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5 Mysterious Workout Devices You May Have Encountered In The Gym

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Many fitness acolytes, after getting good results in the first few months of their training, will seek the use of new exercises and equipments to gain a competitive edge over their fellow gym goers. Or alternatively, some of our younger readers have gone foraging through the storage rooms of their high school gymnasiums seeking that some goal. Either way, at some point in a physical culturist’s “career”, they’ll find many mysterious exercise devices that are completely obtuse to them, boggling the mind as to how they are supposed to be used, and for what purpose.

You likely don’t need me to tell you this, but the majority of exercise devices that are out on the market today are completely worthless—in fact I have told you that! However, there are a few devices that are somewhat obscure and rarely used, but are great tools for your strength, endurance, and flexibility training, tools that without exception are 100 years old at their youngest and that have sadly been forgotten by the masses for a variety of completely inane reasons (marketing, for the most part, but we here at Return of Kings are already against consumer culture so marketing has no effect upon me). And so without further ado…

1. The Swedish Ladder

Most likely a device that you’ve seen bolted to the back wall of your high school gym class, the Swedish ladder  at first glance seems to be more akin to some sort of torture device than a piece of exercise equipment (insert hacky joke about “derp all exercise is a torture device” here). And indeed, upon trying it, it doesn’t seem to be useful for much more than using it in the manner of a ladder.

However, a bit of ingenuity will show that it is useful for any calisthenic exercise that requires some degree of verticality. You can put your stomach to the bar to stretch your back, or put your back to the bars to do pull-ups and L-Sits. The regular gradations of the rungs make it a must for graduated stretches such as the wushu stretchkick and belly-to-wall handstands, and it can also be used in training free-hanging exercises such as the back lever and the human flag.

2. Indian Clubs

For better or for worse associated with the Gilded Age, they are, as the name implies, an import from the subcontinent. Essentially, they are a dumbbell that is stretched out, forcing the wrists and shoulders to act as a lever to support the weight. In practice, this make the shield casts and other exercises you do with the clubs much more difficult than they would be with a standard dumbbell.

There are a variety of exercises that are done *solely* with the Indian club, and all of them are great ways to build strength and joint health in the upper body (and will be the subject of articles should I ever get my hands on a set). I personally like them more than kettlebells, which is unfortunate because the latter are much more prevalent. Should you find a set of Indian clubs, be sure to use them.

3. Medicine Balls

Let’s make something clear: I am NOT referring to the big bouncy inflatable “Exercise balls” that middle aged ladies use to exercise. Instead, I’m talking about the medicine ball, a ball that weighs anywhere between 2-50 pounds and can be used for a variety of purposes, ranging from an unstable support for transitional calisthenic progressions, to tossing and catching it off the wall to train the chest and abdominal muscles to brace for impact. It can also be used as a weight in moves such as the weighted sit-up, should you not want to risk damaging your floor.

This piece of equipment has been around for the better part of three millennia, and has served all from gladiators to the 19th century pioneers of physical culture. It would be worth adding to your repertoire.

4. Gymnastic Rings

Most people probably have some sort of conception of how these work, if only from watching the Olympics every four years. However, the lay person can use these difficult, but rewarding, tools for their own fitness.

The mere act of doing standard calisthenic exercises (L-Sit, pull-up, etc.) is made exponentially more difficult by the act of doing these on the unstable surface of the rings. And the open space between the rings facilitates more complex maneuvers like the ring handstand, which leads to even more difficult calisthenic techniques like the ring handstand pushup, all of which train the entire body to an enormous degree and eventually lead one to the monstrously difficult maneuvers such as the iron cross.

5. Parallettes

Likely the simplest of these obscure workout devices, the parallettes are merely a bar and platform placed on the floor. However, they are integral to gymnastics training due to elevating the body off the floor, making them an essential for l-sits, v-sits, true handstand pushups (the elevation allows you to dip deeper than you would off the floor), and other maneuvers. Boxes or chairs can be substituted for these, although grasping the bar does work different hand and forearm muscles than a flat hand.

So the next time you see one of these, give them a try, it just might give you that edge you’re looking for.

