What Machine is your favourite?

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Replies

  • SpeSHul_SnoflEHk
    SpeSHul_SnoflEHk Posts: 6,256 Member
    Hey! I injured my back that way. I'm just saying. Keep your back from going straight, and the weight off your legs. I don't want you hurt.

    :flowerforyou:
  • SpeSHul_SnoflEHk
    SpeSHul_SnoflEHk Posts: 6,256 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.
    3n779.gif

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.

    exactly. She shouldn't be rocking it with her back. Natural arch and don't rock it. She did keep her butt down though. I thought it was gonna come up for a split second.


    Although,I want to add, that I see a lot of guys totally screw this up at the gym everyday. I see so many lift their butts off the bench, or flatten their back against the bench to get the last couple of reps in. You can't say anything to them though. They won't listen.
  • Zaniejane
    Zaniejane Posts: 329 Member
    I dropped a 25 lb plate on my finger a few months ago and it felt numb for hours.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.
    I lowered it back down because i was done!
  • jennz81
    jennz81 Posts: 194 Member
    Fave machines are leg machines. I even like that Smith machine! Oh, No's!!!! I iZ gonna get hurt.... :glasses:

    I do it ALL, OP. Have to say that before I get busted on the head with a bottle cap for saying (Smith Machine) taboo.

    Eta: gawd really love lat pulldowns, too!

    The lat pulldown is also one of my favorites, along with the leg press.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.
    3n779.gif

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.

    exactly. She shouldn't be rocking it with her back. Natural arch and don't rock it. She did keep her butt down though. I thought it was gonna come up for a split second.
    ok this is frustrating now...you are seeing a looping gif which really doesnt give a picture of the whole set of reps or anything. Maybe i will go look at my other videos and make a new gif.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.
    3n779.gif

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.

    exactly. She shouldn't be rocking it with her back. Natural arch and don't rock it. She did keep her butt down though. I thought it was gonna come up for a split second.
    ok this is frustrating now...you are seeing a looping gif which really doesnt give a picture of the whole set of reps or anything.

    I think the boys are not realizing this is just one lift, right? It's not a video of a whole set.

    Haha, just saw your edit after I wrote this.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    I like the calf press.
  • nz_deevaa
    nz_deevaa Posts: 12,209 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.
    3n779.gif

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.

    exactly. She shouldn't be rocking it with her back. Natural arch and don't rock it. She did keep her butt down though. I thought it was gonna come up for a split second.
    ok this is frustrating now...you are seeing a looping gif which really doesnt give a picture of the whole set of reps or anything.

    I think the boys are not realizing this is just one lift, right? It's not a video of a whole set.

    Haha, just saw your edit after I wrote this.

    To quote Prince.

    A loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop is a loop.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member

    OP, be careful not to step in this bullsh1t.

    Starting Strength, Stronglifts, and YouTube are your friends. If you want to start lifting, do it right.

    ETA: starting with machines does nothing for you when you move on to free weight exercises.

    Nope. It is the truth. have been seeing this for years at my gym. It is you folk like you who say to go in hard and heavy when starting that are the problem. Your second comment is entirely contradicted again by experiences with female acquaintainces.

    1950 called. They want you back.
    _______________________________________________________________________________________________________


    Ironic you are all knowing but only lifting since February 2013. Your legs have plenty of fat in your pics. You just do not know what you are talking about.

    ________________

    What the bloody hell are you talking about?

    Firstly, no she has not. Secondly, you are showing your ignorance by insinuating that BF% has anything at all to do with lifting weights.
  • m00tmike
    m00tmike Posts: 248 Member
    I've recently switched to all machine lifting because that's what I have readily available. Yes, I know that free weights are better because you have to use stabilizer muscles and yadda yadda. But in my opinion, the best machine is the one you're using. I'm not concerned with my 1 rep max or showing people how "swole" I am. I'm interested in getting stronger. And right now I can absolutely do that with machines.

