Alright, Ive relied on not having transportation or a nearby gym as an excuse for procrastination long enough. Im tired of it! So a few days ago I went out in the land behind my house and found a spot that will be the future site of an outdoor gym of sorts.
^Beginning reference point.
About 2 days later and at its current point.
Planned:
*pull up bar
*dip station
*rope
*tire and sledge
*tractor tire for shrugs/flipping
*place for crunches and push ups
I had tried to search and find a thread of this type for guidance but didnt find anything comprehensive. So, Im going to keep the pictures coming throughout the process for any future DIY'ers.
Anyone have any suggestions or ideas, shoot em off!
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Thread: Building an Outdoor Gym
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03-30-2011, 02:32 PM #1
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
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Building an Outdoor Gym
Last edited by TexasGuy21; 04-01-2011 at 09:29 AM.
Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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03-30-2011, 02:40 PM #2
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03-30-2011, 03:00 PM #3
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03-30-2011, 03:21 PM #4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY4k59YOu0E
This guy has a pretty killer outdoor gym.
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03-30-2011, 03:39 PM #5
1) Find a good welder and tell him to build your stuff so that it will not rust outside.
2) Build a pull up bar like this one which has multiple grips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BbmK...layer_embedded
3) Build a dip bar with angled dip bars (in a way V angled) which give you the choice of doing narrow dips for triceps and wider ones for chest.
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03-30-2011, 04:53 PM #6
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
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Thanks man, Im excited to see how it all plays out!
Its east texas sand so within an hour of the rain stopping, its moist at worse. They wont be much of a problem (except snow I hate snow). However, it shouldnt be too long and I wont be home anyway. This is more or less a place to workout and have waiting on me for when Im around.
Holy ****, "The Monster" is a beast. I love what he did with that, its sick. Very well may have to copy the idea.
Good ideas. Idk, Ive thought about doing it in wood (since its readily available, lol). If I do it in metal, Ive got a welder and the skill so it shouldnt be too much of a problem. Itll rust one way or the other after time, but theres ways to prolong it.Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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03-31-2011, 12:47 PM #7
- Join Date: Dec 2007
- Location: Georgia, United States
- Age: 48
- Posts: 3,967
- Rep Power: 6992
I have an outdoor gym similar to what you mentioned.
I have: gymnastic rings, climbing rope, heavy bag, dip bars, a makeshift "rack" , tire half buried for sledge swings, plyo boxes
I also have a large tractor tire for flips, but its in the driveway on the other side of the house.
I no longer have those kegs and take my sandbag out there instead.
You can see most of it here-
A closer look at the "rack"
Pullup on rings with weighted backpack
Last edited by buffbrown21; 03-31-2011 at 12:53 PM.
[]---[] Equipment Crew Member #14
www.ShankAZombie.com
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03-31-2011, 02:29 PM #8
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
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Yeah man! Its actually pretty cool that you came in here. Yours was what I looked at the most when I started searching this out, as a matter of fact it was yours that reminded me of the tire and sledge. I had seen the first and third pics elsewhere, I was gonna message you to see if you had more but didnt want to be a creeper, lol. Youve got a sweet setup!
Edit: Alright, heres the progress as of now. Just a little bit left to go then starts the building process. Im eager to get on with it.
Last edited by TexasGuy21; 03-31-2011 at 02:47 PM.
Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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03-31-2011, 04:38 PM #9
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03-31-2011, 05:45 PM #10
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04-01-2011, 08:28 AM #11
- Join Date: Dec 2007
- Location: Georgia, United States
- Age: 48
- Posts: 3,967
- Rep Power: 6992
With the space you have open there, you could build more and a much better setup than I have if you have some skills and the materials. Some horse stall mats would be a nice flooring for pushups, situps, etc. I have yet to do something like that, but need to.
As you can see, I used the trees for multiple things. Keep that in mind before you cut any decent ones down. I have my heavy bag, climbing rope, gymnastic rings, "rack" and dip bars (not shown) mounted to them.[]---[] Equipment Crew Member #14
www.ShankAZombie.com
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04-05-2011, 09:34 PM #12
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04-05-2011, 09:49 PM #13
It gets hot where I live too (near Phoenix), but as they say, it's a dry heat. I get more mountain biking in during the summer months than I do in the winter. I like the heat. I hate it when the highs dip down into the seventies during late October or early November. I start wearing long sleeve shirts and a hat that covers my ears. (Not kidding.) The thing is, if you've been training during several months of hot weather, temps in the seventies feel cold - well, they do to me anyway. I do eventually get accustomed to the cooler temps, but am always happy again when it starts to heat up in the springtime.
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04-07-2011, 11:57 PM #14
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
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^lol, reminds me of Jeff Dunham and Walter "Its a dry heat!!!"
Just an update, havent given up on the project. Aprils just been pure hell so far, one of those solve one problem and five more replace it. But tomorrow (later today rather) Im going to get back on it. Im hoping to get it completely finished as far as clearing so that I can finally start building.Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-11-2011, 02:51 PM #15
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
- Rep Power: 2352
Alright, so friday I cleared out all but the last little bit of it.
Here it is as it stands:
I was going to finish it today, but I couldnt stand it any more and started working on the pull up bar. Took out all of the little branches in the way on the support "beams" (aka trees), then found a small tree for the bar itself. Cut it down and stripped off the little branches. Now all thats left is to suspend it up there. Im seriously starting to lean more towards using barbed wire. Cut a small groove for the wire to rest in, nail it and cinch it. Then Im thinking the barbs would assist in holding everything in place as well.
