Homemade Forearm Tool
Do you want to learn how to make your own forearm/wrist roller? Simply follow the steps below to make your own functional grip strength equipment, cheaply and easily. My friends and I have dubbed the wrist roller the “Marky Mark Machine” because we all want to have forearms like Mark Wahlberg. Do not attempt to perform the wrist roller everyday though (like I did) because you’ll eventually tweak your wrist. Space out your workouts! If you’d simply rather just buy the product, you can do that here.
Supplies Needed:
- 18-24 inches of 3″+ diameter PVC
- 4-6 feet of string/twine
- Drill
- Drill Bit
- Saw (unless you can buy the PVC pipe the correct length…a lot of Lowe’s, Home Depot, etc. will make these cuts for you)
- Empty 1 gallon jug
- Tape Measure
- Pen/Marker
- Vice/Clamp
1. Acquire at least 18-24 inches of 3 inch diameter PVC pipe. (The diameter can change based on personal preference….Typically the bigger the diameter the more difficult the exercise.)
2. Use your tape measure to determine the middle of your PVC pipe. Make a small mark on this spot.
3. Clamp your PVC pipe to a work table with the mid-point mark facing upwards
4. Drill directly through the PVC pipe at the mark (using a roughly 1/4″ or smaller bit, depending on the diameter of your string), ensuring that the drill continues through to the far side. Be extremely careful when performing this step as the drill will skip through quickly when you break through the first side of the PVC. Use proper safety hand/eye wear and use adult supervision on this step.
5. Hold a length string at shoulder height and cut at the spot where the rope scrapes the floor at this height. (This will be more string that you need, but when you tie the weight onto the end, you want extra string to ensure you can tie the weight securely.)
6. Push the string through both holes in the PVC, using a toothpick or pen to help guide the string through the holes. Tie one of string securely to ensure that it cannot be pulled back through these holes with as strong of a pull as you can muster with your hands.
7. Tie an empty gallon jug to the end of the rope, and fill with the amount of water that is heavy/light enough to perform the wrist rolls. As you perform the wrist rolls, the water jug will be rolled onto the PVC, thus lifting the jug up from the floor. You will roll your wrists the opposite direction to return the jug to the floor.
Pictures of the end product:
- Wrist Roller Side View
