| How to Make a Homemade Weight Set Posted: 24 Apr 2020 05:00 PM PDT Weights for improving your strength and fitness can be made out of many common household items. Milk jugs, canned goods and assorted everyday objects can help you stay in shape. So save your money and keep fit all at once! [Edit]Making Lighter Homemade Weights - Use a milk jug. Fill a clean, plastic gallon jug with water, sand, rocks, or concrete. Make sure that the jug has a handle; you will use this to complete your exercise reps. Use the handles to lift and lower the jug like you would any hand weight or dumbbell.
- With milk jug hand weights, you can do bicep curls, tricep exercises, bent-over rows, pec flyes, deadlifts, and shoulder raises.
- You can also hold these weights to your sides when you are doing squats or lunges.
- Lift canned goods. Canned goods that fit into your hands work well as simple hand weights. This is especially good if you are starting out and trying to build muscles slowly. Use larger canned goods as heavier weights or medicine balls.
- Make dumbbells from plastic water bottles. Instead of recycling your plastic water and soda bottles, refill them with water, or put pebbles or sand in them instead. When filling them, make sure to weigh them so the weights are the same for both hands. Lift the bottles like you would any dumbbell.[1]
- Make arm weights with water bottles. Instead of using the water bottles for hand weights, this method attaches multiple bottles to your arms like wrist weights. Before you put them on your arms, fill them with sand. For heavier weights, add water after you fill them completely with sand.
- When they are filled, scotch tape the plastic bottles all the way around your forearm. The tape does not touch your skin; it only touches the bottles to hold them together. You can also use duct tape, just don't attach it to your skin. Place the bottles just tight enough so they do not slide off your arms.
- Make a weighted medicine ball from a basketball. Take an old basketball and drill a hole into one of the black stripes. The hole should be big enough to funnel in the weighted material. Place a funnel in the hole and fill with sand or pebbles until you have achieved the desired weight. Use a bike tire patch kit to fill the hole. You can also use duct tape if you don't have a tire patch kit.[2] The repurposed ball can now be used just like a medicine ball.
- Make wrist weights from socks. Fill a clean sock with dry beans. Alternately, use pebbles or small craft rocks for a heavier weight. Sew or glue the open end of the sock closed. Then, sew the ends together, or sew Velcro onto the ends so you can remove it easily.
- Use a scale to adjust the weight. Fill the sock as full as you want based on weight and then cut the excess fabric. If you want to make heavier weights but the inside material won't fit, use a larger sock.
- When choosing a sock, make sure to choose one long enough to wrap around your wrist. If the sock is too long, fill it until it will wrap around your wrist, then cut the excess fabric before closing the end.
- Use packets of rice or beans. These packages are great for mini-weights if you are a beginner. You can use them right from the cabinet for bicep curls and other small weight-lifting moves.
- Cut bicycle tire tubes into hand weights. Take a bicycle inner tube and cut it into equal lengths. Secure one end of the tube with duct tape, then fill the tube with sand. Close the other end with duct tape. You can either leave them flat or bend them into circles until the two ends are touching and secure the ends together with duct tape.[3]
- This is a great method for making weights of different sizes. Start with 1 or 3 pounds. You can also try 5 or even 8 pound weights. Use a scale to weight out the weights before you close them.
- Make a weighted vest. Get a fishing vest or a vest with multiple small pockets. Fill plastic bags with sand or concrete and place in all the pockets. Run, do pull ups, push ups, or go walking while wearing the weighted vest.[4]
- Use paint cans. Hold paint cans in your hands by their handles. Most paint cans are a little heavier than plastic bottles or cans of food, so you can use them as you build muscle. The handles allow you to use the cans like dumbbells.
[Edit]Making Heavier Homemade Weights - Use buckets. Fill a bucket with sand, rocks, concrete, or even water. Use it to do curls or attach two of them to a bar or board and use as a bench press.
