The Dream Lounge

High Intensity Training: Equipment Considerations

Posted on 01. Jul, 2009 by Dream in Exercise

Picture a large, popular gym in your area. Could be a Gold’s, LA Fitness, or even a school gym like the UCF Rec and Wellness Center.

Now imagine all of the equipment available in this facility.

Dozens of “resistance” machines, plate loaded machines, barbells, barbell racks, dumbbells, calisthenic equipment (pull ups, dips, etc), and everything that goes with all of this equipment- not to mention our ever increasing line of “cardio” equipment including elliptical machines, treadmills, bikes, and so on.

It’s no wonder people are left confused or misguided in a gym. There are literally too many choices- some of which have almost nothing to do with proper and productive exercise. Not to mention there is a limitless amount of movements to do with all of these things.

Well, I’ve been around the block over the past 6 months- ever since finding Body by Science- and have made quite an effort to find the best equipment in my area for the purpose of high intensity training.

I’d like to share what I’ve found to be most effective- which I believe applies on a grand scale more often than not- and available in the immediate area for any locals that happen to come across this.

Cardio Equipment

Before we get to the good stuff, let’s eliminate an entire line of equipment that quite literally doesn’t belong in any gym- “cardio” equipment. I still need to do an entire series on why “cardio” is such a fallacy, but at the moment I believe my post on P90X will suffice alongside my Quest to Become a Lean Mean Hairy Machine.

In short, these machines- including stair steppers, elliptical machines, tread mills, and so on- serve no legitimate purpose in exercise- especially when compared to weight training. They do little more than repetitively damage your body, take up space (and funds) that could be used for other more beneficial equipment, and generally waste your time- lots of it.

Beyond that there will be no discussion in this post of “cardio” equipment, but feel free to discuss it via comments if you are curious to know more.

Dumbbells

Dumbbell sets are common, which is a plus in my book. Being able to find them everywhere- from major commercial gyms, to apartment complex gyms- makes them accessible, unlike other types of equipment.

I use dumbbells sparingly- usually for single leg calf raises, and perhaps forearm work in the near future. However if you are interested in using them for a significant portion of your workout and do not have access to other types of equipment (which we’ll get to in a moment) such as high quality machines or barbells, they are a good choice from what I understand. See Drew Baye’s post for further details on dumbbell training here.

Barbells

I’ve trained with barbells for years- since the summer of 2003 if my math is correct. I’ve had great success with them, although like dumbbells they are not my primary choice of equipment if other equipment is present. IMO, as a general rule of thumb, use barbells over dumbbells if you have an option (and common sense would call for a reasonable decision between the two- meaning I won’t be using an Olympic barbell for a single leg calf raise anytime soon).

I currently use a barbell to squat (my primary lower body exercise at the moment), and a shorter barbell for forearm work.

Calisthenic Equipment

I don’t personally have a lot of experience doing body weight exercises (at least not with meaningful results to show for them), however I do believe they can be effective, especially with the addition of plates- if you need them of course.

From what I’ve read dips, pull (chin?) ups, and weighted crunches are some of the most effective exercises to do. A squat without resistance would be effective as well I imagine (if you don’t need the added resistance to hit failure in under 2 minutes). Women and children would possibly fall into this category.

I would have no hesitation performing weighted pull ups and dips in place of machines- such as a lat pull down and chest press- if I did not have access to them.

High Quality Machines

The best for last =).

Properly built machines are, IMO, the best choice for equipment 99% of the time if they are available to you.

The machines to look for in any gym are Nautilus, Med X, and to a lesser extent, Hammer Strength. There are a few less popular brands that are supposedly okay to use as well, but I have never come across them.

If you are faced with the choice between some brand that is not one of those 3, and using free weights or body weight exercises, choose the latter. When a machine is poorly built it can and likely will work against you, unlike free weights which provide resistance in a unilateral direction.

Nautilus machines have been the easies to find. Below, I have most local LA Fitness gym’s Nautilus Nitro equipment listed. This took quite a bit of research (and driving around), but if you are an LA Fitness member and live in the Orlando area I suggest you take a look at what’s available to you (your membership should allow access to all of these locations).

* Verifies that it is one of the best pieces of equipment you will find for that movement. Most Nautlius equipment is still great, but design changes have been made on certain models over the decades that have reduced their effectiveness.

