PVC gym equipment

     With the I.T. band issues I have been having I have been doing a lot of research on recovery and prevention.  The main component of prevention is getting the muscles that surround and connect to the I.T. band stronger.  Obviously there are many ways to accomplish this, but the last thing I want to do is pay a ton of money for a gym membership, so I started researching body weight exercises.  The more and more I read, the more I got interested in overall strength.  I found a site called Nerd Fitness that had a youtube video on a simple playground workout for those that don’t have access to a gym while they were traveling.  My town has a great playground that was perfect for this, so I gave it a try, but the down side to this is the overall timing with winter setting in.

     As I continued to research I found people creating workout equipment out of PVC pipe to allow them to do the same moves I was doing at the playground.  I came across this one that allowed for everything I wanted to do, all in one self contained set up.  I downloaded a couple of pictures from the site and wrote down their materials list and went to work on recreating it. 

 

     The site recommended that for people below 180 pounds, the 1 ½ inch pipe was sufficient, anyone over that should use 2 inch pipe to prevent the pipe from bowing and possibly breaking.  Being that I am right on the border I chose to go with the 2 inch, just to be safe.  The website suggested you measure from your hip bone to the floor to get the proper height for the horizontal bars.  The width I figured out when I put two folding chairs together and simulated a dip to see how wide would be comfortable and measured the distance between.  As far as the rest of the measurements I simple made a guess on what I think would be enough to create a steady platform.  For my set up I went with 3ft by 2.5ft for the base and 3ft tall for the parallel bars.  After I finished all the measurements I added up all the lengths I needed to give me a total length so I new how much material I had to buy.

Here is what you will need:

28 - foot of PVC pipe (your measurements will determine how much you need)

6 - T connectors

8 - 90 degree elbows

Hacksaw - to cut the sections you need

Sharpie - to mark your measurements

Masking Tape - this helps maintain a straight cut if you don’t have a miter box

Glue - I used Gorilla brand expanding super glue, but there is PVC specific glue available

(On a side note, the PVC pipe at Lowes was sold in 5ft and 10ft section.  The 10ft section was only a little more than a dollar more than the 5ft section, I am guessing because it was pre-cut, so I would suggest going with the 10ft pieces and save some money.)

 

          I got started by measuring out one piece at a time and cut as I went.  I would dry fit each piece as I went making sure everything was square.  Once I finished the base and it was all dry fit together I started on the uprights and parallel bars.  Since I didn’t have step by step directions I took my time and would refer back to the pictures for guidance.  Once I was completely done, I gave it a quick test run and worked perfectly.  Now I just had to disassemble and glue it up.  I glued it up just as I built it, starting with the base; I would glue a couple of sections at a time to ensure they stayed square until the glue set.  After the base was finished I let it sit overnight to fully cure before I started the uprights.

     After it was all assembled and glued I let it sit over night to let the glue fully cure.  Since then it has worked exactly as I hoped it would have.  If I had to do it all over again I would highly recommend to spend a little extra and get the glue designed specifically for assembling PVC.  I have already had to re-glue one section, but I think that is because I didn't get enough glue in the joint the first time.  Anyway, this has been a fun project to work on and I am glad I did it.