- Make a barbell with water bottles. Take 2 packs of 6 bottles each and duct tape them symmetrically to an iron bar you can grip easily. This barbell will be good for any exercise you do with a barbell, like lifts and presses.
- If these 2 packs are too much, don't use half filled bottles. Half-filled bottles will slosh around and shake the bar. Instead, tape individual filled bottles to the bar.
- If 2 packs aren't enough, use four or six packs of bottles taped to the bar. Alternately, tape individual bottles to each end of the bar. First line them horizontally along the bar side by side, then stack them on top of each other. Make sure to leave plenty of room for your hands to grip the bar in wide and narrow grips.
- The taping must be functional. Make horizontal, vertical, and diagonal rounds to wrap the packs to the bar.
- Find old tires lying around the yard. Tires are used in many workout and bodybuilding routines. You can add additional weights to regular tires when doing workouts, or you can go to a junkyard and find tractor tires. Flipping them and tying a rope to them to pull behind you are only two ways you can use a tire as a weight.[5]
- Build a slosh tube. Slosh tubes are long plastic tubes filled with about 40 pounds of water. But the workout benefits come from the uneven, sloshing water, which makes you use muscles as you try to keep the water balanced as it goes from one end of the tube to the other. You can make your own slosh tube with a PVC pipe. The pipe should be about 4 inches in diameter and 9-10 feet long. Place a cap on one end, then fill the pipe halfway with water. Cap the other end.[6]
- Use a duffle bag to make a sandbag. Sandbags are similar to slosh tubes in that they are unstable, shifting weights that require you to engage more muscles. To make an easy sandbag, fill 5 or 6 gallon freezer bags with sand. You want the sandbag to be around 50 or 60 pounds. Double bag the bags so they don't break, and then tape the end. Place the bags into the duffle bag. Zip up the duffle bag, and you are ready to work out![7]
- An alternate way to make a sandbag is to use an old army/navy rucksack or canvas laundry bag. Use contractor garbage bags to fill with pea gravel. You can fill them with 10, 20, or 25 pounds. Fill 5 or 6 bags with gravel, and secure them with duct tape. Add them to the bag until your desired weight.[8]
- Add and remove bags of sand or gravel for different weights. Use a scale to determine how heavy the bag is before you start working out, and add or remove weight accordingly. If you don't want to change the weight, you can add the sand or gravel directly into the bag. You cannot easily remove the weight or add weight if you do this.
- Make sure to leave some room in the interior bags so the sand or gravel can move around.
- If you are adding a large amount of weight, use a sturdier duffle bag.
[Edit]Making Homemade Kettlebells - Use a milk or juice jug. Fill a clean, plastic gallon jug or bottle with water or sand. Make sure that the jug has a handle; this is needed to complete kettlebell exercises.
- Use old paint cans as kettlebells. Since old paint cans are meant to withstand being swung around, they can make great improvised kettlebells. Simply repurpose your paint can dumbbells to use in kettlebell exercises.
- Make a kettlebell out of a potato sack. Purchase a potato, rice, or sugar shipping sack, which can be found at most grocery stores. Fill the sack with sand until you have reached the desired weight. At the top of the sack, tie a loop for your hand. Use rope or duct tape to secure the loop so it doesn't detach. You can reinforce the sides and bottom of the bag with duct tape.
- You can use this method to make multiple kettlebells of different weights. Use a scale to measure out how many pounds you are putting into the sacks before tying the top of the sack.
[Edit]Homemade Weight Ideas [Edit]Warnings - Test the homemade weights carefully before using them in intense workouts. You want to make sure the tape is secure or that nothing will fall out or off and hurt you.
- If using a homemade barbell as described or otherwise, make sure to employ spotters as appropriate to ensure your safety. This is especially important in the bench press, where muscular failure could result in a crushed larynx or worse.
- Be careful with your homemade kettlebell; if your wrist hurts after (or during) your workout, stop using it and buy a kettlebell.
- Always consult with a doctor or qualified health professional before beginning an exercise program.
