If you've spent any amount of time on exercise related websites, I'm sure you've read that strength training machines are safer and/or the best option for beginners.
Unfortunately, that's just more fitness misinformation that keeps people from getting the results they want. You can put that nugget of "wisdom" in the same file as the fat burning zone, low weight / high reps to tone and boring hour long cardio sessions for weight loss.
I am not totally anti-machine but the longer I've worked in this field and the more educated I've become, the fewer machines I use. Check out the link below for a great article on the subject. If you're not interested in the history of how people came to believe that machines are "superior" to free weights, scroll about half way down to read why they are not your best option.
Dark Side of Strength Training Machines
by James Wilson
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Showing posts with label exercise machines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exercise machines. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
The Best Muscle-Building Machines
It looks like the message is getting out. When a mainstream website like RealAge.com starts touting free weights over machines, it sure seems like the tide is turning.
While I do sometimes incorporate machines like the Leg Press and Pulldown in a routine, the majority of my programs consist of exercises using free weights, cables and bodyweight. You definitely won't find the Leg Extension, Pec Flye, Lateral Raise, Bicep Curl, etc. machines in my routines.
Those types of exercises don't give you the most result bang for your effort buck (and in some cases can actually be bad for you).
Why waste time on fluff?
From RealAge:
The Best Muscle-Building Machines
Which kind of strength-training equipment makes the most of your time: fixed machines or free-form gear?
Go for the free-form gear, like dumbbells or cable-and-pulley machines that allow freedom of motion. They can give you double the strength gains that fixed equipment offers.
Strength in Numbers
Fixed machines -- like a leg-press machine, where you load up a plate with weights and have a fixed plane of motion to push through -- don’t tap as many balance and control muscles as free-form equipment does. So you don’t get as buff, a recent study showed. People in the study who used free-form equipment boosted their strength by a whopping 115 percent -- versus just 57 percent for the fixed-machine users. Free-form gear boosts balance better, too.
While I do sometimes incorporate machines like the Leg Press and Pulldown in a routine, the majority of my programs consist of exercises using free weights, cables and bodyweight. You definitely won't find the Leg Extension, Pec Flye, Lateral Raise, Bicep Curl, etc. machines in my routines.
Those types of exercises don't give you the most result bang for your effort buck (and in some cases can actually be bad for you).
Why waste time on fluff?
From RealAge:
The Best Muscle-Building Machines
Which kind of strength-training equipment makes the most of your time: fixed machines or free-form gear?
Go for the free-form gear, like dumbbells or cable-and-pulley machines that allow freedom of motion. They can give you double the strength gains that fixed equipment offers.
Strength in Numbers
Fixed machines -- like a leg-press machine, where you load up a plate with weights and have a fixed plane of motion to push through -- don’t tap as many balance and control muscles as free-form equipment does. So you don’t get as buff, a recent study showed. People in the study who used free-form equipment boosted their strength by a whopping 115 percent -- versus just 57 percent for the fixed-machine users. Free-form gear boosts balance better, too.
Friday, January 11, 2008
10 Machines You Shouldn't Use
10 Machines You Shouldn't Use
Obviously, writers want you to read their articles so they come up with attention grabbing headlines, that may or may not be totally accurate.
Let me start out by saying that if your primary goal is burning maximum calories and dropping weight, isolation machines should be a very small (if any) part of your strength training routine.
You will get much more metabolic "bang" for your time and effort "buck" by concentrating on compound exercises that work multiple muscles. Everyone seems to love Bicep Curls and there's nothing wrong with adding them to your program occasionally. However, if you are limited in time (like most people) and are interested in fat loss (like most people), you will be much better served by Rows and Pulldowns than by Curls.
I agree with much of this article. I haven't had a client do Behind the Neck Pulldowns in at least 8 or 9 years, Body & Soul's Leg Extension machine pretty much just collects dusts and I will never own a Hip Abduction machine. For the most part, I believe standing exercises are better than seated, and dumbbell exercises are superior to the same movement on a machine. That being said, I think a blanket condemnation of all 10 of those machines goes a little far.
Obviously, writers want you to read their articles so they come up with attention grabbing headlines, that may or may not be totally accurate.
Let me start out by saying that if your primary goal is burning maximum calories and dropping weight, isolation machines should be a very small (if any) part of your strength training routine.
You will get much more metabolic "bang" for your time and effort "buck" by concentrating on compound exercises that work multiple muscles. Everyone seems to love Bicep Curls and there's nothing wrong with adding them to your program occasionally. However, if you are limited in time (like most people) and are interested in fat loss (like most people), you will be much better served by Rows and Pulldowns than by Curls.
I agree with much of this article. I haven't had a client do Behind the Neck Pulldowns in at least 8 or 9 years, Body & Soul's Leg Extension machine pretty much just collects dusts and I will never own a Hip Abduction machine. For the most part, I believe standing exercises are better than seated, and dumbbell exercises are superior to the same movement on a machine. That being said, I think a blanket condemnation of all 10 of those machines goes a little far.
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