Slant Board

The ‘Knees over toes guy’ has had a quite the rapid rise in views this year and I certainly took notice given my own struggles with knee pain. I’ve watched nearly all of his YouTube videos trying to gain an understanding of his exercises and methods, and have started to implement them into my own training. In particular I liked the look of his revers set up progressions, as I know this type of movement can be a trigger for my knee pain. I started with a very small range of motion step forward, then stepping off a low box, which he calls a ‘Patrick step up’. The next progression for me was carefully increasing the reps to where I am now performing 5 x 20 reps each side 3-4 times per week. I will continue this for several weeks before moving on to the next progression which is the ‘Poliquin Step up’

Some basic progrssions.

The Poliquin step up requires a slant board, which I didn’t have, and would be prohibitively expensive to import (to New Zealand) so I decided to build my own. I wasn’t sure what the best dimensions were, so that was the first thing to figure out. Ideally, I would have built it as wide as my powerlifting cage would allow, but a better option was 500mm wide so that I could stack it on top of my lifting blocks. It needed to be slightly larger than my size 11 feet/shoes so 300-350mm would be more than large enough for the top. The angle was the next question. A full 45 degrees is much too steep, so I was considering 22.5 degrees (half of 45 degrees) until I saw in a video Ben Patrick (the knees over toes guy) said it was about 30 degrees. Having built it, this does feel about right, however I also think 22.5 degrees would feel fine too it that’s all you can manage.

I wish I has access to the right skills and tools to be able to draw all of the parts out on paper, measure, cut and assemble everything, and have it come out perfectly, but I don’t. To work around this, I cut the boards in stages. Using 20mm plywood I cut the top first with the angled cut facing down (because it looks terrible due to my lack of ability with a skill saw). I then cut the back of the slant board at the correct angle, so that I could measure and cut the bottom to size (this saved by having to use trigonometry, I can, I just can’t cut accurately enough). Then finally I could place these boards together and trace the triangle for the sizes (again saving me doing trigonometry).

Everything was screwed together and given a good over all sanding to make it all look good. I taped strips of sandpaper tape for grip (also known as grip tape) and the board is done.

I’ve used the board in testing a little bit and it feels good, and very solid. Hopefully this can be of some help to others who are looking at the knees over toes videos and would like to get into some of the exercises.

Mace and Indian clubs

Indian clubs and maces are an ancient training tool that has seen a recent resurgence. This is due not just to the cool factor, but their use in shoulder strength and mobility training. In full disclosure I haven’t quite worked these into my training since I’m always short on time; however I would like to work them in as a shoulder warm up/full workout.

To build the maces and clubs I bought two cheap spin-lock barbells on sale. I bought a 5ft and a 6ft with the plan to cut them down for two Indian clubs and a mace or two. I took them to the engineering shop next to work where they cut the bars down to 2x 590mm, 1x1000mm and 1x1200mm. They then welded some round stop ends to prevent the bar from slipping out of my hands when using them. I gave these a quick coat of silver zinc and my new Indian clubs and maces were ready to go.

Note the round stop end for the grip and spinlocks for the weights.

I chose the sizing based on an estimated size for the Indian clubs and the length for the longest mace. The longest mace is sized similar to the Shoulderrok so the the weight lands below your butt when swinging it. The shorter mace could run into your butt while swinging, but that's just how the sizing worked out.

You could adjust the position of the weight closer to the hands.

This worked out as an incredibly cheap way to get four plate loaded clubs/maces that wouldn’t see a huge amount of use. I wouldn’t suggest this for a commercial setting, but I also don’t see myself using these for more than a few short minutes a few times per week a most. For details on exercises to perform I would take a look at bodytribe on Youtube.

More rolling plate storage

When I found myself with a little spare cash and a yearning for dumbbells I decided to get the most practical option I could for my gym. I settled on Olympic, plate loaded dumbbells which could be loaded up to 45kg each. Plenty of weight on a dumbbell for me, and I could also use the weights on my barbells if I wanted to. Note: I don’t use these often in my training, but they have been very handy for some weighted single leg training and were worth the investment for me.

