Equipment

Our gym runs on sixty-two hand-crafted pieces of equipment, designed in-house and built in Madras. This page walks through them, one machine at a time — why it exists, how it’s built, and what it took to get there.

Jump to any of them:

• The ladder squat — our own squat design, four generations in
• Landmine lever squat — the fifth version, built as a diary
• Belt squat — load the legs, spare the spine
• T-bell — a compact way to load a deadlift, seven years of tweaks
• Glute ham raise — the simplest machine that does one brutal job
• Helix pull up bar — adjustable angles on a load-bearing rod
• Push up and pull up rig — one frame, four bar thicknesses, sixty-six parts
• Infinite monkey bar — a spinning ladder, built from the scrapyard up
• The spinning dumbbell — bearing-free, to spare the wrist under load
• Pressing issues: on knurling — why the grip on our bars feels the way it does

For the longer story of how our pull-up bars came to be — from the first crude wall-mounted ones onward — read the pull up bar story.

The ladder squat

One of the most effective gadgets we have designed and fabricated is the ladder squat. It’s our own design from scratch, and every component and dimension is a considered choice. After plenty of experimenting, I can safely say it’s one of the most comfortable ways to squat, ever. It allows you to brace as you would on a barbell or safety bar without having to extend your spine uncomfortably to keep the weight in place.

The gadget borrows elements from hack squats, lever squats, belt squats and a safety squat bar to create something distinct.

See it in action

The lineage

The ladder squat is the fourth generation of a design we’ve been iterating on for years:

• V1 — a single pipe with a perpendicular loading pin and arms for resting on the shoulders, made from stainless steel.
• V2 — moved the loading pins into a Y shape.
• V3 — parallel 25 mm rods, with the loading pin positioned closer to the user.
• V4 — the current ladder, with the synapse.
• V5 — the landmine lever squat below: the same idea rebuilt with two independently articulating arms.

Where it started: V1

The only thing more satisfying than watching a pile of parts come together into a tool is actually watching clients enjoy using the tool effectively.

We love doing weighted squats at our gym: single, double, staggered, box, jump, isos. You name it and we’ll try it. That is, if we already haven’t. We’ve spent the good part of two years iterating on how to make the best lever squat experience possible.

A lever squat, for those not in the know, is a machine that you use to squat. One end is attached to a pivot point. You position yourself at the other end. You load the machine. And you squat. Our take on it is the bastard child of a hack squat machine and a barbell. It is most definitely a free standing squat, unlike a hack squat. But unlike a barbell squat, the arc of the machine encourages you to sink lower more confidently, and the back doesn’t have to arch to keep the weight in place. How liberating this feels has to be felt to be believed.

The version in the video is V1, which was in use for seven months before its successors arrived — comfortable enough that we had two of these 8 feet long machines in our space. But there was room to improve. The two downsides of that design:

• A lever means what you load is not what you lift. You are lifting less: 80 kgs is actually closer to 55 kgs. So we tweaked this and made movable arms that can change the felt load.
• For single leg work, having the machine spin sideways — not just up and down — is crucial. Our hips rotate side to side as we squat on one leg. V1 had only a little side to side play, though it moved freely up and down.

We wanted to fix that and then some. We doubled the part count to over 26 parts, completely retooled our cushions, and came up with a novel bushing mechanism to let it spin in two axes — which became the synapse you’ll read about below.

Why can’t we just be a normal gym and buy a hack squat or ATX’s Viking squat machine? Simple. The being-a-normal-gym ship sailed in 2014. My wife says it was 1986.

I kid. But really: we want the machine to be 8 feet long, not the usual 6. The length allows you to squat as you normally would, without needing an incline plate or any degree of lean. If you are going to use machines, I say they need to bend to our proportions — not the other way around. If giving the machine 4 more square feet makes the squat feel more natural, it’s worth the real estate in my books. Also, we made it out of stainless steel.

The design details

Here are some of the little details that went into V4:

• The synapse. Movement along two axes is facilitated by a unique component we call the synapse. Version 3.0 needed 2 clamps and 2 bushings to produce the smoothest motion. With 4.0, this became one piece that is stronger, requires no welding and moves even more smoothly. It is also much easier to mount and remove from a squat rack — and you can mount it on a t-bell too.

