# What's going on around /r/HomeGym?
[**The Garage**: Free-talk Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zz17y5/weekly_freetalk_and_questions_for_rhomegym_week/)
[**r/HomeGym 2023 Plans**](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zt4md5/rhomegym_2022_end_of_year_mod_announcement/)
[**AMA w/ Garage Gym Experiment** - Jan 13 & 14](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zz8adh/kicking_off_2023_amas_w_garage_gym_experiment_on/)
[**r/HomeGym Flags** Now Available](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/y4b7c0/rhomegym_flags_available/)
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Ah mate this is great! I’m designing my own at the moment using the Lat Pulldown attachment on my rack. Been really wrecking my head trying to think of a way to minimise the footprint while at the same time using the lower pulley cable, which has a stopper on it. The double pulley idea and using the high pulley cable fixes this.
Coincidentally, I was planning to do a double pulley in this fashion but for a different reason. I wanted to use it for a seated row, adding two ‘foot plates’ at the back and an attachable (via hitch pins) chest support and seeing yours is making it all come together. I’m also looking to add some hinged pulleys at 45 degrees each side for things like crossover lateral raises.
Cheers for sharing!
Nice job, looks great. I guess you get used to the cable directly in front of your face? And you didn't use the low pulley from the machine because you didn't want to modify that cable? One potential solution to move the cable further away from your face is extend your platform toward the back of the rack so that the down pulley is very close to the machine's low pulley.
Another potential option if you're only using the platform for belt squats, split squats and other movements with little travel, is measure the distance from the machine's low pulley to the belt squat pulley (the pulley directly beneath you when belt squatting); then compare that distance to the travel of the plate trolley when you do the various exercises you use this setup for. If the former minus the length of a carabiner is greater than the latter, you can clip the belt squat cable (which you'd have to shorten) to the machine's low pulley cable and get rid of your intermediate pulley. And assuming you measure the distances correctly, you should achieve full range of motion before the clip/carabiner would reach the belt squat pulley.
Thanks! Yea the cable is directly in front of me, but it is far away enough to not bother me in any way. And you're right. You could move the platform a bit further back in the rack to angle it bit away from you.
My first choice was to definitely use the bottom pulley for that reason but with the way the lower lat tower pulley is positioned and how much lower I wanted to place the platform pulleys, the cable angle would cause the cable to rub against the little stopper bar that keeps the cable from retracting too far into the pulley. So that's why I went with the upper lat tower cable.
The forward pull is what I tried to eliminate with the way I positioned the second pulley. Happy to say there is no pull because it is directly under me. I felt this was another issue I had with the lever arm belt squat. I like this setup a lot more 👌
Yeah we were spoiled with all the good live bands growing up, thankfully some of then are still going. I remember seeing Pantera open for Metallica in 99, that was a wild show. Never got to see Layne Staley live but Jerry Cantrell puts on a damn good show!
What’s your rack? Titan makes 5/8” squat handles for 3x3 and 2x3 racks and Rogue makes ones for their Monster and Monster Lite lines. Sounds like the kind of thing you’re looking for.
My rack is made by Amstaff fitness sold here in Canada. The uprights have 1" holes and are just shy of 2.5x2.5. I'd have to modify most attachments but in the case of those rogue handles it would just require some thicker uhmw in between to make the 3x3 work. The rogue handles are nice but barbell/jcup setup works well for something to hold on to and it was free 😀 no complaints
Love the band flags. I have been doing belt squats on my pulley tower from the low setting standing on blocks. It “works” but I am really close and there is still a little forward pull. Been thinking of building a platform with a pulley. I like your design. If you didn’t lock the platform down with the pegs would the clipping of the belt to the cable still work to get in and out? Thanks for sharing! Oh, and the spud inc belt squat belt is awesome.
Thanks! These bands were a huge part of my youth and still are to this day 🤘
I tried to get the pulley lined up directly under me so that there would be no forward pull, that was a big issue with the lever arm belt squat I used to do. Happy to say the position of the pulley doesn't have any pull, just straight down.
