Home Gym Question

[Tron Carter]

I am currently going through Break-In and I am having trouble with two exercises. One is the Lat-Pulldown since I work out in my basement and don't have a pulldown machine. The other is seated cable row.

My question: is there a home gym solution that would fit in my basement? My celling is 75". I would also like the solution to be under $500.

I currently have a Sumo Rack which was designed for low cellings however the rack doesn't offer a lat pulldown add-on as do other racks.

The setup in the book looks really cool, the guy uses the same cable/pully system for both pulldowns and rows.

[rwmct]

In my other house I set up a homeade high pulley station in the basement. If the beams are exposed, its not hard. Home Depot or Lowes have the pulleys and coated cable and connections you need. But you also need to cut a 2X4 and a piece of plywood. YOu put the plywood on the floor and jam the 2X4 between it and the beam you have the pulleys attached to. Then you hook the whole think up to a yoke made of a short length of cable with loops in the end. YOu loop that over a one inch piece of bar or a db handle.

Its not elegant, but it will work.

AS for purchased solutions, at 75 in, you are not going to fit a store bought high low cable station in there, unfortunately. However, some of the cheaper benches with lat stations you see at Dicks, etc. may work for you. I doubt they are strong enough for a real strong guy, but if you are working with more than your body weight you can always put in a pull up bar.

[Cynic]

Pull-downs: pull-up w/ feet on chair. Some means of taking weight off.
Cable rows: bent-over bar bell rows.

Now, the pull-downs are using a neutral grip, so you need to emulate one as best as possible. I have a 2 1/2" band that I fold over twice, loop over the barbell in the top position of my rack and grab hold of it. I then place the instep of my feet on my bench to take some weight off. You could also try a bath towel. Don't use a hand towel unless your grip is sure because there isn't enough material to get a good grip otherwise.