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Machines vs Free Weights
I am often asked, what is the best machine for me?, what is the best machine for this or that body part?. The answer that I always give is none. With the exception of a few specialized pieces of functional equipment, machines in your gym or home are designed to fit the mass population. So we go to exercise and are forced to contort ourselves into a machine that forces us to move in a specific pattern. The unfortunate fact is these patterns are almost always single joint movements (bicep curl). The problem with single joint movements is life involves multiple parts of the body functioning together. Any time isolation exercises are performed the joint and surrounding tissues are exposed to high stresses and loads. These stresses cause injurious forces to the tissues exposing the exerciser to joint and soft tissue damage. Sadly some of the most loved machines actually don't work. I will list just a few of the most common ones, the first being the seated inner/outer thigh machine. What is not understood is the inner and outer thigh musculature are primarily stabilizers, and stabilizers need to be weight bearing to contract effectively, sitting to exercise them actually makes them weaker and does nothing for toning and shaping. Turn on the TV and you will see ad after ad for abdominal machines. Much research has been done and machines will make your abdominal muscles work, but the price is high. Abdominal machines cause very high stresses on the spine which will cause damage to the disks. No machine can ever make the core contract properly because as I have previously stated machines isolate and the abdominal wall like the hips was designed to stabilize and that is hard to do laying down. On of the most dangerous machines in the gym is the back extension. The spine has very little ability to move on it's own, it is influenced strongly by the hips and abs. The spine musculature consists of stabilizers that serve to protect the disks, and the extensors of the lower torso. Just like the abdominal machines performing a hyperextension on a machine or bench can cause up to 1000lbs of compressive force on the spine, there are better and safer exercises. A rare commodity in health clubs today is floor space, and that is just what is needed for the best and most efficient types of exercise. In our next article I will go into detail how to exercise without expensive machines, decrease the risk of injury, and most importantly have a more effective and efficient workout. We go to exercise and are forced to contort ourselves into a machine that forces us to move in a specific pattern. Machines do not allow us the freedom to balance or to simply engage our 'core' muscles. What if I said that all you need to exercise efficiently, effectively and safely is a stability ball, some light free weights and a resistance band. The amazing part is that all this will cost you under $100 dollars. With these three things we can mimic and even improve upon any gym exercise with the added ability to activate more muscles with each exercise. Consider this, a chest press on a machine or bench uses roughly 8 muscles of mostly the chest, shoulder and arm. A chest press lying on a ball activates every muscle in the body, stimulates balance throughout the body, core control and stabilization of the shoulder and trunk musculature. Life and sports are not performed sitting down, why exercise sitting down. Try performing your exercises standing, initially on both feet with the knees bent, then progress to one foot or stand on a foam mat, anything to make the body work harder. While standing on one leg you can train almost any body part in a much more functional manner than a machine will allow. The exercises you can perform are limitless and if you start to get board simply integrate in the ball to increase and challenge balance and rotational control. At this point we must touch on the difference between rubber bands and free weights. Both are excellent mediums for resistance exercise that you must control in efficient and natural patterns. Bands allow you to mimic cable machines but if you have trained with bands before you know that the greater the movement the tighter the bands become. This means that the muscles work much harder at the end of the movement then at the beginning. Free weights stay consistent throughout the movements you perform with them, but they are gravity dependent. There are simply some exercises that can not be performed with free weights. Both bands and free weights are safe, effective and allow the user freedom of movement. Stabilizers must fire at all times, balance increases and the stresses on the joints are decreased because a machine is not dictating how you must move. The bottom line is simple. Most commercially produced gym equipment forces us to exercise in set patterns that require only single joint movements. This causes increased strain on the tissues surrounding the joint and on the joint it's self. Life is not a single joint movement. It requires a symphony of balance, coordination, strength and endurance. Unfortunately none of those can be achieved on a machine. As a society we have become sedentary, we sit too much. Common sense dictates that we should exercise to counteract and correct the faulty postural patterns that we live in. The more muscles that we can activate, contract, at one time the greater the benefit from the exercise which means less work with more benefit. The bottom line is simply called functional exercise. Bryan Fass,BA, ATCL, CSCS, NREMT-P
