Bodybuilder = Machines?

[Clewallen11]

as anyone else every noticed how people on this forum LOVE to blast people for using machines instead of free-weights but i just watched about 25 bodybuilder video's on youtube and apart from deadlift, squat, bench, and dumbell rows every other exercise they do is on a machine... is this because they have already mastered most muscle groups and they are isolating and shaping the muscle??? or are we all doing something wrong?

[unity]

if you notice, most of the people blasting machines on this forum are either younger or inexperienced lifters.

[MattyG]

They are bodybuilding bro

[DJAuto]

as anyone else every noticed how people on this forum LOVE to blast people for using machines instead of free-weights.

No reputable source on this forum will discard the usefulness of machines in training.

[genetics 83]

No reputable source on this forum will discard the usefulness of machines in training.

this is true

[chazzy1864]

I like where this thread went.


Serious.

[masthead716]

Alot depends on where they are relative to a show. Very few BBers lift heavy close to a show. Branch Warren and Ronnie are a few who lift very heavy all the way up to contest, so it depends on the BBer/ training style/ contest prep as to what they are trying to achieve. Ronnie pulled that 805 deadlift that you see on youtube just a few weeks out of Olympia. So to say all BBers just use machines is not true.

[masthead716]

It seems like most successful bodybuilders use a combination of heavy free weights and machines

[Pump Freak 86]

Alot depends on where they are relative to a show. Very few BBers lift heavy close to a show. Branch Warren and Ronnie are a few who lift very heavy all the way up to contest, so it depends on the BBer/ training style/ contest prep as to what they are trying to achieve. Ronnie pulled that 805 deadlift that you see on youtube just a few weeks out of Olympia. So to say all BBers just use machines is not true.

This. They don't use machines to build muscle, but there's more to bodybuilding than building muscle.

[ironwill2008]

No reputable source on this forum will discard the usefulness of machines in training.

It seems like most successful bodybuilders use a combination of heavy free weights and machines

^^^^ These.

The guys with real experience don't pigeonhole training as "either/or" machines/freeweights. They've learned, by experience, that the shortest path to the desired results is to use the right tool for the specific job.




If you'd care to take note of who the posters in this forum are who routinely tout the "machines are useless" rhetoric, it's nearly always the kids who haven't been in a gym long enough to know anything other than what they've read in some magazine, or what some other parrot has posted.

[gomez26]

It seems like most successful bodybuilders use a combination of heavy free weights and machines

yes, this thread is another brainless attempt at extreme generalization.

[jaydillera]

Its usually young people and inexperience who would say something like that.

[FunkymonkAW]

Also realize that most people who ask about machines are asking for how to use them to replace free weight compound movements.

[Tyciol]

This. They don't use machines to build muscle, but there's more to bodybuilding than building muscle.

Um, pretty sure there's some people who use machines to build muscle. While it's true there's more to bodybuilding than building muss, I'm not sure how machines would come into that. Are you meaning cardio?

Also realize that most people who ask about machines are asking for how to use them to replace free weight compound movements.

That's fine in some cases, like posterior deltoid or rowing motions which might be difficult for those with back injures or who are fatigued from deadlifting or some kind of lower back exercise.

Or stuff like pec dec which perform transverse adduction with externally rotated shoulders in an attempt to take the anterior deltoid out of it. Tough for some with DBs due to the elbow stress.

Or something like a calf raise machine or doing calf presses on a leg press machine, since they're more stable than doing it standing and you don't have to hang on to somethign with a free hand to keep balance.

Or stuff like a cable pressdown for triceps which doesn't have a free weight equivilent unless you're able to hang upside down.

[AdrenalineJake]

Personally, I prefer machines for MOST exercises, not all. But that's due to the fact, I have prior injury's, that effect some free weight actions from being proper form. I also have had one or two injury's from botching up a free weight lift. Because every injury sets you back, I say f*ck it and do primarily machines. Then again, I'm not trying to be pro, and know that I CANT, hell... Probably not even amateur due to not being able to do many leg exersize's due to PERMANENT ligament/etc damage in one leg/knee.

Take care of your knee's folk's, you will miss them when there f*cked up.

[Lefticle]

There are a few machines I like:

Quad extentions
hamstring curls
pec deck
reverse flys
calf press
ab crunch

[Budjola]

Imo u should use everything that can help u get to better physique, if that means machines than use them. Usually machines help u to isolate muscle better and to minimize chance for injury to happen.

[HOCH]

I'm not really a fan of a lot of them, like hammer strength for instance.... don't really like it... but for legs there are a lot of good machines.... can't go wrong with leg extensions, leg curls, donkey calf raise machine, etc.... I mostly do free weight, smith, and cable work almost exclusively though.

