Spending so much time at home these days has its perks, one of them being the opportunity to focus more on fitness and self-care. While you can do plenty of workouts at home that you'd do in a gym, you may be feeling limited by a lack of gym equipment. Not to worry—you can easily make your own dumbbells in less than an hour using PVC pipe. Simple, affordable, and made stylish with paint, these hand weights are perfect for those low-weight, high-rep workouts!
![DIY gold and black dumbbells with PVC pipes](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/65a51726ff4a43e1a65162b7450332c1.jpg)
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Things You'll Need
1-inch PVC pipe
1-inch PVC caps, 4
PVC pipe cutter (optional)
Spray paint
PVC cement
Sand, dirt, or pebbles
Step 1
Use a PVC pipe cutter to cut two PVC pipes that are each six inches long. If you don't have a pipe cutter, most hardware stores have them in the aisle near the PVC pipes, so customers can use them to cut pipes in the store.
Video of the Day
![Two PVC pipes, four PVC caps, and a PVC pipe cutter](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/dc1401e672db4b9786aba5efbd7088c9.jpg)
Tip
To make heavier weights, you could cut the pipes longer than six inches.
Step 2
Spray paint the PVC pipes and caps with your desired paint colors. We went with a matte black for the caps and a metallic gold for the pipes. Let dry completely.
![Four PVC caps painted black and two PVC pipes painted gold](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/1141ea6e8d734a0bbf2ca21b997d81e2.jpg)
Step 3
Coat the inside of one cap with PVC cement and attach it to the end of one pipe. Repeat with the other pipe. Let the glue dry for a few minutes.
![Coating inside of PVC cap with PVC cement](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/cc9970db38f74eabb2aad2cea8647827.jpg)
Step 4
Use a rolled up piece of paper or funnel to fill each pipe with sand or dirt. You could also use small rocks or pebbles for a heavier weight.
![Spooning sand into funnel to fill PVC pipe](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/9f3c55fb2d7444dc85df76b2f5351b3b.jpg)
Step 5
Use PVC cement to glue the remaining caps to the other ends of the pipes.
![Gluing cap to other end of PVC pipe](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/d1ac83771f464e2eb786fc0af24bf2f9.jpg)
And that's all there is to creating simple, modern, and effective dumbbells for your at-home workouts!
![DIY gold and black dumbbells with PVC pipes](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/b87067c607bd498caf115c55e97daa38.jpg)
![DIY black and gold PVC pipe hand weights](https://img.ehowcdn.com/375/clsd/5/4/c96bf6bb489442c28415b989f937e95b.jpg)