The bar:
Resting between the two trees it will hang from:
And behind it is the huge pine I plan on hanging the rope from
Itll be from the second big limb from the top on the right. Funnest part is going to be getting it up there. :PAlways forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-11-2011, 03:01 PM #16
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04-11-2011, 03:09 PM #17
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
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That pic is of the huge pine im going to hang the rope from (climbing rope), idk how high that limb is. The pull up bar is resting in between those two smaller trees in the pic before that one. I plan on putting it about 7ft or so off the ground: low enough to be able to reach it and high enough that I can get a full range of motion.
Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-11-2011, 04:50 PM #18
- Join Date: Jan 2006
- Location: Minnesota, United States
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Cool ideas dude and I like the progress pics. It's always interesting to see what innovative ideas people can come up with. I have a few unusual things I do in my gym to make certain exercises work but nothing in the realm of building an outdoor gym out of trees and stuff lol.
If I still lived down south it would be fun to do something like this but being back home in minnesota now I'll just keep the gym inside
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04-11-2011, 05:39 PM #19
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
- Rep Power: 2352
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04-13-2011, 10:50 AM #20
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
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lol
Okay, so for anyone planning to do this in the future, its inadvisable to use a pine tree as a pull up bar. I set it up and got it fixed to the support beams and did a test run. I had to jump a little to reach it, as planned. When I grabbed it, it sagged in the middle almost to where my feet were touching the ground (it would do the trick, but I want something more...stable). So I went back up to my place and got a metal pole that was laying around, carried it back out there and put it in place of the pine. Works perfectly. Not gonna lie, Im stoked.
Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-13-2011, 10:59 AM #21
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04-13-2011, 11:04 AM #22
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
- Rep Power: 2352
Lol, yeah. I knew it would rot, but I figured there were more than enough around so when the time comes, just replace it with another. As for the splinters, Ive got the Spartan (subsitute "Spartan" for "stupid") mentality. But I never thought about it sagging! I was more than a little suprised, lol.
Last edited by TexasGuy21; 04-13-2011 at 12:40 PM.
Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-13-2011, 11:24 AM #23
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04-13-2011, 05:10 PM #24
- Join Date: Feb 2006
- Location: Milford, Connecticut, United States
- Age: 57
- Posts: 3,452
- Rep Power: 1953
[QUOTE=buffbrown21;655186283]I have an outdoor gym similar to what you mentioned.
I have: gymnastic rings, climbing rope, heavy bag, dip bars, a makeshift "rack" , tire half buried for sledge swings, plyo boxes
I also have a large tractor tire for flips, but its in the driveway on the other side of the house.
I no longer have those kegs and take my sandbag out there instead.
You can see most of it here-
A closer look at the "rack"
Pullup on rings with weighted backpack
[/QU
SWEEETTTTTTT pics as always BUFF
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04-13-2011, 06:56 PM #25
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04-14-2011, 05:24 PM #26
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
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Lol, this is true. I also thought about going up closer to the house and cutting down one of the cedar trees, theyre a lot more stiff and theres a bunch up there. But im too impatient and I wanted it right then.
Thanks man, now Im putting thought towards the dip station.
First off, heres a cool pic. lol.
Second off, to the left of the stairs is a dip station they built. Im thinking about doing it like that. Then its portable and you can move it around to suit your needs. Cool thing is, fishpat86 built one very similar to it back towards the end of 2009.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=119931951
Then down the road, I want to build a pair of parallel bars.
*greater range of motion for push ups
*sit sideways across them, hook your feet under the bar and you have a solid base for crunchesAlways forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-15-2011, 04:25 PM #27
What would be good ways to protect your rope, pull up and dip bars from environmental exposure? Stuff like rusting from rain/dew, growing mold, etc? Will you build a shelter or perhaps clean them regularly?
These are my main concerns otherwise I'd put a power tower outside my house, but pretty sure the forearm pads of the captain's chair portion would quickly become invested and cracked.
These look great but that branch doesn't look very thick, is it sturdy? Also I can see you nailed wood planks to tree for racking the barbell but will the nails hold it there, or could the would possibly crack if the bar were more on the outside edge?Last edited by Tyciol; 04-15-2011 at 04:30 PM.
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04-15-2011, 04:30 PM #28
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04-15-2011, 07:59 PM #29
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Dallas, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 196
- Rep Power: 2352
I imagine if you were using more permanent things while doing a project like this, itd be difficult to keep them from succumbing the elements. Im just using semi-cheap stuff Ive got hanging around for the most part. Like the bar for the pull up bar, thats just a metal post for chain link fence and from what I can tell, it runs about $20 at Lowes. Im not sure exactly how Im going to do the dip station yet but 1.5in thick manila rope runs around $1 a foot. So if stuff gets too run down, Ill just replace it.
If you were to do the power tower, it might be profitable to wrap the pads with towels. wouldnt look as nice, but it would hold better than the foam pads alone.
Yeah, no joke. Its actually a couple hundred yards from a spot where I walked up on a sow and about 8 babies last summer. As for the sunlight, Im pretty happy, gotten a decent tan just by clearing it so far.Always forward
I respect all members of the military. Period.
As you read this, know that Im sitting at my kitchen table. Why? Its where the foods at...
Building an Outdoor Gym: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=133151213
Parlo d'italiano...come at me bro...
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04-16-2011, 06:05 AM #30
- Join Date: Dec 2007
- Location: Georgia, United States
- Age: 48
- Posts: 3,967
- Rep Power: 6992
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