DIY Concrete Weights
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- čas přidán 10. 04. 2012
- A temporary solution while you're waiting for that great deal on used plates on craigslist. Check out my blog for more DIY strength and fitness equipment project ideas and detailed instructions.
www.homemadestrength.blogspot.com
You can see this particular project at:
homemadestrength.blogspot.com/... - Sport
Awesome video, thanks for sharing it. I took a 4 foot piece of rubber baseboard (wall base) and taped it into a circle to use it as a mold. Just put it on top of some plywood. Worked pretty well, and you can easily make weights of different diameters.
Hey man, this is a great idea, if you dont want any air bubbles wipe your mould down first with diesel (works well as a form release agent) make a wetter mix and after youve poured the crete tap all around the outside of the mould with a hammer until you no longer see any air breaking the surface, a concrete vibrator would be a bit of an over kill for such a small amount, also id put a piece of mesh in there to strengthen it, would also be a good idea to put a steel tube of the correct diameter in the centre so you wouldnt have to worry about removing the plastic pipe and replacing it with duct tape, cheers
you should a just got a bigger pipe to put as the center then once it dried cut off the excess leave a plastic insert that way you could avoid the duct tape
I get it, I do. But weight is weight. It doesn't matter if you're lifting buckets of water or bags of sand. "Pumping iron" is a cliche and many times most exercises can be done using your own body weight. With a little work you can build a home gym out of 2x4s and bags of sand at 1/10th the cost of the pro type machines. Your muscles have no clue what they're lifting, only that they're lifting it. I used to own a $1000 home gym and trust me when I tell you, you can have the same results out of $100 worth of materials from the home improvement store.
truth has been spoken
wingmanalive i read a rule saying ,if u cannot do at least 25 pushups without rest ,then you dont need " weights "and if u did ,a backpack filled with heavy things will add to bodyweight
+girlsdrinkfeck Whoever said that doesn't know what they are talking about. By this logic if you can't bench press 225 for 25 reps you have no business benching 230 lbs. What if you bench 225 for 15 reps,is that enough to go ahead and bench 230 for 12 reps? Nope, gotta get to 25 before you increase the weight?
We know for a fact that different rep ranges impart different stressors to the body, and the body merely adapts to the stress being applied. A set of 25 is an endurance activity.It's hard at the end because of fatigue, but not a single rep of that set is "heavy" in and of itself.
And bodyweight vs free weights is irrelevant, resistance is resistance. It's just impractical to load bodyweight movements very heavy.
+TheHomemadeStrength One of the best body builders said it best (Arnold). "Shock the muscle". If you routinely work out in certain sets and reps your body will adjust and you won't gain what you could. If you shake things up like going from 3 sets of 8 to 5 sets of 12 of a lighter weight your body can't predict and BUILDS in response. I'm 44 and overweight, out of shape. But when I started back into weights I discovered something amazing. Hear me out. I was able to increase my bench rep weight by 5lbs each week for a constant 2 months. For me I started benching 135lbs for 3 sets of 8 reps. I was a desk jockey, get over it. 2 months later I was doing 175lbs with the same sets and reps. Of course life took over and I fell off the routine. Had I kept it up? I would have been close to benching my weight for reps and a 300lb max bench. Something and average middle aged man would be proud of. As with any routine or exercise the key is discipline. Something most of us struggle with. Had I started and kept with it from my 20's who knows? Just like a garden, you only reap what you sow.
year old, but its simply because you started lifting that you got strong, not the constant change in reps and sets
Finally! Someone with a blog about DIY gym equipment! Thanks!
2 and 1/4" diameter PVC pipe is what I used. In the U.S. at least pipe is measured typically by outer diameter. An olympic bar sleeve is 2 inches in diameter and a 2 and 1/4" pipe will actually slide right onto the olympic sleeve.
Thank you for this vid....believe it or not I'm going to use this idea to make weights for the fabric backdrop at my daughter's wedding. I've been searching all over YT for ideas and yours I think has struck gold. I plan to make the weights not so wide but with a permanent pvc pipe in it just tall enough to then couple it later (during the setup for the wedding) to a taller pvc pipe. Then with the elbow joints create the rest of the frame to hang fabric from.
I really have to thank you because I was looking at spending over $150 to buy base weights....and this DIY'er wasn't having that. I'll probably spray paint them, too.
And probably sell them afterwards as umbrella stands, lol.
I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out and if you want pics I'll send those later, too.
