I’ve known people who build home gyms that opt to make their own gym equipment because it gives their home gym a more personal touch and allows them to work out in comfort.
Besides benches and deadlift platforms, one of the more popular DIY gym equipment pieces that gets a lot of attention is a pulley system.
As a fitness trainer for over 10 years, I’ve helped hundreds of clients build their own gym pulley system. and in this article, I’m going to share with you exactly how.
Let’s begin.
Quick Summary
- Building DIY gym pulley systems is a cost-effective and convenient way to get a full-body workout at home: it saves you money on gym memberships and allows you to tailor your workout to your specific needs and goals.
- There are three ways to make a DIY gym pulley setup: the simplest cable pulley version, the triceps pulldown method, and the cable crossover with high and low pulley setup.
- DIY gym pulley systems can be used for resistance training exercises, such as rows, pulldowns, curls, tricep extensions, and more, which improve muscle strength and endurance.
How To Build Your Own DIY Gym Pulley System
Building your home gym pulley setup is a rewarding DIY project.
The process involves the following steps:
- Selecting and attaching the anchor points
- Assembling and attaching the pulleys
- Threading the ropes or cables.
It requires knowledge of the proper technique and materials to ensure the safety and functionality of the finished product.
Why You Should Build Your Own Pulley System
Building your own DIY pulley system is an exciting way to take charge of your fitness journey and achieve the results you want.
It’s affordable and lets you tailor your workout to your requirements and objectives.
Pulley setups also permit a greater range of motion and the ability to target workouts at particular muscle groups, making an exercise more effective and efficient.
Pulley systems are great for resistance training, which helps you build lean muscle and strength effectively [1].
With a system of your own, you can work out whenever you like without having to go to a gym or wait for equipment to become available.
So if you want to advance your fitness, creating a DIY pulley setup is a terrific way to do it!
What Items Do You Need?
To build your cable pulley system, you need the following items:
- Swivel eye pulley
- Wire cutters
- Iron pipe flange
- Ferrules
- Carabiner
- Soft loop tie-down straps
- Galvanized wire
- Loading pin
- Olympic weights
- Power rack to support the DIY pulley
Three Ways To Do It
Follow the instructions below to build your own cable pulley setup in three different ways.
The Simplest Version
- Cut your galvanized wire in half using wire cutters, and tightly wrap it around the pipe. Twist the loose ends into a homemade loop.
- Look for an elevated surface where you can suspend your pulley.
- Thread the galvanized wire through the loop, then wrap it firmly around the surface you will suspend your pulley to
- Tie a tight knot at one end of the nylon rope, and thread its other end through the suspended pulley. After it's through, tie a knot at the other end too.
- Take hold of the wire loop sticking in the center of your pipe's handle. Hook the loop on the carabiner to make a handle.
- Connect the other side of the nylon rope to free weights using the loading pin.
Tricep Pull-Down
- Slide the hollow pipe over the pull-up bar if you’re using one to secure the pulley. This will spread the pulley's weight across a wider region, preventing the pull-up bar from snapping. You can omit this step if your tall structure is already sturdy enough.
- Use a rope cut to about a foot to attach the swivel pulley to the straight bar with the pipe covering. Tie a strong knot to prevent injury.
- Cut a rope length to fit through the pulley, holding a weight stack and a handle on either end. Your mounted pulley should have a rope attached to it.
- Place your weight plate on one end of the rope and your belt or handle on the other. Tying knots prevents the weight and handle from slipping out and damaging something.
Related: Best Tricep Cable Exercises to Build Strength & Muscle
Cable Crossover With High & Low Pulley Setup
- Put one swivel pulley through one wire cable.
- The bottom of the cable clamps should have a screw-on nut, and the top should have a loop. Two clamps' loop ends are used to thread the wire rope through. Both clamps should have downward-facing screw-on nuts. Reverse the wire rope's direction and slackly thread it through the loops of the two clamps.
