What Is That Gym Machine Called? A Field Guide to Bars, Benches, Cables and Machines

You walk into a well-equipped gym and face a wall of bars, a row of benches, a bin of cable attachments, dozens of machines and a corner of kettlebells, balls and bands. Your program says "rope pushdown, then chest-supported row", and you are not sure which handle is the rope or which machine has the chest pad. Knowing gym equipment names and uses is the first step to training with intent, and it is the whole subject of The Training Equipment Reference Guide, book D7 of The Performance & Human Physiology Encyclopedia.

In this book, I catalogue 172 pieces of equipment in five sections: bars, benches, cable attachments and handles, machines, and other accessories. Each entry gives the name in English and French, a short description with its key variants, the primary muscles it trains and the main exercises it is used for. Of the 172 entries, 137 also come with a photo.

What are the different types of barbells?

"The bar" is not one object. The guide separates about twenty bars and free weights, and a few distinctions change how a lift feels:

• Men's Olympic barbell. The default gym bar: about 2.2 m long, 20 kg (44 lb), a 28 to 29 mm shaft and rotating sleeves that take 50 mm Olympic plates.
• Women's Olympic barbell. Shorter (about 2.01 m), 15 kg (33 lb), with a thinner 25 mm shaft for smaller hands and no centre knurl. Same sleeves.
• Standard barbell. A lighter home-gym bar with 1-inch (25 mm) non-rotating ends for standard plates and a lower weight rating than an Olympic bar.
• Power bar versus deadlift bar. The power bar is stiff, with sharp knurl and minimal whip, built for maximal squat, bench and deadlift. The deadlift bar is longer and thinner (about 27 mm) with more whip, so it bends before the plates leave the floor.
• Technique bar. A lightweight full-length bar, about 5 to 10 kg and often aluminum, for learning squat, clean, snatch and press patterns and for warming up.

Then come the specialty bars, each solving a specific problem. The EZ-curl bar angles the wrists into a semi-supinated grip and reduces wrist and elbow strain compared with a straight bar. The trap bar (hex bar) puts you inside a hexagonal frame with neutral handles, keeping the load closer to the body's centre and easing lower-back demand compared with a straight-bar deadlift. The Swiss bar offers several neutral grips that are kinder to shoulders and wrists. The safety squat bar has shoulder padding and forward handles, so you can squat without gripping behind your back, which the guide notes is useful for people with shoulder issues.

Which weight bench do you actually need?

The guide lists seventeen benches, but most training rests on a few. The flat bench is the simplest and most used: presses, dumbbell rows, step-ups and hip thrusts with the shoulders on the pad. The adjustable bench (FID, for flat, incline, decline) is the most versatile single bench, since its backrest moves through several angles.

Angles have a purpose. An incline bench, set at about 15 to 45 degrees, biases the upper chest and front delts. A decline bench, head lower than hips, biases the lower chest. A 90-degree upright bench supports the back during seated overhead pressing.

Some benches exist to isolate. The preacher (Scott) bench braces the upper arms on an angled pad to isolate the biceps and remove momentum. The spider curl bench is an incline bench used chest-down so the arms hang vertically. The 45-degree hyperextension bench anchors the ankles and supports the hips for back extensions that train the erectors, glutes and hamstrings, while the glute-ham developer adds a footplate and double pad for glute-ham raises and GHD sit-ups.

What do the different cable attachments do?

Cable attachments cause the most confusion, because they all clip onto the same pulley. The attachment decides your grip, and the grip decides the exercise. Here is how the main ones line up in the guide:

1. Lat pulldown bar. Long, with slightly angled ends, for wide overhand pulldowns.
2. Straight bar and EZ cable bar. Short bars for pushdowns and curls; the W-camber of the EZ version is easier on the wrists.
3. Triceps rope. Two knobbed ends give a neutral grip and let you spread the hands at the bottom of a pushdown.
4. V-bar and row triangle. Close neutral grips; the triangle is the classic seated cable row handle.
5. Single D-handle. For unilateral work at any pulley height: single-arm rows, flys, lateral raises, woodchops.
6. Ankle strap. Clips to a low pulley for kickbacks, hip abduction and adduction, and standing leg curls.
7. MAG grips and parallel-grip handles. Contoured or neutral handles for pulldowns and rows with a comfortable wrist and shoulder position.

Power rack, Smith machine or leg press: what is the difference?

The machine section is the largest, with 71 entries covering resistance and cardio machines. A few of them are often mixed up.

A squat rack is two uprights with J-hooks, often without a full cage. A power rack is a four-post cage with safety bars or pins, which lets you do heavy barbell work safely on your own. A Smith machine fixes the bar in vertical (or slightly angled) guide rails with hook stops at any height: a guided, self-spotting station.

For legs, the 45-degree leg press is an angled sled you push from a reclined seat, while the hack squat has you squat under shoulder pads with the torso supported. The belt squat loads the hips through a belt around the waist rather than the spine, allowing squats with minimal spinal compression. For calves, the guide points out that the seated calf raise (knees bent) biases the soleus, while the standing calf raise (legs straight) biases the gastrocnemius.

For the back, a chest-supported row uses a chest pad that removes lower-back involvement, and the assisted pull-up and dip machine uses a counterweighted platform to scale both movements down.

Which small accessories are worth knowing?

The last section covers about fifty accessories, from kettlebells to chalk. A few deserve a closer look because they change how a lift is loaded or held:

• Resistance bands give variable, ascending resistance and are portable and joint-friendly.
• Lifting chains draped on a bar add accommodating resistance, heavier at lockout.
• A lifting belt is something you brace against to increase intra-abdominal pressure and trunk stability on heavy lifts. It supports bracing; it does not target a muscle.
• Lifting straps reduce grip as the limiting factor on heavy pulls.

How should you use an equipment reference guide?

I wrote this book as a companion to the program-design books of the same collection (D1 to D6): they teach you how to train, and this one is the field guide to the tools. You can use it in three ways:

• Browsing a gym: match what you see to the catalogue to learn its name and purpose.
• Building a program: find the right tool for a movement, and its alternatives.
• Coaching or writing: use the consistent names and exercise lists as a shared vocabulary with clients and colleagues.

The guide uses mostly generic names, because brands vary but the function does not. It is a practical reference, not an engineering manual, and it does not replace proper coaching or technique instruction. Learn correct setup and form, ideally with a qualified coach, respect each machine's adjustments and safety features (safety pins, collars, stops), and if you have an injury or a medical condition, train within the guidance of your health professional.

The full catalogue, with all 172 entries, their French names and the photos, is in The Training Equipment Reference Guide, part of The Performance & Human Physiology Encyclopedia, a 93-book collection by Netritious.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an Olympic barbell and a standard barbell?

An Olympic bar has rotating sleeves for 50 mm plates; the men's version is about 2.2 m long and weighs 20 kg. A standard bar is lighter, with 1-inch non-rotating ends for standard plates and a lower weight rating.

Is the trap bar deadlift easier on the lower back?

According to the guide, the trap bar keeps the load closer to the body's centre, which eases lower-back demand compared with a straight-bar deadlift.

What is the difference between a power rack and a Smith machine?

In a power rack the bar moves freely and safety bars or pins catch it. In a Smith machine the bar runs in fixed guide rails, with hook stops at any height.

Where can I find The Training Equipment Reference Guide?

The book is available on Amazon, in Kindle format, in English.