What Machines To Use?

[quote]djoh615893 wrote:
I never feel as if I put in enough effort if I use some type of machine. Don’t know why. I guess I get off on having to stabilize dumbells or a barbell. Not like I’m going after slick looking muscles though, so who really gives a shit, right?
On a sadder note, I can’t stand seeing someone being spotted on a Hammer Strength bench press machine or military press machine or whatever but I can’t look away either. It’s like watching someone spit into their own hand and rub it into their shirt. SO odd, so odd.[/quote]

I often (!) see people using the smith machine for a 2 person exercise - one doing a smith machine bench press, the other guy doing single arm smith machine rows, from the first rep on…

Lat pulldown machines can be replaced with much-better-for-you pullups.

Any kind of rowing can be done with either barbells or dumbells.

Smith machine needs to go!

Frankly, one of the main reasons that I prefer free weights is that it is just a whole lot more satisfying to lift something heavy than it is to strap myself into a machine.

Free weights feel like fun; machines feel like a chore.

What about Hammer Strength machines? Are they “machines”? And if not, why not? And if a Smith Machine is so bad because it locks you into one path of travel, what is the difference between that and a Hammer Strength machine?

[quote]CBassBeer wrote:
What pros do should be irrelevant to regular lifters. Are you a genetic freak, nearly maxed out on your muscular development, and a live pharmaceudical experiment?
[/quote]

my comment about pros was because of what the orginal poster said: “[quote]I constantly hear total disdane towards exersize machines from BB’s and gym vets who all hate machines and only seem to use free wieghts[/quote],” “[quote]surely some machines are OK to use even for big BB guys?
[/quote]”

am i a genetic freak?..i’ve worked HARD for every ounce of muscle i have, genetics or not…have i almost maxed out my potential?..HELL NO:) do i juice?..no, but i’m a regular lifter that’s built himself to over 265 pounds of mostly muscle and have done it using a bunch of machines, and a bunch of freeweights…just like the pros:)

lat pulldowns? You all want to fuck your shoulders up that badly?

Only machines I’ve ever used more than once were cable tower and t-bar row… If those even count as machines.

Pullover machine, seated calf machine, standing calf machine, 4-way neck machine, leg press, leg extension, leg curl, pec dec, chest press, low pulley, nautilus curl.

Whether you should use them, I can’t comment, I quite happily use them though.

I reiterate the superior overall effectiveness/accomplishment when using free weights but machines are sooooooo far better than doing nothing, I certainly got no problem with them. I say that with two caveats. Two machines really suck are way too popular for what they bring to the table and directly lead to either acute injury or chronic temdonitis

The Smith Machine is a joke. It cause you to lift everything in a completely unnatural perfectly vertical track. At least all other machines with cams and cables allow you to track some sort of natural line of movement. Read this article by Eric Cressey for “The 10 uses for a Smith Machine”. These uses are not what you might expect. The article is hysterical and a useful read. Dump the Smith machine and Learn how to use a safety rack to lift safely without a spotter.

And I’d also lose the leg extensions, they give a nice pump/burn but that can be achieved in so many other ways. I find that for me and many others this exercise results in a muscle imbalance within the quad resulting in poor alignment of the patellar tendon and significant knee pain. ( Problem has a name like patellar syndrome or something like that, can’t exactly recall the name of it).

It took me a long time to figure out that leg extensions very gradually had caused my problem as the exercise itself was painless and seemed innocuous enough but it eventually left me unable to squat w/o significant knee pain so I had to stop squatting altogether. I finally stopped doing the leg extensions and worked on some remedial exercises to re-train my inner quad to be more dominant. It started to undo the strength imbalance and my knees soon started to feel so much better and I could start squatting comfortably again and I havent had a hint of a knee problem since.

anyway, thats my two cents.

Cable-machines are not really considere machines. Not really. Not in my book.

They are just a convenient way to make gravity work in another direction, so you don’t have to stand on your head to do a triceps extension (ok, bad example). Cable cross-overs are far more comfortable then decline benchpresses.

Also, a glute-ham raise is not really a machine. Neither is a squat-rack. Or a bench.

The leg press is on the border.

The machines we hate tend to isolate the muscles and cut out the stabalising muscles. Benching in the smith-machine does that. A concentration-curl does that. And it’s not a machine.

i can’t figure out a freeweight exercise that allows for maximum ROM for calves. I use the standing “machine” for those, and the seated as well, although whether or not that is a machine is debatable.

Yea so the calve machine and the leg curl machine i incorporate at some point.

If anyone could give me some great calve isolation exercises, for my legs day, i would love to hear them.

The smith machine can be used for ballistic bench presses.