It is time!
My various Slosh Tubes and Clubbells have been locked away in my pole barn all winter. Thanks to Michigan weather, I had several months where exercising outdoors was simply prohibitive. I suppose I could have done some Rocky Balboa type training in the deep snow, but I am just not that intense I guess.
We actually did a couple bootcamp style workouts the last few weekends and for some reason I stuck with K-Bootcamp, where the only piece of equipment is a Medicine Ball (well, and some cones). But now it is time. We need to dust off the tubes and bats and get ready for some serious workouts. By the way, don’t get me wrong – K-Bootcamp is a killer program, so be prepared if you haven’t tried it before.
However, to highlight my babies, I think I’ll just pull out the old K-Element 12 program to begin the punishment. My friend Aaron, the inspiration behind the Aaron Robert’s workout just commented on a recent post about creating his very own Clubbell and Slosh Tube. I don’t want to speak for him, but it is truly an enlightening experience. Transcending really.
So if you haven’t pulled the trigger, just take a few bucks with you (not much really) to your local sports store for the bats, and then the home improvement store for the Slosh Tubes pieces and cement for the Clubbells. A little work and some patience, and boom – you have a whole new fitness arsenal!
Don’t forget The Low Cost Gym for directions on building your own. And please share with us your experience with either of these wonderful, core-building, pieces of fitness equipment. Just leave a comment on the post.
Pete speaks the truth! Building club bells and a slosh tube is quick, (relatively) easy, and cheap. For the tube, three club bells, and a medicine ball, I have invested less than $100 and a couple of hours tops. By far, the most time consuming part was filling the medicine ball with sand.
I was at the grocery store last night and passed a display of cheap plastic wiffle ball bats of different shapes. Almost instinctively, I was checking them out to see how they would do as club bells.
I am looking forward to my first K-Element workout today at lunch.
I can’t wait to see what you think. My friend Seth did the entire 12 week program straight and he said it was intense. There is a surprise in there somewhere, but I can’t remember which one. He said the workout after the surprise was easy in comparison.
I feel evil just mentioning it to you! ha ha
K-Element Week 1/Workout 1 was good. Keeping the tube level during slosh tube presses is really hard. I had not done medicine ball sliders in a while and was reminded how much I dislike them.
The combination of body weight exercises and those with equipment kept things interesting for sure.
Aside from exercising in the warm sun, the hardest part of this workout was the X2.
Looking forward to #2…I mean workout 2. I am not going to look it over until right before I start. I want it to be a surprise.
I know I told you not to look ahead, but I just did weeks 5 & 6, #2 today from K-Element. After finishing circuit #1 and looking at what was in circuit #2, I almost cried!
Yeah, I peeked at Week 1 #2. I clicked on the link for the slosh tube twirl video. Is Jason going for a land speed record? He is moving so fast that I wondered if he even had water in the tube. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is a) doing a Tabata workout, and b) just that studly.
I think I am going to build a lighter slosh tube to use for things like presses and twirls. Right now, the 10′ 4-inch tube is a bit much, and I think having something a little easier to move and control is a good idea. Would you recommend going with a 10′ 3-inch tube or an 8′ 4-inch?
Re: Jason moving though the exercises fast: I take it pretty slow in my workouts and try to work on quality, but I try not to pause between sets. Is that the norm, or do most people move through reps fast, like they do in CrossFit?
I think the 3″ pipe at 10 feet will be more challenging for your core, since the water will be displaced further from your body when it goes to one side. I have two pipes that are 2″ at 10 feet long and they end up at the 9 to 11 pound range just so you can compare.
As far as speed, I recommend you go slower and concentrate on perfect form with anything involving weight (form always comes first). With that said, if you can maintain form (Burpees for example) and can go faster, you will be moving closer to HIIT. I prefer faster groupings of exercise with rest in between, versus going slow the whole way through with little to no breaks. The higher intensity with rest will get you more benefits.
Good advice. Thanks!
I will have to weigh “The Governor” tonight. I never did do that.
Doesn’t the 2″ pipe get pretty bendy?
I was worried, but it ended up being fine. It is a little bendy, but not an issue.
I actually did weeks 1 & 2, #4 today. I forgot how much I missed the Clubbell. My entire torso feels awesome right now.
And yeah, it is best not to look ahead 🙂
Holy cow! I just weighed my slosh tube. 31 lbs! That is too much. I wonder how it got so heavy. I would think that the weight of a 10 foot pipe and water would be the same from tube to tube. I definitely need to make another and weigh it as I am filling it.
Ok, you did a 4″ diameter tube? Wow. I had mentioned in our comments under the homemade clubbell post about having a few 3″ tubes at 25 and 26 pounds. My hands are too small for the 4″, plus you are limited with what you can do with that weight. And, the 3″ is cheaper 🙂
I am competely happy with the 3″, and if you are doing K-Element, you might want something a lot lighter than your 31 pounder. In fact, others that have a 4″ pipe have had up to 50 pounds in weight, so your 31 is actually light in comparison.
Sorry if I somehow miscommunicated with you about the diameter.
Small hands? Are you a carny? Sorry. Austin Powers reference. I couldn’t help myself. I will try both a 3 inch and 2 inch. As long as I will be hitting the hardware store, I might as well do both. The more the merrier, right? And they are so easy to make. The 4 inch is almost too big for my hands too. I will definitely be able to use it for things like paddling and bench presses.
No miscommunication at all. Just a miscalculation on my part. 🙂
Ok, so I was way off. My slosh tube is 3 inch. Not sure why I thought 4.
And you got 31 pounds? Maybe mine aren’t quite half? Not sure why you are 5 and 6 pounds higher. Anyway you can drill open your hole again, lose some water, and reseal??
I can definitely drain some of the water, but I like the idea of keeping it as-is and building a 2″ tube as well. Then I can switch back and forth depending on the exercise.
Have you heard of a Bulgarian Bag? I saw a YouTube video of a guy making one. It is 1/2 of a car tire tube filled with bark. The ends are sealed with duct tape to make handles. The video showed the guy swinging it around, and it looked like a great piece of equipment. The only problem is that I have no idea where to find a tire tube these days. Also, you would think that bark or mulch would get hot as it degrades in the tube. I would try to find some of the rubber bark they use in playgrounds these days.
Yes, that had always been the next on my list to try out. I am happy with my clubbells, medicine balls, physioballs, and slosh tube to the point I barely use my macebell even.
The Bulgarian Bag might be in my future.
Does your slosh tube smell like cabbage? 🙂
ha ha. I haven’t gotten that close to it yet. Did a few workouts with my 14.5 pound clubbells this week, but haven’t sniffed up the slosh tube. Thanks for the thought though! 🙂
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