DIY training equipment ideas

I'm in a bit of a weird perdicernment. I work offshore on a 35 day on 35 day off rotation so I don't have access to a climbing gym half the year. Fortunatley I do have access to a pull up bar, and I did make one of those forearm trainers (the one where the rope is hanging from the bar that you twist). I am going to bring a fingerboard out here and make some of those atomik climbing balls. Wondering if anyone could suggest some DIY equipment for training. Or if someone could suggest a good workout plan to help maintain/develop climbing strength?
All ideas are welcome.

Heres my set up. I use a piece of PVC pipe with skateboard grip tape on it for slope training.
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Might be worth looking into what Mike Anderson did to make a compact and mobile training apparatus while he was deployed in Afghanistan. And of course, the actual training program described by the Anderson brothers is a great place to start if you're looking for a comprehensive approach to training.

rockclimberstrainingmanual.…

rockclimberstrainingmanual.…

useful simple portable that offers many exercises highly relevant for climbing arms + shoulders is
Lifeline Jungle Gym XT (or the more expensive TRX)

. (perhaps this could also be used for "belaying" a single-arm hang on fingerboard with feet supported on chair -- mounting a pull-up bar in a doorway underneath a fingerboard also creates self-belay options) .

Perhaps also something like
Perfect Fitness Pullup Assist

Ken

Steve Maisch uses some simple wood blocks that look like they could work for you. See the video on this page.

Just my two cents but if you want to save a little, you could just go w/ some good old fashioned wood campus rungs instead of a full board. A few rungs of different sizes will get you functionally the same finger training.

As far as the rest of the body goes a couple Kettlebells can be used to do a huge variety of exercises for literally everything else. And if you have a pulley/offset system you can always use the KB as a way to take weight off for one arm work.
Good luck w/ the training and post up whatever creative training geneious you come up with, I'm always curious to see new twists on the same exercises we're all doing.
cheers,
BA

^^^ +1 for kettlebells.

Alright thanks for all the ideas. I'm going to draw out the plans for a wooden campus board (put together with wood I've salvaged from pallets and other places around the vessel), once I get the plans together I'll post them on this thread and I'd love some feedback before I start putting it together. The atomic ball things I'm going to make out of softballs (I'll post pictures once I make them). So as I make this equipment I'll post pictures and stuff. Hey Tighe what size PVC pipe is that?

Lanky wrote:Steve Maisch uses some simple wood blocks that look like they could work for you. See the video on this page.

These are super effective, you can also make some with crimp rails and drill out monos in them for the whole gamut.

A set of rings is pretty cheap (50 bucks for the nice wood ones with straps off amazon) and can be hung on a pull up bar easily to do a thrashing full body workout

Jmines wrote:I'm in a bit of a weird perdicernment. I work offshore on a 35 day on 35 day off rotation so I don't have access to a climbing gym half the year. Fortunatley I do have access to a pull up bar, and I did make one of those forearm trainers (the one where the rope is hanging from the bar that you twist). I am going to bring a fingerboard out here and make some of those atomik climbing balls. Wondering if anyone could suggest some DIY equipment for training. Or if someone could suggest a good workout plan to help maintain/develop climbing strength? All ideas are welcome.

do pullups while crushing tennis balls into the bar

drape a towel over the pullup bar and do pullups holding onto the towel.

fingertip, knuckle, and spearhand pushups

Metolius rock rings - (check out the Metolius rock ring training program. you can easily find it for download on the internet)

you can build (or use/modify a ladder) to make a campus board/rungs

with PVC pipe and some chord, you make a ladder type thing where you climb the underside of it. I forget what its called. Named after some famous climber - can't remember which one.

We have published some ideas and rough plans for mounts and training devices. Most were developed as means to hang our product (Gstring Climbing Grips), but can be adapted for hangboards, holds, and other hanging training devices. Our goal has been to offer different ways to mount training devices without having to put holes in the wall which can be important for students, renters, and husbands with finicky wives! ;-)

Backboard utilizing a doorway pull-up bar for mounting hangboard or holds:

Gallows - folding doorway hanger for hanging grips or holds/hangboard (if skinned with 3/4" ply):

Rollbar for strengthening fingers and forearms

Hallway Bridge & Diagonal Bridge for hanging grips, balls, cylinders, pinch blocks, etc.(scroll to bottom of page)

On our blog , we'll soon be giving descriptions of how to make a simple wooden hangboard (Continuum Board) utilizing dowels and plywood, and also how to make a collapsible training tripod for hanging grips, hangboards, etc.

DYI Continuum hangboard

Collapsible training tripod

Instructions are now up for the Continuum Hangboard

DIY Cotinuum Hangboard

Get a big bath towel roll it up , soak it in water , squeeze all the water out with out letting go. Repeat. I like to do 3-4 sets, then I cool down by ripping the phone book in half.

sent you a DM

Here's one I really like. I kind of stole the idea from Steve Maisch but modified it a little. I call it the "finger block." It's basically a 8" piece of 2 x 6 with a small rung on one side and a medium rung on the other side - you then drill two symmetrical holes near the bottom of the board and tie a cordlette in a loop through the two holes - you should be able to pull the loop so that it hangs down either side of the board. When you hang weight from one end of the loop, it will hang straight down that side and allow you to hang the rung on your fingertips. This thing is super easy to make , very lightweight and versatile, and a great tool for either warming up before hangboarding or just doing some finger conditioning after a session. You can add a bunch of weight and do heavy finger curls as well. You can also do sidebends using different grips for an oblique workout, or even just load it up, choose a grip and walk around with it for something like a farmer's carry. I have included pics below.

the fingerblock

finger block from the side

finger block in action - note that the weight has to be hung on the same side as the rung you want to hang

I also work offshore, 3 months on, 3 off, and have been struggling with building an effective training regimen. I've been happy so far with Metolius rock rings for finger strength as they are naturally gimballed, so seem less likely to injure you on a moving vessel. (I guess if you're on an oil rig or something, you wouldn't have to worry about that) They also pack away nicely and are easy to find places to hang. Crossfit/yoga/wieght training have been helpful for general fitness when the weather is not terrible. Another climber/shipmate and I are discussing mounting 2 2x12s vertically and parallel for practicing crack technique. Could do different spacing for finger/hand/offwidth or make it adjustable with lag bolts. I'll post photos if we actually do it.

Home made gym rings/trx

it's pretty easy to make your own gym ring/TRX straps out of PVC pipe, tubular webbing, and cam straps. costs less than $20. This and a hangboard will be enough to keep you in shape when you can't climb