Indoor cycling classes burn calories and improve aerobic fitness. People think mainly of the thigh muscles as the muscles worked during cycling. However the muscles of the back, hips and abdomen work to stabilize the upper body and pelvis. Injuries to the back and neck are common among cyclists because of the stress placed upon these areas. The latissimus dorsi are a pair of back muscles you use to maintain posture during indoor cycling.
When you're trying to strengthen your back, lat pulldowns are useful exercise but far from your only exercise option. To do a lat pulldown, which works the two latissimus dorsi muscles in the middle of your back, you must sit a...
If you have a broken hand, it can limit your ability to exercise. A cast or brace may prevent you from bending or gripping with the injured hand and some exercises, such as pushups, may cause pain or even further injury. Howeve...
The single pulley and the double pulley lat pulldown are exercises performed on special cable weight machines. The technique you choose to perform the exercises is different depending on how the machine is set up; however, both...
Cable rows target the major muscles in your back which are the rhomboids, latissimus dorsi and trapezius, with the biceps acting as the secondary muscle. Cable machines pull the muscles in both directions, eccentrically and con...
Rotation exercises performed on a cable pulley machine are excellent for women, strengthening the core and joint-stabilizing muscles. If you tend to train on the big exercise machines instead of using dumbbells, barbells and yo...
It works in conjunction with the front and rear deltoid muscles to move your shoulder joint. To work your medial deltoids, perform overhead shoulder presses and lateral raises on a weight or cable machine.
Not all cable exercise equipment includes adjustments to set the angle that you pull the handles. Bench machines have a cable with handles or a bar suspended from a stationary arm above the bench. Cable crossover machines are l...
Cable exercises combine the safety of exercise machines with the effectiveness of free weights. The handles can move freely in any direction, but as the weights themselves are housed inside a machine and fixed on guide rods; th...
Cable pulley machines are commonly used in resistance training programs due to their effectiveness and their high level of safety. You can perform exercises for all the major muscles with cables. By altering the amount of repet...
Include reverse cable fly exercises into your weekly shoulder training routine to develop your posterior deltoids.
Cable fly exercises involve moving your arms with your elbows slightly bent toward or away from the center of your body with resistance from a cable column machine. This increases strength and the size of your chest, shoulders,...
Cable cross flies, also called cable crossovers, are an isolation exercise for your chest muscles. You need access to an adjustable cable machine to do variations of the cable crossover exercise. Because this is an isolation ex...
If you know how to do a triceps pushdown on a cable machine, you're one small adjustment away from doing standing cable pullovers. You need a high pulley for this exercise, and almost any type of handle that's wide enough for y...
Exercises using a cable pulley machine are excellent for not only strengthening your legs but also for developing your core and improving your balance. Cable exercises are a good way to add changes to your workouts and prevent ...
Cable-based exercise machines are some of the most versatile forms of exercise equipment available. Depending on what type of machine you have access to, you can do virtually any exercise that you would do with free weights, as...
The machine has two towers that hold stacks of weights which can be adjusted for increased or decreased intensity. Cables on pulleys run from each tower and are used with different grips for leg, torso and arm exercises.
Cable machines provide a useful and safe way to strengthen your shoulder muscles -- they allow you to work with heavy weights without having to have a spotter and also make it easier to use proper technique. Cable machines offe...
Strength and conditioning specialist Michael Boyle uses prone and cable hip flexion exercises to improve speed and power as well as to maintain the health of his athletes' hips.
The one arm cable kickback is an exercise that works the triceps muscle of the upper arm. Kickbacks are an isolation exercise, meaning the triceps muscle is isolated and is the only muscle being extensively worked during a kick...
A variety of cable-pulling machines exist to allow resistance-training enthusiasts the ability to perform a variety of exercises for an effective, full-body workout. The machines are designed differently, but each has at least ...
The main muscle worked by this exercise is your trapezius, but this weight exercise also works your shoulders. The upright cable row uses a pulling motion that is achieved with a cable machine, found at most gyms.
The muscles allow for many movements, such as lumbar flexion, lumbar lateral flexion and lumbar rotation. You can effectively train the external obliques with cables by performing waist-side bending and waist-side rotating move...
The lats are responsible for many movements, including shoulder adduction, shoulder extension and shoulder transverse extension. You can use cables to build and strengthen the lats. You can also simulate several free weight bac...
While this large back muscle can be targeted using free weights and doing pull-ups, cable exercises are by far and above the best way to get luscious lats.
The universal cable machine is a piece of exercise equipment used to perform strength training exercises. You can add attachments to the cable machine to work different muscle groups. The cable machine allows for a wide range o...
