Not all woodworking is fine woodworking. Some of it is simply problem solving. In this case, I wanted a place to rest my elevated back foot while performing split squats. Instead of buying a solution which would take up more space than I would like in the section of my shed that I call a “home gym”, I decided to try my hand at a cheaper, custom solution:

This was a simple solution. A 2×8 with a dowel and, soon, a pad. It isn’t pretty but it holds my leg in place and that was all I wanted it to do. I also decided to include spaces for the dowel at additional heights in case I wanted to use it to do other things down the line. Just in case.

If you are interested in doing something similar, the actual building process went something like this:

• Cut two 18 inch pieces from the 2×8.
• Cut a 1 inch dowel to length about 2 inches wider than these supports will be.
• Remove a section from the corner to fit over the 2×4 bottom plate of the wall. I used a jigsaw after tracing the lines at the correct height and depth. This will allow the base of the 2×8 to sit flush both on the floor of the shed and the bottom plate of the wall.
• Clamp the two pieces together and, as straight as possible, drill a 1 inch hole straight down through the top board and into the second. The bit should proceed far enough into the second to support the end of the dowel later.
• Repeat drilling as desired. I chose five holes approximately 3 inches apart because that seemed like a fine, even distribution.
• The holes may need to be cleaned up with a low grit sand paper to allow the dowel to be more easily inserted.
• Clamp the 2×8 to the studs.
• Use shims to adjust to square as required. Check for alignment with the dowel, confirming that it can pass through one side and find the aligning hole on the other.

The process is simple enough, although my execution was personally not great. I drilled the holes for the dowel using a hand drill as I do not own a drill press. As a result, only 4 of the 5 heights I created were straight enough for the dowel to connect at both sides. This was close enough for my own purposes, so I attached the 2x8s to the studs using 2.5 inch deck screws. I have a couple of ideas to try for padding the dowel, but that is the process I used for the basic frame.