I bought 80kg of 5kg plates, 16 in total for the times I would need to load up both dumbbells and I needed somewhere to store them. My previous rolling storage rack didn’t have the room but was a great design for my needs so I decided to replicate it.

I measured the height of the plates when stacked on top of each other, and the overall width of plates for the dimensions of the base. I used some scrap 20mm plywood for the build. The base is 510mm x 250mm. The sides are 90mm high, measured to just touch the radius for the plate for a snug fit. The rollers are the same as the previous rack, 4 wheels at $5 each rated to 40kg.

This was a very straight forward build, and it allows me to push the plates out of the way under a shelf when not in use. Keeping a tidy gym is important especially in a small space so getting weights off the ground and easily movable goes a long way. It is my strong suggestion to keep your training space tidy to make that element of training as easy as possible.

Lifting blocks

A Reduced range of motion deadlift.

A few years ago, I was training a younger, but very tall athlete and wanted to shorten the range of motion of their deadlift to work on form in a little easier position. The best way to manage this is to place the plate up on lifting blocks. This makes it easier for the lifter to get into potion if they are tight, and can also make the position a little easier to learn.

The top of the blocks are 18mm plywood, 500mm x 500mm. These are screwed to 75mm square posts I had left over from an old fence. Since I don’t plan on using these for very heavy pulls I’m not worried about damaging the plywood. However if you want to build something like this for heavy pulls the only change I would suggest is covering the top plywood in some rubber gym mats.

Top and side view

These are also quite handy for single leg work like step ups and for exercises like the Jefferson curl. I’m glad I built them, even if it seems like they might have limited use, I end up using one every week.

Example of with and without blocks

And that's it, if you have some scrap plywood and timber laying around consider building some blocks if you don’t already have something similar.

Rolling board/sliding board

This piece of equipment doesn’t need an explanation so I’ll keep this brief. When performing natural hamstring curls inside my house I was able to use a cloth or sock to slide against the vinyl flooring. However, when I shifted this exercise and workout into the garage gym this method wasn’t going to work. The other option most people use is furniture sliders, but they wouldn’t work on the concrete either.

I decided that setting up a small rolling board would be the best option. The wheels were only a few dollars each and hold 20kg + each. The off cut of plywood is approximately 200mm x 200mm. All four wheels can spin a full 360 degrees (I don’t suggest the wheels that lock in place).

This board works perfectly for the natural hamstring curls, and would probably work well for ab rollouts and other exercises too, though I only use it for the hamstring curls.

You don’t have to let a change in environment dictate what exercises you can and can’t do. Adapt as necessary.

Plate loaded backpack.

20L jerry can

I first heard about this style of loaded pack on a Joe Rogan podcast (I can’t remember which episode) and looked it up right away. I enjoy weighted hikes as I think they are excellent training in their own right and are overlooked for how important they are to prepare for longer hikes. So seeing this simple plate loaded backpack I was keen to acquire one for my own training.

The pack is really quite simple; it’s an old-school army ALICE pack with a bar on the back for loading plates. I bought a re-creation frame and straps from an army surplus store and drew out what I would need for the plate loading. The plate on the back is 200mm x 350mm and 3mm thick, the pipe is a standard 50mm pipe, 180mm long at approximately 70 degrees. I had this all welded up at an engineering shop next door to where I work. I can’t remember what I paid, but it wasn’t much, it’s ridiculously easy for a metal work shop to put together so I suspect most shops would be open to a cash deal.

With the plate made it was up to me to fix it to the pack frame. I bought four small U bolts from a hardware store, then marked and drilled where I would need them to go. I needed to cut down the top set as these would rub against my plates when loaded. The bottom bolts wouldn’t reach the plate due to the angle. I normally use one small spacer off this plate to allow the plate to sit well (Two spaces are pictured to make room for the bag below, more on that later). I finished the plate with silver zinc spray paint to prevent rust.

Total unloaded weight is 5kg (the steel is heavy) and I could load up 50kg plus on this frame.

