Homemade free weights

[Shamus36]

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on making your own free weights - specifically dumbbells.  I have store-bought ones, but they only go up to 20 lbs.  I tried filling large jugs of water, but found they killed my wrists during certain exercises (most notably, on flies).  Any ideas for some inexpensive bits of kit?

[Pesky Squall]

Is a baby an option? 
They're kind of "Homemade" and it grows so that as they get bigger you get stronger!

[Shamus36]

 

Is a baby an option? 
They're kind of "Homemade" and it grows so that as they get bigger you get stronger!

 

Ha!  Already have a 7 year old, but he doesn't sit still long enough for me to use him as a free weight.  Helps keep me from sleeping too much though.

[mdwill]

You could try craigslist for cheap plates or if you want to build your own you could do something like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j9uAIx4_SU -Dumbbell link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTnmk8MhSJg - Barbell link 

 

I hope that helps

 

[crsl]

I second Craigslist.  I've managed to acquire over 300lb of 1" and 2" plates for under $200, including a 2" bar, hex bar, and weight tree.

[Darth Yoga]

During my DIY kettlebell adventure, the main problem I had is that aside from metal, 50lbs of most common material is awkwardly bulky. The dumbells in that first youtube video would be around 20lbs. You've got 20lb dumbbells. You could do something similar with larger containers. A five gallon bucket of concrete is about 100lb. That is 5lb per quart if you are looking for appropriately sized containers. (Aside from metal, I didn't find any commonly scavengable materials that were a whole lot heavier than concrete, and none that are nearly as easy to work with.)

 

If you have a workout space where you can put bolts into the ceiling and floor, another option is to rig up a simple pulley system. That gives you a lot of options as to what is on the other end -- a bucket of whatever...

[Shamus36]

Some great ideas!  Thanks for the suggestions. 

[jfreaksho]

Sandbags are cheap and easily scalable, though keeping them from breaking open can be a challenge.