Wall Mounted Hooks for Resistance Bands

Martynt74 · 4 May 2020 at 11:26

I do a reasonable about of exercise but almost no strength work and thought a cheap option would be to mount some hooks on the walls at 3 heights to attach resistance bands to for various exercises.

Initially i just thought about something like these

But now i'm starting to wonder if they'll be able to cope. Whilst i'm not going to be exerting too much force (max 30-40kgs i imagine). They're only mounted on a 50x50mm plate which is potentially going to put all of that force on a single brick in a pulling away from the wall motion.

Do i need to be looking for something that will spread the force across a wider area (this might not look very good given it's in the house). Or do you think it'd be sufficient?

Also whilst i'm here, is there a way to know how much weight a joist could support? I'm also debating adding a pull up bar.

https://www.mirafit.co.uk/mirafit-3-position-ceiling-pull-up-bar-orange.html

I went up into the loft to check the direction of the joists and whilst they run the right way, there's a crapload of insulation which would make adding extra support between joists a bit tricky (that half of the loft also isn't overly accessible as there's a wall 3ft high blocking it off and no light.

kinobestew123 · 4 May 2020 at 11:36

I'd think the hooks would be ok but it would always worry me that they'd come lose and fire into my head.

Pull up bar looks to be designed for joists at 600mm centres. If yours are then rather than fixing to one joist, could it be screwed to two so the weight is shared?

Is there anywhere that the joists go over a brick wall? If you could put it near that then the weight will be mostly on the load bearing wall instead.

Martynt74 · 4 May 2020 at 11:40

Haha thats always a worry i suppose. There are some similar ones with a closed hook which i'm more likely to go with, will then get some carabiners to attach the bands.

Good point on mounting to 2 joists and near a wall. Whilst not exactly where i'd like to mount it, that's very do-able and is probably how i'd mount it. I wonder how my wife will enjoy lots of "exploratory" holes in the ceiling

bloodiedathame · 4 May 2020 at 11:41

Tie a knot in the band and trap it in a door.

Martynt74 · 4 May 2020 at 11:44

bloodiedathame said:
Tie a knot in the band and trap it in a door.

The bands i ordered do come with a "door bracket" that works like this, i just assumed securing to a wall would be better. Maybe not!

psd99 · 4 May 2020 at 12:12

tie them around a tree? that's what I've been doing
or on the stairs

Abyss · 4 May 2020 at 15:06

I'd mount the hooks onto a sheet of plywood, paint it the same colour as the wall then fit it to the wall. Probably complete overkill but I'd be paranoid that It's going to fly into my face!

Just be very careful what fixings you use, many of them focus on their strength in sheer and have relatively little pull out resistance. Also bear in mind that even though you are only pulling on it by 30-40kg, it'll likely spike higher than this when yanking on them.

Martynt74 · 4 May 2020 at 15:18

If using plywood, then surely the hooks would only be screwed in ~25mm compared to 70mm into the brick?

Good call on the fixings. I was only thinking of 10mm wallplugs.

Maybe some solid anchor fixings or maybe resin based and steel rod.

Skillmister · 4 May 2020 at 16:16

Marvt74 said:
The bands i ordered do come with a "door bracket" that works like this, i just assumed securing to a wall would be better. Maybe not!

Just use that they work perfectly. Far less risk of getting smacked in the face when it manages to slip off a hook too!

Martynt74 · 4 May 2020 at 16:42

Booo, i want to use my new drill dammit! Will see how the door things go first, if not i've a few ideas in mind.

Just ordered the pullup bar, so will get to use it for that at least. Lets just hope i don't pull the ceiling down. (i say this as a joke but my wife is genuinely concerned!)

jpaul · 4 May 2020 at 23:14

... the pull up bar did seem a risk for banging your head on the ceiling, with over energetic use ...or, some risk of cracking ceiling plaster too ? I'd be bolting it
but, it would act as a tether for bands , bands with handles do present a risk if it slips out of your grip

the cantilever pull up bars, fitting in doors, transferring force into vertical door pillars, from recent thread, looked an easier proposition for in house use.

Skillmister · 5 May 2020 at 08:58

There's no way I'd be hanging from my ceilings!