A few modifications

One option is to ditch the plate loading and just load up the pack frame. I bought a shelf off a retailer in the US for about $5 which makes it easy to load containers to the pack. I bought a 20 litre jerry can for this purpose so I can load 20kg for water on the pack, roping or strapping it on. This works great as a slightly unstable load (a good proxy for hiking where the load is more fixed and the terrain more unstable). However this looks a little too “play army” for me so I don’t often train this. (Full respect to the armed forces, I’m just not part of them and don’t want to mistaken for a serviceman).

The shelf also makes it easy for me to attach a small carry bag to the pack which I set up when I take my dog out for longer walks where he will need a drink. I needed somewhere to pack some water for him and me, a dog bowl, raincoat, first aid kit etc. To make room for the shelf, and full pack I needed to pack the plates out from my back a little further, hence the extra packer.

Last but certainly not least are the straps I have for this pack frame. They are made by a New Zealand company (Twin Needle and Thread) and they are incredible. They are thick, wide, comfortable and extraordinarily well made. They make this my most comfortable pack by far, and I couldn’t be happier with them. The small pack is also made by them and it is of the same supreme quality. They were even able to custom make the pack for me with molle webbing on both sides.

This project took a little bit of organisation to collect all of the parts and put it together but has been well worth it for me. This is my go to set up for taking the dog for a walk around the block, exercising him, and me at the same time. This keeps me partially prepared for when I can get away for a longer hike.

Also good for weighted calisthenics

Door knob climbing holds

Inspired by ninja warrior I always keep my eyes out for potential climbing holds/ odd “fitness” equipment. With this in mind I spotted these 6 old door handles in the store room at work. They are internal ‘orbit’ (i.e. round) door handles which were missing all the other parts, which was fine by me, I only wanted the handles. So when the time came for a big clean out of the store room, I was able to liberate these handles from the skip bin.

These were a little bit tricky to work with since they were obviously not built to be climbing holds. For one thing, the back of the handle is meant to fit over a large hole in a door. I used some scrap plywood to build a base, and drilled a centre hole to accommodate the back of the handle. In addition, there were parts of the handle that stuck out the back side, which I needed to drill space for as well. This is what makes the base look like Mickey Mouse. With the base built, I used some medium size tek screws (an extra beefy screw) to mount the door knobs next to my campus/hang board.

Finished base and tek screw

The handles are quite tricky to hang on and take quite a bit of odd grip strength to work with. They only rotate about 45 degrees right or left, so not a lot of spin, but the turning doesn’t really seem to be a factor in the difficulty of these grips. Also your fingers can run into the screws a little, so the fixing isn’t quite perfect.

All set up

Honestly these will probably get very little use as I don’t see them being worked into my current training program, however they were free and a bit of fun. It’s always worth keeping your eye open to find something fun for your gym/training space.

Pistol squats - Heel lift progression

Using a small heel lift

My recurring goal for several years has been to complete five sets of five good pistol squats, but I could never quite manage it. The main issue was my left ankle, which is missing some ROM after a bad break when I was 16 years old. It was always a struggle to get enough ROM in that ankle, and to link that up with the specific proprioception and muscle firing to perform a good pistol squat on that side. With consistent, focused training I would make headway slowly, but it was always difficult to lock in the progress and achieve consistent pistol squats within and between sets.

There are endless articles and videos teaching the pistol squat and various progressions, but I’m going to focus on the one small progression that I got a lot of benefit from.  I haven’t seen the specifics of this progression discussed in this way before. If you are early on in pistol squat progressions I would highly suggest looking at Al Kavadlo’s work, and would consider reading his new book on the topic (I have not read it, but his work is always good). My specific progression technique worked for me because I had sufficient strength and balance, but was missing both a small amount of ROM and the muscular control at that end range. The lack of muscular control is because I have been missing that range of motion since I was 16 years old.

What I needed to do was practice the movement as close to the perfect position as possible to grease that groove. One option often used is to hold a weight out in front of you for a counter balance, then slowly reduce the weight to remove that assistance. I could do pistols with a 2kg weight, or even a 1kg weight, but the specific adaptions didn’t feel correct to drop the weight entirely.

