Kettlebells: Homemade, Cheap, and Adjustable
by Jarrod Fobes
A homemade Kettlebell, built by Jarrod Fobes.
When the kettlebell craze started several years ago, I wasn’t impressed. It seemed to me that they were expensive, took up a lot of room, and were redundant besides, since you could do the exact same exercises with dumbbells. But over time I found they were a worthwhile piece of equipment to have around. Kettlebell Swings have begrudgingly become a favorite exercise of mine, and there’s fun grip training to be had with them as well. So that takes care of the redundant part, but still left them expensive and bulky.
Well trouble yourselves no more friends! It’s easy to make an adjustable “kettlebell” yourself. If I can put this together, anyone can. Here are the materials you will need: (All fittings 3/4″ diameter)
- One Tee
- Two 3″ Nipples
- One 4″ Nipple
- One 6″ Nipple
- One Coupling
- One Cap
The 3/4″ pipe will fit the smaller weight plates like you can find at most department stores. If you don’t have any other use for the 3/4″ plates, just buy one to put at the bottom, just above the cap to keep standard sized weights from slipping off. Slap the thing together as pictured, put some tape around the handle so you don’t cut yourself on the threads (not pictured), and there you go! Ugly, but cheap and it does the job.