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Repurpose household items to create affordable barbells, hand weights, and more
You don’t need to spend a fortune on high-end fitness equipment when you can craft your own muscle-building tools at home. Many items around your house can easily be transformed into weights of all kinds. We’ll guide you on what to use and how to make dumbbells, kettlebells, hand weights, barbells, and more right from your living room. Forget the gym membership and embrace DIY fitness gains!
Steps
Crafting Kettlebells
Repurpose a milk jug. Fill a clean, plastic gallon jug with sand, water, rocks, or concrete. Ensure that the jug has a handle, as you’ll use it to perform your exercises. Lift and lower the jug just like any hand weight or dumbbell.
- For example, a 32 fl oz (950 mL) jug filled with liquid weighs about 2 lb (0.91 kg).
- Workout tip: With milk jug weights (and other kettlebells), you can do bicep curls, tricep exercises, bent-over rows, pec flyes, deadlifts, and shoulder raises.
- Workout tip: Fitness expert Laila Ajani recommends holding the weights at your sides when doing squats or lunges.
Use full paint cans as kettlebells. Grip the handles of full paint cans and use them as weights. These cans are typically heavier than plastic bottles or canned food, making them a great option for muscle-building. The handles allow you to use them like dumbbells.
- If you want a better grip or extra comfort, wrap duct tape around the handles or secure a rag to them with duct tape.
- Most full paint cans weigh about 7–12 lb (3.2–5.4 kg).
Fill a 5-gallon (18.9 L) bucket with rocks or sand. Alternatively, you can use water or even mix, pour, and set concrete in the bucket to create a much heavier weight. Use it for dumbbell curls, or tape two buckets to a bar or a sturdy rod to create a makeshift barbell for a bench press. Just remember to have a spotter nearby for safety!
Make a kettlebell from a potato sack. Obtain a potato, rice, or sugar sack from most grocery stores. Fill the sack with sand until you reach the weight you want. Tie a loop at the top for your hand, securing it with rope or duct tape. For extra durability, you can reinforce the sack's sides and bottom with duct tape.
- Weigh your sack using a scale before tying the top to ensure you hit the desired weight.
Creating Dumbbells & Hand Weights
Use canned goods as small hand weights. Small canned goods that fit comfortably in your hands make excellent 1–5 lb (0.45–2.27 kg) hand weights, especially if you're just starting and want to build muscle gradually. Larger canned goods can be used as heavier weights or medicine balls.
- Workout tip: Hold a can in each hand, at each side of your head, and slowly raise and lower them 10-20 times for a quick arm workout.
- Heavy, compact books or other grippable items can also serve as free weights.
Repurpose old plastic water bottles with sand or pebbles. Instead of throwing away your plastic water and soda bottles, refill them with water or add pebbles or sand. Ensure both bottles are filled to the same weight for balanced lifting. Use them like dumbbells for exercises such as bicep curls or tricep extensions.
- For an alternative use, tie the bottles around your arms or wrists using rope, bungee cords, or any other straps to create makeshift no-grip arm weights.
Use rice or bean packets as makeshift weights. These packets are perfect as small weights, especially for beginners. Simply grab them from the pantry to do bicep curls and other light lifting exercises.
- Large rice bags can also double as substitutes for medicine balls.
Create hand weights with bicycle tire tubes and sand. Take an old bicycle inner tube and cut it into equal sections. Seal one end with duct tape, fill the tube with sand, and then seal the other end. You can either leave the tube flat or bend it into a loop, securing both ends for an easy grip.
- This method works well for creating various weight sizes. Start with lighter weights like 1 or 3 pounds, or go heavier with 5 or 8 pounds. Be sure to weigh the sand to achieve the right weight before sealing the ends.
Transform a basketball into a medicine ball by filling it with sand. Drill a hole into an old basketball, large enough to fit a funnel. Insert the funnel and fill the ball with sand or pebbles until you reach your desired weight. Seal the hole with duct tape or use a bike tire patch kit. Now you have a repurposed ball to use just like a medicine ball.
- Workout tip: Perform a core exercise by standing with your feet apart, placing the basketball on the ground between your legs. Bend at the waist to lift the ball over your head and then back down 5-10 times.
Make wrist weights with socks and beans. Take a clean sock and fill it with dry rice or beans, or use small pebbles or rocks for added weight. Sew or tape the open end of the sock shut, then either sew or tape the ends together to form a looped weight. Alternatively, attach hook-and-loop fasteners to the ends for easy removal.
- Before sealing the sock, weigh it on a scale to ensure you achieve the exact weight you desire.
- Choose a sock that’s long enough to wrap around your wrist. If it’s too long, fill it until it fits your wrist, then trim off the excess fabric before sealing it.
Creating Barbells & Heavier Weights
Create a barbell using packs of water bottles. Duct tape 6 filled water bottles together and then attach the bundle to one end of a sturdy bar or rod. Secure another bundle of bottles to the other end to complete your DIY barbell. You can adjust the weight by adding or removing bottles.
- Don't hold back with the duct tape! For a solid and secure set, wrap the bottles with 3-4 layers of tape.
- Alternatively, attach 2 milk jugs filled with liquid to either side of the bar.
Flip old tires for a timeless DIY workout. Tires are commonly used in various workout routines, including bodybuilding and CrossFit. Typically, bodybuilders use their legs, back, and arms to lift and flip a tire that's lying flat. Another option is to attach a rope to a tire and drag it behind you while walking or running to engage your entire body.
- For a more challenging set, visit a junkyard to find old tractor tires that will offer a serious weight challenge.
Turn a fishing vest into a weighted vest. Find an old fishing vest or any vest with multiple small pockets. Fill plastic bags with sand or concrete and place them into the pockets. Wear the vest while you run, do pull-ups, perform push-ups, or even go walking. The added weight helps to improve stamina, endurance, and overall body strength while reducing the risk of falling as you age.
Create a slosh tube using an ABS pipe. Slosh tubes are long plastic tubes filled mostly with water, which bodybuilders carry over their shoulders to boost core strength. To make one, cap one end of an ABS pipe (about 4 inches in diameter and 9-10 feet long) and fill it with water, leaving a foot of empty space. Seal the other end to complete your slosh pipe.
- Before sealing the pipe, apply ABS glue to the cap threads and let it dry for 5-10 hours to ensure a secure seal.
- ABS is preferred over PVC since PVC breaks down in the sun and is more prone to breaking upon impact.
- You can use this same technique to create smaller slosh tubes for hand weights.
Create a sandbag by filling a duffle bag with sand. Sandbags are similar to slosh tubes, as their shifting, unstable weight requires you to activate more muscle groups. To make a simple sandbag, fill 5 or 6 gallon (18.9 or 22.7 L) freezer bags with sand, seal them tightly with duct tape, and place them inside a duffle bag. Zip it up and get moving!
- Weigh the bag and aim for about 69 pounds (31 kg), a common weight for sandbags, or adjust it to your personal preference.
- Alternatively, fill an old army or navy rucksack, or a canvas laundry bag with pea gravel. Be sure to line it with a heavy-duty trash bag to prevent any spillage.
Ideas for Homemade Weights
Common Household Items You Can Use as WeightsPrecautions
- Before using your homemade weights in intense workouts, test them carefully to ensure they’re secure. Double-check that the tape is strong and that nothing is loose that could cause injury.
- Always consult with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional before starting any exercise routine.
- If you’re using a homemade barbell or similar equipment, make sure you have spotters available to help ensure safety during your workout.
- Exercise caution when using homemade workout gear. If the equipment breaks or feels uncomfortable, stop using it right away.
