The Official Cable Attachments Buyer's Guide

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I received my gold Back Bar Pro on Tuesday it was packaged well and based on initial looks and feel the attachment is solid and heavy duty! (The pics deceive you into thinking it's a toy, but no it is not in real life! Lol). The grips are decently thick (maybe 28.5, or 29 mm) and the knurling is nice.

The shop caught the black version of the BBP before it accidentally shipped out, when I asked about it Joe mentioned them catching it, but said he would make a deal on the last extra gold version if I wanted it and just asked to cover the shipping price, so I'll be getting the second gold one.

They will be making them in black, red and I think bronze.

That said, this attachment is exactly what you expect from a modified Football Bar cable attachment...Heavy duty, so make sure you keep a bit of weight on your carriage, or keyed on the weight stack, otherwise it will go down a bit on the pulley, not too fast, but just keep conscious of that.

The BBP works great for all variations on lat pulldowns, but I'd hate to live off the difference in it's competition to cable curls with this piece!

Standing and seated cable rows hold up well with the BBP too. I haven't tried out triceps movements, or Tbar rows with it yet (I gotta get a TBar landmine soon lol).

Here's a pic of the BBP when it got here...

http://imgur.com/fdTB1nh

http://imgur.com/00AQoHZ

http://imgur.com/zj0iTD7

[SomeDudeAtHome]

That looks good. Glad it's comfortable for rows and pull downs. Looks like I'll be ordering a black one soon. How much space is there between the 2 closest handles?

[Deep-Voiced-One]

SomeDude, a bit over 3" spaced between each closest handles. You won't regret it man the cable attachment is a beaut and as quality as can be! I just tested triceps pressdowns with it and it rocks at different angles...The thing I like about it too is no switching out different attachments when you can superset with this just by flipping it around.

Let me know if you order it and what you think of it (I'd be curious to know how the black version is...example flat, or gloss...I think it looks flat).

The gold coat seems to be doing well, but I'll give her a spin for a few months and see...shouldn't be too bad.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Slightly off topic, but still has to do with Reps Direct, The Zinc plating gentleman has delivered the sleeves for the FBBs! They will ship the bar on Monday! Here's the sleeve...

http://imgur.com/zcWvHic

[gym62richard]

I received my gold Back Bar Pro on Tuesday it was packaged well and based on initial looks and feel the attachment is solid and heavy duty! (The pics deceive you into thinking it's a toy, but no it is not in real life! Lol). The grips are decently thick (maybe 28.5, or 29 mm) and the knurling is nice.

The shop caught the black version of the BBP before it accidentally shipped out, when I asked about it Joe mentioned them catching it, but said he would make a deal on the last extra gold version if I wanted it and just asked to cover the shipping price, so I'll be getting the second gold one.

They will be making them in black, red and I think bronze.

That said, this attachment is exactly what you expect from a modified Football Bar cable attachment...Heavy duty, so make sure you keep a bit of weight on your carriage, or keyed on the weight stack, otherwise it will go down a bit on the pulley, not too fast, but just keep conscious of that.

The BBP works great for all variations on lat pulldowns, but I'd hate to live off the difference in it's competition to cable curls with this piece!

Standing and seated cable rows hold up well with the BBP too. I haven't tried out triceps movements, or Tbar rows with it yet (I gotta get a TBar landmine soon lol).

Here's a pic of the BBP when it got here...

http://imgur.com/fdTB1nh

http://imgur.com/00AQoHZ

http://imgur.com/zj0iTD7

DVO that's a great looking bar, should add a lot of variety to back and arm work.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Thanks Rich, it's really the ultimate cable attachment and I'd recommend it to anyone!

On a side note if anyone decides to order the attachment, tell Joe from Reps Direct that Tony referred you to them (I wanna put these guys on the map for the heavy duty quality products they crank out).