• Dimensions. The rails sit 10.5 inches apart. This choice makes it easy to get into a starting position for squatting on one or two legs. The ladder design makes the unit incredibly robust and scalable.

• The rungs. The two side rails are linked by rungs, and each rung has two functions. The first and obvious one is to link the rails. The bottom rung houses the rod that the synapse spins on. The top rung is an attachment for cushioned handles. The second rung is for racking the weight and loading plates. We’ve loaded it up to 200 kgs comfortably — I am yet to find out how much more we can push the gadget.

Why we built it this way

The barbell squat is considered the gold standard of squatting. But it is not the most comfortable way to squat for everyone. Nor does it feel like the most natural way to squat for all.

In one of the clips above, an athlete squats 42 kgs on her shoulders. It’s not much for her, as is evident. But unlike using a dumbbell, barbell, kettlebell or any other implement that requires holding, you’ll notice fairly relaxed hands and shoulders. This does not mean she is not bracing. It just means the upper back is relaxed as she goes through the set.

When you pick a hand-held implement like a barbell, kettlebell or dumbbell, one of the primary goals is to ensure the weight remains as close to the mid-foot line as possible. Your hips, knees, ankles and spine bend to different degrees to keep the weight there. With the ladder squat, you can alter your squatting position. I’ve positioned my heel in line with my collar bone — 2 to 3 inches ahead of where you would position by default for a barbell or dumbbell squat. This altered stance allows for a much deeper squat and much more work for the muscles around the knee. To borrow Pavel’s words, “the implement adjusts to you.” That ability to hack your stance means you can work around limitations in your shoulder, upper back, ankles or hips to find a more comfortable way to squat.

The three key goals have been:

1. Move as much of the load onto the user. The downside of levers and belts has been the difference between felt load and actual load used. By bringing the weight within 12 inches of the lifter, you feel more of the weight than you would on a traditional landmine or lever squat.

2. A natural-feeling squat. V squats, hack squats and belt squats contrive the arc of your squat — you adjust your hips and knees to the arc produced by the machine. This unit is 8 feet long. One end is the pivot point; the other end is the load and the lifter. The result is a squat that lets the knees and hips sink into a squat and rise up in sync. The mammoth ladder gives ample room for the hips, knees and ankles to move together, with none of those joints feeling restricted by the load or tool. It also feels more like a squat than a hack squat does — and it allows for jump squats too.

3. Let the spine, hips, knees and ankles work in any alignment you like. You can set up in a variety of ways to get the squat done. This versatility is not afforded on a belt, barbell or hack squat with their fixed positions.

I believe it is crucial to give clients as many options as possible to squat, deadlift, push, pull and execute a variety of patterns. And we are uniquely positioned to observe how people train and create tools that facilitate this. The all too common traps of tool worship and training minimalism are unnecessary shackles for most trainees — especially for someone just learning to move. Being able to play with many tools allows for a variety of spinal, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle loading. That means more incremental progress on stability, mobility and strength.

4:20 am, first test

It’s 4:30 in the morning as I write this. I cannot stop thinking about how the new toy turned out.

It landed at our gym at 5:20 pm last evening. I quickly unloaded it and ran off to coach. I woke up earlier than usual, rode over to the gym by 4:20 am, and set up the new toy. It took 5 minutes. I loaded a t-bell with 70 kgs and slid on the toy. The fit was perfect. No warping from welds or handling. Phew.

I walked over to the other end, picked it up and placed it gently on my shoulders. There are no cushions yet. And I did a few squats. It worked!

There’s a mild squeak. But that can be ironed out.

It doesn’t matter how old I get. When I get a new toy, I need to play with it asap and know if it works — and lives up to the hype and expectations in my head. Making the stuff we play with is a dream for me. But with no prototypes, no advanced modelling, and lots of hand welding, polishing and eye-balled lathe work, there’s an element of uncertainty. And then when it works as we dreamt it up, it’s just the best feeling.

Landmine lever squat

This is version five of the lineage that produced the ladder squat above — but a different machine. The ladder squat pivots as one piece around a single point. This unit is a lever-based squat/push/pull machine with two arms that articulate independently — each arm moves smoothly on both the X and Y axis.

