A lot of folks have to misconception that the dollar value of a training tool is a measure of it's true worth. Well this can be true if you are purchasing a rowing machine or something that you could never build yourself like a quality road bike. But this is usually not the case. Even iron isn't all that expensive when you opt for the less fancy brand names out there. All you are paying for at that point is the weight itself anyways. What about all those odds and end you find in a real, quality high intensity gym? The pullup bars, the accessories, things like plyo boxes. What about that stuff? Well sure, you could run out to a reputable supplier and have it all shipped directly to your door. But how much would you save if you could just make some of it yourself? You can save a ton! And in a lot of cases you can even build tools that better fit your specifications and needs. And sometimes some seriously effective tools aren't even available commercially at all. Here at Bear Fitness, we hate the idea of a typical big box gym and it's fancy, high dollar padded chest pumper machines. We'll leave all that chrome and foam for the tank top trainers. Today we're gonna talk about a couple of cool ways we can add some awesome equipment to our bag of tricks, that will keep up with our heavy demands, without breaking the bank.
So what do you do when regular pullups just get too easy? Or when your dips just aren't challenging anymore? You weight them down! It's a pretty simple concept isn't it? Well for some time we have been considering how we would go about making a weighted belt for both exercises. In the meantime we have just been weighting pullups Spetznaz style by simply hooking our feet through the handle of a KB and going for it. This works fine, but is clumsy and uncomfortable in the long run. My initial plan was to take some old leather lifting belts and attach a length of chain and a clip to them (about the only real use for a silly weight belt) but I found that it's easier said than done locating old used leather weight belts, and they still fetch a decent price when you do find them! So I defaulted back to the king of do-it-yourself training equipment Ross Enamait. His website is a great resource of training info, as well as do-it-yourself ideas for equipment. You can check out his site Rosstraining.com here. His suggestion for making your own weighted belt was pure genius! It was so delightfully simple, available, and cheap that I went out and made two of them the very same day I read his step by step on making them. Here's his guide on weighted belts. Our belts are made almost identically, with the exception of the fact that I used army digital camo duct tape for some added aesthetic appeal. So look out comrades, weighted pull ups will be appearing in our workouts replacing dead hangs for anyone who can consistently and easily do five dead hangs each round in a workout that calls for it. Your dead hand pull ups should be a struggle to finish, so we will weight you down till it is. No more resting on your laurels!
Our other project that has been brought to life, and will be implemented for the first time in today's workout, is the Slosh Pipe. You can find plenty of how-to's on the web about how to make on, but honestly if you can't figure this one out I'm not sure just what to say of your intelligence. A slosh pipe is a 10' length of 4" pvc pipe filled around 1/2 to 2/3 with water, and capped at each end. Obviously the correct glue must be used to fix the cap to the pipe, but the guy at your local hardware store can help you with that. Also, mark the center of the pipe with some tape for a nice clear reference of a center of balance. Not that you will ever balance the damn thing. The beauty of the slosh pipe is that no matter how stable you thing you can hold it, the water's constant sloshing back and forth makes it a never ending struggle for control. Although a slosh pipe usually only weighs between 40-50lbs, it will be the heaviest 40-50lbs you have ever held before. Simply holding it in your arms against your chest (known as a Zercher Carry) and attempting to balance it is a heavy workout, much less actually lifting it, or even just walking with it! Coach Dan John, a long time expert in the strength training world, described a set of overhead presses with the slosh tube to be a "near maximal effort". And that's with only a 38lb slosh pipe! And we're also talking about a very strong guy. So watch out folks, the new source of your greatest core workout ever has arrived.
Last, but certainly not least, is an invention that we haven't created yet. But is soon to come. The sled. There isn't a whole lot to write about when it comes to sleds. They are just simple, brutal, and effective as hell! There's a thousand and one ways to make them, but the best two I have heard so far is the tire sled, and the wagon sled. A tire sled is super simple. Drill a hole in the tread, put and eye bolt through it, and put a small block of 2x4 on the other side and bolt it down. A small platform in the tire to pile KBs onto, and attach the rope to the eye bolt and viola! Sled. The same concept is employed with the wagon sled, drill into the front, reinforce and install eye bolt. Remove wheels and all hardware, leaving only the tub, and once again viola! Sled. I haven decided on a model yet. But look forward to sleds in the near future. We have been wanting to add them in for some time, and that time is coming very soon!
In conclusion, you can tally up all three of the homebrew ideas I have just explained above and you will come up way short of $100 for all three. Aside from the purchase of the weight for the belt and the sled, you could have everything you need for a serious full body workout right there! Show me a $100 ChestChampionZX9, or BicepBlaster500 at your local metrosexual, mirror obsessed gym that can do all that. You can call us cheap. You can call us ingenuitive. I'll just keep calling it simple, effective, and downright badass training.
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