You have permission to publish this article in web sites, ezines, electronic publications, and any media format, as long as the article Why Fixed Weight Machines are Ineffective and May Injure You! By Mike Heatlie MSc It can be very frustrating at times for Personal Trainers such as myself when we’re working with only a handful of clients, when thousands of exercisers If it’s one set for each for twelve repetitions then your time would probably work out to close to about twenty minutes. That wasn’t a typo; that was twenty minutes. I can have one of my clients do one exercise that would stress the body a great deal further, recruit more muscle fibres, produce a greater But, by far, my greatest problem with fixed weight machines is that they only work muscles in isolation, and usually through one joint and one plane of If you look at the human movement we do in everyday life, it’s nothing like the movements we get from a fixed weight machine. Take the seated leg extension and seated leg curl. When in every day life do we perform these movements? Never. Squatting, on the other hand, we do all the time. Every time a lady uses the bathroom she will squat! Every time we get out of a chair or bend down to pick something up we squat. Wouldn’t it make sense therefore to strengthen the muscles involved in the squat if that is a functional movement that we Exercises such as the squat and deadlift require a great deal of stimulation and strength from the abdominal, hips and lower back musculature. The fixed weight machines don’t do this as you’re mostly in a stable position, normally seated. What tends to happen, unlike functional movements, is that dog I’ve had clients hurt their backs through these every day functional movements because they did not possess enough core strength. Every movement we do emanates from our core. The key then is come off the fixed weight machines and start exercising with functional movements. The problem is, functional movements don’t require expensive fixed weight machines, you see my point! ;) Mike Heatlie MSc is one of the leading Personal Trainers worldwide. Mike holds a Masters Degree in Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise and a 1st Class Honors Degree in Sport & Exercise Science. He has a ten year Personal Training relationship with US singer Gwen Stefani, and is the author of the epic ebook 'Lose 10 Years, 10 Pounds, in 5 Weeks!' www.mikeheatlie.com Copyright © Mike Heatlie Personal Training 2007 All Rights Reserved You have permission to publish this article in web sites, ezines, electronic publications, and any media format, as long as the article |