Someone once asked how we design equipment and put it together. Here’s the full build diary of this unit, chapter by chapter.

Chapter 1: What are we building?

A new lever based squat/push/pull unit that has two arms that articulate independently.

The brief

Two arms that move smoothly in both the X and Y axis. Ideally mounted on a rack.

Parts overview

• There’s the mounting point on the rack. I decided to integrate the pipe on which the Y axis bushing will move into the mounting point. So that’s two parts so far.

• For the X axis bushing to attach to the Y axis bushing, I am creating a housing out of square tubing.

• And to make the arms detachable, I am creating a small fixture on the X axis bushing to slot the pipe into.

It’s that simple! 🙂

The detailed parts list

1. Pipe (60mm × 50mm)

   • 36-inch long for the Y axis bushing to slot onto.
   • The pipe will fit on a 10mm thick fixture that can be bolted onto our squat rack.

2. Y axis bushing (75mm × 60mm)

   • We will increase the bore of this pipe by 1mm to slot onto Part 1.
   • This will weld into a square tube.

3. Housing to connect the Y axis and X axis bushings

   • This will be a 7-inch long square tube 100mm × 100mm on the sides.
   • We will mill two holes of 75mm and 48mm diameter on the perpendicular sides.

4. X axis bushing (60mm × 48mm)

   • A 60mm × 48mm pipe will slot over a 48mm × 38mm pipe.
   • These pipes are cut into 4-inch and 3.75-inch lengths.
   • The 48mm pipe is welded into the housing (Part 3).
   • This will be polished.

5. Pipe (48mm × 38mm)

   • A 48mm × 38mm pipe will be grooved and welded onto the 60mm × 48mm pipe.
   • This will allow to insert the working arms into the housing.
   • These arms are what we hold or load for using this unit.
   • These are grooved and chamfered.

6. 2 pipes (8-feet long)

   • These pipes have holes to lock into the pipe welded into the bushing.
   • And it will also have a hook that allows for the two units to be linked.
   • The pipes are chamfered and drilled.

7. Sleeves

   • Allow plates to be loaded onto the unit, and you can hook sandbags etc. onto the unit too.

So there you have it. 16 parts total. Not including the 4 nuts and bolts needed to secure it all together.

One of the things I do since I lack the capacity to draw, is describe and visualize in great detail what I am building and how we will use it!

Only the housing (Part 3) and the sleeves (Part 6) are fresh bits of steel. All the other parts are from the scrapyard.

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Chapter 2: The next face (literal and metaphorical)

We’ve sorted out the fixture, the arms that will move the unit up and down. Now onto the mechanism that will move the arms side to side.

You can see the two parts of the bushing and the one piece that the arms will slot into.

1 goes in 2. 1 won’t move. It is welded into a box. 2 will spin around one. 3 will be grooved to fit on 2 neatly.

All the parts have been faced. That basically means they’ve been made perfectly level. And some of these have also been milled to make the ends of the pipe more amenable to welding onto the housing. That’s called a welding chamfer.

And the tolerances are precise. 2 is 89mm long so it fits into a 100mm × 100mm box comfortably without getting jammed. And having a little room to apply lubricant. 1 is 101mm long. It is to precisely fit into the box and be welded in there neatly.. 3 is going to be grooved to fit flush on 2. These are fairly precise fits. There’s about 0.6mm of wiggle room. That’s enough to fit 4 healthy, thick strands of hair.

We don’t use bearing for a simple reason.

Bearings are fittings that are purpose built to spin freely when they are fit into components.

Having used bearings, I realized two things:

When they fail they are very very hard to replace. And they are not as durable as a heavily fabricated bushing.

I get all the spin and friction-free performance I need from the bushing design that we use.

If you can’t picture it. Don’t worry. You are not alone. The finished product should contexualise this stuff better. At least it does for my wife 🙂

The housing should be done on Monday. That will mean the welding happens on Tuesday. I’ll walk you through the housing first. And the finished bit right after!

The point of all this is to walk you through the stages of making things. As is evident, if you get the initial material choices and dimensions right, it comes together quite neatly like a straightforward jigsaw puzzle. The stuff you are watching me do is to make sure the jigsaw pieces fit neatly with no excess bits or weird lines.

