We’d be lying if we said we didn’t miss the balance, the feel, the pump that only comes from actual gym equipment, in this case, free-weights. And since we’re not liars, we will come out and say it…
We miss the benefits of actual gym equipment but aren’t trying to get sneezed on in a public space!

It is for this reason that we set out to create such longed-for gym equipment using nothing but supplies that can be found at your local grocery store. In fact, you may already have a majority of such supplies at home. Whatever the case may be, you won’t be spending more than $20 in total and the homemade piece of gym equipment can be used again and again …and again! In other words, you can rock it ‘til the wheels fall off! Whoa! Yeah!

In this series, we will cover how to make such equipment using, yup… you guessed it, nothing but supplies you can get at your local grocery store. Seriously… You can find all of these supplies at your local grocer.

So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

Today, we’re making a barbell.

Checklist

To start, here are the things you’ll need:

• Broom shaft (1)

• Dish rags (2)

• Duct tape (1)

• Twine/String (1)

• 2-liter soda bottles (TBD … 2-liter bottle of soda = 4.4 lb.)

  • We are assuming soda-pop has the density of water (i.e., 1 kg/liter) and that the weight of the soda bottle, itself, is negligible. (1 liter = 1 kg = 2.2 lb.) So, one singular 2-liter soda bottle (filled with water) = 4.4 pounds.

Procedure

The homemade barbell can be constructed in 8 simple steps:

Step 1: Empty and de-label all of the 2-liter soda bottles.

• Personally, pouring 8 brand new 2-liter bottles of diet soda into the sink was like scratching my nails on a chalkboard, for I love my 2-liter bottles of diet soda… but it was for the greater good!

Step 2: Rinse out each bottle then fill with water and screw plastic cap back on.

Step 3: Take broom head/mop head off of the broom.

Step 4: Wrap each end of the broom shaft with dish rag(s).

• This is to ensure a tight fit between the broom shaft ends and the soda bottles, i.e., filling in the gaps/excess space.

Dish rag gap/excess space filler, Visual

Step 5: With a partner, position 4 soda bottles (caps facing outward) around one end of the broom shaft and hold them tightly. Do this on a table with plenty of space. While you are applying pressure (keeping the soda bottles in place and pressing them against the broom shaft end), have your partner apply duct tape around the soda bottles.

• Make sure the duct tape is taut and there is no slack. As the duct tape is applied to each soda bottle, you will have to rotate the broom shaft and 4 soda bottles as ONE whole unit. This is necessary because, as long as the “barbell” is resting on the table, 2 tangent points from 2 soda bottles (i.e., the curves, in this trigonometry example) will always be inaccessible, for they are resting on the table (i.e., the tangent line, in this trigonometry example). All of this must be done while simultaneously keeping everything tight and the pressure applied. Team building exercise to say the least!

Step 6: Repeat Step 5 on the other broom shaft end.

Step 7: Take your twine/string and wrap around the bottlenecks of the soda bottles. Make sure the twine/string is taut and there is no slack. You can go all the way around. You can weave in and out, through the middle, make an “X” pattern, whatever seems adequate! We did all of those and it held up just fine.

Step 8: Repeat Step 7 on the other broom shaft end.

And that’s all there is to it! Now you have access to a functioning barbell within the comfort of your home.

Conclusion

In the end, we had 4 bottles of soda on either side of our barbell (8 bottles of soda in total). At 4.4 lb. per bottle of soda, and the weight of the broom shaft negligible (ours was hollow aluminum, though this could change depending on broom shaft material) our barbell was roughly 35 lb.

Not enough weight? Try this! ⬇️

For some exercises, 35 lb. may be sufficient. However, for other exercises, that may not be the case. So, in order to compensate for both the fixed weight and lack of weight, a partner can supplement additional weight by pressing on the barbell. This is further explained in the video below.

As we previously stated, this time around, we had 4 bottles of soda on either side, giving us a 35 lb., fixed barbell. However, more weight would’ve been appreciated, i.e., more 2-liter bottles on either side. Maybe that’ll be our next project.… Stay tuned!

Have a health & wellness question?

Send an email to esserfit@gmail.com . Put “Q&A” in the subject line and tell us where you’re from!