I need a pull up station, NOT a pull up bar, because I plan on doing bodyweight dead lifts in the middle of summer AND winter and jungle gyms just dont cut it in the fall and winter obviously. Im only 5’9 and Im in toronto if that helps.
Any ideas please? Could I just go to like a landfill and pick up some discarded metal bars and like get them welded together? Or do I just buy one of those big coat racks and remove the wheels on the legs and weld on a steel platform for each of the legs??
Thanks to anyone who answers.
bodyweight dead lifts
I googled this. It always means the 1-leg version right?
I cant screew in anything cause its illegal
Often it’s better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. Putty is your best friend and you can always claim it was there before you signed the lease. Especially if the wall is the “normal white” color of most apartments.

I have one of these for climbing training. Pull ups, hangs, levers, pushups, etc. Can also secure my 25kg plate to it in case I fall on weighted pull ups.
Edit: Oh, and I’ve managed to get my hangboard to hang on and off it. So between that, the spray wall at the climbing gym, and a few little grip tools, I’ve got everything I need for arms, shoulders, back, core, and finger training.
Very cheap for all the stuff that can be done and just sits in the corner.
Thanks . I didnt even know that such a pull up station existed. I always so those MAASSIVE ones which were shaped like a cube and had many handle bars. I forgot to add Im looking for something as cheap as possible so this a plus.
Yep. Definitely got designed by someone living in an apartment sick of going down to the gym after work and paying for it and hated the idea of paying for a doorframe bar. Just the pull-ups alone have wide, normal, or hammer grip.
The design is just a few welds, pads, and brains. I.e. maximising with smart minimalist design.
Edit: The push-up handles are for form, but are also for bands to assist endurance pulls. It’s so well thought out for like $100 USD. Built for 300kg and doesn’t budge on dynamic movements. Also easy to breakdown for moving house.
Clearly, I’m a big fan. Granted, I’m a rock climber only, but we do more pull ups than anyone.
Look up “free standing pull up bar”. This is a common question in fitness circles, so there are plenty of examples online. If you can find some cheap pipe and dimensional lumber, it could be decently cheap. You’ll at least need a drill, a hole saw the size of the pipe, and a circular saw (or get creative).
It isnt hard to make something that gets the job done. But also… I feel like there are alternatives you could consider that would be cheaper, easier, and less effort, like joining a gym or screwing a pull up bar into the wall and then patching the holes when you move out.
oh no I wish I could screw in the bar in but they regularly inspect our apartment, like every 2 or 3 months . And ANY damage , even our broken oven elements , even rain damage from when they forgot to clear out the window drains , is added to the rent. They dont care anymore its a cash grab at this point. Ironically its actually one of the cheapest apartments in the entire city . Possibly cause of how awful the maintenance is and its located in a neighbourhood with a notable number of ‘mafia members who conduct black market trades’ (if you know what I mean?). Im only surprised they didnt charge us for the mildew and leaking mildew ceiling that was already here when we came .(They probably will in the future , give them a minute)
Im just happy to have a place to live so I take what I can at this point… Being homeless in a toronto winter was…
Also Id never heard of free standing pull up bars before. Will give them a try. I just googled them and that is exactly what I pictured in my mind of making. I didnt mind if I had to DIY it. Thanks.
Also I would join the gym but the cheapest gyms in the city Im pretty sure are the municipality gyms that are provided for a yearly feee by the city of toronto. But the odd thing about these gyms is that some of them have some equipment while others dont (some have pull up stations and leg curl machines , others dont . Who wants weak hamstrings?!?) . Ive got all the leg gains I can want cause I do Glute-Ham Raises using a bed or couch held down with dumbbells. And by practising Pistol Squats(cant do them yet but Im getting there) I plan on buying a 50 or even 100 pound dumbbell to Dumbell Hamstring Curls eventually.
I want to respect your ability to make descisions for yourself. But my advice:
- Open your mind to doing exercises that achieve the same goals with different equipment. Eg, you can increase effective pull up weight by switching to assisted one arms, then one arms, rather than stacking on increasingly huge numbers of plates. There is no such thing as the magical, perfect exercise - they all work about as well, unless you are competing in Mr Olympia. Pick the one that is most convenient for you and the equipment you have.