Here's a closer shot of their black BBP (SomeDude, you might appreciate this lol)...

http://imgur.com/mSnsgsz

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Thought some of the gear hounds would wanna see the new red color!!! So I'll leave this right here...

http://imgur.com/bHv15Yf

Also if anyone is interested in ordering the BBP send me a PM and I'll give you the direct number of Joe to make the order process quick and easy.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Thought I'd bump this thread back to life and continue the "Cable Attachments Tradition" with my new addition and rightfully post it in here too. My Troy Supra curl attachment arrived yesterday and let me just say Adamant Barbell goes above and beyond expectations with their packaging to protect the product which is great! Plus the pricing for it was the lowest I've seen. Troy built this thing like a tank! (No gimmicky plastic pieces at all on it). Here's some pics of the attachment...











...I was so inspired to try it out that I weighted up my cable machine decently on my non-workout day (the same day I got it) and it absolutely shines on its intended use for curls! In fact I would go on to say that this is my favorite cable curl attachment, comfortable on the wrists, rotates smoothly and contracts excellently at the top of the movement.

For triceps push downs it works really good too, but the handles (due to the specific rotation angle) won't rotate on this movement, but still feels comfortable.

For lat pulldowns it won't rotate on as well, the attachment will work to use on this movement if need be, although it's sort of a different feel due to its design and personally not my favorite for lat pulldowns (but this is no fault of the product at all since lat pulldowns are not primarily what this attachment is intended for).

I might try some low rows and high cable rows with it soon and will review those as well, but all in all this is a great attachment and I would highly recommend it to fire up your cable curl and triceps game!

[turbolsxstang]

Looks like prime now has an answer/solution for those of us with a single cable lat pull down who want to use their rot8 handles. A few months back I posted an idea about having an adapter plate made for them to use on my lat pulldown and messaged the same idea to them(prime) and they now offer it.

http://primefitnessusa.com/product/p...-t8-short-bar/

http://primefitnessusa.com/product/ro-t8-wide-bar/

http://primefitnessusa.com/product/p...o-t8-landmine/

[Deep-Voiced-One]

My first piece from BWTG arrived today, I wanted to introduce some fat cable attachments into my lifting so I ordered the Ball Sac Lat Attachment and it was expected to arrive between 2 to 3 weeks and it arrived earlier than the expected date (arrived in 5 days from the date of purchase on my time off and on my workout day) which was awesome!

The box was securely taped and the cable attachment saran wrapped tight and protected (props to Dean for securing the attachment and it arriving in a nice and timely manner).













I worked out with it today and let me just say that this attachment is every bit as brutal as it is epic! It works the grip awesomely and has a nice textured powdercoat that is slightly grippy. I did pulldowns with the 3" globe portion for 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps, then moved to the middle portion for 2" grip pulldowns for 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps, it's also excellent for cable rows as well!

I'll definitely be ordering more stuff from Dean soon and am glad I chose this attachment over the 2" fat standard lat bar he had as well, it brings more variety and was also cheaper than the Rogue Dog Bone and a bit longer too at 30", compared to Rogue's attachment at 19" and even though Rogue's is a 3" bar with 4" globes, I think the 2" bar with 3" globes is more than challenging enough with this attachment...plus it can be used in other applications and is the perfect width for my wingspan.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Added some more weaponry to the lat machine arsenal...Ordered from both Elitefts and Spud Inc. on two different days and received both cable attachments yesterday and they shipped quite fast considering I ordered both close to and on the weekend, now I'm gonna need to build either a shop wall, or stand type of holder for all these attachments. Here's some pics of the 3" Muscle Mace (purchase two links for more versatility) and the Lat Saw...





And here's a pic of some of the attachments randomly scattered around...



...So far I tried the two Muscle Mace links for face pulls and it has a different feel yet definitely feels awesome for those, you sort of get a pump trying to latch on to them while pulling and spreading them apart at face level, I also tried them for a few sets of triceps pushdowns and they are a nice burn out for tri-setting them.

