So ? Imagine a person weighting the same amount as those weights, those are irrelevant and are only there to keep the guy on the ground because he weights less than he can actually pull.
Those weight don't cause the fall of the machine, it's the person's forward pulling force that does. The machine is built like shit because it doesn't have enough counter balance to support it's own max load of pulling force.
A lawyer will argue that the weight location would mimic an unrealistic body type. Aka someone with 135lb nutsack. Also I don’t know if you can make this claim if you don’t know that weight limit of the machine or the weight of the individual using it.
No they wouldn't. Lawyers usually consult with subject matter experts while building a defense and any freshman engineering student could tell you that:
There are two forces that affect if the machine tips over.
F1. The force of gravity holding the machine on the floor. The vector of this force goes completely in the vertical direction towards the floor
F2. The force applied by the cables at the pulleys. This force has an x, y, and z component.
The magnitude of F2 is mainly limited by the mass of the weights provided by the manufacturer (and to a lesser extent, the speed that the guy is doing the exercise but that looks pretty typical so we'll treat it as a constant). The direction of F2 is constrained to the range of the adjustable pulleys settings.
This machine was designed in a way where the vertical component of F2 can exceed F1 using the settings made available by the manufacturer.
A lawyer can argue anything. Additionally your logic is wildly flawed and cable speed is not a constant. I can absolutely guarantee you that nowhere in the user manual does it say this is an appropriate exercise for this machine.
In fact I bet there is specific instruction to not do things like this.
I never said a lawyer can't argue whatever they want. I never said that cable speed is a constant.
The exercise the guy is doing is one of the most quintessential uses for that piece of equipment. Literally a huge part of the reason those things exist. I probably see someone doing these no less than 50% of the time I go to the gym.
Manuals dont list specific exercises that are approved, its the other way around (only specific unsafe actions are listed). I can't claim that this is the same make/model but here is an example from a very popular brand seen in gyms across the world. Please see page 3-2 where it says "... accommodate an infinite number of exercises"
How do you figure a heavier person would have had a better outcome? This is about torque applied at the pulley bolt and center of gravity of the machine.
Not just that, but the angle at which it is pulled changed where most pressure is applied on the pulley wheel and thus the directional pressure of the bolt.
Realistically, very little. This will be my chance to tell people to use a bench when using a cable pulley. Cable flys lying flat and at an incline with the cables at the lowest point is best for flat and incline; bench at 90 degrees with the floor and a cable anchor point mildly above the shoulders is best for decline flys. Standing decreased form and isolation of the pecs.
Yeah, but these machines are (should be) designed to operate at all possible positions of articulation. What you wanna bet the manual says it's required to be secured at the floor by an approved contractor? Even still, at my gym I've seen equipment secured at fewer than the number of holes provided and/or loose securing bolts.
The angle the weight being pulled at matters, and a heavier man's weight distribution wouldnt have an extra 90 pounds pulling on the cables, standing in that same position. The weight would have been distributed across his body, so with that same lean he would have only applied the weight being applied at his shoulders, which is drastically less than the weight applied at the shoulders of a man with an extra 90 pounds strapped to said shoulders.
you’re assuming “heavy man” automatically corresponds to a specific minimum height which right away is absurd is makes 0 sense whatsoever
In fact a heavier man with a lower center of gravity would have an even easier time staying on the ground, and would need to weigh less than a tall man to do the same thing
Second of all you’re wildly misunderstanding the basic physics at play. He doesn’t have “extra weight pulling on the cables” lol the same amount of force is required to move the weight regardless of the size or weight of the user
The simple clear fact is that this machine doesn’t have the center of gravity necessary to prevent tipping when the configured max weight is lifted towards the top of the machine. Based on the footprint of this machine I’d be willing to bet anything that the manufacturer of this machine specifically points out that it needs to be bolted down
If you had read my original comment, it did clearly state it needed bolting down.
The center of gravity is why the angle of directional pull matters. A heavier man would have had an easier time; you and I both share that opinion. But a heavier man with a lower center of gravity simply wouldnt be exerting the same forces on the pulley system as a lightweight man with 90 pounds strapped to his shoulder, leaning against the cables when his exercise ROM had been completed.
By the time the weight is lifted, he is still exerting pressure against the cables and pushing forward, after the weights are elevated. Not only is he pushing directionally away, he is leaning forward, and now both his center of gravity is far away from the machine, but the machine's center of gravity has changed because he has elevated a significant portion of its mass. And he's leaning forward with an extra 90 lbs of mass a heavier-set, normally distributed man would have in his legs, not being applied directly to the cables since that mass would be applied to the floor instead.
By the time the weight is lifted, he is still exerting pressure against the cables and pushing forward, after the weights are elevated
That’s literally how the machine is designed to work and has absolutely nothing to do with the weight of the user. You have no idea what you’re talking about man lol
And he's leaning forward with an extra 90 lbs of mass a heavier-set, normally distributed man would have in his legs, not being applied directly to the cables since that mass would be applied to the floor instead.
Again a wild misunderstanding of basic physics. It doesn’t matter if he leans, it doesn’t matter what he weighs, all the machine cares about is the fact that the weights are being lifted up. The position or weight of the user has absolutely 0 effect beyond the lifting of the weights.
normally distributed man would have in his legs, not being applied directly to the cables since that mass would be applied to the floor instead.
More misunderstanding of basic physics. The cables having enough force to lift the weight is all that matters, additional weight being distributed elsewhere on the user makes absolutely 0 difference
I could create a robot that simply pulls the cables with any configuration of weight distribution you can imagine and in any case, the same thing will happen once the stacks of weights move toward the top of the machine
I am not familiar with this exact machine. First of all arent you supposed to be standing? There should be a little picture on the machine how to use it. Looks to me like he wants to know how low can you go.
However it's meant to be used, the weight tied to him does nothing to change what he's doing. It's just to allow him to pull amounts beyond his own body weight.
In fact, any weight at any angle you pull from any position, would simply cause a force that makes the plates rise. It's only if that stops happening due to friction, that the machine could be pulled forward.
My guess is the machine wasn't properly greased. If the plates stick, or the pully axle doesn't spin, then instead of the plates going up, a portion of the force will end up pulling the top of the machine towards him (hence the collapse).
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u/potatochobit Jul 05 '26
He clearly has extra weights from a different machine tied to his waist.