Slosh Pipe

 

I made this slosh pipe. It is a wide piece of PVC, with one end capped and glued, the other end has a screw cap. It is to be partially filled with water, so when you attempt to hold it, it "sloshes" back and forth, it is quite unstable.

Once filled 3/4 with water it weighs about 38 pounds.

I read about this in Dan John's book Never Let Go, A Philosophy of Lifting, Living, and Learning. I loved this book, I enjoy Dan's writing. Dan is a coach, a teacher, a philosopher, his book is described this way: Coach Dan John breaks down the most complicated concepts of strength training and high-performance athletics in a no-nonsense, yet clever and motivating manner. Workout routines, Olympic lifting guidance, Highland Games, track and field and Strongman events are all covered, in addition to weight training philosophy for the general public.

He writes with humor and common sense, it all just sounds so logical when he lays it out for you.

So in his book he talks about this slosh pipe, and how he and his buddies train with it, they do farmer walks, squats, just about anything. I decided I needed one so I could wrestle with the beast in my backyard.

The pieces were cheap, it cost less than $20.00 to make. I took it to show SC, he liked it too and handed it to one of the guys on the baseball team to try out. It was pretty funny because they all said it would be light and easy to hold. Surprise, it was like it was alive! The water moves back and forth and you really need to brace your core to control it.

I emailed Dan and sent this picture, he responded back that he was delighted to hear I made it.

If you want an interesting piece of equipment to train with, I suggest making one, and if you read Dan's book, you can get the simple instructions and learn quite a bit at the same time.