1.1) I would also say - I don’t want to doubt your commitment nor your current fitness level. But I notice you said you plan to do insane shit on this pull up bar. A far faster and cheaper solution could be a $10 used doorframe pull up bar that you use until you outgrow it. A solution doesnt have to be perfect forever for it to be perfect right now. - Scope out the municipal gyms near you, and look into financial aid programs. A gym with a simple barbell or dumbbell set, plus a pull up bar, is really all you need. Or if it is full of machines, that is great, too. Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
2.1) I will note that while I can imagine you putting togther a free standing pull up bar for next to no money using salvaged materials, I think you will find that achieving sufficient stability, durability, and load bearing capacity will be a bit of a feat of engineering. If you are trying to do, like, weighted kipping pull ups or muscle ups or something, the dynamic, non-vertical forces could quickly make your joints unstable via the large torsional forces you would be putting on the base. Making a truly resiliant free standing pull up bar is going to be much easier for someone who buys their materials new, uses good tools (like miter saws and hole saws, which are expensive), and who has a decent amount of carpentry experience under their belt - and doing it this way, even if you manage to borrow the most expensive tools, you can still expect materials to cost a couple hundred bucks with the price of lumber these days. A municipal gym membership, otoh, is probably like $15/mo.
2.2) Same with buying dumbbells. Expect iron to cost between $1-2/lb. While building a functional home gym is a noble goal, a cheap commercial gym is often a better value.
2.3) One more point on the gym and then I’ll shut up, which is that I, personally, like gyms because they help me stay consistent with my training by putting it somewhere other than my home - so if I can motivate to go to the gym, I will get my workout in. Versus at home, I tend to be far more likely to procrastinate, since the option is always available. Plus, good gyms often have a social aspect that can be enjoyable. - You should find a different place to live asap. These kinds of landlords are, like, literal slumlords. Their whole ploy is to rent to someone they think has no other options so they will never complain or move out, then nickle and dime them as much as they possibly can. I would start reading up on landlord-tenant law, start documenting issues that you see, and get in contact with a lawyer (many will do free consultations to give you advice on your situation). If you have proof of issues of habitation, you can pay a lawyer, like, $50 to write a letter on their letterhead to your landlords saying you’ll sue them if they don’t let you break your lease and give you your full deposit back.
3.1) Seriously, you’re getting scammed. I know you are grateful to have any roof over your head, but that is exactly how people like this will exploit you. If you put the legwork in, you can find a place that is as cheap or nearly as cheap without shitbag landlords - and a landlord that charges more up front but doesnt nickle and dime you will probably leave you ahead financially.
3.2) If you won’t do it for your pocketbook or quality of life, do it for your gainz. Inhaling mold spores results in systemic inflammation, which decreases sleep quality and recovery.
- Open your mind to doing exercises that achieve the same goals with different equipment. Eg, you can increase effective pull up weight by switching to assisted one arms, then one arms, rather than stacking on increasingly huge numbers of plates. There is no such thing as the magical, perfect exercise - they all work about as well, unless you are competing in Mr Olympia. Pick the one that is most convenient for you and the equipment you have.
How much weight are we talking? And how much floor space are you willing to expend on this?
I plan on maxing out at 165 pounds or 75 kg and Im willing to expend maximum of 2 metres long by 1.5 metres wide by 2.75 metres tall of space to accomodate the pull up station.
Though I do wonder if a pull up bar can handle me rocking on it cause I plan on doing what will practically be gymnastics on it lol (Like the Gymnast Swing, Back Lever, Front Lever , German Hang , Hanging Off The BAr With My Feet Only …yea ) , Like will I dislodge the bar cause Ill be rocking so much? Willthe pull up bar leave any marks on the paint or drywall they have here in the apartment? Ill have to pay for each peice of damage
I will start the analysis with the simplest case and then work upward. Supposing 75 kg on a normal doorway leverage-based pull-up bar and doing just purely-vertical pull-ups and curl-ups, this is within the design specifications for such pull-up bars. An example: https://www.garagegymreviews.com/equipment/iron-gym-total-upper-body-workout-bar
However, because this type relies on your downward bodyweight to press the bar into the doorframe, no swinging motion of any kind is allowed: all movements must be purely vertical.
