What's up, strong friends? If you just brought home a functional trainer, or you're still deciding whether one belongs in your garage, this is the list to bookmark. A functional trainer's dual adjustable pulleys let you hit nearly every muscle group from one frame, and one machine can run this entire list without you changing a single attachment.
Below, you'll find chest, back, shoulder, arm, core, and leg exercises, each with a quick how-to so you can start using them today. Whether you're working with a full rack combo or a compact functional trainer bolted to one wall, these moves work the same way.
Table of Contents
- How a Functional Trainer Works
- Chest Exercises
- Back Exercises
- Shoulder Exercises
- Arm Exercises
- Core and Rotational Exercises
- Leg Exercises
- Building Your Own Functional Trainer Workout
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Bottom Line
How a Functional Trainer Works
A functional trainer uses two independent weight stacks, each connected to a pulley that slides up and down a vertical track. You set the pulley height for the movement, high for pulldowns and presses, low for rows and curls, then attach a handle, rope, or ankle strap and load the pin. Because each side runs on its own cable, you can train both arms together or one at a time. That's the real advantage over a single-stack cable tower or a machine built for just one movement.
Whether you're shopping for an all in one functional trainer or you already own one, the exercises below cover the full range of what the machine can do. That range is the whole reason this style of equipment has become the default recommendation for a home gym built from scratch.
Chest Exercises
Cable chest work keeps constant tension on the muscle through the whole rep, which a barbell press can't quite match.
Standing Cable Chest Press. Set both pulleys to chest height, hold a handle in each hand, and press forward until your arms are extended. Return with control instead of letting the cables snap your arms back.
Standing Cable Fly. Set both pulleys to chest height, step forward, and sweep the handles together in front of your chest with a slight bend in your elbows. This isolates the chest more than a press does, since your triceps take on less of the work.
Single-Arm Cable Press. Press one handle at a time while your core stays braced against the twist. Training one side at a time exposes strength imbalances a two-handed press can hide.
Back Exercises
Back training is where a functional trainer earns its keep, since most home gyms have no other good way to do a controlled pulldown or row.
Lat Pulldown. Set both pulleys high, grab a handle in each hand, and pull down and out to your sides while keeping your chest up. This is one of the most useful functional trainer exercises for building width across your back.
Seated Low Row. Set the pulleys low, brace against the frame or a bench, and row the handles back toward your ribs while squeezing your shoulder blades together at the finish.
Single-Arm Cable Row. Row one handle at a time from a staggered stance so you can rotate your torso slightly and get a fuller squeeze at the back of each rep.
Face Pull. Set the pulley at head height, pull the rope or handles toward your face while flaring your elbows out wide. It's a small movement that does a lot for shoulder health, and it's worth including in nearly every session.
Shoulder Exercises
These moves round out your shoulder training with angles a dumbbell can't hold as cleanly.
Cable Lateral Raise. Set the pulley low, cross the handle in front of your body, and raise your arm out to the side until it's roughly shoulder height. Keep the motion slow so your shoulder does the work, not momentum.
Standing Cable Overhead Press. Set both pulleys low, press the handles straight overhead, and keep your ribs stacked over your hips so you're not arching your lower back to finish the rep.
Cable Rear Delt Fly. Set the pulleys at chest height, cross the cables, and pull them apart and slightly back to target the rear delts, a spot most pressing movements skip entirely.
Arm Exercises
Cables let you keep tension on your biceps and triceps through positions a dumbbell can't reach.
Cable Bicep Curl. Set both pulleys low, curl the handles up toward your shoulders, and keep your elbows pinned to your sides so your shoulders don't take over the movement.
Cable Tricep Pushdown. Set a single pulley high, push the handle or rope down until your arms are fully extended, then control the return instead of letting the weight stack slam.
Cable Hammer Curl. Set both pulleys low, curl the handles up with a neutral grip so your palms face each other, and keep your elbows pinned to your sides. The neutral grip shifts more work to your forearms and brachialis than a standard curl does.