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Chapter 3: Tolerances

Today’s focus is on something we have gotten better at with time: the tolerance of the things we make.

Basically how precisely can the different components fit with each other.

In the video below, you can see the mechanism that I’ve put together to move in the Y axis is cut and machined to an incredibly tight tolerance. The sleeve fits on the shaft and spins freely. The shaft has a diameter of 60.4mm. The sleeve has an inner diameter of 60.7mm.

And this is crucial. Being able to achieve such tolerances enables a fit between components that allows for free movement without the shake or vibration that a poor fit would cause. This is possibly thanks to incredibly talented machinist who patiently plug away and measure twice before etching away.

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Chapter 4: Bringing it all together

In today’s piece I focus on the main enclosure that is going to bring the two components that will move our lever squat mechanism in the X and Y axis.

The mechanism to move the unit in the X and Y axis are complete. So the gadget moves freely up and down. And side to side.

Now I am building a housing to link both those units. And an arm can be connected to it.

The housing is a 100mm × 100mm box. We mill in two holes through the tube. One to house the sleeve that will move the squat ladder in the Y axis. Another in the perpendicular side that will move the squat ladder in the X axis.

The two sleeves are welded into the box (yet to be done).

This should create a robust enclosure that is aesthetic and functional. It won’t weigh too much either.

One of the tricky parts of making these components is we have no real prototype program. Since I am making only one piece for our use, I plan it incredibly carefully, carefully pick the different parts and have to ensure the thing is beefy enough and engineered to endure punishment and plenty of use.

There’s a lot of time spent just thinking through the design and making sure it does what it is supposed to. Visualizing how we will use it for different moves and how folks of different sizes and proportions will use it. And I am now informed × experience and coaching. There is no substitute to watching people do thousands of repetitions.

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Chapter 5: Finishing up the enclosure

Today saw the enclosure being completed. Both the sleeves and shafts for the bushing fit perfectly into the enclosure. You can see Gokul holding the piece and showing me how the sleeves fit in there. I can sense the pride in his voice as he shows me how well the components come together. And the enclosure is one step away from being finished. And I really like how it looks. You can see this artistry and skill while watching a talented machinist work and create parts. It takes precision and great feel to make these parts happen.

I also picked up the 38mm pipes that will slot into the enclosure to be used as the lever arms for this unit.

The pipes are 90 inches long. The pipes will be faced and holes milled in to attach into the enclosure. This should be completed tomorrow. And to also hold the sleeves to load plates. Those will be welded on along with a couple of hooks.

Why does it take so long to make these things!

I juggle these projects alongside coaching between 6-9 hours a day in addition to family time. So I take my time to get things done. And as you see the parts come to fruition, you begin to realize how the final unit will look. And I learned a few years ago, to not rush machinists. I also learned to measure twice and pick parts carefully ensuring the fit was great and robust enough.

The enclosure had to be milled slowly to ensure the vibrations from the machine do not cause an uneven surface. The machinist spent close to a day prepping the enclosures for the bushings. And I consider myself pretty lucky to have access to the talent that can bring our really quirky and exacting ideas to life.

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Chapter 6: The final stretch

This is the sixth post of how are putting together the version 5 of the squat ladder machine.

Before we weld all the sleeves into the enclosure, we are doing all the basic checks. Will something not move as freely as we intended.

Will welding warp a part and mess up the fit?

Did drilling holes or grooving a pipe introduce deformities such as ovality in the pipes that messes with one pipe fitting in another?

We answer most of these questions today.

So far the enclosure is fine. We have a flush fit. The first welds should go down later today.

You can also see the shaft for the Y axis sleeve. It is a 10mm thick steel clamp. We took a single 4 inch wide and 22 inch long stainless steel plate. We folded it to hold the 60mm thick pipe. We welded this pipe in. Two holes were also milled to have this fixture attach with two 20mm bolts onto our pull up rack.

Some of the work got pushed by a day since our lathe is caught up with some deadlines for larger orders.

So the holes get milled on the arms for the connectors and caps only tomorrow. The connectors and caps need to be drilled too.

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Conclusion

The final bits of machining and prep concluded today. All the parts are ready. We kicked off the welding this morning. And the sleeve for the Y-axis got welded into the enclosure.

