6 machines to avoid using at the gym
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skippygirlsmom
Posts: 4,433 Member
Just read this on yahoo. I thought it was interesting.
By Frank Kobola
And what you should do instead.
To beginners, a gym can look like an overwhelming sea of torture devices. It's easy to lose focus on your workout because of a lack of understanding, or a poor choice of equipment. As a general rule, free weight or free standing exercises work more muscle groups and don't force your body into uncomfortable positions, but, like everything, different things work for different people. Personal trainer Brooke Marrone walked me through several machines it's best to avoid and their superior alternatives.
1. AVOID: The seated leg extension. "This can put your knees at high risk," warns Marrone. Most machines force you to move the way the machine moves, and it's important to use natural movements, she says. "You were just at work all day sitting down, and you're coming to the gym and now you're sitting at another machine. It's really important to move your body."
INSTEAD: Do squats. A basic body weight squat would be just as good, if not better. If you're having trouble with form, or if you have joint problems, chair sits (literally just sitting in a chair and then standing, with multiple repetitions) are a great way to start. For more advanced moves, you can do modifications to your squats, like using one leg.
2. AVOID: The seated chest fly. You're isolating a few muscle groups and doing a pretty unnatural movement. This exercise runs a high risk of putting unnecessary strain on your rotator cuff.
INSTEAD: Do pushups. As with squats, you can modify pushups to make them easier or harder. Pushups force you to work your core and stabilize your surrounding muscles, as opposed to isolating several large muscle groups, like most machines do.
3. AVOID: The seated hip abductor. "You should be using your hips, thighs, and natural body weight at the same time," Marrone says. When you're sitting, you're not using your core.
INSTEAD: Use resistance bands and do lunges. "Resistance bands are much less expensive and you can travel with them." You can also do side leg raises, or side lunges. If you want to focus and the inner thigh, put a ball between your legs (quite literally, any ball) and squeeze. This can be done on your back or in a squat position.
4. AVOID: The seated shoulder press. "This machine has a very restrictive range of motion and can cause a lot of shoulder issues," says Marrone. Forcing these muscles into an awkward position can lead to serious injury.
INSTEAD: Use free weights or medicine balls. The same exercise can be done with free weights (you can use a set of dumbbells), which means you'll be using your natural range of motion. Throwing a medicine ball against a wall (from about 2 feet away, with your arms above your head) will give similar results and get your heart rate up.
5. AVOID: Any abdominal machine. These machines only work your outer abs, not the deeper muscles, so you don't get even muscle tone and it can actually make your abs less flat.
INSTEAD: Do planks. Planks are perfect not only for working your abs, but your arms and back as well. Any free standing, twisting exercise (like trying to touch your knee to the opposite elbow in a plank position, for example) is also a great way to work your obliques.
6. AVOID: Abusing the treadmill. "Don't hold on to the treadmill unless you're 80," says Marrone. If you feel like you have to, you're going too fast and you're not letting your body do the work.
INSTEAD: Mix up your cardio. When you're first starting out, it's great to hop from treadmill to bike to elliptical for about 15 minutes each. You'll avoid overworking specific muscle groups that aren't used to the repetition. Hill repeats (alternating between inclined and flat positions) will take constant stress off your joints.
And finally, Marrone says to always go to the gym with a plan in mind. It'll keep you from wandering around and arbitrarily committing to machines based on what looks good or happens to be free at the time.
By Frank Kobola
And what you should do instead.
To beginners, a gym can look like an overwhelming sea of torture devices. It's easy to lose focus on your workout because of a lack of understanding, or a poor choice of equipment. As a general rule, free weight or free standing exercises work more muscle groups and don't force your body into uncomfortable positions, but, like everything, different things work for different people. Personal trainer Brooke Marrone walked me through several machines it's best to avoid and their superior alternatives.
1. AVOID: The seated leg extension. "This can put your knees at high risk," warns Marrone. Most machines force you to move the way the machine moves, and it's important to use natural movements, she says. "You were just at work all day sitting down, and you're coming to the gym and now you're sitting at another machine. It's really important to move your body."
INSTEAD: Do squats. A basic body weight squat would be just as good, if not better. If you're having trouble with form, or if you have joint problems, chair sits (literally just sitting in a chair and then standing, with multiple repetitions) are a great way to start. For more advanced moves, you can do modifications to your squats, like using one leg.
2. AVOID: The seated chest fly. You're isolating a few muscle groups and doing a pretty unnatural movement. This exercise runs a high risk of putting unnecessary strain on your rotator cuff.
INSTEAD: Do pushups. As with squats, you can modify pushups to make them easier or harder. Pushups force you to work your core and stabilize your surrounding muscles, as opposed to isolating several large muscle groups, like most machines do.
3. AVOID: The seated hip abductor. "You should be using your hips, thighs, and natural body weight at the same time," Marrone says. When you're sitting, you're not using your core.
INSTEAD: Use resistance bands and do lunges. "Resistance bands are much less expensive and you can travel with them." You can also do side leg raises, or side lunges. If you want to focus and the inner thigh, put a ball between your legs (quite literally, any ball) and squeeze. This can be done on your back or in a squat position.
