Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name there is amethod to the madness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gildan of the Gildan Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:46):
Let's talk about someselectorized machines here.
People, let's talk aboutstrength machines.
I think you may like what I'mgoing to talk about today.
I think it's very important.
There are a lot of lessons inthis, and let me start with
(01:09):
lesson number one.
Have you heard the saying thatif you make assumptions, you are
making an ass out of you and me?
I am sure you have heard it.
So here's an assumption I madea couple weeks ago.
I was working with a client andhe comes to the gym when he's in
town and when he is at hisother house, home in California,
(01:33):
we do remote training sessionsand I know he has always really
struggled with the leg curl,literally the machine, the
seated leg curl.
He doesn't struggle necessarilywith hamstring strength, he
struggles a little bit withhamstring flexibility, but he
(01:53):
struggles with the machineitself and we kid around a
little bit and he's like youknow, I don't want to do that
exercise when I'm not trainingwith you or whatever, because
I'm going to sit there and playaround with this machine and
you're trying to make me looklike a moron in front of
everybody.
So it's kind of funny a littlebit.
And you know I couldn't reallyfigure out why he was struggling
(02:17):
so much with this machine.
And it's kind of frustratingbecause here I am, back in
Florida, you know, trying tolook through the you know lens,
trying to figure it out.
And it's not like he's an idiotby any means, he's a pretty
smart guy, but he had troubletrying to figure it out.
I'm thinking to myself well,what is going on?
So he comes in the town a fewweeks ago and I said look, one
(02:40):
of the things we're going totackle is this leg curl.
Let's see what's going on andit's similar to the leg curl he
has in California because it's apre-core.
It's slightly different, Ibelieve, but it's pretty darn
close.
So it's obviously a goodmachine then to look at with
that.
So I bring him over to the legcurl and I kind of help him set
(03:02):
the back part of the seat alittle bit and I said, hey,
remember that you need to lineyour knee up right here with
this joint axis of rotation.
And he looks at me like I havethree heads, like what axis of
rotation and what joint?
And it dawned on me that youknow I'm making this assumption
(03:23):
that he knew what that littlecircular thing was on the
machine in the area where yourknees go into the machine.
So I'm making this assumption,making an ass out of you and me.
And you know that's wheresometimes when you work with
people who you think have beenworking out a while, or anybody
(03:45):
really, you kind of make theseassumptions as a trainer oh,
they know this.
And then when it's remote, youcan't really sit there and show
them the machinery as well.
And that's where we were were,but a light switch came on, like
that little bit of a lesson,changed his whole relationship
(04:09):
with the leg curl, like I, Ican't, I don't, I can't
overstate this enough like hewas like, well, that's the
problem, like that's what hewasn't getting right, so he
didn't know where to positionhis legs and then the back part
of the machine, because hedidn't know where his legs were
supposed to be in the machine.
All right, so what I'm going totalk about is that, like these
(04:33):
selectorized machines, it's like, yes, they are simplistic,
which makes it a good thing, butalso, yes, you have to know how
to position yourself and thenfollow some basic rules.
And that's what I want to talkabout today.
You could say it to anybodythat's worked in this industry a
(04:56):
long time a selectorizedmachine.
I'm looking to buy 12selectorized machines and
they'll know exactly what you'retalking about, and then we just
assume everybody knows whatwe're talking about.
(05:17):
But a selectorized machine is astrength machine like you think
of.
I mean, most of these machinesare all selectorized machines
when you go to the gym.
But selectorized means yousimply select the weight by
setting the pin or the handle.
But it's really a pin, right?
You take the pin out of thestack, you make it heavier, you
(05:40):
make it lower.
In most cases, each plate is 10pounds.
Okay, so selectorized justmeans you are selecting the
weight by changing the pen.
All right, so that's your firstlittle lesson.
That's why they're calledselectorized machines.
Next thing we need to understandand when I was talking to the
client about it, I was showingher how we should really do a
(06:02):
push-up, and I use the exampleof like if somebody came up to
you or a football player youknow that needs to push somebody
off of them how are you goingto push that person to the
ground, if need be?
Right, you wouldn't have yourelbows flared out because you
wouldn't get them very far.