The Lat Saw is built like a tank! the steel saw piece is extremely heavy duty like a steel gear, or home improvement tool and has a nice little bow to it and the straps are strong and exactly like a dog collar, or leash. I was used to pulling with a grip on a traditional lat bar and when I used the straps for the Lat Saw and I mistakenly grasped the straps too low after putting my wrists in it (I have long arms and an 82" height lat machine, so this made the top portion of the cable hit when meeting at the top portion of the pulldown), but all I had to do was grasp the straps higher (for me just slightly lower than the rings and it was perfect with no high pulley contact again), felt great and has 9 different positions where you can easily adjust each ring of the straps to the next groove of the saw from wide to narrow, or vice versa.

A few things to keep in mind, the steel saw part is a bit sharp so when doing pulldowns just be conscious not to bang into the upper chest with it fast on the way pulling down and when setting it up you might want to grasp the attachment underneath when hooking it on (really no big deal, but just a heads up). If you're on the fence about this piece, I can honestly say I highly recommend it if you're looking for tons of versatility in your workout and the build quality is excellent!

I plan to get perhaps a wider carabiner clip for the Muscle Maces...the one I have works fine, but both kind of just fit in it and the hook ends tend to rub against each other during the movements (no fault of the attachments themselves) and it's an easy fix and the carabiner clips are fairly cheap anyway.

[BulkMore]

I like the look of this straight fat bar attachment. Bars coated in that textured powder coating are really nice. I hope that hex nut doesnt come off. Id be worried about that personally but im not a welder so I have no idea how much weight that can support.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

BulkMore, I hope it holds up well (I put my trust in Dean's product lol) and it's my first piece from him. It's a great piece and I find that I utilize it as an accessory a lot in my workouts lately.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

I decided to implement a deeper ROM for facepulls and add some Y-back delt pulls and ab work to the cable machine and got another Spud Inc. product, this time I went with the Spud Inc. long ab strap, it's 30" in length which I think is plenty and am glad I didn't go with the 36" Harbinger rope attachment (after using the jump ring straps from my lat saw, I actually think these strap attachments are superior to cable ropes, but I'll still keep the remaining one I have might still come in handy).

I got it in camo color and it's been awesome facepulls (What I particularly like about it is that you feel it in your rear delts and traps rather than the forearms coming into play and can grip the strap with a pronated style, or wrap them around the wrists and pull neutral on this movement). I'm diggin' it also for behind the neck lat pulldowns, ab work and kneeling high cable pulls and rows as well...the thing is built like a seatbelt with a soft comfortable feel yet built tough!

[Bench905]

I'm not one for long reviews, so I'll keep this short.

Prime Fitness RO-T8 Long and Short Bars
- I really like the RO-T8 handles and they kept pushing these new adjustable width bars over social media. I ordered both and was disappointed. There is so much hardware between the bar and the handle that there's no pre-stretch...and the weight stack hits before I get back to the top of the movement. The new 3-in-1 handles look way better. Regret buying these bars. You would need a super tall lat pulldown (UCS) to not have any issues with the abundance of hardware.\\

Pic of long bar with all the hardware in between pulley and handles.


MAG Grip Medium Supinate
- Just awesome. From the texture (dipped textured rubber over metal) to the width, it's just a really cool item. Medium supinate feel is unlike any other attachment I've tried. I feel like ordering the medium pronate would be a waste of $. I wasn't entirely clear why someone can't reverse the supinate into a pronate. I know it's not ideal, but it still works. I did sets of pronate pull-downs today with it. The big issue is price - getting all of the handles would be very expensive. I ordered close supinate as well and will probably stop there. I feel like that covers 4 grips for me.



PRIME seems to be trying to go against MAG with the new close and medium 3-in-1 grips. One would essentially cover 6 MAG grips with 2 handles. PRIME is doing a close (which will adjust from supinate-neutral-pronate) and then a medium with the same adjustments. I don't think the angles are the same as the MAGs - the PRIME looks less extreme...almost like 45° pronation and supination. And you'd miss out on the great MAG texture. But it is an interesting item.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Bench, thanks for the reviews (especially on the Mag supinate attachments since I'll be getting the medium set of Mags for Christmas).

