Over the past several weeks, we have been doing weekly features on four different types of cable systems. As a reminder, we have covered:
- Lat pulldown machines
- Functional trainers
- Wall mounted pulley systems
- Squat racked attached pulley systems
In each post, we did a very detailed breakdown of what each of them were and what to look for when choosing one.
But, let’s say that you don’t know which of the four options you want to choose. That’s where this post comes in!
We are going to help you make that decision by breaking it down into some fundamental questions (they do not necessarily have to be answered in the listed order). Before we do that, let’s talk about some common configurations we have seen in home gyms:
-Getting two wall mounted units to be used as a “cable crossover”
-Getting a functional trainer and a lat pulldown machine so you can do pulldowns with a lap pad
-Basing the whole gym around the squat rack, thus, adding a squat rack attached cable system
-Getting a functional trainer, a bench, and some adjustable dumbbells (or kettlebells) for efficient home workouts in a small space
-Getting a functional trainer and a cheaper, squat rack attached cable system for his and her workouts
Now, onto the guiding questions:
- Have you started your gym buildout yet? If you already have a fairly well stocked home gym and are looking to add a cable system, then I would try to think through “what offers the most additional functionality and fits in the space I have available?”. If you are starting from scratch, and you enjoy cable work, I would highly recommend making this decision be one of the focal points of your home gym, and making it in tandem with your squat rack decision. By this, I mean I would encourage you to ensure you are buying a squat rack that will complement the cable system you want, and vice versa.
- Do you plan to only get one cable machine, or would you ever have multiple?
If you plan to only get one cable machine, then I would NOT recommend a lat pulldown, unless you are only getting the cable machine to be able to do the exercises that a lat pulldown offers. Functional trainers would be the best choice, and then wall mounted or squat rack attached tied as the second choice
- Is space a constraint?
If yes, then I would not recommend a functional trainer if you already have a squat rack and could get a cable system that is attached to that or wall mounted unit. If you are deciding between a lat pulldown and a functional trainer, the functional trainer will take up ~2x more space, but offer infinite more exercise options. I would highly consider choosing the functional trainer and sacrificing the space that something else occupies
- Is having a lap pad or foot plate important?
By this, I mean the pad that goes over your thighs when you are doing pulldowns and the plate that you put your feet against to do seated rows. Personally, this is important to me, but I really wanted a functional trainer and usually only lat pulldown machines give you both of these options in one machine. Because of this, I made sure to buy a functional trainer that had the foot plate, and then a special adjustable bench that I could lock my legs into (not as good as the lap pad, but ~80% as good and I got to have my functional trainer).
That is a long way of saying that if you absolutely must have a lap pad and foot plate on your cable machine, the only way to get that really is with the lat pulldown, or a squat rack attached cable system and then you would also need to buy special squat rack attachments. Wall mounted units do not have either options. Functional trainers can include the foot plate but not the lap pad
- What is the budget for this item?
If you only have a couple hundred bucks to spend on this, then that pretty much rules out the functional trainer (unless you can find a great deal on a used one).
Hopefully the above guiding questions help!