(06:23):
You wouldn't have your elbowsall the way in, because then
you'd be losing a lot of power.
So your elbows go out about 45degrees and if you were like
watching this, you'd see how Iwas doing it right now.
But that's the position you'resupposed to be in for a pushup
or any kind of a press.
Now, any selectorized machinemade with any form of quality
(06:47):
and I literally can't think ofany that's not made this way is
going to have the handles setand built at that angle.
So the other thing we shouldknow about the selectorized
machines is there are someseriously, seriously smart
engineers that went into thedesigning of these things.
Seriously smart engineers thatwent into the designing of these
things.
They're not just like oh, wegot to push weight up and you
(07:12):
know, put this handle on thisseat, put this weight stack
right here, make sure the weightstack goes up the guide rod,
make sure there's things toprotect the carpet.
No, I mean, the first thingthat goes into the design of all
of these is the fact thatthere's engineers that work with
kinesiologists to make surethat the strength curve is
appropriate.
And in the 1970s they reallystarted with the strength curves
(07:34):
.
The famous Arthur Jones ofNautilus fame was the first
person to really make thatfamous.
There were some other strengthcurves being worked on, but
Arthur Jones with Nautilusperfected it and turned it into
pretty much a dynasty.
So Nautilus machines were thefirst ones that weren't just
(07:57):
selectorized machines, they alsohad strength curves built into
them.
And the reason why it's callednautilus is because the cam that
in those days the chain wentover because they were chain
driven like a bicycle.
Then they went to more like um,plastic type of pulleys that
(08:17):
were held up a little bit betterand didn't have as many issues,
and then they literally went toair packed containers where the
guide rods were kept in bytight air, so there was no
friction.
Med-x went in that direction,which was Arthur Jones's second
invention.
He took Nautilus into Med-X,which were even more futuristic
(08:39):
style machines, but anyway.
So the strength curve is what heworked on, which means that as
you're going through the rangeof motion on each exercise, they
knew the strength curve of thatmuscle.
For example, if you take thebiceps, when you are down in
(08:59):
full extension, just pretendyou're doing dumbbell curls.
Your arms are at your side andyou're curling up from that
locked out position.
Well, he learned throughkinesiologists that the biceps
are actually at their weakest atfull extension.
They are at their strongest atfull contraction or full flexion
(09:20):
.
So if you're doing dumbbells orfree weights of any kind, you
weren't taking advantage of thatstrength curve because at the
bottom the weight was just asheavy as ever, because free
weights don't change right andat the top it wasn't any harder.
Yet your biceps are a littlestronger.
So the Nautilus machines wereable to use a strength curve cam
(09:41):
mechanism where at that timethe chain and then later the
belt went across the cam tochange the arc of the resistance
throughout the entire range ofmotion.
The arc of resistance wouldchange based on your strength
curve.
So guess what?
That cam looked like a nautilusshell, so that's how the name
(10:01):
nautilus came.
It was in that kind of oblongposition, all right.
So again, lesson number two.
Lesson number one was don'tmake assumptions.
Lesson number two is there's alot of engineering that goes
into these machines.
So all we have to do when we'reusing machines is utilize them
(10:22):
correctly.
But there's a lot ofengineering, not only the cams
but the arm positioning.
So, getting back to the push-upexample, the arm motions on a
chest breast are going to bebuilt in to the natural range of
motion and strength curve ofthe upper body pushing muscles,
the pec, the deltoids and thetriceps, and that's going to be
(10:44):
the same for every exercise, allright.
So there is a lot ofengineering that goes into it.
Third part of this we have touse it correctly.
We have to make sure we use itcorrectly.
I have heard people joke aroundand say things like well, you'd
(11:06):
have to be a complete idiot notto know how to use the machine
when you can look at it and seewhat direction it goes.
Well then, there's a lot ofidiots out there.
Because let me tell you that isnot true and I've had clients
that I've trained for over 20years still occasionally get on
a machine backwards.
I've had people get on theseated dip machine that I have.
(11:28):
You know the machine, your backgoes against it.
If you don't come here, youdon't go to my gym.
I'm sure you've seen a seateddip.