[Clewallen11]

I'm not really a fan of a lot of them, like hammer strength for instance.... don't really like it... but for legs there are a lot of good machines.... can't go wrong with leg extensions, leg curls, donkey calf raise machine, etc.... I mostly do free weight, smith, and cable work almost exclusively though.

same i mean i do mainly free weights and cables, have added the Row machine in with my free weight rows..and i do leg ext and leg curls on them but thinking about adding the lat pulldown and the dip machine just to help NOT to take place of anything

[SSMGP]

I don't use machines because it limits my range of motion too much. I much prefer free weights over anything.

[Pump Freak 86]

Um, pretty sure there's some people who use machines to build muscle. While it's true there's more to bodybuilding than building muss, I'm not sure how machines would come into that. Are you meaning cardio?

No not cardio. They tend not to make much use of machines to add new mass. The bedrock of their programs is freeweight training. Machines are used to augment the free weight stuff

[brudman]

I think a lot of free weight movements allow for more adaptive stress on the muscles targeted, however some machines are better than their free-weight counterparts.

There really is no reason to generalize and define your training out of existance. Just train the muscles you want to train in a way that maximizes your results.

[therorschach]

3 billion bb.com members logged in on February 7th, 2011. The survivors of this massive internet loggery called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the bodybuilder machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Ronnie Coleman, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the functional resistance, Mark Rippetoe, my son. The first Terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before Mark was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at Mark himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for Mark. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first.

[brudman]

3 billion bb.com members logged in on February 7th, 2011. The survivors of this massive internet loggery called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the bodybuilder machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Ronnie Coleman, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the functional resistance, Mark Rippetoe, my son. The first Terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before Mark was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at Mark himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for Mark. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first.

Spoiler alert: The Pec Deck killed your son.

[mbinda]

as anyone else every noticed how people on this forum LOVE to blast people for using machines instead of free-weights but i just watched about 25 bodybuilder video's on youtube and apart from deadlift, squat, bench, and dumbell rows every other exercise they do is on a machine... is this because they have already mastered most muscle groups and they are isolating and shaping the muscle??? or are we all doing something wrong?

I am sure most of those videos you watched are of pros who are genetic freaks and juiced to the gills - so don't rely too much on what you see them doing. Free weights are king for mass & strength, machines can be effective too but if you are 300+ lbs and cycling 12 different anabolics than it probably doesn't matter much which you use. I think most of the monster pros who look bloated & pregnant probably get more results based on the amount/type of drugs they use as opposed to the type of equipment they train with.

[therorschach]

Spoiler alert: The Pec Deck killed your son.

Watching Mark with the leg-press machine, it was suddenly so clear. The leg press wouldn't stop, it would never leave him. It would never hurt him or shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend time with him or even work the glutes and hams. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers that came over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only thing that measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.

[chazzy1864]

3 billion bb.com members logged in on February 7th, 2011. The survivors of this massive internet loggery called the war Judgment Day. They lived only to face a new nightmare: the war against the bodybuilder machines. The computer which controlled the machines, Ronnie Coleman, sent two Terminators back through time. Their mission: to destroy the leader of the functional resistance, Mark Rippetoe, my son. The first Terminator was programmed to strike at me in the year 1984, before Mark was born. It failed. The second was set to strike at Mark himself when he was still a child. As before, the resistance was able to send a lone warrior, a protector for Mark. It was just a question of which one of them would reach him first.

Watching Mark with the leg-press machine, it was suddenly so clear. The leg press wouldn't stop, it would never leave him. It would never hurt him or shout at him or get drunk and hit him or say it was too busy to spend time with him or even work the glutes and hams. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers that came over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only thing that measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.

Total f*cking win!

[LoneWolf2006]

Total f*cking win!

I read these as I'm drinking my PreWO shake. Laughing out loud. Great Terminator references. If only there was video for this.

[GuyJin]

I never saw the point of doing an exercise just because someone says you have to do it. If benches jack your shoulders or if you just can't squat due to injuries or poor form no matter how much you work at it, and if inclines or dips suit you better and the front squat or leg press makes your legs bigger, then do the latter. That's for exercises. If you want to compare benches to machine benches, then both willl work differently for everyone. Results are what counts. If you're a bodybuilder and want to get onstage, no one will ask you what you press or squat or deadlift. All they'll look at is how well you're developed. Period.

As for the guys in the IFBB or the high amateurs, they probably did the basics on barbell and d'bell exercises while they were in their formative stages and then moved on to more specialized exercises although that's just a guess on my part. Some swear by free weights for the most part and some will say (or ghost-write) that they like such-and-such machine for their back/chest/shoulders/legs/whatever.

Use both and grow.

[Clewallen11]

I tried a couple of machines that i dont normal use today...BOOO lol my gym has ragged a$$ equipment like the pulleys are dry so 35lbs feels like 70lbs haha and the cables are frayed.