How to Exercise With PVC Piping

Ever wondered why there are random, sawed-off tubes hanging out in the corners of your local weight room? That’s PVC piping — the same stuff you can get at Home Depot or Lowe’s for less than a dollar a foot. It’s typically used in plumbing systems, as polyvinyl chloride is durable, moisture-resistant and won’t corrode over time.

Still, the tubes are a surprisingly effective supplement to a weightlifting regimen. After years of seeing some of the most cut guys at the gym incorporate a little PVC into their workouts, I finally set out to learn more. Here’s what you need to know, along with five moves to get you started.

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Why It’s Effective

Lightweight and Versatile: The PVC pipe is light, making it ideal for fine-tuning your form without the strain of added weight. Sometimes, you’ll see a lifter bring one over to the squat rack for some phantom reps before they dive into the real deal. (It’s a great “feedback tool” in that respect.)
Improves Mobility: Many PVC-specific exercises (like those outlined below) specifically target joint mobility, which is crucial for safe and effective lifting. It’s a good habit to get into, assuming you want to lift for the rest of your life.
Cost-Effective: PVC piping is super cheap. You can also cut it to your exact specifications. (It’s critical that the pipe is long enough to accommodate your width and range of motion.)
Portable and Convenient: You can bring it to the gym without any issues. (You could probably store it at the gym. Who cares? It’s $3.) And depending on your post-pandemic appetite for working out at home…this is a good one to keep in the garage, too.

Five Moves to Know

Warm-Up

Shoulder Pass-Throughs: Warms up the shoulders and improves shoulder mobility.

Hold the PVC pipe with a wide grip.
Slowly bring the pipe over your head and down behind your back, keeping your arms straight.
Return to the starting position.
Check out a video here. Once you feel comfortable with the pass-through, graduate yourself to the Figure-8.

Overhead Squats: This warms up the entire body and helps improve squat form.

Hold the pipe overhead, arms straight.
Perform a squat while keeping the pipe stable above your head.
Check out this video for a more advanced warm-up: the squat-press-stand.

Mobility Exercises

PVC Pipe Lean: Improves hip mobility, plus your form for deadlifts.

Hold the pipe vertically against your back, touching the head, upper back and tailbone.
Hinge at the hips, maintaining all three points of contact.
Check out a video here. You can also hold the pipe horizontally, if you wish…see here.

PVC Pipe Twists: Helps with thoracic mobility. Will give the obliques a blast in the process, too.