Waterford Lakes location (the one I most often visit)

*Chest Press

*Lat Pull down

*Leg Extension

*Leg Press

*Overhead Press

Triceps extension

Seated Dip

Lower Back

Ab Machine

Preacher Curls

*Lateral Raise

Winter Park location

*Chest Press

Incline Chest Press

Preacher curls

*Overhead Press

Ab Machine

Seated Dip

Hip Abductor

*Lateral raise

*Pullover (this is a revolutionary piece of equipment that completey isolates your back, A++)

*Lat Pull down

Ovideo Location

*Chest Press

*Leg extension

Incline chest press

Preacher curls

Ab Machine

*Lateral raise

*Overhead Press

*Pull Over

Hip abductor

Michigan Avenue Location

Seated Dip

*Overhead Press

Ab Machine

Incline Chest Press

Hip abductor

Preacher Curls

*Lat Pull Down

Below I have listed 2 school gym’s equipment lineup that may prove useful to many of you.

Rollins College (all Med X equipment)

Chest Press

Lat Raise

Seated Dip

Bicep machine

Prone Leg Curl

Leg Extension

Leg Press

Pullover

Seated Row

MedX equipment is top of the line. Rollins has a rare collection that is not available anywhere else in Orlando save personal training studios. These machines are expensive, and I highly encourage their use if you attend Rollins. You literally can not find better equipment.

The Chest Press, Seated Row, Dip, and Leg Press are my personal favorites. The Leg Press in particular because it accommodates for my strength level, which is far higher than what modern Nautilus equipment provides.

Univeristy of Central Florida Rec and Wellness Center

Cybex Chest Press

Cybex Seated Row

Cybex Overhead Press

Cybex Prone Leg Curl

Cybex Leg Extension

Hammer Strength low row (plate loaded)

Hammer Strength iso lateral shoulder press (plate loaded)

Hammer Strength lat pull down (plate loaded)

Cybex Leg press

When I did work out at the UCF RWC most of my time was spent with free weights. That said, before my meeting the other week I spent a few minutes examining the available equipment and wrote down a list of what I found acceptable.

Cybex equipment is by no means ideal, but it is better than the other brands available in the gym. The ones listed seemed to be of a decent build quality as well- the “eagle” seated row and leg press looking the best.

The Hammer Strength equipment I have not used much, but from what I’ve read they do what they are designed to do, far better than the other brands available at the UCF gym.

So why machines?

Properly constructed machines such as Nautilus and Medx are brutally effective for building muscle. They provide varying degrees of resistance that track normal joint function- which means they are hardest when your muscles are strongest, and easiest when you’re muscles are in their weakest position.

This may sound like a “bad thing”, but it’s actually quite incredible. By providing this change in resistance mechanical “sticking points” are reduced or eliminated. By ridding an exercise of a sticking point, you can hit “failure” in a movement at a much deeper point of inroad rather than when your muscles fail to contract through a certain part of a movement (still leaving plenty of strength for additional repetitions, if you could only get the resistance past that sticking point).

This- for the most part- is not possible with barbells and dumbbells.

In addition, machines are much safer than free weights. There is no chance of a barbell crashing down on you, or a dumbbell falling on and breaking your foot if you are not using those things. This is especially noteworthy if you train alone.

Finally, some movements are not possible with free weights. A pullover being the prime example since it bypasses using the hands to work the back by providing resistance against the back of the arms- there’s a tongue twister.

But what about “stabilizer” muscles? I’ve heard machines don’t work those.

Please see the bottom third of this article for details regarding “stabilizer” muscles.

But everyone else uses free weights in my gym, shouldn’t I?

Forget what everyone else is doing. Most people you will meet in a popular gym know little to nothing useful about exercise and nutrition- in fact they often know the exact opposite of what needs to be done.

In Conclusion

In a long enough time span, you will probably end up using a combination of different equipment training yourself. If possible, use high quality machines such as Nautilus or MedX for best results (most movements). They are more common than you would think if you know where to look- which you now do if you live in the Orlando area. You can also locate MedX equipment here.

That said, no piece of equipment will ever replace proper intensity, adequate rest, and eating right. Even with less than ideal equipment, those 3 concepts will take you far in your training.

-Dream

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