Introduction: 3d Printed Tiny Gym

About: Hello! My name is Tetiana. One of my hobbies is 3D printing. My work covers various areas of engineering to the decorative. You can see my models on the sites: http://www.thingiverse.com/TanyaAkinora/about

If you’ll ask me, there are 2 favorite things in my life: health awareness and 3d printing, 3 times a week I’m working out and 7 days a week I create and 3d print my ideas. As the lift weighting has been a passion of mine for quite some time, I've decided to create a tiny gym. I've re-created and minimized my gym equipment approximately 10 times. Where my main tools were Autodesk 123D Design and Fusion 360, which helped me to craft the exact copies of different types of barbells and dumbells. That was a beautiful experience and quite a personal challenge to disassemble the gym equipment in my mind while I was working out on it, calculate the approximate proportion, draw it, pick the right materials and print it out. I found out that many gym machines consist of multiple moving pieces which were attached with special bolts and this discovery made me alter my original plan. As initially, I was trying to create the tiny gym out of the 3d printed parts only but in order to enhance the durability of the moving pieces I've applied some metal elements. I’m excited to show you what I’ve done, let's get started!

Step 1: You'll Need

- 3d printer

- STL Files

- Glue

- Bolts M3 (optionally)

Step 2: Barbell Rack

After you'll be done with printing out all the details for the weight stand, you'll need to assemble it. The model consists of 2 lower and 2 upper racks, holder, 4 kernels and 2 screws. As I mentioned previously, in order to improve the durability, I've replaced the plastic screws with metal ones but that's completely up to you. The assembly of both racks will take you a moment, you can see it on the pictures above. Upper racks have the holes that give them the height flexibility.

You can do multiple strength exercises with a barbell - deadlift, bench press, squats, etc.

Step 3: Barbells and Dumbbells

You'll print the straight and curved barbell bar, and also the short barbell bar for dumbbell sets. Each barbell bar has a stop on it, so the weight barbells could be fixed to the bar. You can see the variety of barbell weights, they have different sizes and different colors). Dumbbells have different sizes as well. The yellow dumbbell in my gym is 0.5kg (1.1 lb) and the blue one - 4 kg (8.8 lb). Feel free to play around with sizes and colors, as you can see I've tried to make the weights as realistic as I could. Print out as many pieces as you want, just remember to keep them even :)

Step 4: Dumbbells Rack

Dumbbell stand has 2 side parts, 3 shelves, and 6 screws. You can replace the plastic screws with metal ones or just add a bit of glue. You can see all the parts on the pictures above.
You can squat, train biceps and triceps, and perform many other exercises.

Step 5: Small Barbell Rack

The small barbell rack consists of the lower part, 2 upper parts, 2 balance holders and 2 screws. Upper parts have holes so their height could be adjusted. Insert the holders into the lower part of the barbell rack and add a bit of glue for reinforcement.

Step 6: Bench

As the most of you all already know the bench in the gym is quite a multifunctional device. It can lay straight or have multiple angles that support a dozen or two independent exercises. I've made 2 adjustable positions for the bench but as always, feel free to tinker with it on your own.
The bench consists of multiple parts that go into each other. They all flat so you don't need to invest a lot of time in printing. The upper part of the bench I made bicolor through replacing the filament while printing it. Believe it or not, but it looks like the bench from my gym. But you can make it any color you want and go bananas with filament replacement. You can see it all on the pictures above. You can do a barbell bench press on a bench with a barbell rack. The bench could be in both positions - straight and at different angles, which allows you to work on different muscle groups.

Also on the bench, you can improve your triceps by applying the barbell or the biceps with dumbbells, do your abs and many many other exercises.

Step 7: Squat Racks

The squat racks consist of 2 side parts, holder, 2 long and 8 short kernels. Long kernels are for the spare weights and the short ones are for the barbell. You can see it in detail in the pictures above.

Step 8: Treadmill

Print out all the parts of the treadmill and assemble it. On the pictures above you'll see the detailed instruction. And don't forget to add a bit of glue.
The treadmill is the must if you want to do cardio. Running is basically the most natural form of physical activity. Cardiovascular equipment designed to train the respiratory system and cardiovascular system. And also helps to lose some weight.

Step 9: Wall Bars

Print out all the details of the wall bar and attach the horizontal bar to it, you can see the instructions on the picture above. Don't forget to add the glue.

I was trying to replicate the horizontal bar as much as I could and added 6mm (~0.23 inches) of PVC heat shrink tube. You just need to heat it up and it will look like a real horizontal bar.
But be mindful with heating as the plastic can easily melt too.

I've made 4 stops, in order to attach the wall bar to the wall itself but you can use the pins or little screws.

Even those of you who never go to the gym knows what the Swedish wall is. First of all, it is a horizontal bar. Pull up yourself with a narrow or wide grip, work on multiple muscle groups (back, neck, chest, arms). Using the horizontal bar, you increase muscle mass and size, as well as strength and endurance.

Step 10: Posters

Enter any gym and you'll see their walls full of pictures of bodybuilders and muscle anatomy. So I've decided to create the torso poster with the Fusion 360. I sketched a couple pictures on the paper first, used the function "Insert" and outlined the torso on my computer. Also, I made a frame and combined all parts together. The printing procedure had the filament to be swapped. You start printing with a white color, and then make a pause and at the 9th layer change the filament into the contrasting one and keep printing.
You can attach the posters to the wall with the pins or little screws.

Step 11: Your Tiny Gym Is Ready

Now you can arrange all of your gym equipment on the table or use the piece of cardboard as a base.

My grandkids are playing with it on the floor! And yes, kids 3+ years can play with it - just remember, it has many tiny pieces that kid can swallow.

Adults can play with it too, my personal trainer can show me now my new routines by utilizing the tiny gym without even getting up from his chair :)


Be healthy and do sports!

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