Multi function cable machine

[Mzn]

I'm looking for utility cable machine, you can do various exercises by changing the handles, and exercises that i expect are:

"high pulley" : lat pulldown, cable pullover, cable crunches, tricep pushdown

"low pulley" : cable row, cable leg abduction+adduction, cable leg curl, cable lying leg raises. Optional: cable bicep curl, cable upright row

[rlundregan]

I'm looking for utility cable machine, you can do various exercices by changing the handles, and exercices that i expect are:

"high pulley" : lat pulldown, cable pullover, cable crunches, tricep pushdown

"low pulley" : cable row, cable leg abduction+adduction, cable leg curl, cable lying leg raises. Optional: cable bicep curl, cable upright row

Actually, most lat pulldown machines will do all of that, as will most lat attachments for power racks. You usually buy the different handles separately, unless someone is offering one on Craigslist with a bunch of handles as part of the deal. Your bigger question might be whether you prefer one that uses free weight plates or one that has a selectorized stack.

[Mzn]

Thanks for replying

Another exercises that i expect is Horizontal cable wood chop for oblique, so the pulley height should be adjustable and changeable

[KBKB]

Another exercises that i expect is Horizontal cable wood chop for oblique, so the pulley height should be adjustable and changeable

For that you'll need either a functional trainer or a cable column. Depending upon how strong you are on lat pulldowns and rows, you may need to get two separate machines.

Lat and row machines use pulleys for cable redirection. A functional trainer or cable column will often have additional pulleys which create a mechanical advantage at the pulling end. This gives you more cable to work with (so you can get a sufficient range of motion for your wood chops or whatever), but will also give you only a half or a third of the resistance that appears on the stack. A cable column with a 2:1 mechanical advantage with a 250 lb weight stack will have a maximum resistance of only 125lbs at the pulling end. This is probably not enough resistance for either lat pulldowns or rows. On the other hand, a lat/row machine with a 250 lbs weight stack and a 1:1 mechanical advantage will probably offer enough resistance for most of us. (It's certainly more than enough for me.)

Have you tried your wood chop exercise with a resistance cable? If resistance cables can be made to work for this purpose, this would be a far more cost effective way to perform that exercise.

[Wildtim]

Thanks for replying

Another exercises that i expect is Horizontal cable wood chop for oblique, so the pulley height should be adjustable and changeable

Just adding that function will double or more than double the cost of a cable machine as well as make it nearly impossible to find used.

[mensagitatmolem]

They have given you good information so far. Something to consider, is if you find something you like, but it does not have a large weight stack for pulldowns/rows, you may consider doing one arm versions. A while back, I switched to 1 arm low rows, lat pulldowns/etc., and have been happy with the results. It came from watching a few dvds that Dan John made. I find that the weight I can do is less than 1/2, due to the load put on the body as well as your core. Once I got it down, I found it did isolate each side more, as well as engage stabilizing muscles.

[clockwork247]

Thanks for replying

Another exercises that i expect is Horizontal cable wood chop for oblique, so the pulley height should be adjustable and changeable

something like the bowflex revolution? the arm is adjustable (and I view it like a pulley system).

[krosalclist]

bodylastics

[chemmech]

looks like a good excercise for the obliques, I was thinking about fabricating an adjustable hight pulley for the lat machine for awhile now, initially for a certain tricep excercise...I'll post some pics later if I end up fabricating it..

[KBKB]

looks like a good excercise for the obliques, I was thinking about fabricating an adjustable hight pulley for the lat machine for awhile now, initially for a certain tricep excercise...I'll post some pics later if I end up fabricating it..

I'd like to see photos if you do this.

I would guess that this will provide an adequate range of motion for a tricep exercise, but an unsatisfactory range of motion for something like a one arm flye, though even that might be okay if you have an exceptionally tall lat tower.

[chemmech]

the adjustable cable station would have to be built on the back side of the machine, not much room on the front side of the machine, would interfere with the lat pull down area... it would be a big modification to the unit, basically building one side of a cable crossover machine into an existing lat machine system, using the same weight stack, lots of pulleys added and abit of steel so the pulleys could be adjustable up and down. looks like fun, but I wouldn't even be able to use it since I have a small workout space, can't really make it worth My while at this time.

[Mzn]

Thanks guys for replying and i got the keywords: functional trainer, cable column and resistance band

But i'm still curious for kind of utility cable machine, with adjustable height and changeable pulley, to provide those execises that i expect including horizontal cable wood chopper, if there is, that'll be great !

looks like a good excercise for the obliques, I was thinking about fabricating an adjustable hight pulley for the lat machine for awhile now, initially for a certain tricep excercise...I'll post some pics later if I end up fabricating it..

cool ! can't wait !

[KBKB]

But i'm still curious for kind of utility cable machine, with adjustable height and changeable pulley, to provide those execises that i expect including horizontal cable wood chopper, if there is, that'll be great !

Below are some examples that could potentially work for you.

Of these, the Hoist PTS-Ens3 is the only piece of equipment that will do everything you want really well. That is because it includes two adjustable height cable columns and a separate lat pulldown/row column too. You get a Jones machine as part of the deal too. If you push the built-in bar to the top, you can use it as a power rack if you want.

The other gear will not (IMO) provide adequate resistance for doing pull-downs and rows.

The resistance cables (shown at the very bottom) could be a viable alternative so long as you can find a suitably high anchor point for doing pulldowns. Other exercises can be performed with a set of wall anchors or with the door anchor provided with the resistance bands. (If you plan on using it a lot, I suggest that you install some wall anchors.)

