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Build Up Muscle
Build
Up Muscle
Prior to 1970, there were very few training machines available that
gave direct resistance to the working muscles and build
up muscles. There were leg extensions/leg curl machines,
and even some for doing biceps curls, but otherwise the world of bodybuilding
revolved around free weights. Barbells and dumbbells were the norm.
Then at the 1970 Mr. America competition in Culver City, California,
Arthur Jones unveiled the first of his revolutionary Nautilus machines.
Since his machines were specifically engineered to provide the ultimate
in intensity every repetition, they quickly became popular with bodybuilders
and the general public for gaining muscle mass. Within a decade, it
seemed that Nautilus machines were everywhere. My own engineers also
developed a series of exercise machines, which became mainstays in the
Weider line of gym equipment, which help to build up muscles.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using machines and free weights when we want to build up muscles. But before we get into them, I must state that no exercise resistance machine has ever been invented that produces any type of training effect that can't be duplicated by barbells, dumbbells, cables, benches, and various chinning/dipping bars, which were used to build up muscles.
The main advantages of machines to build up muscles are that they are easy to learn to use, and they are almost totally safe for gaining muscle mass. Compared to learning the kinetics of pressing two heavy dumbbells upward while lying on an incline bench, it's ludicrously easy to learn how to use a Nautilus double-chest machine. And very few people have ever been seriously injured when training on machines. A third advantage of resistance machine training is the superior type of resistance they place; on working muscles. Because the resistance is rotary, machines also allow peak contraction effort on virtually every exercise. Again, this is better than a lot of free-weight movements, which frequently don't have any weight on the working mucsles at all when they are fully flexed. Almost all of them supply rotary resistance, which means the resistance is always directly against the working muscles throughout the full range of motion when exercising to build up muscles.
To build up muscles, some machines provide balanced resistance by using a cam with a varying radius. Computer has calibrated the radius. Greater weight is placed on the muscles in parts of the full range of movement when they are strongest. This is one-function barbell and dumbbells can't duplicate, incidentally. Machine manufacturers provide very few exercises for each major muscle group, frequently only one or two movements per body part. While machines do supply superior resistance to working muscles, they are best used in conjunction with free weights. That's the way most bodybuilders make effective use of exercise resistance machines. Machines require a lot more maintenance than free weights and related equipment. Cables, bearings, handgrips, and foam/fabric components wear out constantly and must be replaced. A machine is down and unusable whenever it is under repair. By comparison how many times do you break a metal 10- pound plate? This makes FREE weights a better choice for gaining muscle mass and build up muscles.
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