There is a back pad that goesup vertically.
Then there is your seat padhorizontally.
You sit down, you push theweight on.
I've had people get on itbackwards.
I'm not making fun of them.
I mean, we do these things, wejust do it right.
(11:48):
So if those kind of like obviousaccidents happen, then to make
the assumption that everybodyuses the machines correctly is
very false.
And I was talking to a clienttoday about how, when I travel
to other gyms, if I'm onvacation, I never I mean not out
loud critique somebody doingany form of exercise.
(12:10):
I'm never going to be that guythat walks up and says, hey,
you're doing this wrong.
No way.
Number one, it's not going towork, it's usually just going to
offend somebody.
And number two, I'd be thereall day and I've got my own
workout to do like people don'tuse equipment correctly.
I mean, I would say 80% of thepeople in the gyms do not use
(12:32):
the exercises whether it be freeweights or selectorized
machines correctly.
Most people are doing somethingglaringly wrong to it an eye of
a good trainer so.
So that is not true.
So we have to utilize themachines correctly, and that
starts with recognizing wherethe axis of rotation is on each
(12:54):
machine.
That's the first thing.
That's what we set first.
Now we set that for you.
When you come here, you knowsome people like to know and
they're inquisitive.
So they ask but and you should,I think that's a good thing,
but we set that for you.
But we have to know where theaxis of rotation is.
The axis of rotation means isthe point where the machine
(13:14):
mechanics are going to move,lined up with the actual joint
that's going to move.
So in the case of the leg curland the leg extension, the joint
involved is the knee.
So you have to line up thecenter of the knee joint with
that axis of rotation on themachine.
Line it up dead center.
(13:35):
So go right to the lateralaspect of your knee, the side of
your knee, find the most centerpoint to it.
Line it up with the axis ofrotation.
On the machine there's a littleknob.
The Nautilus puts a littleNautilus shell on it and for
anybody that's interested I'llshow you.
On the Nautilus abdominalmachine I have we still have the
(13:55):
little red sticker abdominalshell.
That is right there for theaxis of rotation.
A lot of other machines justhave basically a silver circle
and that's what's on all of thepre-core machines.
So we line that up and then wepull the seat for the back
portion up or back depending onwhere you were.
Now you are properly positionedon the machine.
(14:18):
Now that's going to be true forevery machine.
Now some exercises don'tnecessarily have an axis of
rotation because for the chestpress, for example, there is two
different joints moving andthree different muscle groups.
So the two joints moving arethe elbows and the deltoids or
(14:40):
the shoulders, and the musclesagain are the pecs, the
shoulders and the triceps.
So because of that there's notone axis of rotation.
But you still have to get inthe machine correctly.
You have to line up the handleswhere it should be for full
range of motion.
You know, I always tell peopleuse all of the seat, just keep
it really simple.
(15:01):
So when there's a back pad anda butt pad, use both.
In other words, if the seat isset up vertically for your back
pad, lean against it, use it.
It is there for a reason, allright.
So we get onto the machinescorrectly, using the axis of
rotation.
We set the back pads and makesure that we're securely on the
(15:22):
machine.
Next we hold the handles.
If there's handles, you'resupposed to use them.
I'd see a lot of peoplesometimes take their hands off
of the handles on the leg curland the leg extension.
Now you are not keeping yourhips and butt down and, number
one, you are losing a lot ofenergy.
We want to keep closed contact.
(15:45):
We want to make sure that weare keeping everything down
that's supposed to be down.
I mean, how on earth are youlifting, say, a hundred pounds
in leg extension with your handsin your lap?
I mean you're literally nowfighting the load.
You're supposed to be fightingand you're fighting your butt
coming up.
I mean you're supposed to grabthe handles pretty tightly, pull
(16:05):
your butt down, drop your trapsthe best you can, but you're
still supposed to use thehandles.
Okay, position yourselfcorrectly axis of rotation, butt
pad, back pad.
Use the handles.
If there's no handles, there'snothing to use, you don't have
to worry about it.
Next thing we have to do we haveto use full range of motion.
(16:28):
All right, the machines are setup for full range of motion.
When you are positioned in theleg extension it is already set
at the bottom at 90 degrees I'msorry, at 180 degrees.