You can see the final components two steps away from their final form. They need a bit of cleaning and grinding before being welded.

What remains to be done:

• The sleeves to load and secure plates on the arm will be welded onto the 38mm arm.

• The sleeve for the 38mm arm will be welded on the 60mm pipe that will spin on the X axis.

• The 48mm shaft for the 60mm pipe to spin on the Y axis will be welded into the enclosure.

• All of the above will be completed in the next 16 hours. Once all of the above it done, the unit can be mounted on the rack and it is ready to go!

• I will make a custom cushion sleeve to be fitted on. But will manage with a decathlon piece for a few days.

• Stretch goal: a racking mechanism for the unit and the pads.

And here’s a summary of all the work done so far:

• We shaved the inside of two pipes. We drilled a total of 20 holes. We folded one 10mm sheet. We faced a total of 30 surfaces. We are laying down 14 welds. And are using 8 bolts to hold the entire thing together.

• 1 welder, 2 machinists and 1 impatient coach were involved in the making of this thing :D

• Pistol squatting with this will be the most comfortable way to load a single leg squat.

• We chose not to use bearings since the feel of bushing will trump bearings in this use case. Both in terms of responsiveness and how the unit will feel. Plus the bushings will be far more durable.

• Every part was selected carefully for the task. Every sleeve and bushing is built using 6 gauge or 11 gauge pipes. No compromise or hanky-panky to make do.

• And the welds are high-quality TIG welds using quality TIG filler wires.

Now here is something I want to make clear: nothing about this project is jugaad or DIY. I truly believe this unit will be the best landmine and single leg lever squat unit in the world.

I resent this idea that we are making things to save cash. At this point, we are designing and building equipment that is genuinely the best tool for the job. And using material that is best in class too. And you won’t find these really cool, thoughtfully built tools anywhere else.

Belt squat

Squatting is the single most accessible, useful and versatile exercise every single human being with functional ankles, knees and hips needs to be doing.

You can use chairs, boxes, stools, ropes, towels and straps to make it easier — creating all sorts of angles and reducing the load on the knees as you squat. You can use ramps to aid ankle and hamstring mobility too.

Now, once you can do 20-30 squats in a session, it makes little sense to keep adding more repetitions. Increasing the difficulty makes more sense. Adding load or throwing in some jumps are options.

When it comes to adding load, your options include barbells, safety bars, trap bars, hack squats, viking squats, landmine squats, ladder squats, belt squats, leg sleds, dumbbells, t-bells, weight vests, kettlebells and more. Every object has its own unique dynamics in how it behaves when you squat. A kettlebell positions the load a few inches in front of you. A dumbbell keeps it closer but is harder to hold. A barbell makes you extend your spine as you squat — and the degree of this extension varies from person to person.

Regardless of the object in use, there is a load compressing you as you hold it. And as you squat, you stabilise and adjust your knees and hips to keep this load from destabilising your balance. This can, in some cases, be tricky for people with lower back issues.

So we use a belt squat.

The video above chronicles the unit we built more than a year ago (a more compact belt squat unit is in the works). It copies the design pioneered by Brian Hennessy — his unit is called the Squatmax MD. We added a few flourishes. It is an incredibly secure way to squat, especially when you use high quality padded belts made by the likes of Rogue Fitness and Spud Inc.

Our belt squat machine uses a chequered 5 mm thick stainless steel sheet, 16 mm nuts and bolts, and a beautiful 50 mm diameter Japanese steel pipe (with a 49 mm eye nut to attach a carabiner to) that glides along a 40 mm rod. There’s engineered plastic and 28 mm square rods to create a mechanism that holds the weight at the top of the squat, which allows for an easy setup.

The challenge with a project like this is making all the parts come together into a coherent, smooth whole. And it did. I love squatting on this device. As do my clients.

T-bell

We have been building and using t-bells in our gym since 2018. It quickly became a favourite. The t-bell compacts any load directly between your legs and makes it more convenient and wieldy than a barbell or trapbar with the same load.

This makes the t-bell deadlift a more accessible lift. You could sumo, squat or hinge to pick it up. We would start with a squatty variation and progress it to a stricter hip-dominant hinge pattern. This gradual progression makes it a favourite in our gym. Not to mention, add some height on either side or lower the handle down, and you can quickly go from the default height down to a floor-level deadlift or up to a high rack pull — and everything in between.

