"I never use machines in the gym." quote from 90% of Getbiggers

[polychronopolous]

well i believe 90% of getbiggers also said they would not fuck tara reid after they say the cellulite on her ass.

Taylor, those same guys are just trying to put up a front, to lead you to believe, that they have something hotter than her going.

Tara Reid has a beautiful face just hit it missionary, or any other position where it's basically face to face, and you won't have any problems getting it up.

[shiftedShapes]

machines are useless

free weights have some use

bodyweight is the way to go

[triple_pickle]

how about a treadmill?

[MisterMagoo]

you can check my training log. i use machines very rarely, save for the occasional pulldown or tricep pushdown to flush some blood into the muscles at the end. it has nothing to do with thinking it's "manlier" or whatever, i just don't like using machines.

[Al Doggity]

you can check my training log. i use machines very rarely, save for the occasional pulldown or tricep pushdown to flush some blood into the muscles at the end. it has nothing to do with thinking it's "manlier" or whatever, i just don't like using machines.

That's your preference and you're entitled to it. The issue here is whether or not machines contribute to results.

[MisterMagoo]

That's your preference and you're entitled to it. The issue here is whether or not machines contribute to results.

i was just answering the initial proposal.

as for machines and their effectiveness, it depends on your goals and how you use them i guess. want to stimulate muscles? sure, they can be a pretty good method. for strength building i can't imagine it'd make much sense to do a 1-3RM on a cybex machine chest press or the back raise. at the same time they work phenomenally for light assistance work on any little areas that may be lagging. for sports, there's nothing to replace power cleans or squats. all the cable pulldowns and leg curls in the world won't do what you need done.

that said, if your choice of gym is to either hit up one with all the freeweights you want or all the machines you want, hit the machines. greater variance, greater muscle activation, etc.

[Ursus]

Best machines are lat pulldown/Tri extension and cable row IMO

[MisterMagoo]

agreed. it can be hard to get pullups or BB rows to hit just where you need them and my elbows won't stand for any free bar/DB extensions these days, so i've been cycling both of those into my workouts. other than that i can get all my hamstring work from SLDLs, GM's, and DB swings.

oh, i admit that sets of 15 on pull-throughs in the cable setup is pretty damn nice too.

[Ursus]

and best way to work to a chin is by doing pulldowns...pushdowns feel great sometimes and cable rows are fantastic.

io started doing BB rows my upperbody totally parallel to ground...shit i get a great pump

[tbombz]

over the last month or two i have found that the only way, the best way, for me to get all ovber and deep into my chest fibeers, is using machine. the best ones for my chest are seated bench, cable crossover, machine flys, cable crossover using the bottom pin.  but i still do flat bench, occasionally incline and decline too


\i think the point is that both machiens and free weights have a place in most everybodies trainign

[The Coach]

"Cross of Iron" will you please explain to everyone on this board how you can isolate your chest with a pressing movement without involving your triceps?

BTW, congrats, that just went down as the most retarded post of the week!!

[cross-of-iron]

"Cross of Iron" will you please explain to everyone on this board how you can isolate your chest with a pressing movement without involving your triceps?

BTW, congrats, that just went down as the most retarded post of the week!!

You fucking moron! I said you can't isolate any one muscle when doing a press. Did you actually read my post?
Thank you for the compliment. I am indeed honored to be congratulated by the king of fucking retarded posts.

[The Coach]

The honor is all yours.

BTW, sorry, I miss read it

I'll just carry on like the dumb fuck I am!!

[polychronopolous]

You fucking moron! I said you can't isolate any one muscle when doing a press. Did you actually read my post?
Thank you for the compliment. I am indeed honored to be congratulated by the king of fucking retarded posts.

HAHA! Not only does Coach get owned by Milos on a daily basis, he also gets owned by the resident runt/horses ass  of the site "cross-of-iron"

[tbombz]

you can definitely get the majorit of the tension onto the chest and make the shoulders and triceps have such little tension that they arent really stimulated or exhausted at all. and that is all thats reall meant by "isolation".   so the point is moot.

[The Coach]

Cross of Iron, your title was just relinquished to tbomz.