Now when you raise it up,you're at 90 degrees.
Knee angle it's already set.
(16:48):
Go through full range of motionall the way up, squeeze the
muscle all the way down untilthe weights almost touch full
range of motion.
There's a lot of reasons whypeople don't use full range of
motions.
All right, full range of motion.
I mean the biggest reason isego.
You can't always go as heavy,not always, I mean, it's just
(17:11):
you can't ever go as heavythrough full range of motion as
you would doing half a range ofmotion.
I mean it's just common sense.
You're moving the load lessdistance but you're not
strengthening all of the muscles.
Then when you do it and you aresetting up some very bad habits
when you do that Full range ofmotion is a must.
(17:33):
We have to go to full range ofmotion.
I say all the time we go to thegym to build strength, not
demonstrate strength.
Okay, so use full range ofmotion.
Every joint, every exercise hasits own full range of motion.
Every exercise has its own fullrange of motion.
(17:53):
They might say but I can't andyou told me that when it hurts
only go to that point ofdiscomfort and then don't go to
the point of pain.
That's exactly right.
We call that a modification.
But we shouldn't be increasingthe load then, like, if we can't
go through full range of motion, we have to either stay at that
reduced range of motion foreveror hopefully get stronger to
(18:17):
where we can go through thejoints full range of motion and
then start adding load.
So both are true, we shouldmodify if need be, but our goal
should always be to try to getthe full range of motion.
And again, sometimes it's verysubtle, it's you think you're
going all the way down andyou're not, but it makes a world
(18:39):
of difference.
I have a client that says youknow, it's that last half inch
on a pull-up, like if I didn'thave to go down that last half
inch, I could probably get sixmore.
I'm like, yeah, but you do Like, and who cares?
Probably get six more.
I'm like, yeah, but you do like, and who cares about the six
more?
I mean, we have to go all theway down and it can be very
frustrating for me as a trainer.
You know I've said before onhere I'm a perfectionist, trying
(19:00):
to get people ready for thingslike my max fit games.
And when I'm working withpeople and I know like they're
way more competitive in theirmind than I'm thinking Right and
I'm like, okay, but you got toget all the way down on these.
And when you go to the gameslike you, you get, you have an
inside edge man, you're trainingwith me, so you got to do this
(19:20):
right.
You know you can't be likeskating by on these three
quarter pull-ups.
You've got to go all the waydown and you've got to get your
chin over the bar.
That is full range of motion.
Push-ups.
We have to go down to 90degrees.
How many times do I say that topeople?
And they leave like this creasein their elbow.
90 degrees Again modificationinjuries, of course.
(19:43):
Then you are working on ituntil you can do that, but of
course you should not becompeting if you're injured,
right?
I mean that's a given, sothat's just kind of an excuse.
90 degrees to full lockuplockout how many times have I
seen videos of people doingpushups online and I'm like,
what is that?
Like their chest is coming offthe ground.
(20:04):
They're doing like these littlepumper things.
I see like guys in the NFLdoing that at the NFL combines
and they're like, oh, jojo, justdid, you know, 100 pushups
straight.
I'm like he did about 20.
I mean, he didn't go nearly allthe way down and all the way up
.
Those are not good pushups atall.
So, full range of motion, nomatter what machine, what
(20:25):
exercise you're on, all right.
So the machines are theresimply to help you get better,
but you do have to utilize it,right.
All right.
So there are four lessons there, right?
Number one for me, don't makeassumptions.
Not everybody knows this.
I should know better than that.
Number two make sure that weget on there, understand the
(20:46):
axis of rotation and understandthat we get on there properly.
Number three make sure that wego through full range of motion
and do our part to do the bestwe can to do the exercise
correctly, and we are there tobuild strength, not demonstrate
strength.
(21:06):
And number four make sure wekeep working out door of Daytona
(21:27):
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at 386-222-3165.
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness.
My name is Rob Maxwell and I'man exercise physiologist and
personal trainer.
I am the owner of Maxwell'sFitness Programs and I've been
in business since 1994.
The purpose of this podcast isto get to the real deal of what
really works and, mostimportantly, why things work.