    Now, which is my favorite? You'll want to have multiple machines that you use regularly to make sure you're working your entire body. That being said I'm loving the leg extension and leg curl machines right now. I do 4 sets on both and then a jump squat tabata workout and my legs freaking hate me after that.
  • Cranquistador
    Cranquistador Posts: 39,744 Member
    Ok here is another one...i think my form is pretty good...i am supposed to have an arch...this is 85 pounds.

    anyyyyyyyyywayyyyyyy i didnt think this was going to be a form critique thread, but its all good.

    3n7nb.gif
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    Bench is good too. This is me benching a hundred pounds. I am forty two and have been lifting for about a year and a half.

    Quit cheating with your legs and back!

    It's a compound lift brah!!! Her butt didn't leave the bench so it counts!! Plus you're supposed to arch your back like that. Her only fault was lowering it back down.
    I lowered it back down because i was done!

    I didn't realize that!
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    OP: to actually answer your question. A squat rack/power cage...which is technically not a machine, so as far as machines go, I use cable machines quite a bit for pulls such as face pulls and lat pull downs.
  • SpeSHul_SnoflEHk
    SpeSHul_SnoflEHk Posts: 6,256 Member
    Ok here is another one...i think my form is pretty good...i am supposed to have an arch...this is 85 pounds.

    anyyyyyyyyywayyyyyyy i didnt think this was going to be a form critique thread, but its all good.

    3n7nb.gif

    I could watch this all night!
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
    My favorite machine is the dishwasher. I really hate doing dishes.

    bazinga.gif
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
    Hi OP: I prefer the free weight area, they tend to be more effective for many things than most machines (which are by and large isolation exercises). A year ago my trainer started me on them, skipping machines entirely. When I requested a routine centered around free weights, his response was "I wish more women would request them". At my gym, I've noticed a big upttick in the number of women moving over to that type of lifting, in fact, the last time I was there there were 5 women at the weights and 1 man.

    Since that initial plan, I've done New Rules of Lifting for Women and Strong Lifts, as well as my current ruytine, all of which are based around free weights. Any exercise that I am unsure of I look up videos for (they are very easy to find). To check my form, I occasionally bring a little camera and video myself as I lift. It's an invaluable tool.

    There are a couple of machines that I use: assisted dips and assisted pull ups.

    But, like many, my favorite thing in the gym is the power cage. It's where magic happens :flowerforyou:
  • DawnOBRN
    DawnOBRN Posts: 290 Member
    Leg press!
  • Soapstone
    Soapstone Posts: 134 Member
    God, there are more trolls on these stupid forums than any place I've seen on the Net.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
    Ok here is another one...i think my form is pretty good...i am supposed to have an arch...this is 85 pounds.

    anyyyyyyyyywayyyyyyy i didnt think this was going to be a form critique thread, but its all good.

    3n7nb.gif

    I could watch this all night!

    It's mesmerizing.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    God, there are more trolls on these stupid forums than any place I've seen on the Net.

    Really? Umm...don't ever go to a gaming forum...or even ones for weddings/babies. Those make MFP look beyond mild any day.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    God, there are more trolls on these stupid forums than any place I've seen on the Net.

    You seem like you're fun.
  • Otterluv
    Otterluv Posts: 9,083 Member
    God, there are more trolls on these stupid forums than any place I've seen on the Net.

    For realsies? I haven't seen any trolls in here.

    I've seen some quite helpful posts, some humor, a supah sexy bench pressing gif, and some dude who has no idea what he's talking about and is going strictly by the small circle of people he is acquainted with.

    Oh, here:

    t0TpErv.gif

    Because I'm a helper :flowerforyou:
  • asreyes8022
    asreyes8022 Posts: 23
    My favorite machine is the elliptical. I love having it right in my own home.
    As for what to start out with. Every person is different and whatever gets you moving and motivated to work out is the way to go. The hardest part for me was just finding something I actually liked doing everyday. Eventually I will broaden what I do, but for now, I am proud of myself for just getting off the couch. :)
    I love seeing how much everybody has lost. I just started 3 weeks ago and am only at 8 pounds, but seeing other people's progress gives me hope.
  • TruckersWifeTruckersLife
    TruckersWifeTruckersLife Posts: 408 Member
    I don't have a gym membership as I live to far away from one now but when I did have a membership I love the cross trainer, leg press and rowing machine
  • rhye
    rhye Posts: 104 Member
    This thread incensed me with its bull**** misogyny. I started heavy lifting with free weights when I was 14 and did it all through high school and college. I did not use 5 pound dumbells. That's insulting. I was deadlifting 240 pounds. Of course if 5 pounds is all you can do you should start there but that also means you've never lifted a bag of groceries in your life which means you are rich and have a personal trainer anyway.