I’ve heard of people using plasti-dip spray coating to “seal” it too. Also you can get emblems/logos and put in/on the weight before sealing to give a really custom look. Or spray paint a template over the plasti dip after dry. Good work my friend!
For an outdoor setup this would be better than weights you could buy. In my neighborhood, anything with resale value will disappear.
That sucks :/
Okay, you said that weighed about 35lbs. You can get a used 35lb plate for about $15-$20. Even brand new a 35lb plate shouldn't cost more than $30-$35. Is it really worth it making stone weights, considering all the materials and supplies you have to buy, and all the time it takes to make it? I mean, I guess if you just happen to have extra concrete, PVC, buckets, a trowel, and whatever else just laying around in your garage, it might be worth it, but otherwise it makes more sense to just buy some iron plates. Plus the iron plates will last longer, and you can easily resell them if you have to.
+DonutDazzler I agree with nearly everything you say. This is why I'm adamant about not using things to strengthen the mix or encase it in rubber. If you wait long enough used iron is 50 cents a lb. But cement is literally a few dollars for an 80 lb. bag and a plastic mold is 5 bucks. I've always maintained that his is temporary to hold you off until yo ufind the 50 cent a lb. stash of 45s in your area. And if you can make 160 lbs. of cement plates for $10 then that's value.
Also, it's unfortunate that kids these days are apparently surrounded by no adults (nor do they become such adults themselves) who have a house, garage, and basic tools that every man used to have because they are, you know, damn useful for maintenance on said house. They have to call a professional to unclog their toilet, hang a picture, or adjust a door that fits too tightly in the frame I suppose. I'll stop here though because this should probably be the subject of an article, not a comment.
Concrete is 5 cents per pound. The 15-to-20 dollars you mention for one 35-pound plate will build an entire olympic set. Even with the occasional breaking plate this is still far cheaper.
Very instructive and detailed thank you for your time
What about spraying them with some undercoating or plasti dip or something? Seems like a little rubber coating would go a long way for durability.
the idea is good. your mouth smacking sounds, not so much. lol
lmao so creepy
It's actually very relaxing to me. You should check out the ASMR community on CZcams :) This video would be really popular
this is awesome thank you im gonna do this for dumbbells. your gonna save me alot of money
Any ideas on making a DIY squat rack, also, needing input on how to make a regular gym bench into a BP bench.
You can buy plastic rubber type coating that I've seen people dip tools like wrenches or pliers etc in to coat the handles. That maybe an option to make the concentrate plates more durable and stop them from chipping etc.
Not sure if plastidip would work for that also.
Hey, did you discover what this chemical is? Yours hopefully.
Water in concrete doesn't really dry up and evaporate away. Most of it actually chemically bonds with the concrete permanently. The weight of the finished concrete will be almost as high as the wet mix.
Pre-weighing the mix dry as you keep saying will result in heavier plates than you planned on making.
How durable are these ? Mind you my expectations arent super high but they seem like an excellent idea for an outdoor set.
Anybody know a good way to coat them? I want to use them for deadlifts as well as just make them a bit more durable.
I poored concrete into 2 old tyers and inserting tubes so i could slide a bar into it and use it for bench press... it ended up having 150kg and 3 ppl had to carry it xD
Hellmarch Use motorcycle tires maybe ? (scooter)
Hellmarch
hahahah XD
Hellmarch
hahahaha
just made ma day what a funny laugh i have had
yhh it would be very heavy considering the size of a regular car tyer
+Hellmarch
HAHAHAHAHA
Flex Seal it to make it more durable?
I was thinking of using a five gallon bucket and just leaving it in the plastic
I got a few of them
Vaseline or Seran wrap on the pipe right?
How sturdy are these weights. If I slightly dropped it would they break. are the brittle at all?
how long do you think the weights would last? you know when pros do concrete sidewalks, drive ways, ect they use rebar to hold it together. maybe you can come up with somthing similar for your weights.
That is a great idea, nice job with these!. Got me thinking that if you added in some reinforcing fiber glass, these would be very very durable. So many things that could be done with these, including paint, but then the cost goes up, which defeats the purpose, I suppose. Thanks for sharing with us!
This looks awesome!
this is good but it will eventualy breake. you need to reenforce the cement by placing a metal grid inside it while it's still wet.
Rebar is a great idea. that stuff is right next to all the concrete material at Menards.
***** some metal coat hangers would be really cheap.
+Diaconu Sebastian im trying this today and putting chicken wire in the middle of mine to keep them from cracking in half and falling off the bar mid lift
you truly do put a lot of quality into your work sir :) keep it up! I am going to be using a similar method to your own here to make a DIY portable
shooting target stand and this is perfect. thanks for the great tips.