(00:21):
Hence the name there is amethod to the madness.
Before I get to today's show, Iwant to thank Jonathan and Lynn
Gildan of the Gildan Group atRealty Pros.
They are committed to providingthe highest level of customer
service in home sales.
Why don't you give them a shoutand figure out what your home
is worth?
386-451-2412.
(00:46):
Let's talk about someselectorized machines here.
People, let's talk aboutstrength machines.
I think you may like what I'mgoing to talk about today.
I think it's very important.
There are a lot of lessons inthis, and let me start with
(01:09):
lesson number one.
Have you heard the saying thatif you make assumptions, you are
making an ass out of you and me?
I am sure you have heard it.
So here's an assumption I madea couple weeks ago.
I was working with a client andhe comes to the gym when he's in
town and when he is at hisother house, home in California,
(01:33):
we do remote training sessionsand I know he has always really
struggled with the leg curl,literally the machine, the
seated leg curl.
He doesn't struggle necessarilywith hamstring strength, he
struggles a little bit withhamstring flexibility, but he
(01:53):
struggles with the machineitself and we kid around a
little bit and he's like youknow, I don't want to do that
exercise when I'm not trainingwith you or whatever, because
I'm going to sit there and playaround with this machine and
you're trying to make me looklike a moron in front of
everybody.
So it's kind of funny a littlebit.
And you know I couldn't reallyfigure out why he was struggling
(02:17):
so much with this machine.
And it's kind of frustratingbecause here I am, back in
Florida, you know, trying tolook through the you know lens,
trying to figure it out.
And it's not like he's an idiotby any means, he's a pretty
smart guy, but he had troubletrying to figure it out.
I'm thinking to myself well,what is going on?
So he comes in the town a fewweeks ago and I said look, one
(02:40):
of the things we're going totackle is this leg curl.
Let's see what's going on andit's similar to the leg curl he
has in California because it's apre-core.
It's slightly different, Ibelieve, but it's pretty darn
close.
So it's obviously a goodmachine then to look at with
that.
So I bring him over to the legcurl and I kind of help him set
(03:02):
the back part of the seat alittle bit and I said, hey,
remember that you need to lineyour knee up right here with
this joint axis of rotation.
And he looks at me like I havethree heads, like what axis of
rotation and what joint?
And it dawned on me that youknow I'm making this assumption
(03:23):
that he knew what that littlecircular thing was on the
machine in the area where yourknees go into the machine.
So I'm making this assumption,making an ass out of you and me.
And you know that's wheresometimes when you work with
people who you think have beenworking out a while, or anybody
(03:45):
really, you kind of make theseassumptions as a trainer oh,
they know this.
And then when it's remote, youcan't really sit there and show
them the machinery as well.
And that's where we were were,but a light switch came on, like
that little bit of a lesson,changed his whole relationship
(04:09):
with the leg curl, like I, Ican't, I don't, I can't
overstate this enough like hewas like, well, that's the
problem, like that's what hewasn't getting right, so he
didn't know where to positionhis legs and then the back part
of the machine, because hedidn't know where his legs were
supposed to be in the machine.
All right, so what I'm going totalk about is that, like these
(04:33):
selectorized machines, it's like, yes, they are simplistic,
which makes it a good thing, butalso, yes, you have to know how
to position yourself and thenfollow some basic rules.
And that's what I want to talkabout today.
You could say it to anybodythat's worked in this industry a
(04:56):
long time a selectorizedmachine.
I'm looking to buy 12selectorized machines and
they'll know exactly what you'retalking about, and then we just
assume everybody knows whatwe're talking about.
(05:17):
But a selectorized machine is astrength machine like you think
of.
I mean, most of these machinesare all selectorized machines
when you go to the gym.
But selectorized means yousimply select the weight by
setting the pin or the handle.
But it's really a pin, right?
You take the pin out of thestack, you make it heavier, you
(05:40):
make it lower.
In most cases, each plate is 10pounds.
Okay, so selectorized justmeans you are selecting the
weight by changing the pen.
All right, so that's your firstlittle lesson.
That's why they're calledselectorized machines.