Speaking of reviews, I wanted to post an update on the Spud Inc. Lat Saw, I think the appeal of this attachment has worn off for me, especially on high pulley movements such as pulldowns...the main reason why is because since you grasp lower due to the straps on the steel saw, to me it really limits your ROM and deep stretch on the movement, unless you grasp higher onto the straps (Which isn't comfortable at all) the stretch is diminished and you risk banging the sharp side of the saw into the upper chest.

Now to be fair I'm one of the people with a 82" Powertec lat machine, so maybe its appeal is for the taller commercial lat machines.

The idea was awesome and using the straps themselves are great, but if you have a shorter lat machine and unless you do kneeling pulldowns on it maybe, the ROM/stretch just isn't there (for me anyways).

As for the Spud Inc. Long Ab Strap, that attachment is excellent and I use it at the end of practically every workout.

[deadwoodgregg]

New video of the Prime ROT8 3N1



They're here. The newest member of the PRIME RO-T8 Family of Products.

The RO-T8 3N1 Handles are nothing short of what you've come to expect from PRIME - innovation, versatility and world-class quality craftsmanship. The RO-T8 3N1 Handles features a built-in locking mechanism that offers the ability to change the starting grip position to a neutral, supinated or pronated grip position in just seconds. What used to require 6 handles can now be achieved with just 2 RO-T8 3N1 Handles.

The RO-T8 3N1 Handles are available in a 14" and 6" width options, for even more versatility and exercise options. As with all members of the RO-T8 Family, these handles are available in both PRIME Green and Back and are proudly hand-crafted in the USA!

Head to www.PRIMEfitnessUSA.com tonight at 12:01AM to get your hands on a pair.

[Bench905]

New video of the Prime ROT8 3N1

Just too expensive. It's replacing 3 MAG grips for almost the price of 3 MAG grips.

The close grip one will be $165 and the medium will be $185.

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Figured I'd give a few opinions and order to some of my recent cable attachments...

1. Mag Grips- I only own the medium set so far, but the feel of back activation is no joke, nor gimmick these things really work and I highly recommend them despite their expense, to new buyers interested in them I would recommend they try getting one first and see how they like it from there.

I would rank the medium grips that I own like this...supinate, pronated then neutral.

2. BWTG's Ball Sac Lat Bar- The 3" globe grips really test grip strength and I feel an incredible contraction in my upper back and traps using this on pulldowns...honestly this attachment is extremely close in ranks to the Mag Grips.

3. Spud Inc. Long Ab Strap- Facepulls...need I say more? Ok I will, lat pullovers, many pulling and rowing variations, cable Ab crunches and a deep ROM and completely replaced my cable rope attachment...there done!

4. Troy Supra Cable Curl- Excellent at what it does and focusing on the biceps and forearms, feels great on the wrists during the movement.

5. 3" Muscle Mace Attachments- Many variety of globe style grips, I particularly like them for triceps pressdowns (as a tri-set with each pair), fat grip facepulls and globe curls.

6. Reps Direct Back Bar Pro- I like supersetting all the variations of grips it has to offer, not having to switch it out for other grips and its traditional feel to a barbell, the only con/trade off with this attachment piece is the weight of it at 16 lbs, so the cable stack would have to be weighted a bit when in use with this piece.

7. Spud Inc. Lat Saw- I dig the idea of this attachment for all nine adjustments that it offers and every part from the straps to the steel saw are extremely indestructible, but I would rank this in last place because it doesn't really give a good ROM on a light commercial lat machine with 7', or below that type heights, due to grasping the straps lower than the actual saw piece (I have long arms and due to the limited ROM I get with it on my Powertec lat machine, the saw's sharp end pretty much hits my upper chest and comes down fast due to it's limited ROM).

