First comment: chest expanders use cables for the resistance they
provide.
Second comment:
"Can cables be used to recover from injuries, for rehabilitation?
Yes, and in fact, they are extremely popular for this very thing. For
some of the very reasons stated throughout this article: the graduated
resistance, the pumping of blood into the muscles, and so forth, cables
are easily adapted to rehabilitation efforts. But, let me pose another
possible angle here: active rest from barbell training. After several
cycles of heavy lifting over a year's time, a trainer might benefit
from some active rest using cables to the exclusion of barbells and
dumbbells. Cables simply don't put the stresses and strains on
joints, bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and other hard tissues in
the same manner as big load bearing exercises. In a heavy squat for
example, a lifter descends with a ponderous weight and then abruptly
changes direction causing the knees to act as "shock absorbers."
Over time, this can wear down a lifter. In cable training, the
"cables" act as the shock absorbers. By using a cable form of the
same exercise, a lifter's knees have a chance to actively rest while
the muscles are still worked."
This is quoted from:
http://flashpages.prodigy.net/lreid/cable%20article.htm
(be sure the link is complete. if not, then cut and paste it into the
address bar)
"You know I'm not one to tell you that there is a miracle exercise.
There isn't. There's just smart training and belief and effort. But
cables are so absolutely versatile in their application that they
really will help you out so long as you're smart about applying them. I
didn't just choose cables on a whim. A fact that you can see if you
read the "19 Reasons I Train With Cables," article on our site. They
make my joints feel better and they can do the same for you. They made
my strength go up. Same for you. They made my muscles bigger, harder
and more defined and I already had a great deal of muscle to begin
with. Plus they make you breath and make your blood circulate like
crazy! Alone or in combination with other things they'll shoot your
endurance up higher than ever before. World-class people train with
them and you can too. This video will give you the tools, the form, the
ideas and the exercises to get all of those benefits out of a simple
cable set. Sometimes, simple ideas are the best."
From:
http://strongerman.com/alternative_conditioning/cables.html
Third:
I did not make myself clear. I was referring to joints in general.
Some exercises for the legs that can be done with either cables or a
chest expander, which do not put much pressure on the joints are:
Anchor a rope overhead. Lean back you are at about a 30-45 degree angle
leaning back. Do Knee bends, until tired. ON the last rep, hold in the
middle, and low positions for 10 seconds.
For the rest of these, anchor the expander, or cables at ankle level,
and have
some sort of loop that you can put your leg thru for the other end. I
use the Lifeline Jogging belt.
Inner Thigh:
Pull the expander to your inner side, with your straight leg.
Outer Thigh:
As above, but to the outside.
hamstrings:
As above, but you are facing the expander. Start with slightly bent
leg, and bend leg up and back while pulling expander.
front upper thigh.
As above, but back to expander. Leg starts bent, and goes to straight.
Leg exercises #CA-1, and TH-A from
http://www.angelfire.com/ny5/shenandoah/OBB/Legs.html
