Good physical shape is the key to good health. However, if there is no sports ground near your home, and there is not enough money to purchase your own sports strength training machine, do not despair - a little time, patience, effort and imagination, and you can create exercise machines with your own hands for playing sports.
DIY outdoor gym
Do not be intimidated by the difficulties associated with such an independent solution to problems with the lack of suitable sports strength training equipment. In fact, with a strong desire to improve your physical fitness, a certain amount of imagination and fairly simple skills, creating strength training equipment with your own hands is not such a significant task. But not only the effect of exercising on sports equipment, but also the very fact that you made an abdominal exercise machine with your own hands will give you sincere satisfaction. And also, quite likely, it will make your loved ones look at you in a new way.
Pros and cons of the simulator
First, I want to talk about the advantages of this simulator:
- The workout targets all muscle groups
- He has minimal health restrictions
- Large selection of different exercises
- Easy to use even for heavy people
- Low manufacturing cost
- Ease of storage and use
- Burning calories
It also has disadvantages, but for me personally they are rather hypothetical:
- Failure of ropes due to chafing
- Sound (creaking) of unlubricated blocks)
Stages of creating a treadmill
Assembling the standard design of a cardio exercise machine is simple and includes several steps:
- Creating a frame or support that looks like small legs mounted on a surface. Durable wood or metal alloys are used for manufacturing.
- Creating a support for the running belt or deck. Mostly wood is used.
- Assembly and strengthening of prepared parts with special shafts/axes placed horizontally.
- Stretching the track fabric onto the assembled frame is the principle of installation, like on the tracks of a bulldozer.
If done correctly, you will be able to use the treadmill the same day. The principle of assembling a mechanical or electrical simulator is practically the same. The only caveat is that in the first case the canvas is set in motion under the influence of human effort.
Making a Dolinov simulator with your own hands
So, for those who are planning to repeat this feat - creating a machine for all muscle groups for weight loss - a list of what you will need:
- rope with a cross section of approximately 1-1.5 cm - durable, synthetic
- 2 blocks or 1 with two wheels
- carabiners 4 pcs
- anchors with a hook 3 pieces (or separately 3 dowels and three hooks)
- polypropylene tube about half a meter long.
Manufacturing process:
- Measure three marks at 10 cm, 1 meter and 2 meters 30 cm from the floor, install dowels or anchors and secure the hooks
- Hook a block on any hook and thread it through the rollers of the rope
- Using carabiners at the ends of the rope, thread tubes through them, secure them - these are your loops for your arms and legs
A nuance regarding the length of the rope - determine it yourself. The length of the rope passed through the pulley should be enough from the lowered leg to the raised arm. It is best to lie down and try it on yourself, securing the block with the simulator at a level of 1 meter.
This is what the wall mount for my simulator looks like - I use one block with two wheels.
Advantages and disadvantages of self-production
The advantages of self-production are obvious. You can make exactly the shells you need and adjust their dimensions to the size of the room or area. Old scrap metal and other unnecessary things, many of which gather dust in garages and country houses, are suitable for work. You don’t have to buy them - most of your family and friends will be happy to get rid of their junk. On the other hand, to make many simulators you need welding skills and a welding machine. This is a financial cost. Of course, you can find a budget unit on bulletin boards or rent it from friends.
Other disadvantages are:
- delayed result - to get it, you will have to spend a lot of time;
- mastering new skills - it is possible that in the process you will have to learn something, which in itself is good, but complicates the work;
- the risk of “burning out” - you can lose all the momentum before the simulators are ready.
To speed up the production of homemade exercise equipment, you should find like-minded people and ask friends for help. This way the process will be more active, and there will be less temptation to abandon what you started.
The main advantages of self-production are the low cost of ready-made simulators and the opportunity to try your hand at an unusual type of activity.
Using the trainer
Exercises for the simulator can be found on the Internet, and you can choose those that are right for you.
I do cycling, walking, straight leg raises and knee bends - two sets of one hundred repetitions of each exercise. Standing exercises are contraindicated for me due to arthrosis of the left shin joint, but I am not discouraged - these simple exercises are quite enough for me.
