- Paying for a gym membership or even buying exercise equipment for your home can be an expensive endeavor. However, you can avoid the monthly dues and the overflowing credit cards by making a few simple pieces of exercise equipment from things you can either find around your home or buy inexpensively from a local home improvement store.
- Weights are one of the essential pieces of workout equipment in your fitness arsenal. Weights can easily be made using a bag of sand and a cleaned-out gallon milk jug. Just make sure to clean the jug thoroughly with soap and water and let it dry. Fill the jug with a measured amount of sand (which will vary depending on how heavy you want the weight to be), and then seal the top by twisting on the cap and reinforcing the lid with layers of duct tape. You may also want to wrap the handle of the milk jug with duct tape to give some cushion and traction to the handle. If you are making two weights---one for each hand---be sure that the amount of sand you place in each jug is equal so that both sides of your body are balanced during your workout.
- Medicine balls are another common piece of exercise equipment that you can find in gyms throughout the country. To make your own, find an old volleyball or basketball that you no longer use. Make a small slit in the ball with a box cutter and stick the end of a funnel in the hole. Pour sand through the funnel until the ball is as heavy as you want it to be. Using a strong adhesive such as Gorilla Glue or a patching kit, reseal the hole. Pump up any remaining space in the ball with air.
- When it comes to cardio training, there are few better tools than the common jump rope. However, going out and buying a piece of rope is not going to be as effective as making your own quality jump rope. At the home improvement store, pick up some clothesline cable and at least 18 inches of ½-inch PVC tubing and two PVC piping caps. Drill a hole just large enough for the rope to fit through in the caps. Run the rope through the caps and tie a knot in the end of the rope. This should prevent the rope from slipping back out of the caps. Cut the PVC piping into two 9-inch pieces of pipe and cap them with the rope strung caps. Reinforce the caps with tape so they don't fall off as you jump rope. You may have to adjust the length of the rope depending on how tall you are.