Next thing we need to understandand when I was talking to the
client about it, I was showingher how we should really do a
(06:02):
push-up, and I use the exampleof like if somebody came up to
you or a football player youknow that needs to push somebody
off of them how are you goingto push that person to the
ground, if need be?
Right, you wouldn't have yourelbows flared out because you
wouldn't get them very far.
(06:23):
You wouldn't have your elbowsall the way in, because then
you'd be losing a lot of power.
So your elbows go out about 45degrees and if you were like
watching this, you'd see how Iwas doing it right now.
But that's the position you'resupposed to be in for a pushup
or any kind of a press.
Now, any selectorized machinemade with any form of quality
(06:47):
and I literally can't think ofany that's not made this way is
going to have the handles setand built at that angle.
So the other thing we shouldknow about the selectorized
machines is there are someseriously, seriously smart
engineers that went into thedesigning of these things.
Seriously smart engineers thatwent into the designing of these
things.
They're not just like oh, wegot to push weight up and you
(07:12):
know, put this handle on thisseat, put this weight stack
right here, make sure the weightstack goes up the guide rod,
make sure there's things toprotect the carpet.
No, I mean, the first thingthat goes into the design of all
of these is the fact thatthere's engineers that work with
kinesiologists to make surethat the strength curve is
appropriate.
And in the 1970s they reallystarted with the strength curves
(07:34):
.
The famous Arthur Jones ofNautilus fame was the first
person to really make thatfamous.
There were some other strengthcurves being worked on, but
Arthur Jones with Nautilusperfected it and turned it into
pretty much a dynasty.
So Nautilus machines were thefirst ones that weren't just
(07:57):
selectorized machines, they alsohad strength curves built into
them.
And the reason why it's callednautilus is because the cam that
in those days the chain wentover because they were chain
driven like a bicycle.
Then they went to more like um,plastic type of pulleys that
(08:17):
were held up a little bit betterand didn't have as many issues,
and then they literally went toair packed containers where the
guide rods were kept in bytight air, so there was no
friction.
Med-x went in that direction,which was Arthur Jones's second
invention.
He took Nautilus into Med-X,which were even more futuristic
(08:39):
style machines, but anyway.
So the strength curve is what heworked on, which means that as
you're going through the rangeof motion on each exercise, they
knew the strength curve of thatmuscle.
For example, if you take thebiceps, when you are down in
(08:59):
full extension, just pretendyou're doing dumbbell curls.
Your arms are at your side andyou're curling up from that
locked out position.
Well, he learned throughkinesiologists that the biceps
are actually at their weakest atfull extension.
They are at their strongest atfull contraction or full flexion
(09:20):
.
So if you're doing dumbbells orfree weights of any kind, you
weren't taking advantage of thatstrength curve because at the
bottom the weight was just asheavy as ever, because free
weights don't change right andat the top it wasn't any harder.
Yet your biceps are a littlestronger.
So the Nautilus machines wereable to use a strength curve cam
(09:41):
mechanism where at that timethe chain and then later the
belt went across the cam tochange the arc of the resistance
throughout the entire range ofmotion.
The arc of resistance wouldchange based on your strength
curve.
So guess what?
That cam looked like a nautilusshell, so that's how the name
(10:01):
nautilus came.
It was in that kind of oblongposition, all right.
So again, lesson number two.
Lesson number one was don'tmake assumptions.
Lesson number two is there's alot of engineering that goes
into these machines.
So all we have to do when we'reusing machines is utilize them
(10:22):
correctly.
But there's a lot ofengineering, not only the cams
but the arm positioning.
So, getting back to the push-upexample, the arm motions on a
chest breast are going to bebuilt in to the natural range of
motion and strength curve ofthe upper body pushing muscles,
the pec, the deltoids and thetriceps, and that's going to be
(10:44):
the same for every exercise, allright.
So there is a lot ofengineering that goes into it.
Third part of this we have touse it correctly.
We have to make sure we use itcorrectly.
I have heard people joke aroundand say things like well, you'd
(11:06):
have to be a complete idiot notto know how to use the machine
when you can look at it and seewhat direction it goes.
Well then, there's a lot ofidiots out there.