After all, the most important thing is not to harm, but to help your body.
At the very beginning of the classes, I literally “bent over”, it turned out to be so difficult for my body, which was absolutely not ready for the stress. I worked out for fifteen minutes and performed only 50 times of each exercise. Not only was the rug under me wet, but even the floor underneath it. But over time, the exercises became easier for me, although I still believe that I only get results from training when I work up a good sweat.
Then doing the amount of exercise that I do now began to take half an hour. And now I can manage it in 15-20 minutes.
When I was losing weight, I worked out every day. Now, to stay in shape, I work out 2-3 times a week, plus always on a day when, for some reason, I don’t walk more than 6 kilometers. Still, the calories you eat need to be spent somewhere.
The most necessary equipment for a homemade gym
To make bodybuilding equipment at home,
you need to select those that will be as simple as possible in their design, the most reliable, and the most effective for building muscle mass. Almost all machines for building muscle and strength are built on the principle of lifting weights using specific muscles. But even when you come to a fitness club, you will see that many of the machines that are complex in their design are mostly used by beginners. And the most “curvy” guys spend most of their time doing exercises with barbells and dumbbells. When used correctly, you can load any part of the body. But for this you need to be able to select them of different weights for certain exercises, as well as a bench with the ability to adjust the backrest.
As for different weights, the easiest and cheapest way to do this is to make collapsible dumbbells and barbells at home. After all, a set of dumbbells will cost much more than a pair of collapsible ones. And making them is much easier, because you don’t necessarily need to use welding and casting. But it’s easier to make just different benches, rather than one with a backrest adjustment function. For example, one is completely horizontal, and the other is somewhere at 70° (you can also do it at 90°, but it’s enough to move the horizontal one to the wall and strengthen it) or not to do the second one at all. One barbell rack will be enough, which will allow you to perform bench presses, deadlifts and put the barbell down during rest between exercises. But even if you have a partner, if you do a gym at home ,
then it will be difficult to completely manage without a stand
.
The height for the barbell should either be interchangeable (at least 2 positions) - for the bench press and deadlift, or then make two separate racks.
It will be very useful to have a horizontal bar and parallel bars when training, and making them simpler than the rest of the equipment. But you should also make a belt or come up with another design for hanging a “weight.” Without this, it will be almost impossible to build muscle mass using only your body weight. A backpack is not suitable for such a design - it will not withstand the load, and the weight distribution itself will be incorrect. But something hooked to the legs will be effective, but inconvenient. Therefore, the best option would be a belt.
And so the main thing you need to make a home gym at home:
Types of vultures by form
1) barbell – at least one. According to the standard, you need to have a long bar (weight about 20 kg ideally), as well as 1 short one (weight about 10 kg) - straight, EZ-shaped or W-shaped bar (see picture), depending on the exercises you plan to perform. But at home, the neck will most likely be made of pipe and will differ from the standard parameters. How to do it with a detailed description can be found here.
2) 2 dumbbell bars with threaded ends for a large nut.
3) for starters, there will be enough pancakes like these: 4 pieces of 5 kg, 2 - 10 kg, 2 - 20 kg. But provided that the diameter of the hole is universal for dumbbells and barbells. But this is also ideal, because pancakes are more expensive than anything else. In general, it is important to have at least some identical weights to hang on the barbell and dumbbell.
The minimum weight of one dumbbell depends on the ability to perform basic exercises. It should be taken in such a way that it allows you to do 8 - 10 repetitions. For most people, 4 weight plates of 5 kg for dumbbells will be enough to start with.
4) a horizontal bar for the ability to be taken with a wide grip. You shouldn’t do it in a doorway, it’s better to do it on a wall or on a street;
5) bars. For economy and speed of installation, wall-mounted ones are suitable.
6) a barbell rack with the ability to select a position for performing bench press and deadlift. Or two separate racks of different heights for the same purposes.
7) jump rope for cardio training.
punching bag.