    My female personal trainer started me again this year on free weights. As far as I'm aware, most personal trainers use free weights far more than machines. Of course, if machines are what you have then you should use those-- what matters is that you are building muscle! But you will be working more muscle groups with free weights than with machines and therefore getting more of a workout per minute if your time is precious to you at all, which I know it is for most everyone these days.

    Likewise, the only injuries I have sustained in the gym have been because of machines, but that was usually something like pinching my fingers between the plates. I've never had any seriously injuries at all weightlifting ever. Now running, that is another issue...

    It is true that if you have poor form you will have injuries and machine "enforce" your form so it's more difficult (but not impossible) to have poor form on a machine. You should learn to lift weights with proper form on free weights before you use free weights. Maybe there is a friend that could even help? I know I have taught proper form to quite a few of my friends on free weights.

    I'll be honest, I never saw a weight machine in person until college and afetr I'd been weightlifting with free weights for 4 years, they terrified me. They look like torture apparati. I made myself use them for a while because the men were all in the free weight area and the women were all in the machines but eventually I said F THAT and went back to free weights.

    Don't let any man tell you that you aren't strong enough to handle a free weight. That's ridiculous and we should all feel insulted, even those that have never lifted.

    (As an aside, if you want to see a strong women with free weights, look at a mother. Ever seen a woman toting a 45 pound child in one arm? And the child moves around. Can't handle free weights my *kitten*.)
  • divalbeckham
    divalbeckham Posts: 10 Member
    I love the leg extension, lat pull, seated leg press, and the ab machine
  • msafunk
    msafunk Posts: 163 Member
    I stopped reading the machine vs. free weights argument after the second page...

    It's all awful. When you are starting out, do what you feel comfortable doing. If you are comfortable on the machines, and the thought of freeweights scares you to the point of not wanting to go to the gym, then do the machines until you work up the nerve to use the weights!

    This is coming from a woman who was making huge improvements over several weeks on the machines, and felt so SHAMED by *kitten* telling me that machines are useless that I couldn't even bring myself to go to that gym anymore. Call me a buttercup or whatever you want, but self-consciousness is real, and no one should ever tell someone that what they are doing at the gym isn't good enough. Even if someone actively searches advice on getting past a plateau, try giving them advice without criticizing what they've done up to that point.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    Squat rack
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    Machines are okay if you're nervous about getting started, but you're not going to get the best results using them. They have a purpose with isolation movements in case you want extra development in a specific muscle group (like quads). Machines, to be honest, are best suited to bodybuilders looking to pump up vanity muscles. HOWEVER, if you are in a gym that only provides machines, then try to use them to work every muscle group and read up on bodyweight exercises to help with total body development.

    The belief that you are less likely to hurt yourself on a machine is false. You're just as likely to hurt yourself on a machine, sometimes more likely because you're more likely to use improper form.

    If you are interested in lifting, then please read up. Starting Strength, Stronglifts 5x5 (free pdf rom the Stronglifts website), and even New Rules of Lifting for Women. All are great sources to get you past the jitters.

    Anyone who says that a 35 pound barbell is too heavy for a woman to bench press does not know what they are talking about. I had a bilateral mastectomy, my chest muscles have been severed and there are implants between my pecs, and I started out benching more than 45 pounds. Also, I don't weigh a lot. I'm 123 pounds.

    Here's a useful chart on how to gauge your capabilities based on weight. It tells you what a woman of your weight should be able to lift, even if untrained.

    http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.htm

    Okay, after all that, if I had to pick a machine that I liked, it would be the seated row to work my rear deltoids, back and traps. Bent over dumbbell rows are great, but sometimes I like to do a little extra with the machine.

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