Muscle for Muscle: Do Machines Stack Up?

When I initially began working out in the Eighties at the regional junior college in Cost, Utah, there were no machines in the health club. The weight-training area was a hodgepodge of dumb bells and barbells strewn all over the room with a couple rickety weight benches and a squat rack. The only mirror in the gym was one of those framed things you purchase for $7.99 and lean against a wall. You are able to imagine there was a ton of competition for that mirror. I was in heaven!

As I progressed from that little university health and fitness center to bigger fitness clubs I started to see more sophisticated machines. The most complicated hulks of metal I have certainly ever before experienced were the early 80's Nautilus circuits. At this specific health club I registered, members were not permitted to make use of these machines without an instructor since they required numerous modifications and settings to match up with your joint alignments. As the years passed, the engineers who produced these breasts made them even more user friendly allowing practically anybody to jump on and do a few sets all by themselves. To the club owners these machines clicked: The equipment stayed in one spot, the limited range of movement helped assure members were less likely to damage themselves, and the high-priced "furniture" offered the location a sense of authority.

Nowadays when you, stroll into a gym or health club, what you'll see are mostly machines. Rows and rows of them - and having a couple of free-weight racks thrown-in as an afterthought. However does that strength you obtain on a machine convert into something functional off of that machine? In other words, if you have the ability to leg press 720 pounds, could you squat an equivalent amount of weight? Probably not. Most individuals that train solely on machines are not fully functional outside of that atmosphere. Many assistive muscles that are called into play during free-weight training aren't called into play when using many machines. What reps they're able to complete on a particular piece of equipment does not translate into equal useable strength in daily functional movements.

I'm going to get off my soapbox now but intend on revisiting this subject. Would love to hear your reviews, pro and con, so leave a comment.