Read More: 5 Pre-Workout Tips For Consistently Better Workouts

103 thoughts on “5 Mysterious Workout Devices You May Have Encountered In The Gym”

    2. The guys that report their max bench on the smith machine. You can always bench more. Writhing around under the bar until you get it up. Cheaters. Haha.
      And decline bench. Back arched and touch the bar to your belly button. That one didn’t count, chief 😉

      1. There is a guy I see in the gym sometimes who has such an intense arch that I’m fairly sure he only moves the bar about 6 inches.
        I have no been impressed with his bench but I do admit I could not even imagine getting into that arch. It looks like his spine will bust. That, st least, is kinda impressive lol

        1. I’m often more impressed by the crazy contortions than I am by the actual weight being moved – It’s truly an art form these days!

        2. Or the guy who maxes out his deadlift and his spine is curved to the point where his body is shaped like a question mark halfway through the lift. It looks like his spine is going to snap… but it doesn’t. He sets the weight down and he’s fine. But you’re watching and yyyyeeeeouch, looks painful.

        3. A hernia surgeon’s favorite person.

    3. Smith is ok for solo squats, just to act as a catch. Everything else…eh…not so much.

      1. The problem with smith squats is that you don’t use any of the stabilizer muscles. You get a better workout simply going lighter on natural squats. You put 135 on a natual squat and rep it out to failure it is much more of a workout than hitting 3x that weight on a smith

        1. I’m a member at Planet Fitness, which is the worst gym in the world (well, it’s great if you are a 49 year old woman wearing yoga pants, or like to work out with your girlfriend), but there are no other close options where I live unless you want to lift concrete block. Smith machine and dumbbells are about as good as it gets, unless curling a max of 60 lbs. is your idea of a tough workout.
          Oddly, I actually find the Smith machine bench presses tougher than regular ones…it has such an unnatural range of motion.
          And you definitely don’t miss out on watching Ancient Aliens or Swamp People.

        2. Any port in a storm as they say….
          About ROM being Odd on smith I totally can see that but regardless of difficulty level you still take the fast twitch fibers out of play on a track which really isn’t great.
          WRT light weight, I do mostly lighter weight stuff. I am a big believer in volume work.
          There is a whole genre of you I’ve videos dedicated to trolling PF. Really spectacular stuff

        3. Exactly. Progressive increment of load once the form and technique is sound.
          I don’t get the majority of “lifting weights will lead to injuries therefore I don’t lift ” arguments at all. It’s mostly about not being a moron with handling load and form.

        5. I know. I said “ok” not optimal. I’m not entirely certain of the actual value of the Smith machine in any other context. I mean really no other context. Solo work squats are the only area where I think “Um, ok…maybe?” but I’m kind of dubious at that. In fact, I’m not entirely certain of the history of the Smith machine and why it was felt necessary for anything. Presumably, some dude named Smith was involved, but that’s all I know. I doubt that Neo was involved at any point.

        6. Lighter weight super high rep never cut it for me. I’m naturally strong, the low weight stuff never did anything for me, even stuff I’d call “low weight” that others would call “mega high weight”. You’ve seen me, I’m just not cut out for 50 reps of half the weight I can lift. That being said, I have taken some of your advice to heart with regard to cutting down the weight level a bit and increasing reps somewhat. Does great things. Your advice to me on the low row the other day seems totally on point, I feel silly for not doing it that way now that I consider it. Advice should always be considered if the source of it appears to be competent.

        7. My son and a couple of his buddies have trolled that place before, just for fun. I think that they made videos.

        8. I like the pyramid. Start with the 7-10 Rep range, decrease weight and go 15 reps, increase weight until you’re in the 5-7 rep range. Finish with a burnout set using lighter weight.

        9. They deserve to be made fun of. I’ve worked out there a few times. There’s a stupid alarm on the wall that goes off if you drop the weights too hard. I was doing chest press with dumbells, set the weights down (not very hard), alarm went off. You gotta be kidding me.

        10. I honestly think that the place is an honest to God prank. Like they’re openly saying “Fuck it, let’s just rip off fat people by getting them into a pattern where they renew for no apparent reason”. A gym that labels people who use the gym to maximum effect “Lunks” is clearly trolling.

        11. I used to do super max sets for everything, a warm up set and then a super max set where I’d basically scoop up my vomit at the end over 5 reps. Straight HIT. I’ve come to decrease weight a bit at lolknee’s advice and up reps and sets, so more or less 4 sets of 5-8 at super high weights, after a warm up set. Not what he does, but he’s inspired me to change my game a bit. As it stands now I can more or less bench press a Volkswagen so I was looking for something new, and what he does clearly shows results, (we talk on Telegram off of ROK and compare notes on things) so….