Because let me tell you that isnot true and I've had clients
that I've trained for over 20years still occasionally get on
a machine backwards.
I've had people get on theseated dip machine that I have.
(11:28):
You know the machine, your backgoes against it.
If you don't come here, youdon't go to my gym.
I'm sure you've seen a seateddip.
There is a back pad that goesup vertically.
Then there is your seat padhorizontally.
You sit down, you push theweight on.
I've had people get on itbackwards.
I'm not making fun of them.
I mean, we do these things, wejust do it right.
(11:48):
So if those kind of like obviousaccidents happen, then to make
the assumption that everybodyuses the machines correctly is
very false.
And I was talking to a clienttoday about how, when I travel
to other gyms, if I'm onvacation, I never I mean not out
loud critique somebody doingany form of exercise.
(12:10):
I'm never going to be that guythat walks up and says, hey,
you're doing this wrong.
No way.
Number one, it's not going towork, it's usually just going to
offend somebody.
And number two, I'd be thereall day and I've got my own
workout to do like people don'tuse equipment correctly.
I mean, I would say 80% of thepeople in the gyms do not use
(12:32):
the exercises whether it be freeweights or selectorized
machines correctly.
Most people are doing somethingglaringly wrong to it an eye of
a good trainer so.
So that is not true.
So we have to utilize themachines correctly, and that
starts with recognizing wherethe axis of rotation is on each
(12:54):
machine.
That's the first thing.
That's what we set first.
Now we set that for you.
When you come here, you knowsome people like to know and
they're inquisitive.
So they ask but and you should,I think that's a good thing,
but we set that for you.
But we have to know where theaxis of rotation is.
The axis of rotation means isthe point where the machine
(13:14):
mechanics are going to move,lined up with the actual joint
that's going to move.
So in the case of the leg curland the leg extension, the joint
involved is the knee.
So you have to line up thecenter of the knee joint with
that axis of rotation on themachine.
Line it up dead center.
(13:35):
So go right to the lateralaspect of your knee, the side of
your knee, find the most centerpoint to it.
Line it up with the axis ofrotation.
On the machine there's a littleknob.
The Nautilus puts a littleNautilus shell on it and for
anybody that's interested I'llshow you.
On the Nautilus abdominalmachine I have we still have the
(13:55):
little red sticker abdominalshell.
That is right there for theaxis of rotation.
A lot of other machines justhave basically a silver circle
and that's what's on all of thepre-core machines.
So we line that up and then wepull the seat for the back
portion up or back depending onwhere you were.
Now you are properly positionedon the machine.
(14:18):
Now that's going to be true forevery machine.
Now some exercises don'tnecessarily have an axis of
rotation because for the chestpress, for example, there is two
different joints moving andthree different muscle groups.
So the two joints moving arethe elbows and the deltoids or
(14:40):
the shoulders, and the musclesagain are the pecs, the
shoulders and the triceps.
So because of that there's notone axis of rotation.
But you still have to get inthe machine correctly.
You have to line up the handleswhere it should be for full
range of motion.
You know, I always tell peopleuse all of the seat, just keep
it really simple.
(15:01):
So when there's a back pad anda butt pad, use both.
In other words, if the seat isset up vertically for your back
pad, lean against it, use it.
It is there for a reason, allright.
So we get onto the machinescorrectly, using the axis of
rotation.
We set the back pads and makesure that we're securely on the
(15:22):
machine.
Next we hold the handles.
If there's handles, you'resupposed to use them.
I'd see a lot of peoplesometimes take their hands off
of the handles on the leg curland the leg extension.
Now you are not keeping yourhips and butt down and, number
one, you are losing a lot ofenergy.
We want to keep closed contact.
(15:45):
We want to make sure that weare keeping everything down
that's supposed to be down.
I mean, how on earth are youlifting, say, a hundred pounds
in leg extension with your handsin your lap?
I mean you're literally nowfighting the load.
You're supposed to be fightingand you're fighting your butt
coming up.
I mean you're supposed to grabthe handles pretty tightly, pull
(16:05):
your butt down, drop your trapsthe best you can, but you're
still supposed to use thehandles.
Okay, position yourselfcorrectly axis of rotation, butt
pad, back pad.
