So, you’re on an island where the locals really don’t care or know what weights and a gym are. They get their physical activity through hunting and playing sports. It is possible to achieve an incredible physique and be very strong through only body weight but everyone has their preference. You can stick to a body weight routine or you can make yourself some homemade weights because you’re looking for something heavy to stimulate your muscles. If you’re looking for the latter of the two then read on, if not then stay tuned for that upcoming post.

There are various different ways in which you can get the extra weight you’re looking for. If you’re in the country, tractor tire flipping is a great full body workout. If you’re close to the beach then you can use sand to make your own weights. Even better, if there’s a local place that sells cement you can actually make your own real (kind of) weights.

Tires:

Tires are pretty easy to come by and they make for a great workout. You often can come across them for free since after a certain point tires are unsafe for their intended use and need to be thrown away (that won’t stop some people though). If you want to go even heavier you can upgrade to a tractor tire, those are a little harder to come by, but can still be found for free.

Car Tire Workouts: (I’d be careful of the workouts starting at 49 secs if you’re a guy)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXMBMx8FpkA&w=708]

Tractor Tire Workouts:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyLwlvQjq3Q&w=708]

Sand Bag Weights:

This is what I did when I first got to the Dominican Republic. I tested out some local gyms and they all where very disappointing so I just made my own weights. Pictured above are two different weights out of the set that I made.

Materials:

Empty rice or sugar shipping sack (the local supermarkets sell them, they are like potato sacks)
Sand
Duck tape
Rope

Steps:

1- Fill the sacks with sand until desired weight is reached. (use a bucket so that you can fill to the top and have an equal distribution of sand in both sacks).

2- Tie a loop at the top of the sack.

3- Use the rope to tie and secure the loop so it doesn’t open

4- Reinforce the bottom and sides of the sack with duck tape

And that is all, rinse and repeat to make as many weights as you want. I only used mine a couple of times because shortly after I found out about Rogue Fitness and then just started working out there.

Concrete Weights:

If you’re looking for something that you can put on a bar that is a bit more stable then you should go with concrete.

What You Need:

Bag of cement
Shovel or spatula (to mix the cement)
A mold of the weight shape
PVC Pipe (for the hole in the center)

Steps:

1- I would explain this step by step but I found a guide online that does a much better job than I could so check out Homemade Strength.

I would like to point out is that I personally wouldn’t rely solely on homemade weights for your weight lifting needs because it’s going to be pretty hard to get the exact weight for every plate, also, the weights will be bigger, more fragile and won’t last anywhere near as long steel plates. For the sandbag weights the grip is a little uncomfortable and the concrete weights tend to crack easily if you aren’t careful. For temporary solutions these are a good fix though.

Photo Credits:

Weights: JW