[Edit]Related wikiHows [Edit]References [Edit]Quick Summary |
| How to Hook a Fish Posted: 24 Apr 2020 09:00 AM PDT Hooking a fish may seem like it's a no-brainer, but there's a right way to do it if you want to be successful. Choosing and using the right lure will help increase your chances of hooking a fish. Whenever a fish bites your lure, you need to set the hook quickly and properly so you can snag its lip, preventing it from getting away. It's also important that you reel a fish in correctly in order to keep it hooked so you can pull it out of the water. [Edit]Using the Right Lure - Choose a floating lure so you can see when a fish bites. Topwater, or floating lures, are the most popular and the easiest lures you can use. Their bright colors make them easier to see in the water and they'll attract fish to them so all you have to do is cast them out and wait for fish to take the bait.[1]
- Some floating lures, like the flies used in fly fishing, rest on the surface of the water.
- Floating lures are often lightweight so they don't sink too far, which can make them difficult to cast long distances.
- Go with a suspending lure to mimic a baitfish. Choose a suspending lure to entice larger fish by presenting them with what looks like an easy meal. A suspending lure hovers between the surface of the water and the bottom and acts as a baitfish to fool larger fish into eating it.[2]
- Common suspending lures include crankbaits, slash baits, and jerk baits.
- Suspending lures are useful for catching freshwater fish such as bass, as well as saltwater fish such as redfish.
- Use a suspending lure in cold weather to attract slower moving fish.
- Reel subsurface lures to you to attract larger fish. A subsurface lure floats just below the surface of the water and is meant to be continuously reeled in in order to resemble a fish moving through the water. The sound and movement of the lure through the water will attract larger fish to it.[3]
- Reel in the lure at a steady, slow pace to make it look realistic to predatory fish.
- Many subsurface lures are designed to mimic injured baitfish, which makes them seem like an easy target for larger fish.
- You can catch both fresh and saltwater fish such as mullet, bass, redfish, and drum with subsurface lures.
- Select a sinking lure to catch larger freshwater fish. Sinking lures, also known as jigs, begin to sink as soon as you cast them into the water. As you reel it in, the lure will stay at a lower level in the water, which is where larger fish are much more likely to be.[4]
- Use sinking lures to catch large bass and other big freshwater fish.
- Cast your fishing line in an area likely to have fish. Hold the rod with your dominant hand and press the reel spool release button. Then, bring the rod up and back toward your shoulder and sweep it forward in front of you as you remove your thumb from the spool reel to cast your pole. When the lure lands in the water, turn the knob forward until it clicks to keep anymore line from coming out. Aim for an area where fish are swimming by or congregating so they'll see your lure.[5]
- When you're casting your line, reel it in so your bait is hanging about from the tip of the fishing rod.
- Look for areas with obstructions that fish will want to congregate next to such as logs, large rocks or structures, or small channels away from the moving water.
[Edit]Setting the Hook - Reel in the slack so you can feel when a fish bites. Gently turn the knob on your reel to remove the slack from the fishing line. You will be able to feel the lure at the end of the line as it moves or floats through the water. A taut line will allow you to feel when a fish nibbles or bites so you can know when to set the hook.[6]
- If your lure or bait moves in the water and the line slackens, reel it in gently to make the line taut again.
- Keep your fishing pole still and allow the fish to nibble at your bait. Fish are easily startled by noise or sudden movements, so if you feel a fish begins to nibble at your lure, stop reeling in, and remain as motionless as you can to allow the fish to take the bait.[7]
- Small bumps or nibbles may not be enough to successfully hook the fish, so don't try to set your pole as soon as you feel a small bite.
- Wait until the fish begins to swim away with your bait. You'll know a fish has really taken a bite of your lure when you see your line moving. Wait until you feel a strong tug and then look to see if your line is moving around for a sign that a fish has completely taken your bait.[8]
- If you're using a bobber, wait until you see the bobber go completely beneath the surface of the water.