Use the handles.
If there's no handles, there'snothing to use, you don't have
to worry about it.
Next thing we have to do we haveto use full range of motion.
(16:28):
All right, the machines are setup for full range of motion.
When you are positioned in theleg extension it is already set
at the bottom at 90 degrees I'msorry, at 180 degrees.
Now when you raise it up,you're at 90 degrees.
Knee angle it's already set.
(16:48):
Go through full range of motionall the way up, squeeze the
muscle all the way down untilthe weights almost touch full
range of motion.
There's a lot of reasons whypeople don't use full range of
motions.
All right, full range of motion.
I mean the biggest reason isego.
You can't always go as heavy,not always, I mean, it's just
(17:11):
you can't ever go as heavythrough full range of motion as
you would doing half a range ofmotion.
I mean it's just common sense.
You're moving the load lessdistance but you're not
strengthening all of the muscles.
Then when you do it and you aresetting up some very bad habits
when you do that Full range ofmotion is a must.
(17:33):
We have to go to full range ofmotion.
I say all the time we go to thegym to build strength, not
demonstrate strength.
Okay, so use full range ofmotion.
Every joint, every exercise hasits own full range of motion.
Every exercise has its own fullrange of motion.
(17:53):
They might say but I can't andyou told me that when it hurts
only go to that point ofdiscomfort and then don't go to
the point of pain.
That's exactly right.
We call that a modification.
But we shouldn't be increasingthe load then, like, if we can't
go through full range of motion, we have to either stay at that
reduced range of motion foreveror hopefully get stronger to
(18:17):
where we can go through thejoints full range of motion and
then start adding load.
So both are true, we shouldmodify if need be, but our goal
should always be to try to getthe full range of motion.
And again, sometimes it's verysubtle, it's you think you're
going all the way down andyou're not, but it makes a world
(18:39):
of difference.
I have a client that says youknow, it's that last half inch
on a pull-up, like if I didn'thave to go down that last half
inch, I could probably get sixmore.
I'm like, yeah, but you do Like, and who cares?
Probably get six more.
I'm like, yeah, but you do like, and who cares about the six
more?
I mean, we have to go all theway down and it can be very
frustrating for me as a trainer.
You know I've said before onhere I'm a perfectionist, trying
(19:00):
to get people ready for thingslike my max fit games.
And when I'm working withpeople and I know like they're
way more competitive in theirmind than I'm thinking Right and
I'm like, okay, but you got toget all the way down on these.
And when you go to the gameslike you, you get, you have an
inside edge man, you're trainingwith me, so you got to do this
(19:20):
right.
You know you can't be likeskating by on these three
quarter pull-ups.
You've got to go all the waydown and you've got to get your
chin over the bar.
That is full range of motion.
Push-ups.
We have to go down to 90degrees.
How many times do I say that topeople?
And they leave like this creasein their elbow.
90 degrees Again modificationinjuries, of course.
(19:43):
Then you are working on ituntil you can do that, but of
course you should not becompeting if you're injured,
right?
I mean that's a given, sothat's just kind of an excuse.
90 degrees to full lockuplockout how many times have I
seen videos of people doingpushups online and I'm like,
what is that?
Like their chest is coming offthe ground.
(20:04):
They're doing like these littlepumper things.
I see like guys in the NFLdoing that at the NFL combines
and they're like, oh, jojo, justdid, you know, 100 pushups
straight.
I'm like he did about 20.
I mean, he didn't go nearly allthe way down and all the way up
.
Those are not good pushups atall.
So, full range of motion, nomatter what machine, what
(20:25):
exercise you're on, all right.
So the machines are theresimply to help you get better,
but you do have to utilize it,right.
All right.
So there are four lessons there, right?
Number one for me, don't makeassumptions.
Not everybody knows this.
I should know better than that.
Number two make sure that weget on there, understand the
(20:46):
axis of rotation and understandthat we get on there properly.
Number three make sure that wego through full range of motion
and do our part to do the bestwe can to do the exercise
correctly, and we are there tobuild strength, not demonstrate
strength.
(21:06):
And number four make sure wekeep working out door of Daytona
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They have the best product.
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