Latest News:Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for news JCDecaux in talks for News Outdoor Group in Russia (AP via Yahoo! News) French outdoor advertising firm JCDecaux SA said Thursday it is negotiating to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. JCDecaux and News Corp. in talks to combine outdoor ad groups (International Herald Tribune) The News Corp. chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, has recently expressed nervousness about investments in Russia, where News Outdoor generated the bulk of its revenue last year. News Corp tightens grip on Premiere with new CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Rupert Murdoch tightened his grip on German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere by appointing News Corp executive Mark Williams as CEO in a move to get the company back on track. SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (CBS News) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel 's current news flow, was picked up by a Google (NSDQ: GOOG) News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. After a lot of buck ... SEC Looks Into UAL Stock Scare; Implications For Online News? (paidContent.org via Yahoo! Finance) A ton of digits have been devoted to this in other spots but the SEC's decision to investigate takes it to another level. The backstory: a six-year-old news story about UAL declaring bankruptcy made it into the Tribune-owned Sun-Sentinel's current news flow, was picked up by a Google News bot and, via a reporter for a newsletter, made it onto Bloomberg News. Asia Markets: Financials in rally mode, as Lehman news helps (Market Watch) Asian markets advanced early Friday, with financials such as Mizuho Financial Group and Macquarie Group rallying after a rebound on Wall Street and on news Lehman Brothers was looking for a buyer. News Corp says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) News Corp. executive Mark Williams has taken over as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere in an interim capacity, News Corp. said after the move led to renewed takeover speculation. News Corp. says Mark Williams interim Premiere CEO (Reuters via Yahoo! News) Mark Williams, a News Corp. executive named late on Wednesday as chief executive of German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, has taken over in an interim capacity, a News Corp. spokeswoman said on Thursday. JCDecaux in talks to buy News Corp. billboard unit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) In a deal that would create the world's largest outdoor advertising company, French conglomerate JCDecaux SA said Thursday that it is in talks to buy Russian rival News Outdoor Group from global media company News Corp. UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News (UPI) Kanye arrested in paparazzi scuffle ... Report: Critic smacked Ebert with binder ... Cafe Tacvba nominated for 6 Latin Grammys ... Groban to perform TV songs at Emmys ... News from United Press International. Site: news - Google News BCS Title Game: The News Media Predicts - New York Times
MORE RESOURCES: Site: Yahoo! News Search Results for fitness equipment Hub firefighters to get fitness gear (Boston Globe) Boston officials are installing treadmills, weights, and other fitness equipment at every fire station and are encouraging annual physicals in a bid to improve the conditioning of the city's firefighters, who have been retiring with disability pensions at high rates. FITNESS PARK (The Meridian Star) Workers are currently installing new playground/fitness equipment around Bonita Lakes Recreation Park. The equipment is part of a program to provide more fitness opportunities to those citizens using the park. Local Schools Warm Up For A Fitness Challenge (WGRZ-TV Buffalo) More than 150 schools throughout Western New York are jumping on board a major fitness challenge in an effort to teach their students the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Health and fitness (Daily Herald) To have an event listed in this calendar, e-mail the details at least two weeks in advance of the event or registration deadline to nbrcalendar@dailyherald.com. Please put "Health & fitness" in the subject line. Fitness center resumes normal morning hours (The Desert Sun) The La Quinta Fitness Centers returned to its normal morning hours of 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Fridays. Plano: Fitness classes begin for seniors (Plano Courier) Plano seniors begin another round of fitness classes specifically designed for them. Fall classes for the Plano Senior Center began Monday. Classes are open to citizens 50 and up. Fitness Model / Entrepreneur Targets Childhood Obesity and Makes Headlines Nationwide With New Franchise Offering (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) Ivette Cortiella and Meltdown America have made available a new fitness franchise targeting childhood obesity. New Sunset Avenue will get playground, equipment (Sampson Independent) Photo by Doug Clark Principal Greg Dirks scans a catalogue filled with playground equipment. The Board of Education approved moving foward with plans for a new playground and equipment at Sunset Avenue. Camelback Village Racquet & Health Club Offers Hi-Tech Fitness (Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance) Camelback Village Racquet & Health Club has found the answer to the technology craze taking adults and children away from physical activity and placing them in front of computer and TV screens. The newest in fitness technology, Sportwall, has been installed into a newly built 'technology fitness room' at Camelback Village to help address the lack of interest and participation in physical ... Premier Place Life Time Athletic to Host VIP Celebration on September 16 (Centre Daily Times) Life Time Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: LTM): Site: fitness equipment - Google News Subway contest to award local school with exercise equipment - KVIA
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