Building a pull-up bar...

So I have a spot in my basement where there are exposed beams that hold up the floor and what not above. I'd like to attach a pipe somehow for pull ups. Should I try to bolt it to the bottom of the rafters (rafters may not be the technically correct term here). Or should I attempt to drill through several of them and run the pipe through the hole. I would like to not break my house. The rafters look like 6"x2" (or maybe 8x2) boards and are about a foot apart.

What kind of diameter pipe is ideal for pull ups?

dont drill holes through supporting structure

just get a pipe that fits your hands, beyond that point, the wider your grip the more difficult the pullups will be and more they hit your grip and forearm strength. thats not necessarily a bad thing, but if it goes too far it will hurt your shoulder and upper arm activation

def. dont drill holes if the floor joists are only 2x8's. If they were 2x12's, you could drill a 1 or 1.5" hole about 1/3 of the way up the joist with no problem.

you could always bolt a 2x12, like 24" long or so, to each side of 2 joists that were 3'-4' apart, then drill the holes in the four 2x12s and slide a pipe through. That would make a pretty easy set up without fucking up your structure.

Post a pic of where you wanna install it.

Also, we have one of those pull up bars that you see in the P90x commercials which attaches to a door frame in our closet. It works but I would still prefer one like what you're trying to do, though.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. bode, due to the height considerations, I don't want to drop it any lower than the current height. I guess I hadn't considered till recently attaching the supports for the bar along the face of the board (which seems obvious now) I was originally thinking i would have to drill into the skinniest edge and didn't like that idea too much.

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Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

Post a pic of where you wanna install it.

Also, we have one of those pull up bars that you see in the P90x commercials which attaches to a door frame in our closet. It works but I would still prefer one like what you're trying to do, though.

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Yeah, rilla, I can post a pic later today. It's a pretty cluttered area, but I think it should work - it just won't look too pretty.

thanks again sirs.