        12. It’s entirely possible. They heavily advertise their $10/mo membership. It’s amazing how many people sign up for the auto draft and never show up. One of the managers at a Lifetime fitness showed me a report of members who haven’t showed up for 3 months, 6 months, 9 months etc. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The list was HUGE. Free money. There’s definitely a niche out there for ashamed fat people. Curves (safe space for embarrassed fat women) and the private studios Fitness Together, for example.

        13. I think that’s a good range. If I remember correctly, Arnold’s target was always 7 reps. My bench isn’t what it used to be. But when I was at my peak, I was in that 5-8 rep range as well and I think what benefited me the most was having a spotter to eek out 4 more reps on the last 2-3 sets.

        16. The first time I saw a sign like that (roughly 20 years ago), I said to the person at the counter, “I didn’t know this was a gay gym.”

        17. If you don’t “juice,” that high rep shit will never do anything. (((Joe Weider’s))) logo ought to be a syringe.

        18. I don’t know the history of the smith machine either, I think I’ll make a point of learning that today.
          The only time I have seen it used in a way that made real sense was when I have seen people who are fresh off very serious injuries and/or surgeries who are just beginning to retrack movements.

        20. My sister works out at one of these facilities in WI – it’s the only place close to her home. Apparently, they have Member Appreciation Days once a month and they cater the gym with Pizza!

        22. At the PF I go to they also with the “Pizza Night” have a breakfast once a month with bagels.
          PF was the ONLY gym that I could join on a monthly basis without signing up for membership. I refuse to allow these scammers access to my bank card/account. I pay my money each month by cash due on the 5th and move on.

        23. Actually, Curves is a very good idea. The problem was each one was independently owned and you could not seamlessly transfer between clubs. At the time I was travelling between states and needed something much more flexible.
          One really annoying factor was the women who work there had their constant smiley face on and tried to engage me in their cheery twat babble talk. It was “piss off, I’m here for exercise, not to discus the weather”.

        24. They have no rowing machines which I love for a good all over stretch.

      2. “Smith is ok.” Pretty much sums it up. It’s just ok. Hey, it’s good for reverse push-ups, ha!

    1. As a gym rat of many years, I feel it incumbent to at least try to give them basic instruction, at first. Any hint of resistance of “I know!” and I walk away. My core of decency used to be vast but I’m more or less at the nub at this point. Much longer, eh, fuck everybody.

      1. Can’t agree with you more! After 25+ years in the gym, I’m almost completely numb to those around me. The level of stupidity in the gym these days is staggering. I hate to sound old, but it ain’t what it used to be. Getting angry about it just negates the benefits of the workout… It’s just pure comic relief for me these days.

        1. Right? I have similar feelings regarding the range, only there their stupidity can cause fatalities. I feel like “that guy” when I correct and, if necessary, report people for super dangerous range maneuvers.

        2. At the range I go to, the RSO’s are great at stopping folks, and throwing them off if there’s even a hint of resistance/pushback.

      2. I noticed that basically no one can take even the politest and well-intended instruction these days. I remember when I was a lad, if some old dude told me I was doing something wrong I’d listen politely, then decide on my own whether to incorporate the advice. Nowadays everyone already knows everything. I don’t think it’s just me getting geriatric…there has been a cultural sea change. And in my career it can be dangerous when people don’t listen to old timers’ advice.

        1. You’re absolutely correct. I remember when I was just starting out, being around Real Men, Seasoned Veterans that were always happy to lend sound advice and encouragement – It’s quite rare these days.

        2. The fat asses and skinny-fat types grind my gears. I’m not overbearing and I try to be polite with “Hey, if you don’t mind me saying, maybe if you did it this way…” type of suggestions, but everybody seems to be in their own “fuck you!” world these days. I’m standing there, shoulders as wide as a park bench trying to help and all they can think to respond is some form of “no! Fuck you!”. I walk away every single time these days.

        3. School cures people of a respect for a authority. I can tell you when kids will listen to their elders…. When their lives depend on it!

        4. Same here man. I’m a 30 year veteran of martial arts but apparently I don’t know shit.

        5. Gym etiquette question. I see two dudes – younger, stronger and skinnier – than me regularly doing cleans with terrible form. Curved back, not exploding up, basically brute forcing it to the rack position. Dudes are gonna fuck themselves up. I know because I gave myself tendonitis in my arm/elbow from doing cleans and I couldn’t lift for almost a year. Do I say anything??

        6. Nope. Let them learn for themselves. Unless they encroach on your space and put you in harms way – I would say nothing. The gym has “trained staff” – haha to correct this behavior and they’re heavily insured – let them deal with it. Get in, put in your work and get out.

