Gym Equipment Types?

Hi All

My wife is going to the gym..she is new and wants to stick with the machines but does not want to go through the review of the machines with the trainer…not sure why but it is the way she is.

Anyway, is there a good resource with illustrations on various gym equipment and how to properly use them? I know this could be thousands but was just wondering

Thanks

When you say machines do you mean cardio or weights? When I started at the gym I couldn’t afford a trainer so I bought “Weight Training for Dummies” it explains a lot in very basic terms. Can’t remember if it covers cardio equipment though.

Thank you for the response

She basically understands the treadmill and the bike…she likes those and wants to put together a workout plan. I told her to take a notepad with her and write down the names of the machines that she uses or tries and then perform some research. So basically it is the weighted machines.

I will have to look into the book..thank you!!!

She really should let somebody who works there explain the machines to her. It is easily possible to get injured! Also, bad form and speed diminish the exercise results.

What about “speed” diminshes the results?

I think Miaxi is talking about doing very fast repetitions on the machines. A good lifting tempo might be to push (or pull – depends on the exercise) for 2-3 seconds and then come back to the relaxed position in one second.

I’ve seen people do half-lifts and fit 3-4 complete lifts into one second. Seriously. That doesn’t work!

As for books, I like Strength Training Anatomy, by Frederic Delavier. There’s a good mix of bodyweight exercises, barbell/dumbell exercises, and machine exercises. Each one shows what muscles should be engaged, and a few even give warnings on how to avoid injury. There’s a version for women, which I haven’t seen myself, but I read that it’s not as comprehensive (lower body only). The original version shows men demonstrating most of the upper body exercises, and women demonstrating most of the lower body exercises.

Here’s a link (not an affiliate link):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736063684/ref…

Hope that helps!
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Well, I’m not trying to encourage anyone to do super fast reps on a machine. However, slow tempo lifts have a different effect on the muscles, and in my opinion it’s an inferior effect. Lifting as fast as possible stimulates far more muscle fibers, and allows you to use heavier loads. You’re going to see far better strength and size from lifting explosively.

However, form is still critical. And doing machine hammer curls for speed is just silly. Slow tempo lifts aren’t more beneficial….they just aren’t.

Chaddukes, it’s true that explosive lifts have a different effect than slow tempo lifts, but I wouldn’t recommend explosive lifts to a beginner.

Most beginners that use a fast lift tempo are just using momentum to do the work, not doing true explosive lifts.

I wouldn’t recommend them to someone who is in the gym for the first time, but once they’ve done a handful of sessions I’d definitely recommend it. But, isolation exercises and machines don’t lend themselves to explosive lifting. And frankly, aren’t doing much beyond burning a few extra calories anyway.

My reason for commenting was simply to debunk the idea that lifting slowly is the “correct” way to train. Not, to tell the OP to have his wife doing fast lat pull downs.

Thank you to all for your responses. I told her she should get instruction on the proper way of using the machines. She wanted to do some homework prior and was looking for visuals. I am helping her by researching the internet.

Thank you again for all of the advice..greatly appreciate it

Chaddukes, I wrote “bad form and [bad] speed”, as in incorrect speed. There is absolutely no need to feel offended.