[io856]

I don't even think about "free weights" vs "machines" thats so first year training sort of thought...

[cross-of-iron]

HAHA! Not only does Coach get owned by Milos on a daily basis, he also gets owned by the resident runt/horses ass  of the site "cross-of-iron"

Apparently because you don't agree with me that the strength gains you make using hammer strength equipment doesn't cross over
to free weight bench I am the resident runt/horses ass of the site. ok... I will make my point one more time in case somebody misunderstood what I said. The people I see on a daily basis loading a bunch of plates on the hammer strength equipment do so
because they are so weak with the free weights. BTW, I speak from experience...When I first began training my bench was absolutely pathetic...even for a beginner so I used the hammer strength incline,flat,decline and wide because I could put so many plates on. It was all about ego as it is with all the rest of these people. Instead of being humble and working on my weaknesses I spent a long period of time spinning my wheels.

The majority of misinformation was from bodybuilding magazines. I still remember reading that if your bench is lacking you should pre-exhaust with flys...what a bunch of fucking rubbish. Tell ya what, keep reading your bb magazines and following their training advice. If after a decade you're still benching between 200-300lbs you might think of changing something up. People can come here and lie all they want about how much they press and deadlift but at the end of the day you have to look in the mirror and live with yourself. I know there are some strong guys here but the majority are some sad pathetic girls.

[tbombz]

if your a bodybuilder and you want to build muscle, not strength, and you have a proportionately weak chest, then pre exhausting your chest with a isolation movement before moving ont a compound movement is a GREAT idea.

[cross-of-iron]

Cross of Iron, your title was just relinquished to tbomz.

I honestly don't think people know what the word isolation means. Maybe he's referring to the mind muscle connection.
When doing face pulls I close my eyes and focus on my rear delts and get a good pump but that doesn't mean I'm not
using my forearms, biceps and muscles in the upper back.

[tbombz]

I honestly don't think people know what the word isolation means. Maybe he's referring to the mind muscle connection.
When doing face pulls I close my eyes and focus on my rear delts and get a good pump but that doesn't mean I'm not
using my forearms, biceps and muscles in the upper back.

you can definitely get the majorit of the tension onto the chest and make the shoulders and triceps have such little tension that they arent really stimulated or exhausted at all. and that is all thats reall meant by "isolation".   so the point is moot.

[cross-of-iron]

if your a bodybuilder and you want to build muscle, not strength, and you have a proportionately weak chest, then pre exhausting your chest with a isolation movement before moving ont a compound movement is a GREAT idea.

I'm not going to argue with you imbeciles about the correlation between strength and muscle gains. Just because there are a small
number of genetic freaks who respond incredibly well to aas and other drugs while training with high volume and semi-heavy weight
doesn't mean YOU will. BTW, In my post I stated that the magazine said if you have a WEAK BENCH you should use an isolation movement first before benching. That is a STUPID idea but I wouldn't expect you to know that since you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. If you're weak at the bottom portion of the bench it is not cable or dumbbell flys that you need.

[tbombz]

Tbombz,

The bench press is a compound movement. You can't compare face pulls to the bench press... ok?

all i was saying is that in bodybuilding "isolation" doesnt mea complete and total isolation, it just means getting the majority of the stress on the desired muscle and leaving only so much stress on the secondary muscles that they arent really stressed at all.

[The Coach]

[Man of Steel]

I think free weights are superior to machines, but I don't think machines are useless....I think they're fantastic.   I'll try all kinds of machines in the gym and find the ones I respond best with and use those consistently inconjuction with free weights.   If someone prefers all free weights that's cool.  I don't think someone should train with machines exclusively.....I think a combination of free weights and machines can build tremendous results.  If you're healthy then by all means utilize an all free weight regimen, but my contention is that the majority of posters on Getbig that say "I never use machines...only free weights" are 100% full of shit.  I've trained in health clubs and dark, dank dungeons and everywhere I go...from the most pansy to the most hardcore...at some point everyone trains with machines...period.  Again, the only reason our grandfathers only trained with free weights is cause they didn't have anything else.