- Snap the rod up into the air to set the hook in the mouth of the fish. As soon as you feel the big tug of a fish taking your bait on the line, jerk the rod up and back into the air. The hook will snag the lip of the fish and it will start to fight to get away. Start slowly reeling in the fish, but don't strain the fishing line too much or it may break.[9]
- Avoid setting the hook multiple times or you could pull it out of the mouth of the fish.
- Use 1 snapping motion to set the hook rather than multiple jerks.
[Edit]Reeling in a Hooked Fish - Keep the tip of your fishing rod up as you reel. Avoid cranking the pole and reeling the fish in as fast as you can or you could pop your line or lose the fish. Instead, allow the fish to tire itself out as you keep your fishing pole held up. Move the pole from side to side to allow the line to follow the fish so it doesn't build up too much tension.[10]
- Keeping the rod at about a 45-degree angle with the tip pointed up keeps the line from dragging too much.
- Make sure the line stays tight so the fish can't escape. Keep the line taut as you're fighting the fish. Reel in any slack that's created by the fish moving through the water. A loose line could cause the hook to slip out of the mouth of the fish and allow it to get away.[11]
- Don't strain the line or it could break.
- Allow the fish to fight until it tires itself out and starts to build up slack in the line that you can easily reel in.
- Bring the fish in close enough to you to grab out of the water. In time, the fish will tire out and it will become easier for you to reel it in. Continue reeling the fish until it's close enough for you to reach down and grab the line.[12]
- When the fish is close enough for you to see it, check to see if it looks tired and is rolled over on its side. It will be easier to take out of the water.
- Grab the line to pull the fish out of the water. Reach down and take a firm hold of the fishing line just above the water. Use 1 smooth motion to pull the fish from the water. The fish will likely continue to jerk and fight, so quickly place it into a net, in the boat, or on the land away from the water so it can't escape.[13]
- Hold the fish down with 1 hand and use the other to pull the hook from its mouth.
- If you aren't planning to keep the fish, gently release it back into the water after you remove the hook.
[Edit]References |
| How to Minimize Sound in an Apartment Posted: 24 Apr 2020 01:00 AM PDT The downside of living in an apartment is noise. You try to stay quiet to avoid disturbing your neighbors, and you have to deal with the noise they make. While common tricks to reduce noise include adding more insulation to the walls or replacing the doors and windows, you probably can't do these things if you're renting an apartment. Fortunately, there are plenty of little tricks you can use to block your own sounds and prevent your neighbors' noise from disturbing you. [Edit]Muffling Your Noise - Cover hardwood floors with area rugs or carpet tiles. Hardwood floors are a huge sound amplifier, especially if someone lives below you. Reduce the sound you create by putting some area rugs around the apartment. Focus on areas that you walk a lot to muffle your footsteps.[1]
- If your floors are very noisy, put pads under the carpeting for more noise insulation.
- Putting rugs on the floor works both ways, because they can muffle sounds coming from your downstairs neighbors as well.
- As an extra courtesy, take your shoes off when you're walking around your apartment. Shoes on hardwood floors are very noisy, especially if someone lives below you.
- Hang soft materials on the walls. Flat, hard walls amplify sounds coming in and leaving your apartment. Break up those sound waves with some soft items on the walls. Good options include canvas paintings, foam designs, or decorative fabrics. Focus on hanging these items on shared walls to prevent your noise from bothering your neighbors.[2]
- Just like with carpeting, this trick works both ways and blocks outside noise from getting in as well.
- Hard items like picture frames will also help, just not as well as softer items.
- If you don't have any suitable items, you could also hang blankets or sheets against the wall for a similar, though less decorative, effect.
- Point speakers away from shared walls or the floor. TV and surround-sound speakers cause a lot of vibrations that could bother your neighbors. Angle them so they don't face shared walls or the floor if you live above someone. Keep them focused towards where you'd be sitting to prevent the sound from spreading.[3]
- If your speakers are built to point down and you can't adjust them, put them on a rug or mat. This muffles their sound.
