It might sound a bit odd that a fitness coach is telling you NOT to exercise on machines at the gym.  But, hear me out first.  It’s not an “all or nothing” suggestion.  I see many, many women at the club where I exercise going from machine to machine when they do their strength training.  it’s certainly better than sitting on the couch at home–but I’d like to see them venture off those machines for at least a few exercises–and here’s why:

Machines control your range of motion

Sounds like a good thing, right?  Not really.  Machines often eliminate a lot of work on your part.  This is great for beginners and frail individuals, but once you’re past the beginner stage—pick up some dumbbells or use cables/pulleys attached to a weight stack.  You need to be in control of your movement, activating lots of muscle in each movement.

Lots of machines put you in a seated position

I like to see my clients do most of their exercises in a standing position (of course there are exceptions here, like push ups!).  Standing while working with weights, pulleys or bands loads your skeleton (good for bone health), requires you to engage your core muscles more, and challenges your balance.

Many machines isolate one muscle group

Our muscles rarely work in isolation. I’m a proponent of using functional, multi-joint exercises in strength workouts (if weight loss or general fitness is the goal). Although there’s nothing wrong with supplementing a good workout with exercises that isolate a muscle group (such as a biceps curl), I develop workouts for my personal training clients in San Jose that are chock full of exercises that use several joints at once and mimic real-life movements (examples:  squats, lunges, and assisted pull-ups). In fact, just today in my Fit and Fabulous over 40 class, I had my group perform a squat with an elastic band anchored low in a door frame, and as they came out of the squat, they performed a rowing motion with the band.  They worked their thighs, their back, their arms and their core in that one exercise! Performing exercises that involve movement around several joints is beneficial for you because you use lots of muscles at once (think: calorie burn!!), and many multi-joint exercises require you to engage your core muscles as well.

So, if you exercise at a gym and your workout is all based around strength training machines, grab the nearest certified personal trainer and have them teach you some new exercises using dumbbells or the machines with pulleys and cables.  You’ll improve your overall function, help maintain your bones, work your postural muscles and burn more calories!

Committed to your success,

Becky

Tweet This Post