The apparatus of the invention is an improvement over the exercising apparatus and methods described by the present inventor in his prior patents, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,326,708, 4,195,835 and 4,316,610. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,326,708, Hinds focuses upon a method for tensioning the elastic cable of the afore-described cable-bar-stirrups exercise device by wrapping the cable a number of turns about each end of the bar by simply rotating the bar with the stirrups attached to the ends of the cable held fixed. Hinds et al. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,195,835 and Hinds in 4,316,610 describe particular embodiments of the exerciser, including useful elements such as bar end fittings that comprise finger-like members configured as bifurcations that permit the cable to pass therethrough and about which the cable is wrapped to adjust tension. Other variations of the present type of exerciser are described by Perrin in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,256,015 and Wieder et al., in 4,059,265, both of which also include a provision for attaching the elastic cable element to a door frame. Another exerciser of interest is described by Vargo in U.S. Pat. No. 3,117,781.