Instead I tried using a very small heel lift (using a heel lift is a standard suggestion by most trainers). I was able to do full pistol squats with the heel lift compensating for my missing ROM. I started with a 7mm piece of plywood and could manage several reps quite well.

I wanted a system where I could very slowly lower the heel lift and therefor reduce the assistance for the missing ROM. One option would be a deck of cards, slowly removing cards, which is something I did consider. Instead I found some scrap acrylic sheet of various thicknesses. In fact, I dropped into a local acrylic product manufacturer and asked from some samples; they pointed me to their off cut bin and said take what I like. I found pieces approximately 5mm and 3mm thick. 

Scrap acrylic and plywood - Cost $0

Using these blocks I could warm up with 7mm, and then switch to 5mm for my main sets. Later when this was easy I could switch to 3mm during the middle sets, eventually performing pistols without the use of blocks. The trick here is getting in lots of good reps, as close as possible to the desired outcome. Now I just do my first 2 reps of a workout on the 5mm block, before my main working sets with no blocks.

The right hand picture shows me using a 5mm block, the position is almost identical, but slightly easier to hold. I am able to keep a straighter back as using the block requires less ankle flexion. 

Combined with this method was collecting many reps daily over our covid-19 lockdown, which I will discuss in detail in a further post. This allowed me to get to a point where I could do 5 sets of 5 pistol squats with what I would consider good form. I am constantly working for better form (particularly a straighter back) and better control but I am very happy with my progress. If you need something to help lock in good reps of pistol squats try a small heel raise and reduce this as you get better.

A note short note on pistol squats: I think pistol squats are a movement worth doing and they are worth working towards even if you can’t do one. The end range position is something important to train as it often comes up in nature (particularly when hiking or climbing in rugged environments). I’m not worried about a rounded back during pistol squats, as the back isn’t loaded, though I think it’s worth working to reduce the amount of flection. I think heavy back squats are great if you have access to the equipment and can do them safely.  I train both back squats and pistol squats.

If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments.

Pull up bar improvements

So my pull up bar is pretty basic, it’s a bar off the ground so I can do pull ups, can’t get too complicated. However I wasn’t totally happy with the sections that hold the bar up. The wood was cracked and creaking more than I would like, and the screws holding it together were a smaller gauge than I would have liked.

So I planned some steel work to replace the existing wooden holders which would fit onto the uprights in a similar fashion but with larger screws. I mocked up what I wanted and took it to the welding/machine shop next to my workplace, who made two pairs for me for $50. The price is maybe a little high, but I wouldn’t really want to muck around with such a small project for little cash return, so I was happy to pay for it.

Old, cracked with small screws

I did add two more screws after photo #4

These steel pieces were screwed into the same place as the previous wood, but I did pack out the steel, so that my bar would have a small shelf to sit on. The screws I used this time were much larger gauge that I can feel very safe with.

Now I could have used large screws like this from the start, and probably wider wooden pieces would have been better as well, so this could easily be replicated with wood, without paying for steel, but the steel work was easy and cheap for me to do. So whichever way you chose, my suggestion is to pay the little bit extra for larger bolts you can trust.

Squat stands (and bench stands).

As is my usual writing style, this is post is a bit long and wordy, but there is a point to it. I built these my way because it suits what I want to do with them but there are easier ways to go about setting this up so it’s (hopefully) worth reading to get some ideas that might suit you better. Also the end product looks a little scrappy, part off that is to do with saving money and part is to do with having these stands work for multiple purposes. You might not need so much functionality, and so your stands can look a lot better than mine.

I wanted to build myself some squat stands so after much Pinterest searching, and contemplating, I had to list of things I wanted from these stands. I wanted them to be movable, I wanted squat and bench height, for myself and my wife, and I want them to fit my fat bar (50mm). That’s a lot of functionality, and a lot going on in a small space.