- You could also rearrange your apartment if the speakers aren't adjustable. For example, move the TV off a shared wall to a wall that points outside.
- Unplug your electronics when they're not in use to reduce hum. When multiple electronics are working in the same space, they can produce an ambient hum. Avoid the noise by unplugging all of your devices that aren't in use. If you're done with your computer, for example, unplug the charger.[4]
- You might not notice a hum from your devices, but it could vibrate your neighbors' walls and disturb them. You might even subconsciously turn the TV up or talk louder to drown out the hum.
- Add acoustic paneling to your laundry room walls if you have one. If you have a washer and dryer in your apartment, then doing laundry will make a lot of noise. Soundproof your laundry room by hanging acoustic panels in the room. Cover all the walls for the best results.[5]
- You can buy acoustic panels online or from hardware stores.
- Acoustic panels usually attach with sawtooth hangers, which require drilling some small holes. Landlords usually allow this, but check with yours to make sure.
- If you can't find acoustic panels, foam sections will also work. Look for pieces with ridges and face them towards the room to break up the sound.
[Edit]Blocking Noise from Neighbors - Place furniture against shared walls. If your neighbors are noisy, then you can block their sounds with furniture. Arrange your apartment so heavy furniture is against your shared wall. This will break up sound when it enters your apartment.[6]
- One of the best choices is a solid bookcase. If you can afford it, you can have a bookcase that covers the entire wall. A few smaller ones will also work.
- You could also place your cabinet or dresser along the shared wall. These solid pieces of furniture can block sound as well.
- Place plants along walls to muffle sound. If you don't have enough furniture to block your neighbor's noise, plants are an inexpensive alternative. Use leafy plants like anthurium, peace lily, or snake plants for the best effect. Arrange them along shared walls to muffle incoming sounds.[7]
- Place plants on your windowsills to block outdoor noise too.
- Plants will also block your sound, so they can prevent you from bothering your neighbors as well.
- Use heavy window drapes to block outdoor noise. A lot of noise comes in through your windows. The best way to block this out is with heavy drapes that can muffle incoming sounds. Hang these on all your windows and keep them closed at night to prevent noise from waking you up.[8]
- Many drapes advertise that they are noise-cancelling, so you'll have plenty of choices. Look for a product that matches your décor and has good reviews for blocking sounds.
- Install window inserts if the outside noise is very bad. If drapes aren't enough to block outdoor noise, thick window inserts can help. There are several types. Some are just rubber inserts that plug gaps between the window and windowsill, and others are full, clear sheets that cover the whole window. Look in a hardware or home goods store for your options and follow the installation instructions that come with it.[9]
- Some window inserts block the window from opening when they're installed. If you open your windows often, make sure you get a product that doesn't block them.
- A similar, more permanent solution, is adding a line of caulk around the window border. This requires a landlord's permission, so ask them first.
- Use a draft blocker to fill the space under your door. If there are any gaps in your door, noise will be able to enter. Use a door draft blocker to plug that opening and prevent more sound from getting in.[10]
- Look for a product made of foam or thicker fabric to block noise. For the best results, use one that stretches under the door and extends up on the other side. Door sweeps are less effective because they only cover one side of the door, but they're better than nothing.
- This will keep heat from escaping your apartment, so you won't have to turn your thermostat up. It also helps keep your apartment cooler in the summer.
- If there are more spaces in the door besides on the bottom, try hanging a sheet or drapes over your door to block the noise.
- Hang ceiling clouds to stop sound waves. Ceiling clouds are pieces of foam that block sound waves. They're usually used in theaters, but they can also help if you have noisy upstairs neighbors. Get a pack from the hardware store and follow the installation instructions for the best results.[11]
- Check with your landlord before hanging these tools. You may need to put holes in the ceiling to attach them, so don't do it without your landlord's permission.
[Edit]Warnings - Always ask your landlord before making any renovations that require drilling holes or marking up walls. You could lose your security deposit if you cause any damage. When in doubt, check with the landlord.
[Edit]References |
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