May I even suggest throwing a coat of rustoleum metallic spray paint on there to make them look even more so professional? I always coat all the weights I find on craigslist with that stuff to make them easier on the eye in my gym. lol
thanks for the video.But why didn't you just leave the pvc on the weight and cut off anything extra?
If I take 40 lbs concrete powder, add the water and pour it in etc. etc., will the finished concrete plate be the same weight as the powder?
i made one of these and instead of using tape to protect my bar i left the piece of plastic piping inside and cut it to size. thanx for sharing your idea
Dude, your videos is really awsome! :o
Great job. Thank you very much.
this is amazing , i am trying to turn my garag in to a DIY gym by learning all these methods , need to make a punching bag now!
Hey, can i ask what concrete/sand ratio you used, and if you add aggrogate?
Thanks, ive been looking on the internet and it said that 1/2 ratio is good as well as 1/3 i did a 1/ 1 1/2 ratio and im not sure if it will be strong enough.
awesome job man!
Yeah that's the better way to do it, and I have since switched out the tape for pipe too. The reason I didn't do that in the video is that I was thinking it more cost effective to use the tape, particularly if you wanted to make a lot of plates. But pipe isn't THAT expensive and it does work better.
Thank you, really useful, i jsut made my first mold hopefully it turns out like yours :)
is there a way to have excact mesurement for the weights
You can also buy plain concrete tiles and drill a hole in the middle. You can cut them to size with an anglegrinder to get different weights.
1:58 oh 😲
hey! i dont have any concrete can i use mortar?
couple of suggestions: 1. Use Portland cement and Sand instead of Quickcrete. 2. Why no take the end of the Olympic bar off and use it as the pipe for the center? You could find another one if you didn't want to scatch up the one you have. Also you could make concrete replacements for the ends of the bar.
Anyone have ideas for coatings to use on these plates to keep them intact? I was thinking some sort of spray on plastic sealer and coat the whole thing in that to keep it from cracking apart or chipping.
FLEXSEAL^tm
Do you think its a good idea to use cement milk(only cement mixed with water)to put it on the weight to make it stronger?By the way exellent job.
Awesome! You're the best, I'm trying to bulk up and weights are so expensive
they are but if this is a life time commitment is penny's when you look at the span of life good weights will give.
would u think the time u spent doing it + materials ,u could of just worked some over time and earnt the money to buy used ebay plates ?
Era só ter deixado o tubo no centro da anilha. Foi tirar para quê???
Cinder(concrete) blocks $1.80 each make a cheap substitute plyo box or stepper. At 38lb each great for kettlebell, db or BB too!
Very sturdy and 16x8x8 in each. 1/2/3/4 blocks high for 8/16/24/32 inches or 20/41/62/82 cm. Recommend 2 blocks wide. 8 blocks for
Mine are holding up just fine. I made them slightly smaller than a 45lb plate so they never touch the ground even when I deadlift. You will be fine if you are just using them for bench press.
Not sure if chicken fencing would be the best. That stuff if really flexible so wouldn't it just bend under any amount of stress that would crack the cement? Some metal reinforcement would help in theory but I still say impact stress is the main concern, not tensile strength, and rebar would not help so much with that. I'm no expert though.
Thanks for the comment!
Very cool, nice effort :-)
You could mount strong steel hooks on your bar, and hang a sturdy canvas bag from each hook. Create pre-weight smaller bags of sand or rocks or scrap metal or whatever to go in the sturdy bag.
this is sooo cool!
nice... congrats to ur diy
Hello :)
Why not put a uniformly distributed pre-weighed quantity of screws or nails in the mixture? It would have to get 45 pounds without becoming too broad.
Share if you tried or just want to try the idea.
Good idea!
what size pipe for olympic, please?
nice smooth and slick
hi , i like the idea im a builder and you can buy a product called concrete fibres its fibreglass strands add to your mix with a product used for rendering called either smoothflow or rendermix its latex based will make your weights stronger and resist shock because of the fibres also the latex will make them easier to get out of the moulds , good stuff keep it up
Its fine, but I am doing sth similar and basicly i have few ideas like, puting motor oil on the bucket makes the concreete smooth and prevents it from sticking on the bucket. And since you are puting plastic pipe in the mid circular opening, why dont you just use the size that would fit the bar and just leave it inside, wouldn't it be more convenient?
