Can I make my own weights for working out?

Many suggestions exist for "home-made" weights, ranging from lifting one-pound soup cans (harmless for you and the soup, but it won't build muscle), to lifting buckets or gallon jugs filled with sand. Please do not improvise! Plastic jugs and buckets are not made for strength training: they're not designed to hold that much weight and the handles are designed for carrying, not lifting. They could easily break and injure you, not to mention impede your ability to perform an Exercise with proper form and through the full range of motion.