Parte Dos : Do-It-Yourself Stuff with PVC, Chains, Tires, Belts, Ropes, Bands and Crap

Following the trail of thought started here, we explore how to turn a lowly, humble and disposed tire into a fine piece of physical training equipment. I shit you not, it is possible… and no, I’m not running a spell-checker on this thing!!!

The Humble Tire

Originally I though I needed a piece of lumber with a bar inside the tire to turn it into a loadable sled. I was wrong. You don’t need a piece of wood or a platform to put load on it. Just put the dumbbells and crap inside the tire and voila!

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 crap I can throw inside the tire. Another nice thing about the tire is that I can use it to carry stuff. To keep the tire from throwing dirt on my car or inside the house, I just throw a canvas on it (he, tire wearing a burka).

I don’t have a harness (yet), 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 shit with this contraption – presses, flies, pull-through, etc. Time went quickly, and in about an hour I was drained. I over-trained 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:

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

The only caveat is that it’s easy to over-train your lower back with it. I did this last Thursday, and my back wasn’t fully recovered yet on Sunday (thus messing up with my squat/dead-lift day.) Oh well, live and learn.

Moderation is the key to anything, including working out with a tire and stuff.

The WhiteShark Push Up

Moving to a different home-made contraption is what I call the WhiteShark Push Up. I call it so since the dude who originally came with the idea is a Shidokan/MT fighter that goes by the handle of “WhiteShark” on bullshido.net.

Anyways, here is what he has to say (I think it’s a pretty good idea, and I can’t wait to build me one):

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.

I think this a pretty good alternative, perhaps even a better one, than the “perfect push up”. We are considering building a new version of it with thicker handles in the near future (in addition to a home-made harness that, if I calculate correctly, can handle over 1,000lbs of resistance.)

I hope I don’t kill myself in the process.