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Machines are bad, there I said it again. How many of us join health clubs or
purchase expensive home exercise equipment under the notion that the machine
will protect our back, make the exercise easier or guarantee your results
quicker. In sports and life for that matter if you are sitting on your butt or
laying flat on your back you lost! , so why do we insist on exercising that
way. We spend way too much of our existence sedentary, sitting, driving,
typing, talking etc..
Has anyone noticed that the commonality of back problems from doing nothing (a
traumatic), joint replacements and other injuries of non-traumatic origins
continue to escalate?. Did anyone ever put two and two together and realize
that maybe the way we have and are exercising is precipitating the problem. My
last article went into some specifics on the traumatic forces that the joints
experience using common machines. Research continues to emerge validating that
most machines place the body and joints in such horrible positions that injury
is inevitable.
So what is a health conscious exerciser to do, well, life moves so we better
learn to exercise that way. Try performing your current exercise routine
standing. That's right, chest presses, shoulder presses, arm exercises, rows
all performed standing. This will enable you to engage all of your 'core'
muscles, work on balance and lower extremity joint stability.
When was the last time you performed a standing squat, on one leg, on a ball or
foam disk? What if you tried training the whole workout using an adjustable
cable machine, standing?. Wait, I said machine, yes some machines or good.
There are a few pieces out there that I like. If it has an adjustable cable or
articulating arms, that we like. Why, simple it forces you to stand and that
engages almost all of the core muscles, and as I've stated if you are standing
you are using many more muscles than if your were sitting down. Machines that
do not force you to remain in a set joint position and allow you to move as
biomechanics dictate will by default give you a better and safer workout.
Lunges are one of the best exercises to do, anyone can argue for or against
this, but combined with proper hip and leg stability / flexibility they are
among the best. Try combining with shoulder presses, abduction, scaptions. You
can also combine with bicep curls, torso rotations, stabilization movements, as
you can tell the combinations are almost endless.
Dumbbells, almost beyond the scope of this article the amount of exercises you
can perform. A ball, BOSU tm, floor and an adjustable bench is all you need.
Bands, yes almost as good as cables, they travel better and the exercises are
almost endless. One word on bands, they are easier in the beginning and harder
at the end of the movement. This changes the firing of the muscle slightly but
they are still an excellent adjunct for fitness, and yes they force you to
stand while using them.
What about the floor, generally there is very little floor space in a gym, got
to fill it with machines. For the last few years the popularity of Pilates,
Yoga, Tai Chi and other movement techniques have become popular. Thanks to the
baby boomers looking for alternatives for fitness these regimens have become
mainstream. They all require a balance of breathing, flexibility, strength,
postural awareness and muscular endurance. The message with these techniques is
performed by themselves they are good, add strength training and aerobic
conditioning and the package is complete.
Does this mean never train on a machine, absolutely not, many still provide a
good isolation workout and for some with medical conditions machines allow a
degree of safety. My point is that so many of us have spent so much time
training wrong and placing our bodies in bad positions that we need to spend
much of our time correcting the imbalances and injury that are already there. I
tell a lot of my clients that people do not feel there arteries clogging but
they sure know when the crushing chest pain starts. We spend much of our lives
denying that injuries, both musculoskeletal and internal, will never happen to
us, yet we consistently do things to encourage that damage to occur. Let's
change how we think and exercise or you may end up laying flat on you back.
Bryan Fass, BA, ATCL, CSCS, NREMT-P
Bryan Fass holds a bachelors in sports medicine, is a Certified / Licensed
Athletic Trainer, Nationally Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist,
Nationally Registered Paramedic. Bryan is also a highly skilled soft tissue and
Myofascial Release therapist, And has over 10 years of experience in clinical
and fitness settings. Specialties in Spine and postural re-education.
Precision Fitness is an advanced personal fitness, corrective exercise,
post-rehabilitation, and sports performance facility with locations in
Cornelius and Mooresville.
http://www.lakenormanfitness.com
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