How to DIY Your Own Dumbbells, Weights, and More for Home Workouts

If your workouts are now restricted to your living room while you shelter in place, getting a great workout in without your usual gym can be challenging. Space is limited — and so is equipment. Many home workout products like adjustable dumbbells and the Peloton are either sold out or on back order for weeks or months. Plus, assuming you’ll go back to the gym once shelter in place restrictions ease (eventually), you may not want to invest in workout gear that you’ll only use for the short-term anyway.

Fortunately, you don’t necessarily need specialized equipment to get a great home workout away. You may already have effective stopgap options at home. Here are five pieces of  exercise gear that may be tough to get right now, followed by DIY dumbbells, weights, and other free workout equipment alternatives that can perform well in a pinch.

A jump rope for cardio

The ideal: If a treadmill, an indoor-cycling bike, or other piece of large exercise equipment isn’t an option, try a jump rope. According to the American Heart Association, jumping rope burns about twice as many calories as cycling at a 12 mph pace.

DIY alternatives to jumping rope: If a jump rope you’re eyeing is out of stock, hop online and try a cardio-focused virtual workout. Fitness Blender, for example, offers heart-rate-raising training, like these 30-minute high-intensity interval cardio sessions.

For a DIY approach, online fitness coach Jennifer Nagel suggests creating a high-intensity cardio circuit: Choose four or five bodyweight exercises—such as push-ups, burpees, squats, jumping jacks, and squat jumps—and perform each move for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of rest. As you progress, add more exercises to your circuit, and either increase the time you perform each move or decrease the duration of the rest periods.

Or, walk or jog the stairwell for a cardio challenge—and to get your steps in.

Adjustable dumbbells for strength training

The ideal: According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, adults should train all muscle groups at least twice a week and perform muscle-strengthening exercises to the point at which it would be difficult to do another repetition. Adjustable dumbbells save space and are excellent strength-training tools. Unfortunately, our picks (and many other models) are currently unavailable. (Stock could replenish, so keep an eye on them if you’d like to add a pair to your home gym.)

DIY dumbbell alternatives: Get creative. Linda Chungchootairong, who owns a strength training gym in San Francisco called An Iron Movement and has been hosting virtual workouts over Zoom since the outbreak, said she saw members getting creative with laundry detergent and water jugs as substitutes for dumbbells or kettlebells. A gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, so use that benchmark as a gauge when you’re filling empty jugs.

For lighter weights, soup cans or jars of peanut butter will work.

If you have a yard, Robert Herbst, a competitive powerlifter who also serves as a drug-testing supervisor, suggests looking to your lawn equipment. Herbst recommends turning a garden hose into battle ropes (video)—a 50-foot hose looped around a tree or sturdy pole should give you the length you need—or pushing a loaded wheelbarrow for a predetermined distance. “Any movement where the body pushes or pulls against resistance can count as exercise,” he says.

Gliding discs for low-impact exercise

The ideal: If you’re new to working out, injured or recovering from an injury, or looking for movement that’s easy on your joints, go for a low-impact workout. (Low-impact exercises have you keep at least one foot on the ground at all times—no jumping.)

Gliding discs, which are roughly the width of a dinner plate and frequently pop up in group-fitness classes, are used for an assortment of low-impact exercises (video). They work best on hardwood floors, where they can slide without catching, but models designed for use on carpet are also available.

DIY gliding discs: If your workout calls for gliders and you don’t own them, use two small folded towels—dish towels are perfect—instead. This 20-minute Popsugar Fitness glider class (video) uses towels exclusively. And any single exercise done with a glider can be done with a towel. For instance, from a plank position, with towels under your toes, try mountain climbers (video).

Erin Price, Wirecutter’s audience development manager for reader relationships, has been using reusable furniture sliders for exercises like hamstring curls and plank pike-ups. In addition to their bargain price ($10), she also likes their portability.

If gliders aren’t for you, San Diego–based fitness instructor Caroline Jordan developed a low-impact chair cardio workout (video) for people with disabilities or injuries. It's also an ideal option for getting cardio in without jumping — and bugging the neighbors below.

Suspension straps for bodyweight resistance training

The ideal: Suspension training straps—like those made by TRX—facilitate bodyweight resistance training. They are portable and can be hung from pretty much any sturdy anchor (a tree branch, a pole, a door frame). And they roll up for easy storage.

DIY resistance bands: You can perform just about every suspension strap exercise on a swing. But if you don’t have a swing set in your backyard (and the park nearest you is now closed), you have other options. Personal trainer Jess Mazzucco recommends using a chair—ideally a rocking chair or one that swivels—to get a similar balance and stability challenge. Try holding a plank with your feet elevated on the rocking chair’s seat, or performing a stationary lunge with your back foot resting on the seat, for a glute burn and balance challenge.

A PVC pipe for mobility exercises

The ideal: Improved mobility—the ability of a joint to actively move through a range of motion—has been linked to slowing the progression of degenerative joint disease, reducing pain, preventing posture issues, and refining athletic performance. Trainers and physical therapists commonly use PVC pipes (yes, the plumbing type) with their clients for a variety of exercises.

Broomstick workouts: If you don’t have a PVC pipe on hand and don’t want to buy one, a broomstick or mop will do. To open up your chest and shoulders after hunching over a laptop for hours, try a pass through (video), which has you rotate a broomstick back and forth overhead. An overhead squat is a more advanced mobility exercise; this video teaches proper form and technique. (As with any new exercise, be sure to ease into each of these.) If you’re a serious weightlifter, Greg Everett, head coach of the weightlifting team Catalyst Athletics, features more technical broomstick workouts on his Instagram account.