Has anybody gotten any REAL mass gains using cable exercises?

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by nads786

duno DD, almost everyone at my non school and even school gym uses lat pulldown, nobody really does weighted pullups/chins, and alot of these guys have really wide backs

im surprised nobody else has witnessed this

I hear ya. And I know this has to be true for some but I am very old school when it comes to vertical back work. I just can't see how a pulldown could work better than pullups for widening the back. Don't get me wrong I like them both. But I feel my back working much more doing hammer chins than hammer pulldowns.

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by monatu

Offtopic, but goddam I wish I had a pullup bar attachment to add to my home gym...

What type? And why not just order one online? The bent pullup bar is my favorite.


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1198172957

[yabbayabba]

Originally Posted by monatu

Offtopic, but goddam I wish I had a pullup bar attachment to add to my home gym...

Need a squat rack with the built in pullup bar. Then buy a double D handle and procede to do hammer chins. Stay away from the NYBB handle, thing is like grabbing razor blades.

I always thought my back was my best part and that was with pulldowns, seated rows, one armed rows, and deads. Though I really do think my back has gotten wider since I started doing pullups instead of pulldown.

[Caracalla]

can anyone really say that they didnt grow any from cable work? if you never did deadlifts you could say that you never got any growth from them. What if it wasnt the heavy row/dead that broke that growth barrier, but those "finishing" pulldowns really concentrated your back to get it growing, I guess what Im trying to say is if you have room for it, i think it would be a welcome variation, but if you would rather add something else that you think you will do fine on, do that, I just cant say that you will grow with cables, but i cant say you will grow with rows either, because noone has witnessed your workouts

[Keith Wassung]

I like including cables for a couple of reasons

1. The constant tension on the muscle

2. I can add a resistance band to make it even tougher

3. A bit easier on the joints ( for us old guys)

4. Allows you to concentrate on the muscle contraction as opposed
to "hefting" a fixed weight from point A to point B

5. Offers un-limited variations and I am a big believer in constantly
adding small "variables" into ones program

Works for me


keith

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by Keith Wassung

I like including cables for a couple of reasons

1. The constant tension on the muscle

2. I can add a resistance band to make it even tougher

3. A bit easier on the joints ( for us old guys)

4. Allows you to concentrate on the muscle contraction as opposed
to "hefting" a fixed weight from point A to point B

5. Offers un-limited variations and I am a big believer in constantly
adding small "variables" into ones program

Works for me


keith

Reasonable posts like this will NOT be tolerated!!

[Keith Wassung]

I have also found that most home/power rack/cable stations are not nearly as smooth as commercial stand alone units and therefore it requires a lot of cleaning and always having a couple cans of WD-40 handy

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by Keith Wassung

I have also found that most home/power rack/cable stations are not nearly as smooth as commercial stand alone units and therefore it requires a lot of cleaning and always having a couple cans of WD-40 handy

for sure, my powertec has begun to moan and groan at the pulleys, i know this because it can't all be me making that noise.

[Tyciol]

I haven't used either enough to make any judgements, but just looking objectively at the tools rather than from experience, they both use weight, the difference would seem to be stabilization properties, pulleys seem to be good since you can vary the direction of force so much, free weights have a pretty consistant pull due to gravity. To choose is tough, they're both neat.

In regards to the shoulder movements (going by your name) pulling from below, I think it's really cool how you can alter the curve of tension by standing closer or further, and how you can step forward or back to also include either some chest or back tension. There seems to be a lot more variety with customization there compared to free weights.

[DiamondDelts]

I have recently been giving underhand grip pulldowns a serious shot. They are pretty good. But I still believe that pulldowns are vastly inferior to hammer chins, chins, and pullups.

[Al Swearengen]

Originally Posted by DiamondDelts

I have recently been giving underhand grip pulldowns a serious shot. They are pretty good. But I still believe that pulldowns are vastly inferior to hammer chins, chins, and pullups.

hard to say, but i do know it's far easier strapping weight on a chinup than it is strapping yourself down for a pull down. right now i have one good arm so pull downs win.

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

hard to say, but i do know it's far easier strapping weight on a chinup than it is strapping yourself down for a pull down. right now i have one good arm so pull downs win.

Lol. I'm trying to be open minded about this. I am always preaching about those who discount certain exericses just cause it doesn't fit with the basics mentality. But when it comes to building back width I am very much an old school type of guy. Pulldowns do work but I just don't see how anyone could feel they compare to hammer chins for example. I just can't imagine it.

[Al Swearengen]

they are far easier to cheat on than chins i would think. i mean how much cheating can you do while hanging from a bar verses how much when your bottom or feet are touching the ground. i think they both have a place in any ones repertoire though.

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by Al Swearengen

they are far easier to cheat on than chins i would think. i mean how much cheating can you do while hanging from a bar verses how much when your bottom or feet are touching the ground. i think they both have a place in any ones repertoire though.

I hear ya. I bought another power rack and opted to get the lat machine attachment as well. Though my rack has to separate chin up bars and I can attach any bar to one of them as well. I also have a pair of bars roped down on top of it for hammer chins of alternating grips as well as parallel handles on the front that allow me to do pullups without having to tilt my head forward or backward. This new setup is doing wonders for my overall back width.

