Often seen in some left over box from the gym construction is a variety of different things with carabiners on them. Somewhat like the herbs and spices draw, your salt and pepper are your handles and ankle straps, whilst your tricep rope and curling bar are your mixed herbs and crushed chillies, then we start getting into the herbs that just sit there after we used them in one recipe. Anyway, we’re all about fitness here and not spices (although some crossover as diet is very important - yes it’s worth adding some flavouring to your chicken, you won't regret the 10 calories).
You can easily go over the top for attachments, but what you really need is enough to work your muscles in the right way so we’ve put together the essential attachments needed for a cable machine to show how they’re worth their weight in gold, which we go into more detail here.
Cable machine attachment - single handle
Probably the first one on anyone’s list as it’s great for many different exercises and different muscles. Bicep curls, lat raises, triceps extensions, rows, flys, and more. By positioning a single handle in the right way you can train most of your upper body muscles and get a great workout with it. There are a few different single handle types, our recommendation is to go with one that has the ability to spin as it allows for a smoother movement.
Cable machine attachment - ankle strap
We’ve got most of the top of your body sorted, now the bottom half. Ankle straps are similar in allowing you to be very diverse in the variety of leg exercises you can do just with this attachment - glute kickbacks, leg extensions, hamstring curls, sidekicks, and so on. Most are relatively similar and there’s not much innovation in the category as there’s not much more needed. Just one with a good strap and clip. Also, in between sets, leave them on as they are a bit of a pain taking on and off constantly - if you get funny looks at the gym with this then that’s on them.
Cable machine attachment - curling bar
Something worth considering to add to your single handle exercises but now with both hands. Bicep curls are great (hence the name) but bent over rows and straight lat pulldowns add some variety.
Cable machine attachment - tricep rope
These are a game changer and they’re not just for your triceps. One thing to remember when training triceps is the position of your triceps - if you use a curling bar you are pushing directly down, which isn’t against the angle of the tricep. You want to be pulling away from the middle of your body like a v-shape, hence the tricep rope. You have the rope or the strap which is down to personal preference. Other exercises that are great with a tricep rope: holding the weight for squats, face pulls, and crunches.
Cable machine attachment - and the rest
This list could go on and on but you have places to be. We’ve written a guide for home gym must haves that explores into more depth with all the considerations when purchasing your own cable machine.
You don’t need to buy all the attachments at once, look to prioritise and then expand as you may find out you like using certain attachments for certain exercises but wish you had that extra attachment. As with Unitree PUMP, you can find all the essential attachments in our bundle kit, as standard, and are always free to clip on your own attachments.