There are other uses that can make this piece useful including just taking the short straps off and using them which do work well, but as one whole piece it ain't really one of my favorites at all and since it would either boil down to this piece going, or my lat machine...I would choose this piece getting kicked out of my home gym for sure!

Well that about covers all the new/recent attachments and my thoughts on them (I'll add some thoughts on the Spud Inc. Hamstinger as I get more familiar with it soon). Feel free to add your placements and thoughts of your new/recent attachments as well if you could think of any to contribute here.

[Stinkape]

After reading this thread, I got attachment envy and had to order a few new attachments. My first big purchase was from Spud inc. Long ab strap, Hamstinger Deluxe, and Looper Straps plus chains. Now waiting on 3 Mag attachments.
My question though is about the Prime RO-T8 single handles, kind of pricey for a pair of handles, for those that have them or used them are they worth it, are they that much better than a pair of rotating handles?

[Asjogren]

Picked up a Repsdirect Back Bar Pro from DVO and got to run it through some workouts this week.





BACK:Hooked it up to my Inspire FT2 on the top pulleys and ran through the gamut of pull downs. Works as advertised as the different grips put a hurting on me.My lats were on fire. Very nice grips and variety. Made a bracket to pull off the lower 2 pulleys for some rows and was not disappointed.





I was very surprised how much I liked using it for Bicep curl variations as well as Tricep pushdowns. The different grips really work well. It will light your arms up with a nice burn.

This is a very versatile bar cable attachment . It is very well designed and really overbuilt..in fact ,the only slight I have with it is that it is a bit heavy (16lbs) for a cable attachment. Not a big deal and I HIGHLY recommend this bar. Multiple sets with different grips and not have to change the attachment..It's a keeper !

[Hardgains88]

After reading this thread, I got attachment envy and had to order a few new attachments. My first big purchase was from Spud inc. Long ab strap, Hamstinger Deluxe, and Looper Straps plus chains. Now waiting on 3 Mag attachments.
My question though is about the Prime RO-T8 single handles, kind of pricey for a pair of handles, for those that have them or used them are they worth it, are they that much better than a pair of rotating handles?

For a pulling handle there is simply nothing else lie them. They are lie individual mag grips. You need to have some sort of dual cable to use them best, they dont work great when used together of one cable

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Picked up a Repsdirect Back Bar Pro from DVO and got to run it through some workouts this week.





BACK:Hooked it up to my Inspire FT2 on the top pulleys and ran through the gamut of pull downs. Works as advertised as the different grips put a hurting on me.My lats were on fire. Very nice grips and variety. Made a bracket to pull off the lower 2 pulleys for some rows and was not disappointed.





I was very surprised how much I liked using it for Bicep curl variations as well as Tricep pushdowns. The different grips really work well. It will light your arms up with a nice burn.

This is a very versatile bar cable attachment . It is very well designed and really overbuilt..in fact ,the only slight I have with it is that it is a bit heavy (16lbs) for a cable attachment. Not a big deal and I HIGHLY recommend this bar. Multiple sets with different grips and not have to change the attachment..It's a keeper !

Great to hear that you dig the BBP, I often coin the name of this attachment "The Swiss Army Knife" of cable attachments due to the variety of handles and not having to switch it out and just pound the back, triceps and biceps at every angle with it!

Also the piece really just pops and looks like it belongs over there on the FT2!

[Stinkape]

For a pulling handle there is simply nothing else lie them. They are lie individual mag grips. You need to have some sort of dual cable to use them best, they dont work great when used together of one cable

Thanks for the reply, I have the Atlantis tall dual pulley lat pull down and a FreeMotion dual cable cross so should be able to take advantage of them.
I watched a video about them and the guy was saying if you have a hard time activating the chest during cable flies that these would fix that problem.
Also the landmine attachment looks sweet, but wondering about the attachments for lat pull-downs, if I would run into the same problem as some did with the Lat-saw, not having enough room for full extension or stretch before the weights touch.
If the R0-T8 handles and bar attachment work, would I not need the several MAG bars?