Tnx for the vid anyway and have a nice time workin out ;)
An 80 pound bag of quikcrete is about $3.75 and a small piece of pvc like that can't cost much. Plus the $6 for the mold. So if you made 2 it would be about 10 bucks total. But it would get cheaper after that since you already paid for the mold
Why didn't you leave a small section of pipe in? Wouldn't that make it easier to slide the weight on and off of the bar?
How much does the concrete cost?
This is the way of making plates after Third World War.
Post-thermonuclear era plates. Useful post-war video.
Stop.
Im gonna be making my own soon. Im going to keep the pvc pipe in it to help keep the cement from chipping and to help it slide on and off my bars.. im also gonna spray or dip it in this stuff that keeps the cement from breaking/chipping... i seen it on a video, i cant remember what it was but imma research it...they sprayed it on a cement block and even an egg, dropped them from a good height, and neither of them broke!
Hey, did you discover what this chemical is? Yours hopefully.
How heavy is it 10 kg 15kg ?
good job budy.
nice work bro, you could put iron rods in the cement to make it a lot stronger like they do with house foundations
Thanks man!Some bolts to fix the weight to the bar wouldn`t be bad at all :)
Awesome idea actually. Only issue I see is a possible inconsistency in the weights (i.e. one weight is 33.5lbs, one weight is 35lbs.) Its only takes a few pounds give or take to throw someone off and lose it, and possibly get hurt.
I used Quikrete, which is a pre-blended product so I didn't have to bother mixing it myself. If you've done your research and came up with those figures then follow them, it should be fine.
nice! but my thought is to use first polyester for the outer skin to make it more durable.
What's the best type of concrete to use for a strong smooth plate?
+Sam Bhattarai The smoothness of the surface will have to do with getting the air bubbles out of it and how well you do working it with your trowel/float.
+TheHomemadeStrength k thanks bro and good vid
mix 3 slump 4
put the concrete on a power plate so t he vibration gets rid of the air bubbles , the only use for them things :)
Weights are weights. I lift anything heavy. Cement blocks are cheaper than iron
For the price of concrete blocks you can go to a gym 20 times.
Hey, for the price of 20 gym visits one can have a concrete weight for years, perhaps life. Regards.
qwikrete is 4.30 for 80 pounds. You can build a 320 pound set for less than 20 dollars. Where can you find a gym that costs less than a dollar a visit?
JeffTheHokie - I pay less than $30 a month for gym membership...
BeeKeeper, Yes, concrete retains some of the water you add. It is ideally in the range of 3 to 4% of total weight. So if you're picky I guess I would measure 1 to 2 lbs. less of dry mix than you want your final plate. 34 lbs. of dry mix would probably get you a 35 lb. plate. The main point is that if you do the same exact thing with both plates they should be the same in the end, or close enough.
great Idea,THX
great stuff
So does the weight of the dry mix equal the weight the product will come out?
Nope. The concrete + water is not just drying out, a chemical reaction takes place between the water and the concrete mix. Some evaporation will occur, but not much. The final weight should be close to the weight of the concrete plus the weight of the water you add. An average for cured concrete is 145lbs/cubic foot, but there are lots of variables.
Good job!
you can cover the outside with a thick fiberglass coat. Also to make the concrete stroner, try use some wire net.
PS - another quick tip to get rid of those air bubbles is to make the mix quite a bit "wetter" or soupier when put it in the mold. Then, find something that vibrates (I.e. battery operated toothbrush) and hold it against the sides of the plastic mold. This will allow the mix the settle more evenly, and all the air bubble to escape.
Great DIY video. We sell premade tent weights.
Yeah, you'll get a smoother result if you vibrate it, just don't do it too much or all the gravel will sink to the bottom. The plastic pipe is the better way to do it. I just originally thought it would be more expensive, but it's probably worth it.
Those air bubbles on the surface are all throughout your plate and it makes the whole thing very weak. To avoid this, stick a vibrator (there are industrial vibrators for concrete, but I guess any will do) in different places around the mould after it's poured. For something so small, you could probably just stick it in 2 or 3 different places and leave it in until the concrete stops bubbling, then pull it out and do it in another spot. You're trying to bring all the air from the concrete to the surface and eliminate them throughout the concrete. The end result is a much stronger plate. You could also use some reo (concrete reinforcement) to create a stronger product.
For those people stuck indoors with no access to a gym because of the 'Coronis this makes for an amazing substitute!
