Until the gyms, weight rooms, and fitness facilities reopen I've been trying to get my workouts using just "me".

I've found that it's fairly easy to hit all the major muscle groups with just your body weight, except back exercises, where you need to pull something.

Now if you have dumbbells or exercise bands great! that'll work.

I wanted to be able to go outside find a shady tree and do my thing. (I also wanted to be able to create programs for my clients again).

Something like a TRX suspension trainer is just the thing, except for the price tag. I didn't want to lay out a bunch of cash for something that, hopefully, I'll only be using for a little while.

I needed anything I came up with to be:

fairly robust
have few moving parts
be able to adjust it's length simply
and be made from cheap materials I had laying around my apartment

I looked around my house to see what I could come up with and here is what that is.

Step 1: Here Is What You'll Need

· Tape measure

· Scissors

· Electrical or duct/duck tape

· Approximately 4.75m (15.5 feet) of 10 -12mm (3/8-1/2 inch) diamond braided rope

· Approximately 20cm (8in) of 20mm (3/4in) (or two palm widths) of PVC Pipe or 20cm of 12mm to 20mm inside diameter garden hose or some kind of thick walled tube (these will become your handles)

· Something to cut the pvc/garden hose/plastic tubing ie hacksaw

Step 2: Getting Started: Cutting the Rope

I used and recommend diamond braided 9.5mm (3/8in) rope https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/glow-in-the-dar... (doesn't have to glow in the dark though...)

Measure out approximately 4.75m (15.5f) and mark your rope.

Before you cut it, put 1 or 2 wraps of tape over your mark. This will keep the end from fraying when you cut it.

Make your cut.

The last thing you want to do is tie a knot as close to the end of your rope as you can. I'll explain later.

Step 3: Cutting Your Handle

I have made 2 of these now and I've used both garden hose and PVC pipe, the garden hose works but I prefer the PVC.

Measure the width of your palm at the base of your fingers. Transfer that mark to your handle material and make a cut.

If you use PVC you may want to hit the inside edge of the handle with some sandpaper to take the sharpness down.

Step 4: Starting the Assembly

Take your rope and double it over to the length of your forearm ish.

Put your handle between the end of the rope and the bend you just made. (I got really excited about the next part and got all the way finished before noticing my handles on the table.)

Step 5: Tying the Slip Knot

When I was thinking about how to do this, I asked myself "I wonder if there is a knot that slips one direction and binds the other?"

Turns out there is and it is called a "Taut Line" knot.

I could probably walk you through tying the knot, but here is a link to a video that explains it way better than my photo essay can.

It also gives examples of how the knot works.

Follow these same steps for the other end of your rope.

The little knot in the end of the rope makes it a little challenging to tie this but it should keep the taut line know from undoing itself.

*check your knots before each use*

Step 6: How to Use Your New Piece of Fitness Equipment

Once you have completed knots on both ends, slide the knots so that they are fairly even and so you can find the middle of the rope and put a wrap of tape at the bend.

This is so you can find the middle when adjusting lengths.

So take your new toy out find a sturdy, as in will hold your body weight, structure to anchor it to and exercise away.

My favorite thing to anchor to is a chain link fence and I use a locking carabiner as the attachment point

If you look up suspension trainer or TRX exercises you will find lots of examples of things to do with it.

Thanks for reading