Dip It Good

Ever want a bigger chest?   Fella, do you ever say to yourself, "Boy, if only my shoulder muscles were a tad more pumped up, my wife would bake me that peach cobbler"?  Ever drop a 10 pound bag of potatoes at the market because it was just too darn heavy?  Well don't worry friend, help is on the way. (Not sure who I'm chatting with here)

Introducing our new Dip Station!!!  Hooray!!!  Check it out ... totally looks like steel doesn't it??? Well the jokes on you, because that's silver painted PVC plumbing pipe you're looking at.  Michael was gone this week and I was really bored, so I made it by simply assembling plumbing pipe and fittings ... and VOILA ... a new piece of fitness equipment for our home gym.

As a runner, I actually try to keep my upper body fit so I don't look like a complete stick figure walking around in my everyday life.  Although, at 46 years old, that's probably a losing battle.  But I do a lot of core work, and I also try to work my chest and shoulders as well.  Dips have always been one of my favorite exercises because they really work the chest, triceps, and anterior deltoids.  So I built a homemade dip station to add the exercise to my weekly routine.

How do you build it, you ask?  Easy.  I bought 10' lengths of 1-1/2" PVC plumbing pipe at Home Depot, as well as eight 90 degree elbows, ten "T's", plumbing glue, and spray paint.  I also bought yellow athletic tape from a sporting goods store for the handles.  I cut the pipe into the specific lengths I needed with my power miter saw ... and honestly, the plastic dust was pretty messy to clean up.  But with some planning, you could actually have the pieces cut to length at the store. The whole project cost about $35-$40, but a professional one would have ran about $75-$150.

The first thing Michael asked was, "Is it sturdy?", which I was concerned with as well.  And frankly, when the pieces aren't glued together, it's a little wobbly.  But since I used 1-1/2" pipe, once I glued all the pieces together, it's rock solid.  There is no wobbling or shaking at all (except in my arms when I'm on it).  It's sturdy enough to use everyday for dips, and a few other movements as well.

So there's the new addition to our home gym.  Exciting, huh?  Sorry there wasn't anything running related here, but I'm really happy with how it turned out and anxious to get started using it.  We're going to Hawaii later this year and hopefully with a little work on my new dip station, the bullies will no longer be kicking sand in my face on the beach!  Eh, we'll see ...
... Be Great Today!