You can target the front, side and rear portions of the deltoids by performing different variations of arm raising movements. The upper trapezius can be targeted by performing shrugging movements. The benefits of using cables i...
You can work your chest muscles in several different ways, including with free weights such as barbells and dumbbells, body weight exercises such as push-ups and different cable exercises. Cable exercises are performed on cable...
Cable pullovers are one of the few exercises that work the back and involve more than mere stabilization from the chest muscles. The pecs are actually secondary movers for this exercise. Cable pullovers may refer to either exer...
Guiding the handle through the appropriate range of motion yourself activates more stabilizing muscles than using a conventional weight machine, and also allows you to do a wide variety of exercises with just one or two pulleys.
To isolate the triceps, the muscles of the posterior arm, use some degree of an elbow extension. Incorporate the use of a cable machine to target the triceps and add variety to your workouts.
They are joined together by a large, steel frame that often has a pull-up bar attached to the top. When it comes to working your chest, you have the option of using one side or both sides of the machine at the same time. Exerci...
Cable workout machines provide more freedom in movement than a traditional weight machine. A cable machine is not limited by handles and other non-moving structures. You can spot a cable machine by looking for a large column of...
Although you might be one of those people who prefer to toss manuals aside and simply figure out how to put something together on your own, keep in mind that a Bowflex home gym is not easy to put together. Even though the Bowfl...
Cable and pulley exercise, while considered "old-school" training, is slowly gaining momentum at fitness centers. These back-to-basics machines do not have computer readouts, seat adjustments or stabilizing seat belts, but they...
Cross over cable machines facilitate a slew of upper-body exercises that can be performed with minimal setup and experience. Cross over machines are often large, spanning up to 15 feet wide, and are commonly shaped like a socce...
The pulleys work by sliding to various preset positions on the device. In this manner, users can change the angles at which the cables move, which can help to increase the difficulty of a certain exercise or work a group of mus...
There are several different types of handles and bars that you can attach to the cables, and you can perform exercises using one or both cables for a variety of muscular challenges. You can also change where the cable is anchor...
Each weight stack attaches to a pulley running along a vertical track. You can adjust the height of the pulley along with the handle attachment, allowing you to perform a variety of exercises on the same piece of equipment. The...
This very versatility, paired with an array of handles and accessories that clip into the pulleys, seems designed to bewilder beginners. Keep things simple by focusing on a few simple exercises at a time, and before you know it...
After initial treatments have relieved pain and restored mobility and function, exercise is often the next step. Initial exercise should begin with simple range-of-motion exercises. From there, resistance exercises for increasi...
Cable exercises in the gym are done with cable machines, pieces of equipment with two weights stacks and adjustable, sliding pulleys in front that allow you to easily change the height of an attachment. Exercises can be done wi...
You select the level of resistance by placing a pin in the desired weight on a weight stack, and you place the proper bar on the pulley either from the top or the bottom. All exercises can be easily performed through a full ran...
Because the muscle rests near the surface of the skin, it is often one of the more visible signs of strength and fitness. Next time you hit the gym, head over to the cable machine for a total biceps workout.
When it comes to training the muscles of the back, however, either type of cable can be used with the same exercises. Cable machines use a weight stack for resistance whereas resistance cables provide resistance
Training the muscles of the back helps create a balanced physique and improves posture. Using cables are a way to train your back because the exercises can be performed quickly, safely and effectively. Cables allow you to perfo...
The deltoids muscle, also called the shoulder, has three separate muscles--the anterior, or front, deltoid, the medial, or side, deltoid and the posterior, or rear, deltoid. Cables offer a variety of exercises that can be done ...
Most back exercises performed on a cable machine focus on either your latissimus dorsi or trapezius muscles as the primary movers. Almost every muscle in your back kicks in to assist with the movement or stabilize your shoulder...
This machine has a cable on both sides, and when you stand in the middle and grab each cable, your body will look like the letter "T." When doing cable crossover exercises, the cables generally are pulled together, in front of ...
Cable machines have two independent weight stacks with adjustable, sliding pulleys. These machines can be used for a variety of exercises, and they have multiple attachments available. You can use one side of the machine or bot...
Cable pulley machines are common in many gyms and rehab centers today. They provide a wide range of exercises and can be adjusted to your height and size. Unlike other weight-training machines, this equipment requires you to us...
Cable machines can add variety to your exercise program and can also be used to recover from muscle and joint injuries. Paul Sorace, an ACSM registered clinical exercise physiologist, advises that cable machines also apply resi...
Cable machines and isolated exercise machines are two of the most common types of gym equipment in fitness centers today. Although both types of equipment are based on bodybuilding techniques--in which the goal is to isolate mu...