All this will make it possible to equip an effective gym.
First pancake
Of course, I plan to redo my simulator; at one time I didn’t think about carabiners and secured the loops with knots. Now they look like this:
It’s ugly, and several times during the training the loops came undone, so I’ll warn you right away: you can do this, but only temporarily.
But since there is nothing more permanent than temporary, my corrections are transferred in the diary from day to day...
Schemes and drawings
Finding ready-made drawings of simulators on the Internet is not difficult. There are many options available in the public domain, both simple designs and complex multifunctional projectiles. When developing your own drawing or remaking someone else’s, you need to take into account the size of the room. Before starting work, the diagram is transferred from paper to a real room to understand how the sports corner will look in reality. They also mark the places of fastenings on the floor and walls, make sure to provide cables and chains for insurance, and calculate how much space they will take up and where they will be located.
For beginners, it is better to choose simple drawings that do not contain many details and complex engineering solutions. For example, a step platform, a boxing bag, an inclined bench for abdominal training, parallel bars. To make a drawing yourself, you need to know what parts the simulator consists of, how they are attached and interact with each other.
You can look at the simulators in the store and adjust them to your conditions, or, if you have the appropriate skill, develop a scheme yourself.
How to make a bench for the press?
Most often, a bench is used to develop abdominal muscles. It comes in two types - standard or also called “Roman chair”, and also hinged, attached to the wall bars. Such homemade exercise machines, shown in the photo, can be made for training at home.
How to make an ab bench
However, it is worth noting that making a Roman chair from metal can be more expensive than from wood. Naturally, it takes up quite a large space in the house, so in the warm season it should be placed in the yard.
As for the hanging bench, it can be easily fixed on the wall bars by attaching a beam to the board as a hook. The width of the board should be at least 40 cm, and the length should be no less than the height of the trainee. To make it easier to position your legs, or rather bend them at the knees, you can nail a wooden pipe to the board from the bottom side.
Benefits of a Treadmill
A hand-assembled treadmill is effective when performing such an important weight loss exercise as walking or running. Regular exercise provides enormous positive effects:
- Comprehensive full body muscle training.
- Strengthening the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
- Increasing the body's endurance - it is much easier for a person to endure heavy loads.
- Active fat burning. The treadmill is the best way to lose extra pounds.
- Running promotes emotional calm. Working out on a treadmill involves intense movement that provides stress relief. Negativity and aggression go away.
- A powerful release of endorphin or the pleasure hormone. Effective relief of mental and psychological fatigue.
Note. You can reap all the benefits of building and using a treadmill if you follow proper walking technique. Before classes, it is important to study the possible options and master the movements that will lead to a beautiful, toned figure.
Exercise machine for working out leg muscles
For the leg muscle group, it is necessary to develop the biceps and quadriceps femoris muscles. As a rule, homemade equipment and sports equipment may differ only in their structure and compactness. On a regular machine to work the biceps femoris muscle, you should lie on a bench and press on the bolsters with your heels, while bending your legs, and in a sitting position, you work the thigh muscles while extending your legs.
Exercise machine for working out leg muscles
To make such a machine, you will need a metal frame with internal weights, to which the bench must be attached. On the other hand, soft bolsters need to be attached to this bench using a hinge, and at the edges there are 2 pairs of handles. You can use bar weights as weights and attach them to the lever mechanism with a cable. Although it is not easy to make a homemade exercise machine for developing leg muscles, it is great for working out the thigh muscles.
In addition to this exercise machine, ideal options for strengthening leg muscles are running, swimming, and cycling. This machine is often used by professionals to add definition to their muscles. Complex exercises on this machine and regular cycling can give excellent results.
So, homemade exercise equipment gives the same effect, but is more affordable, unlike expensive sports equipment. It is much easier to make the most common exercise machines for developing abdominal muscles than a leg machine. In addition to free time, you also need materials that are not always possible to find. You can also use dumbbells as weights, which are more affordable. For example, hold them behind your head or hang a small load on your feet and at the same time exercise on the crossbar and much more.
