About specific stimuli for hypertrophy. Do the muscles know if we are using machines or free weights? So as long as the stimulus is sufficient, hypertrophy will follow. The trouble with free weights for triceps is they get dangerous when you lift heavier weights. Elbows get sore and training has to be modified or stopped. The pressdown movements are good up to a point then no further growth happensThis is my experience. I can't say if that applies to everyone. Everyone natural I would say. What I have found is the lying extension machine is superior to anything else I have done. It requires side pads to keep the elbows close to the head. You can't imagine how many cheat even on this excellent exercise. That is human nature because the muscleheads believe they will grow if they use heavier weights. The trick is to put the muscle under severe mechanical tension and you cannot cheat and be effective. Once you start cheating you recruit other muscles and the target muscle misses out on direct tension sufficient to grow.
A couple of thoughts:
The Gironda/Scott-style pulley extensions actually don't require side pads to keep the elbows in. As long as you focus intensely on keeping your elbows glued to your head, I think you're good. (That said, I would much prefer your set-up.) And yes, it is an awesome exercise, even if it's a bit awkward to get into position initially. I did a set of 10 plates last week and literally had to fall forward to get set up on the bench.
I also agree with you on the machines vs. free weights thing. A good machine is superior in many respects. Some barbell
knuckleheads purists insist that a barbell bench press recruits more muscles than a Hammer Strength press, notably the "stabilizer" muscles.
To this day, I've never seen anyone who actually A, identified these "stabilizers" and B, demonstrated why recruiting them and being forced to balance a bar or dumbbells is somehow a
plus in the "this exercise builds bigger pecs" column
Then, you'll get the people who ask complex questions; e.g., "Oh, that's great and all, but if machines built superior mass, how come more bodybuilding champs don't favor them?" A complex question is like asking a man, "Hey, do you still beat your wife?" Yes -- oh, hell. You're a wife-beater. No? Oh, well, you
used to beat her, then
Part of the reason more guys don't use them is because they're dumb. Simple as that.
Even the brighter than average watch their heroes toil away with flat bench, squats and deadlifts, so they mimic that.
Then there are the biggest, strongest pros. They tend to use at least some free weights is because there aren't many machines out there that can accommodate their strength. When you're one of those blokes that purportedly inclines 495 for a few reps, that's like 7-8 plates/side on the Hammer Incline. I've yet to see one which can hold more than 5 or maybe 6 plates/side. My model can't hold more than 4 wheels and a 25/side.
Further, in reality, a LOT of guys
do largely machine-based training. Have any of you ever watched Vince Taylor or Bob Chick train?
It's funny: those guys are called pussies and such for shying away from free weights, albeit the fact that Chick has benched over 500 in his younger days. But I bet the naysayers never did 20-30 reps per leg with the full stack on the Nautilus Duo-Squat with the seat set all the way forward. Good for the spine? No. But hard-core? Oh ... *LOL*.
My biceps supinator is unique in that you can add weight to the supination or twisting movement independent of the curling movement. I would put my machine up against anything else including free weights. If and only if you can get your biceps sore will they grow rapidly. It isn't at all easy to do. Triceps are much easier to get sore. [/color]
The opposite is actually true for me. My triceps rarely get very sore, but even when they don't, I'll gain strength at a rapid rate. I gave up on regular pressdowns because I was forced to turn to the pulldown station for sufficient resistance.
On the other hand, I can do one work set of a curling movement taken beyond failure and one work set of a hammer-type curl, also taken beyond failure, and my biceps will be sore for many days week after week.
But I do bet your biceps supinator machine is something else. I'd love to try it but the odds of me visiting the land down under are slim
