Home Made Wood Parallettes

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May 13, 2020

Parallettes are a great tool for bodyweight training. They provide a more comfortable wrist position for hand balancing and elevate you above the ground for movements like L-sits, which can be incredibly tough on the floor.

Here is the design for my wooden parallettes that I use at home. I have built several sets and felt no need to change any of my specifications. It is a simple design, but tools are required, and if you don’t have experience working with wood, I recommend enlisting the help of someone who does. I’ll add in some pointers that might be easy to overlook if you don’t know a lot about woodworking.

Tools:

Table Saw
Drill and bits
2” Forstner Bit
Drill Press/hand Drill (for dowel holes)
Wood Glue
Small Clamps
Long Clamps

Materials:

Note: A longer sheet of maple will give you more breathing room on your cuts, but 60″ is the exact amount you will need. These dowels usually come in 48″ sections and will need to be cut.

Instructions:

Start by cutting the maple into two pieces. Then mark out four sections of 7.5” on one of the boards. In each section, mark out the holes for the screws. The outside screws will be 2” down and in from each corner and the inside screws will be 1.5” down and in from each corner. You’ll only need to mark one side for now. Let’s assume you mark the outside first for our purposes.

When drilling the holes, use a bit that is similar in diameter to the shaft of the screw. This way the threads will be able to get a strong bite.
Each cut will remove the width of the saw blade from the wood. Since we are only looking for uniform pieces, this is acceptable. If you would like each piece to be exactly 7.5”, accommodate for the width of the saw blade in your measurements.

With the markings for your sections and screw holes in place, glue the two boards together and clamp them in place. Use rubber clamps so that you don’t damage the wood. Drill a few holes in each end of the board and insert the screws to help hold the boards in alignment. Once the outside screws are helping the clamps, you can freely drill the remainder of the holes and finish by inserting your screws.

Be sure to wipe any excess glue as it seeps out to save time sanding later.

Trace your 7.5” section lines around to the opposite side and mark your screw holes. Drill and screw and you’ll be ready to cut out your dowel holes.

I prefer to drill the dowel holes before the end pieces are cut into their individual segments. This leaves more material to clamp to and hold securely when drilling. If you have a drill press, awesome. I used a hand drill with a 2” forstner bit for my holes and it worked just fine, but takes some elbow grease. Once you have all your dowel holes drilled you are ready to cut the sections out.

These holes need to be straight. If drilling by hand, go slow and be meticulous. You can make up for a slight angle by sanding the holes larger afterwards, but it’s better if they are perfectly straight to begin with.

Use a table saw with a guide to make sure each section is cut out evenly. Set the guide for your first piece and all the rest should match. In the event the boards slipped when you were clamping them together, or imperfections in the wood caused some slight overhang, now is the time to shave these edges down and get all your pieces matching perfectly. Finish the end pieces by sanding all the corners to your desired smoothness and to remove any sharp edges that could potentially scratch or cut skin.

I trimmed the corners from mine at a 45 degree angle 1.5” from the top corner. You can do any decorative ornamentation to your pieces you prefer, or leave them square. It is up to you.

Set your angle on the table saw so each piece is cut with the exact same 45 degree angle.
Set a spacer so you can easily match each section to the same specification without having to measure each one and they will all be the exact same size.

Now everything is cut and ready to be assembled. If you haven’t cut your dowel into 16” pieces, do so. Sand the ends of the dowels and the holes so they fit. Be sure the ends can sit flat on a level surface with the dowels fully inserted. If the dowels have to go in at a slight angle, your parallettes will not sit flat. It is better to have a slightly larger hole and flat parallettes than a tight fit and a wobble.

The top screw and glue will add plenty of stability in the final step.

Apply glue to the dowel and the hole and stick the two together. Repeat on the opposite end. Clamp it down with the long clamp so that it has strong pressure to secure the bond. Do the same for your other parallette. Let them dry overnight.

Be sure to clamp them on a flat surface so they dry level.

In the morning, you are ready for the final step. Drill a perfectly straight hole down about ⅝-¾ of an inch in from the edge of the top of the parallettes. I place tape on my bit to ensure that I drill to the correct depth for each hole. Insert your 4” washer head screw. Repeat 3 more times.

Enjoy your parallette training!

Zack is a lifelong fitness enthusiast and loves to challenge himself on a daily basis. The process of overcoming this challenge is two fold: To gain mastery of himself and to gain experience to more effectively coach others. Follow him on instagram to see how he tackles training and goals in his own life.