Though the damn thing looks like a jungle gym up top now. Damn I love it!!!!!!

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1202363794

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1202363822


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attach...1&d=1202363832

[Al Swearengen]

looks good, anything to save space and money is worth it. necessity you know and the price of equipment sure isn't going down. just saw plates are 70 cents a pound, it was 50 cents over the summer. lol

[xueimelynnad]

Originally Posted by Keith Wassung

I have also found that most home/power rack/cable stations are not nearly as smooth as commercial stand alone units and therefore it requires a lot of cleaning and always having a couple cans of WD-40 handy

ah there's your problem, you are using wd-40, which is not a lubricant, and would be especially horrible for dry pulleys like this. clean your pulleys with all the built up wd40 junk on there and squirt some graphite powder in there, or get some silicone lube or even motorcycle chain lube. dupont makes a multipurpose teflon wax spray that might work well too, but dont use wd40 for lubing ANYTHING. its a great cleaner, its a great waterdisplacer for electronics (what it was designed for) but it sucks as a lube

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by xueimelynnad

ah there's your problem, you are using wd-40, which is not a lubricant, and would be especially horrible for dry pulleys like this. clean your pulleys with all the built up wd40 junk on there and squirt some graphite powder in there, or get some silicone lube or even motorcycle chain lube. dupont makes a multipurpose teflon wax spray that might work well too, but dont use wd40 for lubing ANYTHING. its a great cleaner, its a great waterdisplacer for electronics (what it was designed for) but it sucks as a lube

Yep. I only use silicon lubricant for my setup.

[Ex-Terminator]

Originally Posted by DiamondDelts

So my question to you all is have any of you who use the cable machine CONSISTENTLY seen decent MASS gains from it? And I am not talking about "finishing" exercises but actual results. Chime in and let me know. Cause if not mine is going bye bye on tuesday along with my current newyorkbarbells power rack.

Hell YES. The difference between my lat size now and a couple of years ago is totally night and day, and the only lat exercise I've ever done was pulldowns on my lat tower. Both size and strength are up very significantly.

You can't put cables in the same class as machines. When you say "machine," I think of something that forces your ROM into a very strict path. With most cable exercises, you're still using stabilizer muscles to control the weight.

[Bruteus Maximus]

DD, I'm glad ya decided on keeping the cables. I have started to use cables alot in my workouts and I can actually tell you since I did a month and a half ago I've gained ten pounds without any % BF increase.

There are alot of freeweight exercises that can be used to stimulate similar muscle groups to cable counterparts, but I think the different angles, the ability to easily isolate muscles, and the versatility of the cables machine is important, especially in a home gym. I normally perform lat pulls and pullups in the same workout and I think that they are both pretty key for a full lat routine. Also, cable rows are a staple of my middle back routine.

Some of the exercises ive seen the best gains from are: Cable rows, tricep pushdowns, cable crunches (essential for an ab routine IMO), pulldowns, and straight arm pulldowns.

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by Bruteus Maximus

DD, I'm glad ya decided on keeping the cables. I have started to use cables alot in my workouts and I can actually tell you since I did a month and a half ago I've gained ten pounds without any % BF increase.

There are alot of freeweight exercises that can be used to stimulate similar muscle groups to cable counterparts, but I think the different angles, the ability to easily isolate muscles, and the versatility of the cables machine is important, especially in a home gym. I normally perform lat pulls and pullups in the same workout and I think that they are both pretty key for a full lat routine. Also, cable rows are a staple of my middle back routine.

Some of the exercises ive seen the best gains from are: Cable rows, tricep pushdowns, cable crunches (essential for an ab routine IMO), pulldowns, and straight arm pulldowns.

Straight arm pulldowns are also very good. Forgot to add those in the list.

[Guardian]

Only cable excercise I feel did much for "mass" for me was tricep pushdowns.

[ThatArmyKid]

calbe rows, pulldowns of all types i really like hammer pulldowns, facepulls, pullthrough all great cables are well worth it

[amc11890]

i for one have seen very good development from lat pull downs behind back and front seems to be a good combination, as well as hammer cable pullies, but are they better than pullups.

[DiamondDelts]

Originally Posted by amc11890

i for one have seen very good development from lat pull downs behind back and front seems to be a good combination, as well as hammer cable pullies, but are they better than pullups.

Hammer chins > all lat machines combined

[Duckenheimer]

Originally Posted by Guardian

Only cable excercise I feel did much for "mass" for me was tricep pushdowns.

I just threw them in about three weeks ago, doing 'em a couple of times a week. Already there's a big difference in my triceps.

[stealth_swimmer]

Well even though i use cable crossovers as a finishing exercise...and I do them with an unconventionally high rep range...

My chest didn't really start making great improvements until I added them in.

I mainly stick to freeweights though of course.

[spirit3530]

Originally Posted by DiamondDelts

Straight arm pulldowns are also very good. Forgot to add those in the list.

underated exercise

[RippedGuitarist]

Even though I feel there are better freeweight exercises I still feel tricep pushdowns, pulldowns, face pulls and rear delt flys are all great for gaining size, not the best but great.