- One of the cable thimbles should be inserted into that circle of wire. Wire rope is protected from fraying by thimbles under intensive use. The wire circle should tighten around the thimble once you insert a thimble and draw the wire end through the clamp loops.
- Tighten the clamps' bottom nuts with the socket wrench. This will make your wire loop and thimble stay in place.
- Repeat steps a to d to secure a thimble and two cable clamps to the opposite end of that wire rope. At this point, you have a single rope with a swivel pulley in the middle and thimble loops secured by cable clamps at either end.
- With the second wire rope cable, repeat the entire process. The two pulley cables should now have thimble loops on each end.
Exercises You Can Do With Your Own Cable Pulley System
Here’s a list of exercises you can do with your own cable pulley system:
- Pull-ups: Connect the cable pulleys to a secure anchor point above your head and use the pullup bar to perform upper-body pull-ups.
- Lat pulldowns: Sit at the cable machines and pull the wires down to your chest to work your back muscles.
- Cable rows: Stand facing the system and use a cable handle to pull the cable towards your chest to build your back and shoulder muscles.
- Bicep curls: Use a pipe handle to perform bicep cable curls, working your bicep muscles.
- Tricep extensions: Use a rope attachment to perform tricep extensions and triceps pushdowns.
- Shoulder press: Stand facing the system and use a cable handle to press the cable overhead, pressing your shoulder muscles.
- Cable crunches: Attach a rope or cable handle to the low pulley, kneel facing the machine, and crunch forward to work your abs.
- Cable leg press, curl, and extension: Attach a stirrup handle to the low pulley, sit on your knees, and press the handle with your legs for cable exercises like pressing, curling, and extending quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. It improves the flexibility and movement of your lower body [2].
“Lat pulldowns 100% train the lats (no matter the setup). But various setup positions, executional styles and anthropometrics will indeed dictate the amount of targeting and recruitment of the lats (in combination with other muscular players).”
- Dr. John Rusin, Sports Performance Specialist
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Why Make Your Own?
Making your own DIY cable pulley system allows for customization, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility for your workout schedule. It also enables targeting specific muscles and increases muscle activation.
Additionally, it eliminates the need for a gym membership or waiting for equipment availability and is a great way to take control of your fitness journey.
Your own system allows you to adjust the weight using loading pins and resistance levels through resistance bands to suit your needs.
You can perform various exercises to target different muscle groups and achieve your fitness goals.
FAQs
How Do Gym Pulleys Work?
Gym pulleys work by using a system of wheels and cables to provide resistance for strength-training exercises. The pulleys are attached to anchor points, and the cable runs through them. You need to use a handle or rope to perform exercises that target specific muscle groups, as the cable pulley machine provides resistance to build strength and muscle mass.
What Are the Four Types of Pulleys?
The four types of pulleys are block and tackle, fixed, movable, and compound. Block and tackle type use multiple pulleys to increase their mechanical advantage. Fixed pulleys change the direction of the force. Movable pulleys change the direction of force and the mechanical advantage. The compound type uses a combination of fixed and movable pulleys.
What Is the Best Pulley System for a Home Gym?
The best pulley system for a home gym is a multi-pulley and cable machine. The multi-pulley allows for multiple exercises and provides a variety of resistance levels. A cable machine is also a good option for a home gym, as it allows for a wide range of exercises and has multiple attachments.
Build Your Own DIY Pulley System
Building a DIY gym pulley setup is a great way to add a new dimension to your home workout routine.
With the ability to work on specific muscles and a wide range of exercises available, a DIY gym pulley setup is a versatile and valuable addition to any home gym.
If making your own sounds like too much of a hassle, you can check out the high-quality cable machines we extensively tested.
No matter if you're a seasoned gym-goer or just starting, a pulley setup is a convenient way to get a full-range workout at home gyms.
References:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4126309/
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325337423_Isokinetic_peak_torque_and_flexibility_changes_of_the_hamstring_muscles_after_eccentric_training_Trained_versus_untrained_subjects
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