If you are interested in getting serious about your exercise program, investing in a weight machine may be the way to go.
Both free weights and weight machines have their place and their advantages/disadvantages.
One of the largest advantages of a weight machine is the safety it affords the user.
Often when working out with free weights it is necessary to have a "spotter" with you during the workout to avoid injury when workout out to the point of muscle failure.
A weight machine, on the other hand, does not require the use of a spotter during a workout.
There are many different kinds of weight machines for both home and professional use including the bench press, pectoral fly, lat pull down, leg press, biceps curl, and multi-station machines that incorporate many of the previous types into one convenient system.
Bench Press The Bench Press machine simulates the movements of the traditional free-weight style press and is designed to primarily target the chest and triceps.
This is one of the easiest types exercises to injure yourself on when using free-weights which is why this is also one of the most common weight machine types.
Pectoral Fly The pectoral fly machine also focuses on the chest, however instead of pushing the weights away, the user of a pectoral fly machine will sit in the seat while grasping handles on either side at approximately chest level.
He/she will then use the chest/pectoral muscles to bring the hands/arms together in a squeezing motion.
This movement isolates the chest muscles extremely well.
Lat Pulldown The lat pulldown is designed to simulate the same movements and muscle targeting one would get while doing a pull-up, without the requirement that the user be able to lift his/her entire body weight.
When using a lat pulldown machine, the user will generally sit in front of the machine and grab a bar that rests above the head.
He/she will then pull the bar down toward the chest and/or back of the neck.
This exercise is designed to primarily target the back muscles or "lats" while also working the biceps Biceps Curl The biceps curl machine targets the biceps precisely as the name indicates.
It simulates the same movement that would occur if the user were to hold free weights and curl them up.
Leg Press The leg press machine is another machine that affords the user a greater amount of safety than if using free-weights.
When using a leg press machine, the user will generally site or lie down and place their feet against a pad or plate.
The user then pushes the plate away from him or her working the legs (most specifically the quadriceps).
To achieve the same movement using free-weights would require the individual to place weights up on the shoulders and squat and stand up, which could lead to injury if too much weight is used.
Multi-station Weight Machine For home use, the multi-station gym is the most common as it requires much less space than having an individual machine for each exercise.
Most multi-station gyms are designed in such a way to allow the user to do a large number of exercises while maintaining a relatively small overall footprint.
Both free weights and weight machines have their place and their advantages/disadvantages.
One of the largest advantages of a weight machine is the safety it affords the user.
Often when working out with free weights it is necessary to have a "spotter" with you during the workout to avoid injury when workout out to the point of muscle failure.
A weight machine, on the other hand, does not require the use of a spotter during a workout.
There are many different kinds of weight machines for both home and professional use including the bench press, pectoral fly, lat pull down, leg press, biceps curl, and multi-station machines that incorporate many of the previous types into one convenient system.
Bench Press The Bench Press machine simulates the movements of the traditional free-weight style press and is designed to primarily target the chest and triceps.
This is one of the easiest types exercises to injure yourself on when using free-weights which is why this is also one of the most common weight machine types.
Pectoral Fly The pectoral fly machine also focuses on the chest, however instead of pushing the weights away, the user of a pectoral fly machine will sit in the seat while grasping handles on either side at approximately chest level.
He/she will then use the chest/pectoral muscles to bring the hands/arms together in a squeezing motion.
This movement isolates the chest muscles extremely well.
Lat Pulldown The lat pulldown is designed to simulate the same movements and muscle targeting one would get while doing a pull-up, without the requirement that the user be able to lift his/her entire body weight.
When using a lat pulldown machine, the user will generally sit in front of the machine and grab a bar that rests above the head.
He/she will then pull the bar down toward the chest and/or back of the neck.
This exercise is designed to primarily target the back muscles or "lats" while also working the biceps Biceps Curl The biceps curl machine targets the biceps precisely as the name indicates.
It simulates the same movement that would occur if the user were to hold free weights and curl them up.
Leg Press The leg press machine is another machine that affords the user a greater amount of safety than if using free-weights.
When using a leg press machine, the user will generally site or lie down and place their feet against a pad or plate.
The user then pushes the plate away from him or her working the legs (most specifically the quadriceps).
To achieve the same movement using free-weights would require the individual to place weights up on the shoulders and squat and stand up, which could lead to injury if too much weight is used.
Multi-station Weight Machine For home use, the multi-station gym is the most common as it requires much less space than having an individual machine for each exercise.
Most multi-station gyms are designed in such a way to allow the user to do a large number of exercises while maintaining a relatively small overall footprint.
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