        8. Not just you – seems everyone under 30 or so already magically knows everything.

        9. If they seem new, I mention it to them and point them to a website or book like Starting Strength. If they don’t listen, well, as my dad used to say, if they keep doing it the wrong way–that’s how they learn.

        10. Um no, they still don’t until they have an ‘Oh schit!” moment that they survive, and then they are at least open to listening..but until that happens..Nope they don’t listen at all. they know it all already.

        11. What I said right?
          That said, there are some good kids out there who seek out knowledge from their elders. Treasure these ones.

      3. I get so annoyed at the occasional 20-something year old douche bags that love to do the deadlift type of exercises and then drop the weight. And this is on a second level area. BOOM!!!!.. Then they’ll go over to one of the cable pulley machines and on the last rep they squeeze out they let go of the pulley cable and BOOOOMMM!!! But it’s over, and over, and over, and over, set after set after set..BOOM BOOM BOOM!! All said and done, the same douche won’t stack his weights, or they’ll leave the dumbells on the ground rather than up on the rack, and they’ll leave their towel at the last station they were at. Then there was this old weirdo guy that would walk around the gym with bare feet. And apparently, about every Thursday evening was black guy and white girlfriend night. Yea, that’s right. Black guys with their white girlfriends at the gym so they can show that they have white girlfriends. Of course, it’s always late teens early 20s, and the white girls are of the low IQ stripper variety types.
        Early morning or late at night, especially on weekends, are the best times to go to the gym to avoid the douchebags and weirdos.

        1. I like to hit on the white girls with black guys. It comes totally out of left field most of the time. I’ve also found, very recently, a couple that goes to the gym apparently to look for guys to fuck the girl and cuck the guy. It seriously freaked me out the other day when some semi-hot girl was flirting with me while her hubby (both had on rings, they’ve been there many times as a couple) smiled. Fuck that noise, I went to another area.

        2. douchebags dropping weights, bluck dude with low IQ white girlfriend, old dude with bare feet… lol, seems all gym club have its own species of those kind of people..

        4. Seriously, what do the cuck-types get out of it? Though I don’t agree with the ‘lifestyle,’ I kind of get what swingers are after. Someone might fuck my wife, but in turn I get to fuck yours. But why would i want to sit in a chair while some other guy impales my wife and I get…nothing? Is it some kind of feminization therapy for these guys? It just strikes me as being so asshole, makes me want to play into it. Halfway through introduce the cuck to Hans, who will be servicing him up the back way, like it or not.

        5. I really can’t stand walking up to a bench or leg press and finding it completely loaded up with weights. Like, how much did you leg press, 1200 lbs? And despite this supreme feat you never learned to rack your weights?
          I call the phenomena leaving a metal shit.

        6. As the safety officer on an amphib, I had a sign put up in the gym:
          Your mother isn’t here, you have to clean up yourself.
          One of the great mysteries of that tour was a corporal managing to cut off a finger tip with a dumbbell….how did.. where.. what?

        8. Huge pet peeve of mine… If you can’t re-rack your weights, you have no business using them in the first place!

      4. The last time I gave anybody advice in that regard was probably 15 years ago. He was doing squats and was aiming for paraplegia if he didn’t clean up his form. These days I only work out at my own gym. (It’s called a “farm.”) Much better for everybody.

        1. Yeah, got me a farm too, but haven’t moved out to it yet. Soon though.

    2. When I do my heavy curls (135 or more) I do them in the squat rack. No one hasn’t said anything yet 🙂 I enjoy being that guy

  5. I like parallettes and the Swedish ladder. Really useful for all sorts of isometric tests of willpower / technique.
    Medicine ball, not so much — it tends to land on my body at weird angles and makes the associated workout feel lopsided. Ever since high school, the medicine ball’s presence in the gym seems a throwback relic or novelty (depending on how you look at it)…clearly, most people avoid it all times. When I do see guys using the ball, it’s often just to break the tension of the routine — most dudes end up sort of giggling after a few toy-like tosses and then it goes back to collecting dust in the corner. It’s like a goofy intermission during the workout. Not sure why, but I’ve never seen the med ball treated any other way than “playground mode.”

      1. I love med ball. Just doing slams for a few minutes will wipe out anyone.

    2. The mixed martial arts combat crowd seem to be the prime users of medicine balls in recent times.

  6. We had medicine balls at my high school gym class. My buddies and I would toss them up as high as we could and someone else would have to try to catch them. It was great fun.

