Rise of the Machines
In the land of the free weight, the boost you can get from exercise machines is even more liberating
By: Mary Christ
Photographs by: Mark Havriliak
DO SINGLE-ARM NEGATIVES
This means overloading your muscles during the eccentric--the lowering--portion of the lift. Choose a weight that's about 60 percent of the amount you can lift five times, and push the weight up normally.
At the top of the move, pause, then remove one arm from the handle and lower the weight as slowly as you can. Do four sets of five repetitions, switching arms each set.
The Benefit: This can lead to greater muscle growth than you get from conventional lifting. But limit it to once a week, says Cosgrove. Heavy eccentric training causes more muscle damage than normal lifting, so your muscles need longer to recover.
EXTEND YOUR SETS
Try this on biceps and triceps machines that have separate handles for each hand. Choose a heavy weight that you can lift only six to eight times with one arm. When you can't perform one more repetition, grab the other handle with your opposite arm--so you're using both arms to lift the weight--and do eight to 10 more repetitions.
The Benefit: Greater growth, because you'll exhaust the muscle fibers in the first arm, says Tim Kuebler, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Kansas City, Missouri. Do four sets, alternating the arm you start with each time, every 4 days.
Or try combining a biceps and triceps workout by alternating exercises and arms, so that you do a right-arm curl, left-arm extension, left-arm curl, and right-arm extension. Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat one time.
COMPENSATE FOR POOR DESIGN
When using the seated-squat machine, place a rolled-up towel under the arch in your lower back. The change in posture creates a line of motion that's more consistent with the way you naturally squat, allowing your lower back and hips to move slightly behind your heels.
The Benefit: It reduces your risk of injury and better trains your muscles for the way they'll be used in real life, says Cosgrove.
FINISH WITH DROP SETS
On your last set of an exercise (free weight or machine), perform the same move on a "selectorized" machine such as Nautilus, Universal, or Cybex. Start with the most weight you can lift six to eight times and do as many repetitions as possible. Immediately drop the weight by 20 percent and do six to eight more repetitions, then drop the weight by 20 percent again and do a final six- to eight-repetition set.
The Benefit: Your muscles will be forced to work harder than ever before, and you'll gain strength, says Peterson.
COMBINE CABLES WITH DUMBBELLS
By attaching cables to your wrists when doing the dumbbell bench press, you'll add horizontal resistance to the exercise.
The Benefit: "It forces your muscles to work against both vertical and horizontal resistance," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., Men's Health exercise advisor. Here's how: Put a weight bench in the center of a cable station, perpendicular to the machine. Select fairly light weights on both weight stacks. Fasten a pair of ankle straps to your wrists and hook the straps to the low pulley of the cable station. Grab a pair of dumbbells (have them handy!) that are half the weight you'd usually use, lie on the bench, and hold the dumbbells at the sides of your chest. Perform a standard dumbbell press by pushing the dumbbells up and in, until your arms are straight and the dumbbells are almost touching.
menshealth.com
In the land of the free weight, the boost you can get from exercise machines is even more liberating
By: Mary Christ
Photographs by: Mark Havriliak
DO SINGLE-ARM NEGATIVES
This means overloading your muscles during the eccentric--the lowering--portion of the lift. Choose a weight that's about 60 percent of the amount you can lift five times, and push the weight up normally.
At the top of the move, pause, then remove one arm from the handle and lower the weight as slowly as you can. Do four sets of five repetitions, switching arms each set.
The Benefit: This can lead to greater muscle growth than you get from conventional lifting. But limit it to once a week, says Cosgrove. Heavy eccentric training causes more muscle damage than normal lifting, so your muscles need longer to recover.
EXTEND YOUR SETS
Try this on biceps and triceps machines that have separate handles for each hand. Choose a heavy weight that you can lift only six to eight times with one arm. When you can't perform one more repetition, grab the other handle with your opposite arm--so you're using both arms to lift the weight--and do eight to 10 more repetitions.
The Benefit: Greater growth, because you'll exhaust the muscle fibers in the first arm, says Tim Kuebler, C.S.C.S., a trainer in Kansas City, Missouri. Do four sets, alternating the arm you start with each time, every 4 days.
Or try combining a biceps and triceps workout by alternating exercises and arms, so that you do a right-arm curl, left-arm extension, left-arm curl, and right-arm extension. Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat one time.
COMPENSATE FOR POOR DESIGN
When using the seated-squat machine, place a rolled-up towel under the arch in your lower back. The change in posture creates a line of motion that's more consistent with the way you naturally squat, allowing your lower back and hips to move slightly behind your heels.
The Benefit: It reduces your risk of injury and better trains your muscles for the way they'll be used in real life, says Cosgrove.
FINISH WITH DROP SETS
On your last set of an exercise (free weight or machine), perform the same move on a "selectorized" machine such as Nautilus, Universal, or Cybex. Start with the most weight you can lift six to eight times and do as many repetitions as possible. Immediately drop the weight by 20 percent and do six to eight more repetitions, then drop the weight by 20 percent again and do a final six- to eight-repetition set.
The Benefit: Your muscles will be forced to work harder than ever before, and you'll gain strength, says Peterson.
COMBINE CABLES WITH DUMBBELLS
By attaching cables to your wrists when doing the dumbbell bench press, you'll add horizontal resistance to the exercise.
The Benefit: "It forces your muscles to work against both vertical and horizontal resistance," says Michael Mejia, C.S.C.S., Men's Health exercise advisor. Here's how: Put a weight bench in the center of a cable station, perpendicular to the machine. Select fairly light weights on both weight stacks. Fasten a pair of ankle straps to your wrists and hook the straps to the low pulley of the cable station. Grab a pair of dumbbells (have them handy!) that are half the weight you'd usually use, lie on the bench, and hold the dumbbells at the sides of your chest. Perform a standard dumbbell press by pushing the dumbbells up and in, until your arms are straight and the dumbbells are almost touching.
menshealth.com
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