Golds Gym - Big Ego Big Weights

[ivanishe]

I work out at a local gym at my university and I know how much I can lift on the various machines, for example, the triceps pulldown v-bar i manage 50lbs for reps... on the fly machine i rep 130-150....

lo and behold... i go out of town visit golds (visitor pass) and on their cybex machines I can suddenly do 120 lbs on the tricpes pulldown and 190 on the fly... (seriously)

I try out some other machines and figure out that they are geared (by pullies) such that you have the appearance of lifting more than you can actually handle on more modest machines.

It's an ego boost but its misleading... any thoughts? Is there such thing as consistency across machines?

[nickolas388]

Originally Posted by ivanishe

I work out at a local gym at my university and I know how much I can lift on the various machines, for example, the triceps pulldown v-bar i manage 50lbs for reps... on the fly machine i rep 130-150....

lo and behold... i go out of town visit golds (visitor pass) and on their cybex machines I can suddenly do 120 lbs on the tricpes pulldown and 190 on the fly... (seriously)

I try out some other machines and figure out that they are geared (by pullies) such that you have the appearance of lifting more than you can actually handle on more modest machines.

It's an ego boost but its misleading... any thoughts? Is there such thing as consistency across machines?

consistency across machines? hell no lol. my last gym i went to the tri pulldowns felt 30lbs heavier from one station to the next, even with the same brand equipment.

[gbrs5]

Originally Posted by ivanishe

I work out at a local gym at my university and I know how much I can lift on the various machines, for example, the triceps pulldown v-bar i manage 50lbs for reps... on the fly machine i rep 130-150....

lo and behold... i go out of town visit golds (visitor pass) and on their cybex machines I can suddenly do 120 lbs on the tricpes pulldown and 190 on the fly... (seriously)

I try out some other machines and figure out that they are geared (by pullies) such that you have the appearance of lifting more than you can actually handle on more modest machines.

It's an ego boost but its misleading... any thoughts? Is there such thing as consistency across machines?

No there are no consistency across machines. Especially when it comes to pulley and leverage, it will greatly throw off the amount of weight you can lift.

[Baby_Hulk]

I'll apply what I read in a Dave Tate article a while ago to this thread...

"Zatsiorsiky defines accommodating resistance as using special means to accommodate resistance throughout the entire range of motion rather than a specific point. Because of some joint angles and the velocity of movement, the force of the movement is less at certain joint angles. For example, in the barbell squat you may be able to quarter squat 500 pounds while you can only full squat 300. Another common example is the standard dumbbell curl. The force at the beginning is much greater than the force at the top. Max Herz addressed this problem around the year 1900 by inventing a cam. This cam was to be part of a machine that would accommodate the resistance to the strength curve.

Years later, Nautilus tried again to solve the problem with their cam. This odd shaped cam applied the resistance in a variable form so the load varies according to the average strength curve. This is to provide greater resistance where the athlete is strong and less where they're weak.

This cam poses several problems. First, it was designed on average strength curves that don't carry over well to most athletes. Louie uses the deadlift to demonstrate how individual strength curves can vary. One lifter may blast the weight off the floor and fight through the last three inches of the lift. Another may be slow off the floor and lock the weight out easy. The same machine may not benefit these lifters in the same way.

A second problem according to Zatsiornsky is that the number of degrees of freedom is limited from six in natural movements, to only one with machines. Paul Chek has also explained this in much greater detail in his pattern overload articles. Third, the acceleration and deceleration is also very different than natural movements. Fourth, the manufacturers of several machines have altered the cam (to avoided patent lawsuits) to the point that they don't even match average strength curves! Ever wonder why you can lift so much more with one machine when compared to another? Now you know."

What you want is in the last paragraph, but I included the rest just to give some background as to the content of this article and how he arrived at that statement.

In other words, each machine is designed according to a different strength curve, formulated by each machine's manufacturer. Which is why resistance varies among machines.

[Kostabot]

This is why free weights are the way to go. Machines are a last resort.

[MMarshall_76]

Gold's Gym.... Hmmm... I have nothing good to say about them.... I've bought a lot of their equipment thinking I was buying a good name.... I have never visited th actual gym personally... But all I can say about their equipment... Is with a reputation as famous as Gold's Gym... I would be embarassed of the crap the put out.

[entropy1]

it's all levers and pulleys and ****, you'ld probably find the stacks are bigger too where u can lift more weight

[Semo_Adms]

You don't use machines to say you can lift a certain amount...e.g. doing 400lbs on the seated leg press doesn't mean you can squat 400 lbs etc. etc. They're built to be resistance workout machines. Some of them don't even have the weight, they just have 1, 2, 3, ... 15, 16, etc. IMO machines are used for people who aren't ready/don't care enough to use free weights and barbells. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just a different crowd at the gym.

[ivanishe]

wow.. I never knew about strength curves and variable weights, I thought it was the same thing with a bit of difference here and there... maybe it would make sense to switch to solely free weights.

thanks for the advice guys, - ivan