      2. The picture that painted is freaking hilarious.

      3. Yeah. Now a days there are so many fat kids. You are probably talking about the “old days” when children did not weigh over 200lbs.

  7. The medicine ball is great. I take mine to the park or public soccer field. Overhead toss and run, forward granny toss and jump, throw from the chest (chest press) and incorporate a squat, throw to the side from a squat. Push-ups are great for stabilizing the shoulder. A lot more challenging than regular push-ups. Nice to be out in the sun and sweat.

    1. If that shit actually worked I would have been in the Olympic bodybuilding competition at age 16.

    3. HA! I pointed out to ever woman who wanted to buy one of these stupid things that any husband/boyfriend/random guy will gladly let you “work out” like that on him. No need to buy any equipment.
      “dynamic inertia” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

  9. Has nothing to do with gym equipment but check out “Prancercise” by cam toe lady. It’s a fitness revolution.

    1. I couldn’t believe that video was a thing when I first saw it.

    2. omg.. Daniel Tosh host of Comedy Centrals “Tosh.O” did a whole vid on this batty broad… Youtube it …hysterical…

    3. The “old anorexic” as she was referred to. Her moose knuckle stuck out because she was just skin and bones. Check out the outfit, wig and jewellery.
      You can only sell this to women.

  11. Fantastic article. I’d love to locate a set of Indian Clubs.

    1. GOJ…I have been using Indian Clubs . They are cool.. They, like Kettlebells are a functional type exercise. All range of motion and your grip strength increases cause you gotta grip those things lest they fly thru your drywall if you let loose of them. Your handshakes will be like iron. Crack walnuts barehanded. The actor Chris Pine swears by them. In India they still use them. Cool thing is they take up no space. Can do a quick workout while watching the news.. Have a set of 20 and 25 pounds. Got mine from a company called Onnit . Rogue is another maker… YouTube has a bunch of vids… Check ’em out….

      1. I’ll check that out, thanks for the lead Gladius.

  13. On a serious note – fun and games aside, this was a great article. I’ve always been a big fan of Rings. The importance of the “basics” can’t be stressed enough when developing a long-term strategy for optimum physical health.

      1. Same. As I’ve told others, some are built for fight, some for flight, and some in between. I’m not in between. I can’t outrun shit and I cannot dazzle them with amazing feats of dexterity. One gets in my grip though and he’s dead.

        1. As the old saying goes: “If you can’t dazzle ’em with dexterity, baffle ’em with bullshit”!
          Ummm, wait that doesnt sound right…

      2. Yes aren’t the male gymnasts that do the rings on the short side ?? I’ve never seen a tall gymnast …5’9″ or less ..

  14. A prolapsed rectum reinserter. That’s what every gym needs next to the squat machine. If you don’t know what it is, don’t google prolapsed rectum. I’d hate to say I told you so.

    1. The words “rectum” and “reinserter” combined in a sentence prohibits me from ever looking that up in my lifetime.

  15. I don’t get the point of kettlebells. How are they different from dumbbells? Seems like they limit your range of motion because of their shape and they look very easy to drop.

    1. The kettlebell’s handle leverages against you for many motions so they require more force exerted as opposed to the same weight in a dumbbell. Because you use more grip and forearm (and other muscles) with kettlebells it builds muscle faster. They tend to take up less space than dumbbells too.

  16. Great article but I must warn people against doing sit-ups, weighted or otherwise. Terrible for your back, abs and posture.

  17. I use Clubbells, which are a modern tweek of the Indian Clubs. They are coated metal and more slender than typical Indian Clubs, easier to store but harder to wield( which is a good thing) . Scott Sonnon has a whole bunch of training videos with the Clubbells.

  18. There were Swedish ladders on the walls of the gym at the elementary school I attended. (Built by the WPA in the 1930s.) Never had a clue what they were until I read this article. Thanks!

  19. Thank you all for reminding me why I bought a squat cage and weights all those years ago. It appears gyms haven’t gotten any saner in the last 25 years.

  20. i keep it simple… just workout. balance push/pull exercises… dont complicate what is simple

  22. Experience is it own best teacher for every single one of the Know It All’s, providing they survive it…and THEN they listen to real experience after they have hurt themselves or grieviously injured AND EMBARRASSED themselves. And the then actually listen, unless the barbell happens to land on their neck….What you survive yourself will teach you faster than that which you ask experienced people about.

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