5 DIY Projects to Rock Your At-Home Workout

Dec 17, 2020

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5 DIY Projects to Rock Your At-Home Workout : As at-home workouts become the new norm, it’s time to think about how to outfit your home gym. Gym equipment can be quite expensive and all the pieces you need for a full-body workout quickly adds up. Save on home gym equipment by going the DIY route.

If you’re ready to create the best home gym, check out these five DIY gym equipment projects.

DIY Parallettes for Full-Body Strength

If you’re looking for a cheap way to work out your whole body, make these DIY parallette bars. You’ll only need a few different lengths of PVC piping, PVC fittings, and PVC primer and cement. Assembly is quick, which means you can start working out your arms, legs, and core with these simple parallettes.

Homemade Yoga Wheel
Whether or not you’re into yoga, a yoga wheel is a must for your home gym. This accessory deepens your stretches, improves flexibility, and releases tension. Learn how to make your own yoga wheel from PVC pipe by following this DIY tutorial:

Materials Needed

- 12” diameter PVC pipe
- Yoga mat
- E6000 adhesive glue
- (2) Clamps
- Utility knife
- Optional: Sander (to smooth out the jagged edges of your PVC pipe)
- Mild soap and water (for cleaning the PVC wheel before attaching the mat)

Steps to Make PVC Yoga Wheel

1. Cut your PVC pipe into one 5” or 6” width wheel.
2. Clean your wheel with the soap and water. If you’re going to sand the PVC, do that now.
3. After cleaning the wheel, work on cutting the yoga mat. First, cut the mat to 12.5” in length (this will give you an extra 0.5” to work with since the PVC is 12” in diameter).
4. Now, cut the mat to fit the width of your yoga wheel. If your PVC is 5” in width, cut your mat to a width of 5.5”. If your PVC is 6” in width, cut your mat to a width of 4.75”.
5. Before securing your mat to the wheel, ensure it covers the PVC to your liking.
6. Once you’re satisfied with the coverage, begin gluing your mat to the wheel. Glue in sections, using the clamps to reinforce the sections that you’ve glued. Allow the glue to dry for 30 minutes before moving on to a different section.
7. After gluing the last section (and cutting off any excess mat with the utility knife), allow your yoga wheel to rest 48-72 hours before using.

Balance It Out with DIY Balance Board

While transitioning to a home gym, don’t forget to work on your center of balance. Muscle strength and cardio are important, but balance shouldn’t be ignored. One of the best ways to improve balance is with a balance board – which is simple enough to make on your own!

Grab a 6” diameter PVC pipe and cut it to 12” in length. Take a wood board and cut it to 30-36” in length (make sure the width is longer than your feet). Use 1”x1/2” piece of wood to create two stoppers. Screw these stoppers close to the ends of the 30-36” piece of board. Place the board (stoppers side down) on the PVC pipe. Try out your DIY balance board! Be sure to hold onto something (such as a chair or wall) to steady yourself until you get used to it.

Up Your Barre Game

Has your favorite barre studio closed? While you may have thought your practice is no longer possible, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that you can still do barre workouts at home. Check out how to make a barre for your home gym below.

Materials

- 25” diameter PVC pipe cut into the following lengths:
  - (2) 60” lengths
  - (4) 10” lengths
  - (2) 26” lengths
  - (2) 8” lengths
- (6) 1.25” PVC elbows
- (4) 1.15” PVC tees
- Mallet or PVC Primer and Cement

Steps for DIY Barre

1. Make the feet. Take one of the 10” pieces of pipe and attach an elbow fitting on one end (with the opening pointing down),then attach a tee fitting on the other end (with the middle opening of the tee pointing up). Add a second 10” piece of pipe onto the other end of the tee fitting, and finish off this foot by adding an elbow to the end of the second 10” piece. Repeat Step 1 to create the second barre foot.
2. Create the legs. Add the 26” pieces of PVC into the opening of the tees on the feet. To the top of these 26” pieces, slip on tees so that the middle opening of these tees points inwards toward each other.
3. Add the lower barre. Take one of the 60” pieces of pipe and inset it into the middle opening of the tee fittings. This creates the lower (or single) barre. You may need to use a mallet to secure the lower barre in place.
4. Begin making the upper barre. Add one of the 8” pieces of PVC to one of the open tees. Then, place an elbow on top of this 8” piece, making sure the opening of the elbow faces inwards. Repeat Step 4 a second time to the other side of the barre.
5. Finish the upper barre. Add the second 60” PVC piece to the opened ends of the elbows.
6. Secure everything in place with a rubber mallet or PVC primer and cement.

Rock your new barre fitness from the comfort of your home!

Cool Down with PVC Foam Roller

After a hard workout in your home gym, it’s important to cool down and provide relief to your muscles. A foam roller is perfect for relaxing muscles and increasing range of motion. Finish outfitting your home gym with a homemade PVC foam roller.

All you need is a 2-foot length of 4” PVC pipe, a yoga mat (such as the leftovers from making your yoga wheel), and duct tape. To make the foam roller, cover the pipe with the mat to measure how much mat you’ll need to completely cover the pipe. Then, cut the mat with a utility knife according to those dimensions. Finally, secure the mat to the pipe using the duct tape (taping the line where the two ends of the mat meet and on the sides of the roller). Now, you’re ready to use your foam roller for a nice home massage!

PVC Projects for Ultimate At-Home Workout

While the location of your workout has changed, that doesn’t mean your fitness routine has to suffer. Quite the opposite – now’s the time to up your game and try something new! Build out your home gym with any one of these DIY projects. Want to get your heart rate up? Try the parallettes or barre. Looking to stretch out your muscles? Make the yoga wheel and foam roller. No matter what you’re looking to achieve in your workout, there’s a PVC pipe project for you. PVC is an inexpensive, durable solution for any at-home fitness routine.

Author

Mark Ligon is the Marketing Manager at PVCFittingsOnline, a leading supplier of PVC pipe, fittings, valves, plumbing supply, and more. Mark enjoys working on projects around his home and providing advice to individuals looking to complete DIY projects of their own.