That depends how it landed and how high you dropped it from and what surface it landed on. They are cement so they are strong but they can chip or break from an impact. Mine have not broken, but I have not dropped mine either. Why would you drop them? imo this is really a temporary solution. They should be used with iron plates so they don't touch the floor, and eventually they should be replaced by iron plates when you have the money / can find them cheap used
was thinking of filling up a couple of paint cans but this actually looks great and a lot less stupid! lol
agree with mr mayhem, think the mix would be better slightly wetter, but if it works your way, then no big deal, take note though, weighing as an example 20kg of dry mix may not mean you would end with a 20kg plate as the water would add weight?
it does.
Concrete takes a long time to cure. It will loose weight over time as it dries and all the water is gone but, very little weight. After the initial drying time there will only be about a pound or less of water left in it.
weight wise i don't suppose it matters as long as you're aware of what you're lifting
Thanks!
will it break if it is dropped while doing deadlift or cleans?
Hell yes they will break if you drop them. If you want to drop cleans you should have bumper plates. Slamming these down is not a good idea. I state in my video that they were intended to be a temporary solution (used in addition to iron plates for deadlifting so these don't touch the floor) until you can find used iron in your area. I know people want these to be a permanent solution but I just don't see it happening unless your goal is to be weak forever or if you don't ever pull from the floor.
+TheHomemadeStrength what if you put some sort of rubber casing around it?
+Dougie Boxell What does "some kind of rubber casing" mean, exactly? And how can it be done very cheaply? In any case, what do you then have, a crumble of concrete inside a car tire? The more complex you make things the more expensive they get. Used iron isn't that expensive so if you if concrete plates start costing you 25 cents a lb. it's getting silly; since iron is infinitely superior for our purpose in every single imaginable way.
i dont even slam down my tri grip cast irons letalone concrete !!! only thing u can drop thats concrete are atlas stones but they are specially made for that very compacted with internal structure supports
Amigo Porque você tirou o cano deixasse lá de proteção pensa né
I would use a bathroom scale and weigh it while concrete is wet. Pour a little more concrete to reach 45 pounds exact. This is a great and cheap idea.... Even the cheapy 45 pound weight plates sell for $50 at walmart. Put a metal grid and put a nice coat of good paint. It will look real nice. And it is a great idea if you want to just leave weights and bench outside. Weight is just weight whether it is using your own body weight, cheapy weight set, real expensive weight set or DIY concrete weights.
it will be less when the concrete sets and dries. I would measure the dry weight of your intended mix (make some and dry it in a circle or rectangle) and its dimensions to get its density.. then measure how big you need the plate to be to meet the weight.
Thats interesting. I'm curious how thick they end up being, i'm guessing like 2 inches, and how much the rebar adds to the cost. I made mine just to be temporary but there is a lot of interest in this project. I'm a sucker for the deadlift so that's what stopped me from going full on with the DIY plates.
Hey, planning on using sand bags, tyre(s) and/or wooden pallets to cushion the weight. Love to hear any other suggestions..? Regards.
homemadestrength.blogspot.nl/2012/06/deadlift-platform.html - ha, just discovered this
Cheers for documenting everything!
Kind thanks
how much weight?
When you add water, you increase the weight. Mix it first, then weigh it. And then pour it. Have a bathroom scale handy and a 5 gal. pail. Then assorted small pails for dumbbells or smaller weights.
When the concrete dryes it losses Almost all the water weight so its the same
Some tips:
-Use synthetic fiber in your mix to prevent cracking, or put layers of fine welded wire mesh.
-Don't put off the tubing, it as the perfect size that fit your barbell, and stick into it some long steel screws.
-Glue a rubber type band around your plate to absorb impacts.
-use a plastifier coating.
Best of all: get a cake mold with a tinned hinge, trust me.
Now you have plates than can handle hard training and can last almost forever.
Nice chan. subbed. Also just bags of sand can be used while waiting for proper plates. I just actually buckets of paint at one time..
being advanced in the art of ghetto gyms. I use rebar so they aren't so big. A 30 foot length of 0.4 inch rebar weighs 16.5 lbs. I cut it into two 3'
lenght and six 4' . I use 1" hollow steel pipe to bend the 4 feet sections into circles, 2 of the same diameter, than 2 larger and 2 smaller, just so they fit concentrically . I then bend the 3 feet section lateral to these, and the last 3 footer perpendicular to the first. Pour 32 lbs concrete into the mold, drill out grips,and voila
CZcams comments don't allow enough characters so I'm going to reply to you in the comments on this project page of my blog. Link is in the description of this video.