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Reese Woods Fitness

Healthy living made easy with tasty recipes, efficient workouts and evidence-based guidance on nutrition, weight loss and more.

in Exercise· The Blog

How to Make a Homemade Adjustable Kettlebell

Ready to learn how to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell? You’ve come to the right place. This step-by-step guide (with pictures) will teach you how to make a DIY kettlebell for your home gym.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell

At the time I’m writing this, social distancing and self-quarantine measurements during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic are still in full swing. Gyms are closed and traditional gym equipment is completely sold out in all the surrounding stores in our area.

People (including many of my personal training clients) have been trying to find creative ways to stay active at home. My husband and I have been getting a lot of use out of our homemade adjustable kettlebell, so I wanted to provide an easy step-by-step guide for my clients to make their own homemade t-shaped kettlebell.

Jump ahead to:

  • Why I Created a Homemade Kettlebell 
  • What You’ll Need to Make a DIY Kettlebell
  • Hardware Parts for a T-shaped Kettlebell
  • Assembling Your Homemade Adjustable Kettlebell

Why I Created a Homemade Kettlebell 

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell I first learned about kettlebells back in 2011, when I read the book The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferris. It talked about the benefits of working out with kettlebells and that you could create your own DIY kettlebell at home with some weight plates and a few inexpensive items from the hardware store.

I was in college at the time and the school gym was very small and had very limited equipment (no kettlebells). So I decided to build my own t-shaped kettlebell to workout with in my dorm room. Nine years later, that homemade kettlebell is still going strong and a part of my home gym equipment.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Gym equipment is scarce right now. Gyms are closed and stores are sold out of most traditional gym equipment. Aside from that, exercise equipment can be expensive and take up a lot of space.

Particularly items like kettlebells, which typically require you to have an assortment of differently sized and weighted kettlebells for variety.

For a piece of home gym equipment, an adjustable kettlebell is fantastic.

My husband and I can alternate using it in our workouts by adding or taking away a few weight plates and it doesn’t take up much room for storage. We’ve been getting a lot of use out of it these days.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell.


What You’ll Need to Make a DIY Kettlebell

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell

From Home

  • Loadable weight plates
  • Duck tape or sports tape (I used sports tape)

From the Hardware Store:

  • One 3/4″ by 12″ pipe nipple
  • Two 3/4″ by 5″ pipe nipples
  • One 3/4″ tee joint
  • One 3/4″ floor flange
  • Optional: a clamp or shaft collar to keep the weight plates from sliding (not pictured in this homemade kettlebell guide because I personally haven’t had an issue with my plates sliding, but feel free to add one in at your own discretion!)

Hardware Parts for a T-shaped Kettlebell

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell

If you found yourself asking “what the heck is a floor flange?”, no worries.

Don’t stress if you’re unfamiliar with some of these parts, no stress. I’ve got’cha covered. You should find everything you need in the plumbing section of your local hardware store.

If you’re unable to visit a local store, don’t worry. You can find everything you need online.


Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. At no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. I only recommend products I have tried or genuinely believe would be beneficial. Utilizing affiliate links is one of the ways I support my blog to be able to keep delivering you guys great content.


 

Two of these (the handles)

3/4″ X 5″ Pipe Nipple


One of these (the vertical bar)

3/4″ X 12″ Pipe Nipple


One of these (the connector)

3/4″ Pipe Tee Joint


One of these (the base)

3/4″ Floor Flange


Assembling Your Homemade Adjustable Kettlebell

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Once you’ve got all the parts, all that’s left is to put it all together. This process is super simple and goes quite quickly.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Begin by assembling the handle and main structure of the kettlebell by connecting the smaller pipe nipples into the tee joint. The two 3/4″ by 5″ pipes will screw onto the left and right sockets of the tee joint and the longer 3/4″ by 12″ pipe will screw into the center socket of the tee joint.

From there you can wrap the two smaller pipe handles in either sports tape or duck tape. This will serve as a safety measure to help protect your hands and give you better grip when exercising with your homemade adjustable kettlebell.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Next, it’s time to add some weight. For this, you will need a few traditional loadable weight plates (the kind you use for an adjustable dumbbell set, not the larger kind of plates made for barbells).

Many smaller weight plates you can purchase for a home gym have about a one-inch hold in the center of the plate and work well with a 3/4-inch wide pipe.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Slide the desired amount of plates onto the main bar of your homemade adjustable kettlebell (be careful not to pinch your fingers).

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell Finally, screw the floor flange onto the bottom of the main pipe bar to lock your weight plates onto your kettlebell. Make sure that you’ve securely fastened it onto the pipe before you exercise with it to make sure nothing comes unfastened during a workout.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell And there you have it! A fully functional DIY kettlebell!

I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step tutorial on how to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Good luck with all your home workouts to come!


