Machines Revisited

I believe machines get a bad reputation in the fitness field field. It’s to the point that if you step on a machine, you’ll get labeled the bitch lifter. While I used to be hard core against machines, figuring high rep squats can get your legs and heart pumping more than any leg press can…but blowing out my back again made me rethink this position.

All the tools in the box

At this point in time, high reps or heavy squat irritate my back, so if I want to maintain some mass on my legs where do I turn? The LEG PRESS…well it’s not just the leg press, you’ll see below.

Here’s an example of yesterdays workout:

Squat Snatch- felt ok, but kept it light
Squat Clean- started to irritate the back as I went heavier so cut
Front Squat- light weight tempos felt ok but heavy weight really bothered it so stopped and moved on
Step Ups – Leg Curls- back felt good and stable
Leg Press high reps- got a good pump on the quads.

From an outside stand point without looking at the notes, most people would say that the leg curl and leg press were a waste of time. But in reality, they allowed me to still maintain some level of leg strength and mass without causing ANY irritation to my back. And to be honest my back feels great after some high rep leg curls…so do what feels right.

Subjective

In the fitness realm too many uninformed personal trainers like to clump everyone into one group and write off exercises. The problem with this is that they clearly fail to take in consideration the person:

i.e. The squat- this bothered my back so I needed to stop, for others this exercise is very beneficial.

I guess the point is that there are rarely any absolutes in fitness, the trainer has to take into consideration the client’s contraindication, physical capabilities, past history etc… and develop a sound program from there, you may have leg curl in client X’s program but in client Y’s program maybe zero machines.

On the flip side, there are trainers that do nothing but machines?! This is not what I’m trying to push toward…What I am saying is that if the squat, deadlift, bench etc… is bothering the client, you may want to revisit machines. But first you want to look at the most bang for you buck exercise which are derivatives from free weights.

To be 100% clear, I love squats 🙂