[Deep-Voiced-One]

For a pulling handle there is simply nothing else lie them. They are lie individual mag grips. You need to have some sort of dual cable to use them best, they dont work great when used together of one cable

I'd be curious to try these on the seated leverage row I'm getting, with the footplates on the machine I can imagine getting an epic stretch and back contraction on mid rows with them...something to think about getting in the near future if they would work on the lever arms.

[Stinkape]

I'd be curious to try these on the seated leverage row I'm getting, with the footplates on the machine I can imagine getting an epic stretch and back contraction on mid rows with them...something to think about getting in the near future if they would work on the lever arms.

Deep Voice, I think you previously mentioned that you could not get a stretch with the Spud Lat Saw, can you foresee the same problem happening with the Prime system, also do you run into that problem with the Back Bar Pro?

[Deep-Voiced-One]

Stinkape, the Back Bar Pro has no problem at all with a deep stretch on my lat machine at 82" in height.

The Lat Saw's issue mainly is due to the way the solid steel saw part is curved and since it can only be used with the ring straps they hang down further when doing pulldowns which impedes the range of motion on my shorter lat machine and actually hits the top of the machine on the way up even when I'm sitting...I don't think this would be typical on a taller lat machine, but for anyone with maybe a 7', or shorter lat machine, you might have ROM issues with the Lat Saw attachment.

As for the Prime handles, I was thinking of the single arm ones they offer and using them on my custom plate loaded leverage row, not on the lat machine since they are individual handles.

[Stinkape]

Stinkape, the Back Bar Pro has no problem at all with a deep stretch on my lat machine at 82" in height.

The Lat Saw's issue mainly is due to the way the solid steel saw part is curved and since it can only be used with the ring straps they hang down further when doing pulldowns which impedes the range of motion a bit on my shorter lat machine and actually hits the top of the machine on the way up even when I'm sitting...I don't believe this would be typical on a taller lat machine, but for anyone with maybe a 7', or shorter lat machine, you might have ROM issues with the Lat Saw attachment.

As for the Prime handles, I was thinking of the single arm ones they offer and using them on my custom plate loaded leverage row, not on the lat machine since they are individual handles.

Right, but they have an attachment for those handles that looks similar to the Lat Saw, and that's what I was wondering if those 3 pieces combined would cause to much of a length.

[Hardgains88]

Thanks for the reply, I have the Atlantis tall dual pulley lat pull down and a FreeMotion dual cable cross so should be able to take advantage of them.
I watched a video about them and the guy was saying if you have a hard time activating the chest during cable flies that these would fix that problem.
Also the landmine attachment looks sweet, but wondering about the attachments for lat pull-downs, if I would run into the same problem as some did with the Lat-saw, not having enough room for full extension or stretch before the weights touch.
If the R0-T8 handles and bar attachment work, would I not need the several MAG bars?

I have almost identical pieces, i have a dual stack/cable icarion lat pull down machine and a paramount adjustable arm FT (similar to Free Motion) so you have ideal equipment for the handles.
I dont think they replace the mags or other adjustable strive handles completely, but they are certainly the most versatile single attachmebts i have. I do use them for chest flys on th
FT as well as some other movements like biceps. Flys are awesome, biceos are hit or miss.
With your equipment if its a choice of the rot 8’s or buying two mag attachments (abiut the same price) go with the rots! Hands down

I'd be curious to try these on the seated leverage row I'm getting, with the footplates on the machine I can imagine getting an epic stretch and back contraction on mid rows with them...something to think about getting in the near future if they would work on the lever arms.

I have played around with the rots on some rows machines. I have 2 chest supported rows, both are weight stack machines. My body masters had enough adjustment in th andchest support to allow enough range of motion, i didnt play with it enough to be sure though.

[Stinkape]

What do you think of the bar that Prime came out with to attach the handles turning them into a lat pull-down bar