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  • How to Run (When You Suck at Running)
  • Home Yoga Routine for Sciatica
  • Restorative Home Yoga Routine
  • 5 Moves to Tone Your Upper Body

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell

All writing and images copyright © 2020 Rachel Elise Weems Woods.

How to make a homemade adjustable kettlebell. Step-by-step tutorial on how to make a DIY homemade kettlebell with pictures. Exercising with kettlebells has many benefits, but kettlebells can be expensive. This adjustable kettlebell is cheap, easy to use and will save a ton of money and space in a home gym. Brought to you by reesewoods.com #reesewoodsfitness #homeworkout #exercisingathome #homegym #kettlebell

24 Comments

About Reese Woods

Hi, there! I'm Reese, a nationally certified personal trainer and former magazine writer. Health and fitness are complicated topics, so I break down all that research into plain ol' English. I also share my own experiments, experiences, recipes and life along the way!

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Comments

  1. Christie Adams Design says

    April 21, 2020 at 6:30 pm

    I love how resourceful you are! This is a great idea! PS I’ve been using cans of soup as weights when I take classes on YouTube lol

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 21, 2020 at 6:42 pm

      Lol I’ve definitely used some creative home item workout gear too!

      Reply
  2. Rebecca Trumbull says

    April 21, 2020 at 6:58 pm

    Wow! You make this so easy for those of us who are not handy at all. I appreciate the info!

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      Haha, trust me when I say I’m also not a handy person when it comes to hardware. That just shows how easy this is to create!

      Reply
  3. Mimi says

    April 21, 2020 at 7:49 pm

    This is so clever, my sister and I were looking for something similar, so we’ll have to make it this way

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      You should definitely go for it!

      Reply
  4. Amber Myers says

    April 21, 2020 at 7:52 pm

    How cool! I’ll have to make one of these. I have been wanting to strength up my arms.

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:47 pm

      Kettlebells are great for full body toning and strengthening!

      Reply
  5. Nina says

    April 22, 2020 at 1:41 am

    This is genius and exactly what I need right now sense I can’t go to the gym right now due to the virus. This is awesome, thank you so much for sharing this!!

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:48 pm

      I’m happy to be helpful!

      Reply
  6. Kileen says

    April 22, 2020 at 2:18 pm

    This is such a neat idea! What a great way to save lots of money and I love how it’s adjustable so you don’t have to buy multiple kettle weights!

    Kileen

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      It’s very cost effective and practical!

      Reply
  7. Shayla Marie says

    April 22, 2020 at 3:41 pm

    My son would like one of these. He makes a lot of his own weights. I’ll show him this!

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 22, 2020 at 3:49 pm

      Go for it!

      Reply
  8. Tisha says

    April 22, 2020 at 6:26 pm

    This is a pretty genius idea!!! No need buying more than one kettlebell!!

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 23, 2020 at 5:33 pm

      Exactly! All in one!

      Reply
  9. Charlene says

    April 22, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    Oh my gosh this is brilliant! It’s much cheaper than buying a bunch of different size kettlebells!

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      April 23, 2020 at 5:33 pm

      True dat!

      Reply
  10. Mike says

    October 24, 2020 at 1:12 pm

    Really cool…going to add a shaft collar so the weights won’t slide on the shaft.

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      October 25, 2020 at 8:59 pm

      Great addition! My weight plates have a more narrow center, so they fit fairly snugly to the pipe without sliding. But that’s a great idea if you find your plates sliding!

      Reply
  11. Robert says

    December 27, 2020 at 3:14 am

    I appreciate this guide! I just made this exactly like shown and it came out perfect. Cheapest version of this I could find in a commercial product was $40. It With all the parts it came out to just $20.

    Reply
    • ReeseWoods says

      December 27, 2020 at 8:11 pm

      Awesome! This type of KB is so cost-effective for a home gym compared to buying a bunch of commercial ones. I’ve also heard from other readers who have added a clamp or shaft collar to their homemade kettlebell if they find their plates are sliding up/down the center pipe (although as you can see on our homemade KB, the plates are fairly snug and we haven’t had that issue).

      Reply
  12. Twan says

    April 15, 2021 at 3:57 pm

    Thanks for the great idea. I already had the bottom part lying around from another diy project (wrist roller) so I only had to buy the T and the smaller pipe nipples.
    It is really great and it can definitely handle more weigth than the plastic adjustable kettlebells I was willing to buy.
    Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Reese Woods says

      April 16, 2021 at 2:11 pm

      I’m so glad you enjoyed the tutorial! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and some positive vibes!

      Reply

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Meet Reese

Hi! I'm Reese, nationally certified personal trainer and licensed fitness instructor. Health and fitness can feel like complicated, overwhelming topics. As a former magazine writer and health columnist, I dig into the research behind complicated subjects and break it down into plain ol' English. I also offer personal training to individuals in the Columbia, SC area as well as virtual training and programming.

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