Most gyms are closed right now due to social distancing rules, which is what we’re using as our latest excuse to justify our sloth-like lifestyle. But apparently some people miss working out enough that they’re putting together impromptu home gyms. [Michael Pick] has even outfitted his DIY pull-up station with an Arduino to keep track of his exercise while on lockdown. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.
In the video after the break, [Michael] explains the design and construction of the bar itself which technically could be thought of as its own project. Obviously the Arduino counter isn’t strictly necessary, so if you just wanted to know how to put some scraps of wood and suitably beefy rod together in such a way that it won’t rip off the wall when you put your weight on it, this video is for you.
Towards the end of the video, he gets into an explanation of the electronic side of the project. Inside the 3D printed enclosure is an Arduino Pro Mini, a HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, and a 1602 serial LCD. Once the gadget has been mounted in the proper position and activated, it will count how many pull-ups [Michael] has done on the screen.
While we historically haven’t seen a whole lot in the way of homebrew exercise equipment, the current COVID-19 situation does seem to be getting the adrenaline flowing for some of you. We recently covered some DIY dumbbells made from hardware store finds that would be an excellent first project for any hackers who’ve recently been ejected from the Matrix and are trying to use their muscles for the first time.
I used to do 15/16 3x a week, but I haven’t done any since developing arthritis in my AC joints.
If you can’t count how many pull ups you do, then you are too fit or can’t count without using your fingers and toes.
Maybe the ability to automatically count and log your pull-up sessions adds some value to the project.
i tried to count with my fingers but i kept falling off the bar
The beauty of HAD are projects like this. This is why we make tunnels through mountains.
to count pullups? sounds a tad convoluted
Use nails not screws. Screwa are brittle and will snap. Nails Bend
And once we have the emissions controls team from Volkswagen re-write the software, even us couch potatoes can do a hundred pull-ups!!
Nice, but since my pull-up ability is sub Pvt. Pyle I really have no use for it.
That’s a low bar for your high bar high score!
There’s the Zlagboard (https://zlagboard.com/) for climbers that uses a clever mechanism that tilts / moves a smartphone when you get on / off the board to detect you hand time and how many pullups you can do. I’d rather build something like that.
The pull-up station looks great as you have room to potentially do muscle-ups and it’s not limited in height. But… The counter is simply useless.
Use Wi-Fi to record the date/time/reps to your spreadsheet.
Just clip a dollar tree pedometer sideways on your shirt ;) You may have to tweak the angle of the dangle but it works :) Cool use of the sensors though.
Or you could just BUY one, the kind that fits in a doorframe. Outsourcing COUNTING? Why not just offshore it? There’s probably an Indian firm that will do your counting for you. Jesus wept.
$31 dollars: https://www.amazon.com/BesPart-Pull-up-Fitness-Horizontal-Pull-ups/dp/B086XFJRK6/ref=sr_1_9?crid=1EHKM996CFZ6T&dchild=1&keywords=pullup+bar+for+doorway&qid=1588716027&sprefix=pullup+bar+%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-9
Surprised at the negativity in the comments… isn’t the whole idea of HAD to over-engineer/experiment or home brew your own stuff? LIke the guy who built his own metal detector. Maybe the pull-up counter isn’t that useful for some people but think of the other projects that it could also be used for.