Most Underrated Gym Equipment | Physical activities slideshows | Well Being center

Why Do We Wind Up Using the Same Equipment All The Time?

Many of us hit the gym in between one busy element of a busy life and another. We rush through the session we do the same time every week. Why shouldn't we? For everyone who looks forward to the gym as the high point of the day, there's a dozen people who just want to get through it. So why not stick with what works? Sometimes, because it doesn't actually work, of course. Many of us are doing the same thing - and getting nowhere. Training should be making you better. Some of us are actually training so badly that we're storing up injuries for later. And some of us could get more done at the gym in less time - and if you don;t like being there, doesn't it make sense?

Sources & Links

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Photo courtesy of CherryPoint by Flickr : www.flickr.com/photos/mcas_cherry_point/6714757991/
www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/best-exercise-equipment-you-are-not-using
http://www.athomefitness.com/blog/2011/07/12/underrated-gym-equipment-rowing-machines/
http://www.jamieatlas.com/2008/07/24/stepmill-most-underrated-machine-in-your-gym/
http://yourbestbodybylinda.blogspot.com/2009/04/underrated-gym-equipment.html
http://www.liftingrevolution.com/5-underrated-exercises-for-women/

Rowing Machines: A Great Way To Add Volume and Get Some Cardio

Rowing machines can be a great training tool. They're good for adding some volume, and there's a reason why rowing is the favorite means of propelling a boat: it's the movement that gets the most work out of the human body. It's efficient - which is good, because it means you can load it up for heavy resistance, do it for high reps, do it fast and with intensity... all on one piece of equipment. The rowing machine isn't perfect, but it is effective and simple to use. If you're short on time and you just want to get the job done, it might be just the thing.

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Boxes: Simple, And A Great Tool To Have in Your Arsenal

A simple, sturdy box. So what? Well, boxes can be used for step-ups, an underrated and oft-neglected leg exercise that hits the glutes and hamstrings as hard as squats without as much skill requirement, and gives you some unilateral leg work without having to learn pistols first. Get a box as high as your knees for a gentler step-up workout - or one as high as your hips to see just how fried your legs can feel. Too easy? Add a couple of light dumbells! Boxes can also be used as a depth guide in squats, as a base to jump onto or off, and more.

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Blast Straps, TRX, Gymnastic Rings - Don't Just Hang About

Blast straps, suspension training systems, TRX or whatever your gym has are great tools for training. Simple bodyweight exercises are made so much harder because of the instability inherent in a suspension system - try a few push-ups on the straps, and you'll see what I mean. At the same time as making you work harder they allow you more freedom to move as your body demands, so they're one of the best choices for inverse rows, for instance. Try supersets of dips and inverse rows on the straps to build the support muscles in your shoulders (be careful not to hurt yourself, though!).

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Cable Resistance Machines Let You Work The Angles

Cable resistance machines allow you to work with finely gradated eccentric loads, where the resistance is off-centre, and let you make rotational movements or mulitplanar movements against a load while standing. That's a great advantage - sports specific moves can be practiced, like Judo throws or baseball swings, while general conditioning movements like woodchoppers can also be practiced. In a gym full of machines designed to isolate muscles, force you into specific movement patterns and work your core separately, cable machines give you functionality, freedom of movement and let you build your core's natural patterns against resistance. There should be a queue for these machines, but they're often left untouched.

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Stepmill - Onward and Upward, One Step at a Time

Stepmills are like treadmills, except that they mirror the action of walking up stairs instead of that of walking along the floor. As a result, a stepmill can give some glute activation, more hip flexor and hamstring activation and require more stabilization from the low back, hips and core. That makes it a better choice than a treadmill for many exercisers, and it's a strength exercise for the detrained. Even if you're already strong the stepmill can be a way to get some extra cardio and reistance, bundled together. Be careful, though - it's a challenge for the joints of the lower body, so you might want to warm up first!

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Airdyne Exercise Bikes - The Going Gets Tough, Then Tougher...

Most exercise bikes are braked - you pedal a wheel and the resistance is supplied by friction between the wheel and the bike's brakes. That's good, because it lets you set the resistance before you start. But what's better is a bike whose resistance rises the faster you pedal; you set the resistance dynamically. That means that 'max effort', like in a HIIT session, will constantly rise. The main downside to the Airdyne listed by users is that it's loud, which it undoubtedly is. It's also not installed at every gym - but if our gym has one and you've been avoiding it because it looks strange or gimmicky, it might be time to change your tune.

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Elastic Resistance Bands Allow Mobility Work and Isolated Strength Training

Resistance bands are a great replacement for isolated resistance machines like the hip abductor and adductor machines. In most cases these machines are downright dangerous in any case, and can be replaced by compound movements like the squat. But in some cases, isolated movements can be useful to improve the way your body moves, ironing out the flaws in the movement pattern or working on muscle imbalances. Additionally elastic resistance bands have the advantage that they exert more resistance the more stretched they are. That can mean, for instance, that using them for upper body pressing movements results in more resistance at the point where your arms are more extended and more able to exert force.

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Pull-Up Stations Might Be Eclipsed By More Glamorous Machines But They're As Good As It Gets

The pull-up station in most gyms is not just an overhead pull-up bar. It usually features curved handles for pull-up variations that accentuate the lats and neutral-grip handles, as well as often incorporating a dip station. Yet weightlifting types ignore the pull-up station - bodyweight exercises don't get you strong like weights, do they? (ahem - they're better) - and people who just go to use the gym stick to the machines, by and large. That's a mistake. The pull-up station should have a queue. There should be two or three in every gym. There's nothing better than pull-ups for the upper back - and it's a great way to improve the strength of your wrists and forearms. Additionally, a well-designed pull-up station has room to improve from inverse rows to typewriters, hanging V pullups and more.

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Safety First: Train Safe, Train Smart and You'll Be able to Train Tomorrow

Training should make you better. If your training makes you injured today, you can't train tomorrow. So do a couple of lighter warm-up sets before each exercise, rehearsing the movements you're going to make and getting your body ready. Use a general warm-up before you train, and learn the difference between discomfort, which means you're trying, and pain, which means you're hurting yourself. In movements like the squat, it's best to learn depth gradually - knee and back posture is more important, train and depth will come. Use your warm-up sets to rehearse your form - and remember to get plenty of rest!