Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Todd Kuslikis.

Men strive for efficiency. We are creatures that look for ways of getting the maximum amount of benefit from the least amount of time invested. We look for the straightest path to achieve our goals. That’s why I am always confused why so many men wake up hours before work to fight traffic to get to the gym, elbow people while looking for a locker, and wait for others to get off exercise machines…Ugh! No thank you.

I prefer to stay at home and do a short and intense workout before heading off to work. But as I mentioned above, men care about efficiency AND results. We want the big biceps and chiseled chest and we know that doing a bunch of no-weight push ups and squats just ain’t gonna cut it. We need to do exercises that challenge our muscles in new ways and force them to fatigue in low rep ranges (which is the key to muscle growth).

If you don’t have the resources to shell out $1,000 for a Bowflex or other home gym system I have the perfect solution for you. A complete home gym made out of PVC. There is nothing manlier than building your own piece of fitness equipment.

I am going to lead you step-by-step through the process of creating your own PVC home gym. And it will cost you less than $150. Also at the end of the article I will give you a full 3-month routine that you can follow on your new PVC home gym. Stay tuned towards the bottom of the post as well for a video that shows how to do the various workouts, as well as vocal directions on building the gym.

You might be thinking to yourself, “I could never build something like that. The last thing I built was a mangled bird house in high school shop class and even a freezing bird in a hail storm wouldn’t step foot in it.” Let me tell you that I am much more like Tim Taylor than Bob Vila. I have never built a deck, fixed a leaky faucet, or even assembled a model airplane. If I can do it you can too.

What Equipment Do I Need?

Here is a full list of everything you need:

PVC Fittings (everything below is 1.5 inches wide)

Eight elbow pieces (one end needs to be male and the other female)

One cross piece

One connector piece

25 “T” section pieces



PVC Pipes (everything is 1.5 inches wide; if you weigh more than 180lbs, I recommend getting 2-inch-wide PVC pipes)

10 1-foot PVC pipes

1 1-foot 1-inch PVC pipe

18 2-foot PVC pipes

2 2-foot 3.5-inch PVC pipes

6 4-foot PVC pipes

1 4-foot 3-inch pipe

2 4-foot 8.5-inch pipes

1 5-foot 3.5-inch pipe

Other Important Materials

Rope (you’ll use this for hanging rings)

2 1-inch-wide, 6-inch-long metal pipes (or you can use 6-inch PVC pipe pieces which is what I ended up using)

PVC Cement and Primer (You use this to chemically bond the pieces together. In the video near the bottom of this post, I’ll show you which pieces to bond together and which ones to keep separated so you can still transport the gym if you decide to put it in another room. Also, before you cement the pieces together make sure that you know how to put everything together properly.)

PVC Gym Blueprint Guide

How to Build Your PVC Home Gym

Full Video On How To Build The PVC Home Gym and 27 Exercises To Do On It

What Exercises Can I Do On The PVC Gym?

To learn how to do the below exercises, watch the video above.

Shoulder Exercises:

Handstands

Handstand Push Ups

Supported Iron Cross

L Sit To Half Handstand on Parallel Bars

Bicep Exercises:

Traditional Chin Ups

Close Grip Chin Ups

Wide Chin Ups

Pole Climbs

Tricep Exercises:

Dips

Hanging Dips

Parallel Bar Dips

Half Muscle Up

Ab Exercises:

Hanging Dragon Flag

L Sit

Reverse Ab Crunches

Oblique Crunches

Sit Ups

Back Exercises:

Traditional Pull Up

Wide Pull Up

Front Lever

Chest Exercises:

Parallel Bar Push Ups

Decline Push Up

Stretch Push Up

Leg Exercises:

Squats

Pistol Squats

One Legged Hops

Two Legged Hops

The 3-Month PVC Training Plan

Month 1 – The PVC Prince

This month will get you used to working out on PVC pipes. The exercises aren’t too advanced but you’ll see some major benefit when the week is over. Weeks 1-3 will be your active weeks and Week 4 will be an active recovery. This means that you will NOT do any type of weight training or bodyweight exercises. Use this week to jog, play tennis, swim, or any other activity you like to do. This is important! Don’t break this rule. Your exercise sessions will be 3 X per week. For example: Mon/Wed/Fri or Tues/Thurs/Sat. Once you are done with Month 1, move on to Month 2.

Exercise Schedule

Week 1: 3 X Per Week

Week 2: 3 X Per Week

Week 3: 3 X Per Week

Week 4: Active Rest Period

Exercise Routine

Do each exercise until you reach full fatigue. Don’t rest in between sets. Beginners will only go through the cycle once. If you are more advanced you can go through it two or three times.

5 Upper Body Exercises

Handstand Holds

Decline Push Ups

Traditional Pull Ups

Traditional Chin Ups

Dips

2 Lower Body Exercises

Hindu Squats

Two Legged Hops

2 Core Exercises

Hanging Leg Lifts

L Sits (tuck your knees if you can’t get your legs out)

Month 2 – The PVC Conqueror



Month 2 is really intense. I hope you enjoyed your active recovery week; you will be glad you did it now that the plan is starting up again. You will be working out three times per week just like Month 1 but you will be adding some exercises to the plan. Again, this month you will get an active recovery week.

Exercise Schedule

Week 1: 3 X Per Week

Week 2: 3 X Per Week

Week 3: 3 X Per Week

Week 4: Active Rest Period

Exercise Routine

Do each exercise until you reach full fatigue. Don’t rest in between sets. Beginners will only go through the cycle once. If you are more advanced you can go through it two or three times.

7 Upper Body Exercises

Handstand Holds

Supported Iron Cross

Parallel Bar Push Ups

Decline Push Ups

Traditional Pull Ups

Traditional Chin Ups

Dips

4 Lower Body Exercises

Hindu Squats

Two Legged Hops

Pistol Squats

Falling Tower

3 Core Exercises

Hanging Leg Lifts

L Sits (tuck your knees if you can’t get your legs out)

Sit Ups

Month 3 – The PVC Master

This is where you become a PVC Master. You will be doing the below exercise routine 4 X per week. For example: Mon/Tues, Thurs/Fri. Make sure you get through all the exercises. Weeks 1-3 will again be the training weeks and Week 4 will be your active recovery.

Exercise Schedule

Week 1: 4 X Per Week

Week 2: 4 X Per Week

Week 3: 4 X Per Week

Week 4: Active Rest Period

Exercise Routine

Do each exercise until you reach full fatigue. Don’t rest in between sets. Beginners will only go through the cycle once. If you are more advanced you can go through it two or three times.

9 Upper Body Exercises

Handstand Push Ups

L Sit To Half Handstand on Parallel Bars

Wide Chin Ups

Pole Climbs

Hanging Dips

Half Muscle Up

Front Lever

Wide Pull Up

Stretch Push Ups

4 Lower Body Exercises

Hindu Squats

Pistol Squats

Falling Tower

One Legged Hops

4 Core Exercises

Dragon Flag

L Sits (tuck your knees if you can’t get your legs out)

Reverse Ab Crunches

Oblique Crunches

______________________________

Todd Kuslikis is the founder of a popular body weight exercise blog called AShotofAdrenaline.net. He is also the creator of the The Complete Bodyweight Training System which can be downloaded for free from the site.