There is another type of doorway pull-up bar that is akin to a tension rod, but I simply cannot ever recommend these in any scenario, because they have all the limits of the leverage-based one, in addition to also applying a weird expanding force that no doorway is ever designed for.
If the leverage-based pull-up bar was screwed in above the doorway, this would make it more securely attached, but not to the degree that you could swing full bodyweight around. And if you were already going to drill holes, you’d want something that definitely attached to the studs, so that it would genuinely allow you to swing full bodyweight away from the wall. Example: https://repfitness.com/products/wall-mount-multi-grip-pull-up-bar?variant=41067582914718
But maybe you actually want to swing in bitj directions from the bar, or may even over. In that case, you’d have to be farther from a wall or door and would looking at something that is mounted to the ceiling studs (properly called joists). Example: https://ultimatebodypress.com/products/ceiling-mounted-pull-up-bar-with-patented-reversible-risers-for-16-and-24-inch-joists
Ok, but wait, basically all of these remaining viable options involve holes in the wall, so none might be workable. Can we use a standalone/freestanding like this? https://thesportsroyals.com/
The issue here is that such a tower has no problem with vertical curls and pulls. But because the legs are fairly narrow, there’s only a limited range of swinging forwards/backwards before the tower itself tips over, taking you with it to the floor.
Supposing your requirements are rigid, the only other solution I can envision is some sort of triangular frame like a children’s swing set, where the center is a bar, where the triangles are as deep as they are tall. If the base cannot be that wide, then it would have to be weighted at its corners.
As a design, this is extreme difficult to find pre-made. But a variant would be to look at 4-post power racks, which can satisfy the depth and height requirements. For example, the REP PR-5000 can be configured as a 6-post rack, with the middle posts set using 30" depth to the front posts and 30" depth to the rear posts. In your case, would not mount the pull-up bars on the cross members as normal, but would put them on the middle post, at whatever height you want.
I don’t have exact numbers right now, but such a six post setup would already weigh something like 140 kg in steel, minimum. And bring over 2 meter deep and 1.2 m wide, the geometry is highly resistant to toppling, even if you swung 200 kg inward and outward. If it needs any more stability, a power rack easily accommodates adding weight plates at each post, to really make sure it doesn’t move.
But at this point, such movements would require 4 meter ceilings to do safely. And I think I may be entertaining the engineering here too much. What I will say is that if you’re doing gymnastics, then you have to use gymnastics gear, not resistance training gear. Swinging is not a general design goal for resistance training gear. If there is even a spectre of a doubt that your gear isn’t well-suited to your specific goals, then some reevaluate should be done. You may want to look at what a commercial gym has, if the same would work for you; gyms sometimes don’t have studs or joists to use, so their equipment is selected accordingly.
Ya with bodyweight deadlifts and muscles ups you need to swing over the bar to do the move with correct form. Thanks for this. Ill try to read and understand all this but Im admittedly a caveman when it comes to reading comprehension so you may have to ELI5 some of this if you have the time.
If you have specific, additional questions, I’m sure you can create a new post in this community to get additional information. You can link back to this comment to provide the full context.
Ill just reply to your originial comment with any questions I have if that works for you.
My client intentionally drops threads that go too deep – as a way to preserve my time – so you might not get an answer this way.
1 inch threaded black iron pipe. One long piece, two 90 degree elbows, two short pieces, two flanged ends to screw into the ceiling joists

This was heavy enough for me to do pull-ups with weights attached to my belt 300lbs total
oh sorry forgot to add that I live in an apartment so I cant screew in anything cause its illegal . also those pull up bars that use thresholds are also not enough for me because I plan on doing some absolutely looney stuff on that pull up station
Ah you might be able to use this stuff to build a freestanding thing in that case