How the t-bell has evolved

Here’s how our t-bell has evolved over the years in terms of height, weight and features.

V1 (2018-2020) — 4 kgs

• 15 inches tall, with holes at 13, 10, 8 and 6 inches for the handle.
• A 22 mm handle that rotates and slides side to side (I cringe to list this).
• We used a seamless 50 mm pipe that we milled holes into and welded a base circle onto. We made about 35 of these. We sold all of them.

V2, V2.1, V2.2 (2020-2023) — 10 to 15 kgs

• 15 inches tall, with versions having one hole at 15 inches or holes at 2-inch intervals throughout the length. I also made two tallboy versions that are 20 and 18 inches tall, weighing 12.5 and 15 kgs respectively.
• 28 and 32 mm handles welded on a 60 mm/50 mm pipe. We have a long handle for squatting and a short handle for swings and deadlifts. And an optional top handle for rows and carries.
• We also had a 25 mm handle that used a slot and key mechanism that was unreliable.

Takeaway

Part of our entire approach to making lifting accessible has involved embracing or making unconventional lifting tools and improving them over the years — for lifting comfort and ease of loading. And for those who argue that this can’t scale: we’ve loaded t-bells with 200 kgs for a rack pull, and over 90 kgs for a front squat.

The constraint is not the ability to load it but how to handle the load. A t-bell squat challenges your arms and upper back very distinctly. A t-bell deadlift allows for a very interesting vertical line of pull with a deficit. These make for very interesting lifts that produce strength outcomes and adaptations that are unique and useful in their own right.

Glute ham raise

Here’s a breakdown of one of our 2022 creations. It’s a simple glute ham raise: the machine holds your feet down as you lean forward in one piece and lift yourself back up.

The unit needs to be long enough to not tip as you fall forward. And the gap between where you place your knees and what your heel and the base of your shin push up against the pad matters just as much. There’s a back rest too, in case you want to push against it — although it rarely gets used.

There are a few parts to it:

1. The base frame. A simple L channel welded into a rectangle, with holes drilled in to house the footrest and the adjustable pad housing.
2. The laser-cut and folded U channel. This has holes on either side that are exactly matched — sixteen in this unit. A rod with a pad passes through.
3. Footrest pad and rod. The rod accommodates a footrest pad. It can be moved back and forth or up and down to accommodate different foot sizes and various exercises.
4. Sliding knee rest. A little crude, but it sits snug in the frame — a wooden block seated in a metal frame, with the foam pad placed on top. It slides back and forth to accommodate different exercises and limb lengths.

The design is simple. It can hold plenty of weight, and it’s quite sturdy too. All the pads can be quickly removed or replaced, and the entire unit dismantles into six parts, including the two pads.

We’ve used it for glute hams, razor nordics, back extension isometrics, isometric holds at the top of a side bend, and crunches.

Helix pull up bar

Introducing the helix pull up bar. The name is an obvious nod to the pattern of holes on the 42 mm rod, which is the load-bearing bit. A 10 mm pin locks it into the different camber angles.

The video opens with a pile of parts. 10 parts — not including the 19 mm pin, 4 bolts and 6 nuts that secure the whole thing on the rack.

This is probably the 70th thing I am designing and building from scratch. But it still feels like alchemy when something actually translates from design into a fully functional, working, tweakable, repairable and robust product.

And it works really well. It can be adjusted to 10 different camber angles at 15 different widths. That allows every user, regardless of proportions or constraints, to find a position that works for them. More importantly, the change in angle also allows us to recruit the different muscles in the upper back and shoulder to varying degrees, at different lengths and along different lines of pull.

There’s a lot to unpack up there, and I’ll break it down over time with more videos in different positions. But as a quick visualiser: watch how my upper back and shoulders move when I move the bars wider apart without altering the camber angle. This altered movement of the shoulder and scapula means the muscles work differently and contribute in different magnitudes.

And this piece is 100 percent made from scrap steel.

The helix is the culmination of eight generations of pull up bar designs at our gym. Read the full pull up bar story.

Designing and making things as therapy

The video above walks you through every single part in our latest pull up bar design.