First step was measuring and planning. The sizes that follow are for myself and my wife, and will likely be different for you, but I’ll list them anyway so you will have a ball park figure in mind. The bar height for me is 1460mm (Squat) and 1110mm (Bench). The bar height for my wife is 1360 (Squat) and 1010 (Bench). The front stops are 40mm higher on each, and the central back stop is 100mm higher than my squat bar height (I.E. 1560mm).

Front rack/Squat height with the fat bar

This is a lot of material and a lot of functionality. It would be much simpler (and cheaper) for just one person or for just squatting, or without wanting it to fit a fat bar. But I think if something is worth doing its worth over doing. Another option, if it is available to you, would be to get just two uprights from a squat stand or power cage, and concrete these into a bucket each, job done.

I bought dressed (smooth), H3 treated (above ground) framing timber. This is 92mm wide by 45mm thick. I cut each of these to the bar height sizes. I then cut the front stops for each bar height from 92x18mm window framing timber. The centre stops were then set up with off cuts. Having these sections not run full length save me some money, but makes the whole thing look a little scrappy.

That is the bulk of the material needed, but the 45mm thickness would not fit my fat bar. I cut some 8mm plywood packers to fit between the framing timber and the front stops, so that there would be space to fit the fat bar. I used plywood I had spare, so again there don’t run all the way, saving some money but making it look scrappy.

This is the two squat heights set up

Everything was screwed together, nailed together, and stood up in a bucket each. I filled each bucket with one bag of quick set cement which I mixed in a third, old bucket. Once set these were heavy enough to stay in place without wobbling too much, but light enough to move (A short distance).

These stands can do everything I want them to which is great. By no means am I saying this is the best design, it’s certainly not the simplest, but I hope it gives to some ideas of features and how you might go about them for your own stands.

Also for comparison these cost me about $130 to build and the cheapest commercially available option for me was a bit more than twice this price.

Should have warmed up first

Mobility Stick

I’ve been using this piece of PVC pipe for a little over a year now for my shoulder mobility work as set out in the Gymnastic bodies’ handstand course; however I made one minor change recently which has made quite a bit of difference.

I’ll start back at the beginning, to show just why Mobility stick is my preferred option now. This may seem really basic, but trust me; I was able to stuff it up a few times.

The Gymnastic Bodies handstand course utilises lightly weighted mobility with a PVC pipe or wooden dowel for much of the first half of the course. I think the suggested weight is 2-5 pounds with Coach’s stronger athletes using 10-20kg. Now in my stubborn mind, 5kg seemed like a great place to start, and the bar I use on my pull up frame is about 5-6kg so I decided to use this.

So for the next 12-18 months I floundered around, making no progress on the mobility movements because the bar was so damn heavy I couldn’t complete the movements with anywhere close to correct form.

This steel pipe is way too heavy

Then I was listening to a podcast with Coach Sommer (I’m not even sure which one) where he spoke about starting with only 1kg in some cases. That when it hit me, the pipe was way too heavy for me. So I switched the steel pipe out for PVC with a 2.5kg weight. Suddenly I was able to do the movements. Not great, not even well, but at least the resembled what I should be doing.

I had been grinding along for about a year with the PVC pipe when I got the idea to add some marker points to get a gauge of how close I was to shoulder width (Or one hand with outside). So I got out some tape, marked out the center, shoulder width, then 1, 2 and 3 hand widths for shoulder width. This lead to the next big gains in shoulder mobility. Now I was able to better gauge where I was, where I was going, and where I was last session. This has helped me to push just a little harder each session, while not over doing it by setting my hands too close too soon.

So the take away from this twofold. Don’t use too heavy of a pipe, start very light (bonus point, make it load-able). And secondly, see up some markers you can work to. This last point kind of goes without saying, but if you’re not working on your shoulder mobility, you should be. Look up Gymnastic bodies, weighted dislocates (take their advice, not mine), and start working on it. Go slow, it could take years, but it’s worth doing. Don’t be lazy, work on it.

It may seem like 500 words is way too many to say wrap some PVC pipe with electrical tape, but I made mistakes so that you don’t have to.