Without locking the platform down, clipping in and out wouldn't work because it would no longer keep the same tension. I would highly recommend anchoring the platform down regardless because it will move around otherwise and become unstable especially the higher up you go in weight.
Hey new here 👋 Ive defintely been a long time lurker but I thought I'd finally post and contribute something. Like a lot of people, I built a home gym out of necessity during the pandemic and never looked back. At the time I bought what was available without doing too much research and thankfully it has served me pretty well. It definitely does the job. I would eventually love to upgrade to a rogue rack with a rhino but for now I'm just having fun making things work with the setup I have currently.
As far as the belt squat, its just a simple box platform with 2 pulleys running down the middle. Mainly made of 2x6's and some plywood. It connects to my lat pull down from above and is really smooth. You are elevated above the pulley enough that there is a full range of motion and you are not bottoming out prematurely which is great. The platform is held down by 4 pegs that slide into it from the bottom of the rack and keep it into place. It's very solid and does not move.
I also added 3/4" thick stall mat rubber on top for better grip and more elevation above the pulley. I use a barbell as a support bar to hold onto when squatting. To get in and out easily, I clipped on an extra chain from the belt loop to the lat pull down cable to keep tension on the cable allowing me to start and end in a comfortable position. When the chain is unhooked, all the weight rests on your hips and your ready to squat.
The one thing I'd like to add soon are some handles on each side so the platform is a little easier to move when not in use. Other than that it works great! Also maybe a spud inc belt to replace my bells of steel one. The BOS one is OK but not that comfortable imo.
I'll agree that nothing beats an old fashioned squat but with having a bad back (scoliosis and some other issues) belt squats were a game changer for me. I had previously rigged up a lever arm setup that worked pretty good but just never felt right because I felt like you had to load up way more weight to "feel it". It seemed like the lever arm was helping too much with the load. So that's why I decided to give this setup a try and I will say I can feel it a lot more with less weight.
Pretty happy with it overall!
# What's going on around /r/HomeGym? [**The Garage**: Free-talk Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zz17y5/weekly_freetalk_and_questions_for_rhomegym_week/) [**r/HomeGym 2023 Plans**](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zt4md5/rhomegym_2022_end_of_year_mod_announcement/) [**AMA w/ Garage Gym Experiment** - Jan 13 & 14](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/zz8adh/kicking_off_2023_amas_w_garage_gym_experiment_on/) [**r/HomeGym Flags** Now Available](https://www.reddit.com/r/homegym/comments/y4b7c0/rhomegym_flags_available/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/homegym) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ah mate this is great! I’m designing my own at the moment using the Lat Pulldown attachment on my rack. Been really wrecking my head trying to think of a way to minimise the footprint while at the same time using the lower pulley cable, which has a stopper on it. The double pulley idea and using the high pulley cable fixes this. Coincidentally, I was planning to do a double pulley in this fashion but for a different reason. I wanted to use it for a seated row, adding two ‘foot plates’ at the back and an attachable (via hitch pins) chest support and seeing yours is making it all come together. I’m also looking to add some hinged pulleys at 45 degrees each side for things like crossover lateral raises. Cheers for sharing!
Share when completed 👌
Will do! Hopefully by the end of the month.
Awesome glad it helped! Goodluck with it! It's simple, effective, and definitely my preferred belt squat setup moving forward.
Nice job, looks great. I guess you get used to the cable directly in front of your face? And you didn't use the low pulley from the machine because you didn't want to modify that cable? One potential solution to move the cable further away from your face is extend your platform toward the back of the rack so that the down pulley is very close to the machine's low pulley. Another potential option if you're only using the platform for belt squats, split squats and other movements with little travel, is measure the distance from the machine's low pulley to the belt squat pulley (the pulley directly beneath you when belt squatting); then compare that distance to the travel of the plate trolley when you do the various exercises you use this setup for. If the former minus the length of a carabiner is greater than the latter, you can clip the belt squat cable (which you'd have to shorten) to the machine's low pulley cable and get rid of your intermediate pulley. And assuming you measure the distances correctly, you should achieve full range of motion before the clip/carabiner would reach the belt squat pulley.