Every groove, hole and part was carefully chosen, matched and paired to work with other parts. It also had to bear the load of thousands of repetitions. It had to factor for welding, and ensure that both the parts identically mirrored each other — the helical pattern on one rod had to literally mirror the other one and match it millimetre for millimetre. And we designed every part, right from hole placement to planning the housing and the means to adjust and mount every part.

The pull up bar camber and heights had to be identical too. And the holes had to be snug enough to not be sloppy or rattling around — but not so snug that one couldn’t quickly change the width, camber or handle without needing a hammer.

And why sweat over this when we have a gym with 14 pull up bars? Is this 15th one really necessary?

Yes and no. No, since we had ways to achieve all the positions this new setup does. Yes, because we can replicate what was achieved through 4 different setups in one single setup. And as a coach, a new tool gives you more options to work with.

And as a pull-up enthusiast, each iteration is to me what a well-engineered car is to a car-enthusiast. It’s not just about getting from point A to point B. It’s all the ways you can get there.

Push up and pull up rig

The push up and pull up rig is versatile. And it is intricate too. It is also chapter four and five of our pull up bar story.

Why we built it

We want to run a class without compromising on exercise selection. What does that mean?

The strength level of the average trainee at our gym is highly variable. You have folks who have never done a single push up in their lives working towards one. You also have people who are working on weighted pull ups. And single arm push ups. Or people with knee issues working on a squat isometric.

To accommodate all of these capacities and goals, we need tools that are not found in the marketplace. And I am not talking India — some of the stuff we make is found just in our space. We need these tools since we don’t like compromise. We don’t want to run a random program with a pressing variant or just bicep curls.

When a client joins our space, we want a clear path from plank to floor push to dip to single arm push. Same for the pull up: a hang or row should lead to a pull up. It can take a while, but we want tools that give clients a chance to work towards it one incremental step at a time.

So I built one. A rig for push ups, pull ups and isometric work — with at least 3 new features that give clients a whole new way of doing the same old exercises.

What it took

Here’s the team it took to make it happen: 4 welders in one workshop, 2 lathe workers, 1 CNC workshop, 1 scrapyard, 2 steel suppliers, 1 supplier of nuts and bolts, and 1 supplier of stainless steel components.

All of this matters to highlight how difficult it is to make something as simple as a squat rack. Could it be simpler? Yes. But 12 people use this gadget simultaneously. We had to have a margin of safety built in given the volume of usage. We had to ensure every part fits together — not to mention factor in the mild changes that happen to material when you machine, mill or weld it. But the gadget comes together well at the end!

The build

The rig has plenty of parts. We can’t just weld the whole thing together, since it needs to be disassembled and reassembled on the third floor. Also, stainless steel is ridiculously hard to weld without a jig to hold everything in place.

There’s a total of 66 parts secured with 70 bolts. That’s not counting all the sub-parts it takes to make each part — each X bar alone is made of 17 different components, and each sliding hook is made out of 3. Each pull up bar is 3 parts welded together. Unlike our usual work, the recycled steel count is only at 20 percent.

The video above captures the 6 hour assembly, one piece at a time. It took 3.5 weeks from the first order for stainless steel to final assembly.

The full parts list

For anyone curious enough, here’s the final part list:

• Two long base tubes, 14 feet long.
• 8 base pipes to keep the 8 uprights in place, with 16 bolts to secure the uprights in the pipe.
• 6 pipes to support the 8 base pipes. These are welded.
• 8 uprights.
• 4 pull up bars — 27 mm, 30 mm, 32 mm and 38 mm in diameter — with 8 bolts to secure them in place.
• 20 adjustable sliding hooks to latch on pull up bars, with 20 pegs to secure those in place.
• 2 cross bars to stiffen the whole thing, with 8 bolts to keep it in place.
• 2 X bars to connect everything and also give you a cool new way to do pull ups, with 8 bolts each — a total of 16 bolts.
• 2 connector pipes to attach the whole thing to the building frame so it does not move around when 20 people work in it. This needed 2 bolts and two pipes.
• 2 base plates to connect the base tubes at the floor level.
• 10 rods that can be used for pull ups, push ups, isometric work and more.

