This is a guest post from The Pound's Brendan Dart [translated by Fight Geek] - The Sled. Enjoy. The other day I had a training epiphany! I had just finished a particularly vigorous gardening session with my girlfriend. Well, we started out gardening--it's funny how weeding almost always leads on to ploughing! High five--Sexy time! Anyway, back to the story . . . So I was spreadeagled across the back lawn with my girlfriend hovering over me with a big stick (we were playing 'squeal little pig') when I happened to notice our wheelbarrow parked alongside the back fence . . .
Just a wheelbarrow?
Then it hit me--no, not the wheelbarrow OR the stick my girlfriend was holding--my epiphany. I jumped up, took the stick off my girlfriend and spanked myself on the buttocks and yelled . . .
That's no wheelbarrow, baby--that's a sled!
Initially my girlfriend thought our kinky love-making had sent me mad--mad I say! She point-blank refused to let me ravage the wheelbarrow. It took another two hours of relentless gardening to convince her to let me have my way with the wheelbarrow.
The next day I sprung into action. Whilst the wheelbarrow had most of the parts necessary to make my hella-sled, I still needed something for it to slide on. Then I remembered my mate, Allan--he was a sandboarder (sort of like a snow-boarder--only gay). Anyway, after a little 'gentle' persuading he agreed to give me his old sandboard--for free :)
Brilliant device.
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Now I was ready to make my masterpiece. And this is how I did it . . .
I separated the bucket from the rest of the wheelbarrow--saving all the nuts and bolts for later.
I cut the sand board in half with a jigsaw.
I placed the bucket on the sandboard halves and carefully positioned them.
I drilled through the holes--that were already in the bucket--straight into the boards.
I used the nuts and bolts I'd saved to secure the sled--making sure that the cup head of the bolt would be the part rubbing against the ground. I also used some scrap boards to raise the height of the bucket a little.
I drilled some holes in the front of the bucket and tied in a loop of rope (I'll use this to attach various pulling devices to the sled).
The Sled.
And voila! Easy as a walk in the park (which can now be a lot harder with a bad-ass sled dragging behind you).
Much fun was had making it, and even more fun will be had playing with it. You should have a crack at it--I highly recommend the 'gardening' part! And btw, wheelbarrows and skis/snowboards are easy to pick up at junk yards--just in case you have an ugly girlfriend or you don't have a easily-intimidated snowboarding friend).
I'm also going to turn the wheel from the wheelbarrow into a ab-trainer and the handles into either some dip or chin bars. But that's another story altogether :)
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the future of fitness
Over the years we’ve looked at the fitness industry from a number of angles - discussing the history, present approaches and potential future trends involved. Fascinating areas.
When it comes to the last part - discussing potential future trends - things get a little, well, unusual. If it’s an interest you share, or you just want to find out the types of things we think are likely, check out the posts tagged ‘Futurism’. And of course, Gymchat 224 (Roundtable) - The Future of Fitness. Superb discussion.
air pollution & health
We discuss air pollution quite a bit on this site - particularly the various health impacts involved. If you'd like to dive in a little deeper, I invite you to check out the following :
We looked at the first edition a while ago, and this second volume looks equally superb. I'm about to dive in to it myself, and you can check out the details (and grab a copy) here :
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