Introduction
Stray Dog Strength has been a pioneer of the rack-bench system since its conception in the 1990’s, we noticed that many facilities were wasting space by having machines that take up a large footprint but were only useful for one or two exercises so we designed our cable machines to fit inside our racks as attachments.
We also developed our ATR series which we designed to be primarily used as machines but built out of rack uprights so you can use them as a lifting station or as an attachment post when the machine is not in use. You also can add storage for kettlebells, dumbbells, plate/bumpers, attachments, rope or ball storage to ATR units to use the space between the units which otherwise would not get utilized.
Click the product name to go to product page, Pictured below from left to right, Belt Squat/Lat Pull down attachment, Lat pull down attachment and Cable Column attachments.
efficent use of space
Stray Dog Strength Cable machine attachments allow for a more efficient use of space as the same footprint of a half rack can have one or two cable attachments added to it such as a Cable column, Lat pull down/low row or Belt squat/Lat pull down combo attachments.
In sports performance facilities it is important to have more than one or two of each unit to allow entire teams or position groups to train at the same which promotes both competition and team comradery. By putting cable columns and Lat pull downs inside the rack stations it allows for more cable machines to be added to a room even if there is no extra floor space as they can go between the back and front rack uprights.
Pictured above are two different examples of how we can add cable machine attachments to both half racks and double sided half racks.
The two Alpha Half Racks pictured above with Blue uprights and Red crossmembers both have cable column attachments in them creating a functional trainer between the racks when used together or creates two separate cable columns.
The other picture above of an Alpha Double Sided Half Rack with Black Uprights and crossmembers and Yellow accents, has two Lat pull down low row attachments in it, one on each side creating 2 Lat pull down stations without adding to the footprint of the rack a total of 4 cable machines could be added to an Alpha Double Sided Half Rack or 2 in an Alpha Half Rack.
Difference between an ATR cable unit and a Rack cable attachment
To explain the difference between ATR cable units and Rack cable attachments I will use the cable column as an example. ATR Cable Columns are much more expensive than Cable Column attachments as cable column attachments use the rack as the frame.
The ATR Cable column is comprised of 2 rack uprights, 2 crossmembers, 1 pulley housing, 1 adjustable trolley, 1 low pulley, 1 cable, 2 guide rods and 1 weight stack. Meaning that it comes with its own frame and can be connected to the side of the rack with a crossmember or you can connect two ATR units with any of our 4 length crossmembers.
A cable column rack attachment is comprised of 1 pulley housing, 1 adjustable trolley, 1 Cable, 1 low pulley, 2 guide rods and 1 weight stack. Cable column attachments use the Alpha Rack or Alpha Double Half Rack as the frame and come with all the parts needed to add a cable column attachment inside Alpha Racks.
In conclusion the difference between an ATR cable column and a Cable Column Attachment is the cable column attachment is just the “guts” of the cable column and does not include the frame of uprights and crossmembers as it goes inside a rack. The same thing applies to all machine attachments such as the Lat pull down attachments and Belt squat/Lat Pull down attachments they are only the “guts” and need to go inside an Alpha Rack.
Dual cable machine attachments
Two cable machine attachments can be added inside one Alpha Half rack, this gives customers the ability to chose between our cable column, Lat pull down/low row and Belt squat/Lat pull down options and mix and match the different machines inside the rack.
The Alpha Half Rack pictured above in black and yellow shows two machine attachments, the one on the left is a cable column attachment and the one of the right is a Lat Pull down/Low row attachment.
The rack pictured above in all black is actually two ATR Lat pull downs connected with a 43″ crossmember to create a rack that has two cable column attachments.
ATR Cable Machines are made using the same parts as our racks but they do not come with all the standard parts a rack does.
If you want to create a “Rack” out of our ATR cable columns you will need to connect them with a 43″ crossmember to put the uprights 49″ apart so they can be lifted on.
Belt Squat lat pull down attachment
The Belt Squat/Lat Pull down is our only cable machine that is plate loaded as many athletes squat more than 300 pounds which is our highest sectorized weight stack option.
Pictured above is our Belt Squat Lat Pull down attachment in an Alpha Double Half rack at Hicksville High School in Ohio. Hicksville Purchased 5 Double sided half racks along with their 5 half racks even though they don’t need the extra stations the Double Sided Half racks created they use them for auxiliary lifts such as Belt squat/Lat pull downs or Jammer Arm Exercises.
The Belt Squat can also be used as a Lat pull down machine if you remove the adjustable belt squat stop which allows athletes to start and stop the carriage at whatever height they need as it is adjustable with an Adjustable Nut.
Lat pull down attachment
Pictured below is our Lat Pull down/low row attachment in an Alpha Half rack, this Lat Pull down attachment has a 250 LBS Stack with a 1:1 ratio meaning athletes will feel the full weight of the 250 LBS stack opposed to our Cable Columns which have a 2:1 ratio weight stack.
You will notice the chain clipped onto the carabiner attached to the top pulley, this is to allow different height athletes to set up the Lat pull down unit so they can reach the bar while sitting on the seat and don’t have to stand up to grab the bar and then sit down.
cable column attachments
Cable Column attachments are great for adding programmability to a rack station making it usable for the entire duration of a workout.
functional trainer Rack attachments
With the ability to put a cable column inside of our racks we are able to create a functional trainer between rack stations that takes up no extra square footage. Functional trainers are great for working both sides of the body unilaterally as the cables are independent of each other and do not allow for cheating of a dominate side.
Conclusion
Cable Machine Attachments give sports performance centers, gyms and Home Gyms the ability to add a cable machine where they never thought possible. Cable Machine Attachments must go inside Stray Dog Strength Alpha Half or Double Half racks and have been proven since 2017 to be an effective way to add machines without taking up valuable floor space.