And the different sizes of stock that went into it: 60 mm × 51 mm, 61 mm × 52 mm, 51 mm × 48 mm, 60 mm × 40 mm and 55 mm × 31 mm pipes; 38 mm, 32 mm and 27 mm pipes; 90 mm, 32 mm, 30 mm, 28 mm and 19 mm rods; 60 mm square tubes; 12 mm flats; a 4-way connector; 20 mm eyebolts and pegs; 19 mm bolts; and 12 mm eye nuts.

Infinite monkey bar

The infinite monkey bar is up! And boy is it a gripful.

First impressions

The brachiation pattern required to get the job done is very, very different. When you swing from bar to bar or ring to ring, you’re trying to swing your hips and shoulders to accelerate forward to grab the object ahead. With this setup, I am swinging my right side much more aggressively to grab the top bar. And as the top bar swings down, you’re having to decelerate and stabilise your body to catch the incoming bar with the opposite arm. This was quite challenging.

I played around for 10-12 minutes without testing my calluses. Managed 9-10 swings on the rung with my dominant side (right). The left side had half that capacity. But it feels like a skill issue rather than a strength deficit.

Often a new toy makes you use your existing skill set in a slightly different way. Imagine squatting with a barbell and having to use a kettlebell goblet squat or smith machine out of the blue. Your legs aren’t weak. You’re just used to using your legs with a different pattern. I am going to give my shoulders, arms and torso a few weeks to get used to this new toy.

How we built it

There are 5 main rods. Four 30 mm rods sit on the circumference of the two circles, and the circles have a center rod connecting them. On either end there are four wheels (two on each side) with bearings inside. The circles are essentially spinning around the center rod — and you make the circles spin by pulling down on the 4 rods that connect the two circles.

The gadget weighs a ridiculous 50 kgs. That’s on account of the beefing up of the joints that attach to the pull up bar. We expect to see some traffic on these, so the circles and attached bearings are beefy too.

The spinning dumbbell

Most rotating dumbbells rely on bearings to spin. We decided to try a different route: instead of using off-the-shelf parts, we machined our own sleeve and locking system.

The build

• Machined sleeve. Started with a solid block of steel, machined into a sleeve. We then created an end-cap, also from steel, with a hole to take a locking bolt.
• Steel shaft. Took a 32 mm steel rod. Both ends were thinned slightly to control sleeve travel. The center was knurled for a secure grip.
• Fit and stop. The sleeve slides onto the shaft and stops exactly where the rod is thinned. A step inside the sleeve ensures it locks at the right spot.
• Locking system. Finally, the end-cap and bolt secure the sleeve in place.

Why make a dumbbell spin?

When lifting, your wrists often compensate for the fact that a fixed dumbbell doesn’t want to rotate. Think about pulling a dumbbell from mid-thigh to shoulder height: at some point, the weights resist the change of direction. Your wrist subtly twists to make up for that lack of rotation.

On lighter weights this isn’t much of an issue. But with heavy loads, that extra stress — especially during presses, cleans or snatches — can add up. The wrist is a relatively delicate joint compared to the elbow and shoulder. Allowing the dumbbell to spin reduces the torque on the wrist and lets it “roll” more naturally into position.

When it matters less: curls, goblet squats, or other lighter movements.

When it makes a big difference: heavy overhead work, cleans, snatches, or pressing, where rotation makes the lift smoother and safer.

Takeaway

A spinning dumbbell might look like an over-engineered toy, but there’s logic behind it. The design eases wrist stress and makes heavy lifts feel more natural. So if you run into one in a gym, you’ll know why it exists.

Pressing issues: on knurling

I’ve knurled close to 180 pieces of metal. But every time I see a knurled object just off the lathe, it blows my mind. It’s the hypnotic pattern. And when done well, there’s a certain beauty to it.

But when it comes to lifting, function trumps form. Knurl exists to make objects easier to grip. Two things happen: the surface area available to grip increases, and the denting produces a mountain or a hill. Mountains are sharper and have more bite — a grippier surface. Hills are softer: some grip, but not as much bite. Competition bars tend to have more bite; training bars have less. We have both in our gym. I go with something right down the middle for stuff like nunchucks, pull up bars and t-bells.

The same chap, Venky, has been knurling all our gear since 2015. And he’s an artist.

PS: Congrats if the machining joke in the section title made sense.

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