Improvised at-home fitness equipment part 2: weight sled!

Weight sleds have really gained in popularity - most gyms will be equipped with at least one.  They are used in group fitness classes, and are an essential tool for strength and conditioning coaches to develop power and explosiveness in athletes.   Problem is,  they are expensive!  They are cumbersome to store, and require plates. That is why we're gonna tour around the house and find a great way to make our own using things we might already have.  Your muscles will not know the difference!  Watch the video to give a visual to what I cover below.

Here is what you need (or something similar).  See the last image for what I used.  If you don't have the item, chances are you have something close. Each item is very easy and inexpensive to buy, but try to match up what you have as best as possible.  Best of all, each item (except the handles) can continue to be used for it's original purpose, and other at-home fitness solutions I will cover in future posts!

1. A rubbermaid plastic tote, as pictured.  These are super durable and formidable enough for our purposes here!
2. Some kind of handle (2) - I had old plastic tubing that I cut, so I could use the handles (image 2). 
3. Ratchet straps (3) -  Used to secure exposed loads in the back of a truck or on a roof rack.  Can be bought in a pack of 4 for $12 at Harbor Freight.  Each strap has a 400lb weight capacity - plenty strong enough!   Extremely useful for many other functions too, so you might want to have these around anyway!
4. Long rope
5. Caribiner, or something like it
6. Some heavy things to put in the tote - I used a 50lb bag of flour and a 25 lb dumbell for my exercise sample videos you can see below.  Fill it up with anything to match the resistance for what suits you and the exercises you choose to do.  There are many options!

Here is what I had laying around.

I cut up this old plastic tubing. These handles are perfect for what we need. The hole is perfect size for the hook on the ratchet strap

This tote can hold a lot of weight! I wouldn't hesitate to put over 100lbs in it. This is 75lbs total and worked great

Assembly

1. Take one ratchet strap, and cinch it up around the perimeter of the tote, so that the hooks come together at the front.  Notice the closed loop on one of the hooks is centered.  Cinch it tight enough that it won't move, but no tighter.
2. Make sure your load is slightly heavier towards the back end of the tote (opposite the hooks), so that when being pulled the front end tends to pull up a little bit.  Makes for more efficient dragging!

3. For the ROPE: 

• I used a two-half-hitch knot to secure it to the caribiner.  Click Here for video - super easy and fast, yet very strong and easy to untie.  
• For the rope pull (see the video below),  I ended up tying an over-under knot (like you would tying your shoe, and cinched tight) in the rope every arm length (plus a little bit) to create a better grip point, since the rope I have is quite thin.  If you have a thicker rope, you might not have to do that.
• Attach caribiner to the black loop, and you're ready for rope pulls!  Watch it below
• Sample workout:  In your back yard, rope pull the sled to your feet, bear crawl with the rope in hand, repeat for as many rounds as possible in 5 minutes.  Rest 2 minjutes, and repeat for two more rounds of 5 minutes, and you have an amazing upper body workout.  Adjust weight in your sled to meet your needs.

To create the handles

• Take the other two ratchet straps.  Ratchet them up to the same length, as pictured
• Place the hooks through the hole of the strap on the tote
• Slide the handles on the other end hooks, and you're ready to pull.  See video below!  NOTE,  I should've lengthened the straps a little bit to allow the tote to pull a little straighter, but adjust as you see fit for your situation!
• Now you are ready to do weighted sprints, jogs, or walks.  It's a great strength builder for the core and legs.  Anything you can do with a regular sled, you should be able to do with this iteration of it.  

Try it out, and feel free to reach out with any questions!

​Until next time...