Cable Overhead Tricep Extension. Set a single pulley low, face away from the machine, and extend a rope or handle overhead until your arm is straight. This angle stretches the long head of your triceps more than a standard pushdown.
Core and Rotational Exercises
A functional trainer is one of the only pieces of home gym equipment that trains rotation directly, instead of just bracing against it.
Cable Woodchopper. Set the pulley high, pull the handle diagonally across your body toward your opposite hip, rotating through your torso rather than just your arms.
Pallof Press. Set the pulley at chest height, stand sideways to the machine, and press the handle straight out in front of you while resisting the urge to rotate. It's one of the simplest ways to build real anti-rotation core strength.
Cable Crunch. Kneel facing a high pulley, hold the rope behind your head, and curl your torso down toward your knees using your abs instead of pulling with your arms.
Leg Exercises
Leg training on a functional trainer won't replace your squat rack, but it fills in accessory work your barbell lifts miss.
Cable Squat. Set both pulleys low, hold a handle in each hand for counterbalance, and squat down while keeping your torso upright through the whole rep.
Cable Pull-Through. Set the pulley low behind you, hinge at your hips, and pull the handle or rope through between your legs, driving your hips forward at the top of the movement.
Standing Cable Kickback. Attach an ankle strap to a low pulley, kick your leg straight back and up while keeping your torso stable, then return with control.
Cable Standing Hip Abduction. Attach an ankle strap to a low pulley, stand sideways to the machine, and lift your outer leg away from your body while keeping your torso still. This targets the glute medius, a muscle most leg days skip entirely.
Cable Lateral Lunge. Hold a handle at chest height with both hands, step out to one side into a lunge, and push back to standing. The cable's resistance forces your hips to control the sideways motion instead of just your bodyweight.
Building Your Own Functional Trainer Workout
You don't need all twenty-two of these moves in one session. Pick two or three per muscle group, rotate them week to week, and you'll cover your entire body without ever needing a second machine. That's the promise of a good all in one functional trainer, and it's exactly what we built the Dane 2.0 to deliver.
Here's the number that matters most when you're comparing machines for a list like this one: pulley ratio. A lot of functional trainers run a 2:1 ratio, which means a 200-pound stack only feels like about 100 pounds at the handle. The Dane 2.0 runs a true 1:1 ratio, so its 160-pound stack per side gives you 160 pounds of real, honest resistance for every exercise on this list. If you're chasing strength and not just a bigger number on a spec sheet, that difference shows up in every set.
We test every one of these movements on our own Dane 2.0 before we recommend them, and the Fringe Fam does the same in their own garages every week. If you're still deciding what belongs in your first setup, or whether your current equipment can actually run this whole list, that's worth knowing before you buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many exercises can you actually do on a functional trainer? Far more than a single-purpose machine allows. Because you control pulley height, load, and attachment separately on each side, the same frame covers pressing, pulling, rotational, and leg work. The twenty-two exercises above are a strong starting list, not the full ceiling on what the machine can do.
Do you need a full rack to use these exercises, or does a compact functional trainer work too? Every move on this list works the same way on a compact functional trainer as it does on a full rack combo. What matters is having two independent, height-adjustable pulleys, not how much floor space the frame takes up.
How often should you train each muscle group with a functional trainer? Two to three sessions per week per muscle group is a reasonable starting point for most lifters. Rotate two or three exercises from each category so you're not repeating the exact same session every time you train.
Bottom Line
A functional trainer earns its spot in a garage gym because it covers chest, back, shoulders, arms, core, and legs from one frame. Start with a handful of moves from each category, then add more as you get comfortable with the cables. Do that consistently, and you'll have a full-body training system that never needs a second piece of equipment.
Ready to run this whole list on one machine? Shop the Dane 2.0 and our full functional trainer lineup and see what a true 1:1 pulley system feels like.