4. AVOID: The seated shoulder press. "This machine has a very restrictive range of motion and can cause a lot of shoulder issues," says Marrone. Forcing these muscles into an awkward position can lead to serious injury.
INSTEAD: Use free weights or medicine balls. The same exercise can be done with free weights (you can use a set of dumbbells), which means you'll be using your natural range of motion. Throwing a medicine ball against a wall (from about 2 feet away, with your arms above your head) will give similar results and get your heart rate up.
5. AVOID: Any abdominal machine. These machines only work your outer abs, not the deeper muscles, so you don't get even muscle tone and it can actually make your abs less flat.
INSTEAD: Do planks. Planks are perfect not only for working your abs, but your arms and back as well. Any free standing, twisting exercise (like trying to touch your knee to the opposite elbow in a plank position, for example) is also a great way to work your obliques.
6. AVOID: Abusing the treadmill. "Don't hold on to the treadmill unless you're 80," says Marrone. If you feel like you have to, you're going too fast and you're not letting your body do the work.
INSTEAD: Mix up your cardio. When you're first starting out, it's great to hop from treadmill to bike to elliptical for about 15 minutes each. You'll avoid overworking specific muscle groups that aren't used to the repetition. Hill repeats (alternating between inclined and flat positions) will take constant stress off your joints.
And finally, Marrone says to always go to the gym with a plan in mind. It'll keep you from wandering around and arbitrarily committing to machines based on what looks good or happens to be free at the time.
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Replies
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Good clip, thanks for sharing. I'm definetly agreeing with this and will try some of the alternatives instead.
Except:
What if you're too weak sauce to do push ups?0 -
Strongly agree with all the points (that's what I've just learnt in my Certificate III in Fitness course too).
Except:
What if you're too weak sauce to do push ups?
You can start with your knees on the ground (keep neutral spine and core engaged) or another alternative is with hands on a wall and pushing the wall away from you.0 -
I wouldn't put too much stake in an article written for Cosmopolitan...
https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/6-machines-avoid-gym-150300149.html0 -
I wouldn't put too much stake in an article written for Cosmopolitan...
https://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/6-machines-avoid-gym-150300149.html
I'm sure this article was sandwiched between one involving how to put on makeup to improve a woman's looks, one that stresses how a woman is beautiful just the way she is, and one that's titled "How to trick your man into cooking Tex-Mex"
also, I'd love to know what 'deeper" ab muscles they're talking about in #5. My diaphragm? My (were I a woman) uterus? They mention obliques, but those are to the side, not the front.
brb reading Chelsea Handler until articles make sense again.0 -
Confusing "article", specially since he's not really saying to avoid, just to use differently.
I guess good to catch someone's eye, but that's about it.0 -
Cosmo regularly publishes articles that are designed to hurt instead of help. Have you ever read some of their sex tips to help break the bed? They're either a) not physically possible b) too complicated to even be remotely worth it or c) Sounds horribly painful. There was one where...y'know what? NSFW. Or anything for that matter. They suggested an 'indian rugburn' on a rather sensitive area. Like who thinks of these things?!0
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Mmmm. Pretty much disagree.
If the seated chest fly is an "unnatural" movement then so are dumbbell flies. Pretty sure there are movements that I do daily that use the muscles that the chest fly uses.
Leg extension: . "You were just at work all day sitting down, and you're coming to the gym and now you're sitting at another machine. It's really important to move your body." :laugh:
Ab/Addictor machines: I use those all the time and I'm pretty sure I'm using my hips and thighs to push the weight in either direction. I pretty much know I used those muscles during the exercise and the next day.
Where are my "deeper" ab muscles? Are those in my back?
Cardio: Mix up your cardio. When you're first starting out, it's great to hop from treadmill to bike to elliptical for about 15 minutes each. You'll avoid overworking specific muscle groups that aren't used to the repetition. Hill repeats (alternating between inclined and flat positions) will take constant stress off your joints.
So with that said people shouldn't walk all the time because it's repetitious and you're overworking your muscles.0 -
"To beginners"
ohhh the irony to tell beginners to avoid machines and do squats or dumbbell exercises instead in fear of machine injuries, as if we all were born knowing proper form with free weight exercises.
I won't break down all the posted articles exercises but i.e. both the leg extensions machine and squats can be a risk for anyone ones knees if you use to much weight. The same thing apply's with most of the other exercises and joints used as mentioned.
I am going to keep the assumption that one is in good health and has no restrictions but, once a beginner or anyone learns proper form with free weight exercises and learns to keep the weight reasonable with both machine & free weights, a beginner or anyone can and will benefit from compound and isolated exercises with out worrying about injuries.
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I would love to see a beginner so clueless/entusiastic who can get injured by using the leg machine performing squats with perfect form...0
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Good clip, thanks for sharing. I'm definetly agreeing with this and will try some of the alternatives instead.
Except:
What if you're too weak sauce to do push ups?
Plank: good for core (abs back sides) and upper body (arms, shoulders, chest) and said to be better than sit-ups for abs0
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