@The_Mighty_Stu cheers I’ll have a look into them!
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Can’t believe that you can still buy these, I remember my uncle gave me 1 of these as 1 of the first things to get me into the whole lifting game.
Seriously dangerous when it finally snapped
Ice cream, Netflix and whiskey.
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If the goal is to isolate a muscle then a machine just might be the most effective tool available. If pecs are the target then any fixed pattern machine is the best tool b/c all you have to do is press. There’s no energy wasted on side to side motion or any other type of stabilizing movements.
Just think of your DB bench vs DB bench while lying on a phys ball. You have to drop the weight significantly b/c you’re wasting energy on not falling over.
If the goal is to be good at bench press then machines might not be the best option for the majority of the training, but if you just want a bigger chest then machine away.
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Hahah I was wondering if its cousin, the pull apart version, still exists the other day!
Hahah YES!!!
20 bucks on amazon!!!
I was using a universal type machine a few weeks ago at a hotel fitness room thingy.
The chest press (seated, upright) was actually pretty nice. Just sit down and get set, then push away. I’m just always dubious about the action of the machines though. Where the load is in relation to the fulcrum or if there are cams and what not involved.
It reminded me of pulling using straps. Taking out that failure point (grip) allowed me to relax and just focus on the lift.
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It can be tricky to make sure everything is in the right spot. Some machines are just flat out poorly designed and never work. But most of them have enough adjustments to get it right if you know what you’re doing.
And I still think a machine can improve a barbell lift. You just have to focus on the barbell lift for awhile to acclimate to the new stimulus and then your machine strength gains will transfer.
The summer before my senior year of high school I did absolutely ZERO bench press, but I did a lot of DB work and used the various Hammer Strength plate loaded machines mentioned above. I was moving the 100 lb DB’s for reps by the end of the summer. Once I got back to school and started doing regular bench I struggled with 225 for a while. Once my body got used to the new movement all of my “gainz” showed up and my bench climbed significantly. It just took a month or two of regularly doing bench.
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Get out
Does this count?
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No …LOL
But it’s the prime example of using the word optimal if anything I’d say it was just the optimal display of optimal
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I got the equivalent of “yup you’re a bitch” from my Orthopedist today. My lower back has been aching so I stopped lifting this last month, and yet my spine is fine. He prescribed physiotherapy.
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I was on my phone between sets of deadlifts today. I am one of those people. I sent a text and posted to T-Nation. For what it’s worth, I set a timer and still stay on task for the most part.
I also saw a guy using Fat Grips for pull-ups. He was using the handles on one of the Cybex dual cable machines and the whole damn thing was moving around. He was swinging like hell trying to do pull-ups and never made it. Why in the hell would you use Fat Grips if you can’t even do one regular pull-up?
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Not doing pull-ups with fat grips is so much more bad ass than not doing pull-ups without fat grips
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Doing anything with fat grips makes you fken hard as !
I am now wondering what you are putting into the fat gripz.
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