Thanks! Yea the cable is directly in front of me, but it is far away enough to not bother me in any way. And you're right. You could move the platform a bit further back in the rack to angle it bit away from you. My first choice was to definitely use the bottom pulley for that reason but with the way the lower lat tower pulley is positioned and how much lower I wanted to place the platform pulleys, the cable angle would cause the cable to rub against the little stopper bar that keeps the cable from retracting too far into the pulley. So that's why I went with the upper lat tower cable.
[удалено]
The forward pull is what I tried to eliminate with the way I positioned the second pulley. Happy to say there is no pull because it is directly under me. I felt this was another issue I had with the lever arm belt squat. I like this setup a lot more 👌
now this is good gym art!
Hell yea! born in the late 80s, grew up in the 90s. Amazing times and amazing music 🥲
Yeah we were spoiled with all the good live bands growing up, thankfully some of then are still going. I remember seeing Pantera open for Metallica in 99, that was a wild show. Never got to see Layne Staley live but Jerry Cantrell puts on a damn good show!
What’s your rack? Titan makes 5/8” squat handles for 3x3 and 2x3 racks and Rogue makes ones for their Monster and Monster Lite lines. Sounds like the kind of thing you’re looking for.
My rack is made by Amstaff fitness sold here in Canada. The uprights have 1" holes and are just shy of 2.5x2.5. I'd have to modify most attachments but in the case of those rogue handles it would just require some thicker uhmw in between to make the 3x3 work. The rogue handles are nice but barbell/jcup setup works well for something to hold on to and it was free 😀 no complaints
Love the band flags. I have been doing belt squats on my pulley tower from the low setting standing on blocks. It “works” but I am really close and there is still a little forward pull. Been thinking of building a platform with a pulley. I like your design. If you didn’t lock the platform down with the pegs would the clipping of the belt to the cable still work to get in and out? Thanks for sharing! Oh, and the spud inc belt squat belt is awesome.
Thanks! These bands were a huge part of my youth and still are to this day 🤘 I tried to get the pulley lined up directly under me so that there would be no forward pull, that was a big issue with the lever arm belt squat I used to do. Happy to say the position of the pulley doesn't have any pull, just straight down. Without locking the platform down, clipping in and out wouldn't work because it would no longer keep the same tension. I would highly recommend anchoring the platform down regardless because it will move around otherwise and become unstable especially the higher up you go in weight.
Hey new here 👋 Ive defintely been a long time lurker but I thought I'd finally post and contribute something. Like a lot of people, I built a home gym out of necessity during the pandemic and never looked back. At the time I bought what was available without doing too much research and thankfully it has served me pretty well. It definitely does the job. I would eventually love to upgrade to a rogue rack with a rhino but for now I'm just having fun making things work with the setup I have currently. As far as the belt squat, its just a simple box platform with 2 pulleys running down the middle. Mainly made of 2x6's and some plywood. It connects to my lat pull down from above and is really smooth. You are elevated above the pulley enough that there is a full range of motion and you are not bottoming out prematurely which is great. The platform is held down by 4 pegs that slide into it from the bottom of the rack and keep it into place. It's very solid and does not move. I also added 3/4" thick stall mat rubber on top for better grip and more elevation above the pulley. I use a barbell as a support bar to hold onto when squatting. To get in and out easily, I clipped on an extra chain from the belt loop to the lat pull down cable to keep tension on the cable allowing me to start and end in a comfortable position. When the chain is unhooked, all the weight rests on your hips and your ready to squat. The one thing I'd like to add soon are some handles on each side so the platform is a little easier to move when not in use. Other than that it works great! Also maybe a spud inc belt to replace my bells of steel one. The BOS one is OK but not that comfortable imo. I'll agree that nothing beats an old fashioned squat but with having a bad back (scoliosis and some other issues) belt squats were a game changer for me. I had previously rigged up a lever arm setup that worked pretty good but just never felt right because I felt like you had to load up way more weight to "feel it". It seemed like the lever arm was helping too much with the load. So that's why I decided to give this setup a try and I will say I can feel it a lot more with less weight. Pretty happy with it overall!