Body Solid GDCC210:


FreeMotion EXT Dual Cable Cross VFMCS4007:


Hoist PTS-ENS3:



ProMaxima CM-335 Multi-Functional Trainer:


ProMaxima CM-325 Functional Trainer:


Keiser Performance Trainer (cable column)


Freemotion Cable Column



Lifeline USA Resistance Cables:

[KBKB]

Below are a couple of examples of exercises that can be performed with resistance cables using wall anchors. These were taken from my Shoulder Horn Review. I don't have any horizontal wood chopper exercises, but I think that those should be possible too. I can also do a variety of other exercises with that set-up including rows, tricep pushdowns, and many of the others that you listed in your initial post.

The wall anchor consists of a number of equally spaced eye bolts screwed into a long strip of wood. (I used oak.) That long strip of wood is bolted to the wall. You can purchase similar sorts of anchors that are expressly made for this purpose, but the ones that I've seen have all been exorbitantly priced.





Here's a close-up of a resistance cable attached to the wall anchor. The girth hitch used to attach the cord to the cable prevents the cable from sliding when pulling on only one end.



Here's a close-up of the Double Fisherman's Knot used to form a length of utility cord into a loop.


Resistance cables are cheap compared to the rest of the stuff you're considering. You might give them a try and then, if you find that they don't work well for some exercise, you can get a machine for performing that exercise. (Personally, I don't think resistance cables are very good for lat pulldowns. But, if you have a pull-up bar or rings, you don't need to do lat pulldowns.)

[mensagitatmolem]

As always, KB has given very good information.

I have looked into column cables and other possibilities for a while now.(I do not want to spend the money on a new high quality cable column, and they hardly come up on craigslist)

Here are a few things I have looked at, as they do not take up much space, can do quite a few of the dynamic/functional movement/assorted exercises and appear to be pretty easy to use.

This first group of items comes from Perform Better. Adjustable Wall Mount/Double-Rail system. Sliding Spine. and a training station.

http://www.performbetter.com/webapp/...d=-1&hoof=puff

This next item comes from Core Energy Fitness, which has a few different wall mount items:

http://coreenergyfitness.com/

There is also something out there called the Vector Trax, which is made by PurMotion. Have seen videos of people using similar to items already mentioned, as well as martial arts and other fluid movements. You can do a Google search, as well as see it on YouTube. A guy has a Facebook video where he goes through a small martial arts practice with it.

Versaclimber makes something called a VersaPulley. It comes in wall mount, portable and commercial versions. Not cheap, but an alternative if you find one used.

Here is the wall mount version. You can also view the other versions on their website:

http://www.versaclimber.com/VP_wall_mount.htm

And, here is a company that incorporates bars/hooks/etc. with bands. Nothing fancy, but possible ideas here as well:

http://www.stretchtofitness.com/inde...=93&Itemid=122

[Mzn]

Thanks guys for the replies

@KBKB : repped !

[chemmech]

probably takes around 8 pulleys, which I have, some cable swedges a ball peen hammer some end fittings, steel,, primer & paint, the top piece I made for My lat machine is built to accept this mod, plastic slides pop pin ( can canabalize off old yukon stuff I have ), some thick steel 5/16" steel tube 2.5" x 2.5" & 2" x 2", some 5/16' plate steel... etc, get to use My new cold saw and verticle band saw, so that should make things easier than using the horizontal band saw ( makes a big mess)..

problem is the cable and fittings, need alot of it, inexpensively..possible a crimper another $100 ...

[Mzn]

I'm thinking of regular high-low pulley cable machine (lat-low row) with removable/separate seat pad/knee support (for lat pulldown), so i can use it for cable crunch, but not for cable wood chopper though (i'll use resistance band)

[rlundregan]

The other thing that comes to my mind, FWIW, is that you could just do woodchoppers with a high or low pulley. They wouldn't be horizontal, but they would still be effective.

THere is also a similar movement you can do--check out youtube, use "land mine exercise" as your search terms. Basically, you put a 45 lb plate on the floor, stick one end of a bar into the hole just to keep it from moving around (you could also stick an end of the bar in a corner of the room), put a plate on the other end. Hold that end of the bar with straight arms, and basically swing the bar from one side of your body to the other. It feels to me like a very similar exercise to woodchoppers.

My description above will make a lot more sense when you see it on youtube! I'm still new around here, so I don't think I can embed a clip into this posting. I hope this helps!

[KBKB]

I'm thinking of regular high-low pulley cable machine (lat-low row) with removable/separate seat pad/knee support (for lat pulldown), so i can use it for cable crunch, but not for cable wood chopper though (i'll use resistance band)

Given your initial set of requirements, I think this sounds like a good idea.

[Mzn]

The other thing that comes to my mind, FWIW, is that you could just do woodchoppers with a high or low pulley. They wouldn't be horizontal, but they would still be effective.

Regular high-low cable machine is using "static pulley" (just rolling), whereas cable column is using "dynamic pulley" (rolling + moves horizontally). If the low pulley in regular lat-low row cable machine is able to use "dynamic pulley" and the height is adjustable, that'll be perfect !

THere is also a similar movement you can do--check out youtube, use "land mine exercise" as your search terms

Another exercise as wood chopper substitute is cross crunch/oblique crunch, for more intensity you can use decline bench, weighted if necessary