My pullup bar is a doorframe one but my doorframes seem slightly wider than normal so it was only "on" by a couple of mm. Recipe for disaster if it came off mid rep and either smashed myself in the face or landed on my knees. So I've screwed a piece of wood to the door frame to give it some extra support

Martynt74 · 5 May 2020 at 09:05

Skillmister said:
There's no way I'd be hanging from my ceilings!

That is kind of my worry, the house is from 1874 and so who knows what state the joists are in. I feel like 100kg spread over 2 joists near a wall should be alright though.

Does insurance cover this as "accidental damage"?

Martynt74 · 5 May 2020 at 09:55

Well i decided to actually go and measure it and due to other stuff in the room, the place i'd want to mount it would restrict the door from opening which isn't ideal

Will hang on for wall mounted ones to come back into stock. I looked at the doorframe hook ones, but the door is recessed so it doesn't look like it'd work, and whilst i could use it elsewhere i'd like to use it there.

Martynt74 · 5 May 2020 at 09:56

jpaul said:
... the pull up bar did seem a risk for banging your head on the ceiling, with over energetic use ...or, some risk of cracking ceiling plaster too ? I'd be bolting it
but, it would act as a tether for bands , bands with handles do present a risk if it slips out of your grip

Yeah, i had planned to use it as a tether for lat pull down type exercises.

If you've ever seen me attempt a pull up you'd know there'll be no "over energetic" use!

alexakasloth · 5 May 2020 at 10:03

Marvt74 said:
If using plywood, then surely the hooks would only be screwed in ~25mm compared to 70mm into the brick?

Good call on the fixings. I was only thinking of 10mm wallplugs.

Maybe some solid anchor fixings or maybe resin based and steel rod.

You could bolt them through and recess the bolt head on the back of the plywood, if that's too weak double up the ply.

Martynt74 · 5 May 2020 at 10:10

Yeah, i think that's the plan, i've found these "Marine Hooks" which look to be finished better than the ones in the OP.

https://imgur.com/a/YB4S5JL

I've also got a length of 3x2 redwood. If i round over the edges of that and paint it white it should look decent enough and it'll be thick enough to get some decent 40mm x 5mm screws in there. Can't see that causing any issue. Plus by mounting it on wood then the pulling motion on the hooks won't be at the same position as the wall fixings so less chance of ripping out fixings.

alexakasloth · 5 May 2020 at 10:13

Marvt74 said:
Yeah, i think that's the plan, i've found these "Marine Hooks" which look to be finished better than the ones in the OP.

https://imgur.com/a/YB4S5JL

I've also got a length of 3x2 redwood. If i round over the edges of that and paint it white it should look decent enough and it'll be thick enough to get some decent 40mm x 5mm screws in there. Can't see that causing any issue. Plus by mounting it on wood then the pulling motion on the hooks won't be at the same position as the wall fixings so less chance of ripping out fixings.

I have those eye plates (from screwfix) for my rope handrail, fixed in the way I described but with hardwood pads rather than ply and 2 screws (5 x 60) per pad. I've put my weight on it many times to test it and it's not going anywhere.

[edit] Photo:

jpaul · 5 May 2020 at 13:34

.. if, you later, buy, just lengths of resistance band/cord, a hook with a small diameter , may not be good for their lifespan/support
a horizontal bar on the other side of the door would be much easier ... with maybe some screws/eyes/small bracket to keep it at a level ...
(several recent discussion in sports section)

arknor · 5 May 2020 at 22:25

tbh I don't think I would trust it, imagine if your pulling the band and that hook comes off the wall or whatever and hits you in the face.

ouch.

My ex had a swing in her apartment just attached to the ceiling by a big hook she screwed in but her ceiling was solid concrete (was in a childs room before anyone thinks it was for something else)

I think she claimed the hook was good for like 200kg

. if, you later, buy, just lengths of resistance band/cord, a hook with a small diameter , may not be good for their lifespan/support
a horizontal bar on the other side of the door would be much easier ... with maybe some screws/eyes/small bracket to keep it at a level ...
(several recent discussion in sports section)

yea you could just use one of those pull up bars in theory right? not the ones that unscrew to expand and fit the door but the ones that use leverage to keep them self in place.

but yea even a piece of wood/weightlifting bar going across a doorway surely would work also as long as you could stop it sliding around

you aren't pulling a peice of wood wider than the doorway through the doorway right and you probably aren't string enough to pull a doorway out of a wall