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Are Resistance Machines A Thing Of The Past?

Tuesday, 15th November 2011

You may have heard that the only way to train is functionally with greater emphasis being on the need for multidimensional movements. Many 'so called' fitness experts claiming that there is no place for old style resistance training in a gym programme. This however, is absolute nonesense! Not only should training be specific to the individual it should also maximise the intended results they wish to achieve. For example a footballer would benefit training in a functional manner helping to replicate and strengthen the muscles used in the sport, which will in turn reduce the risk of injury. However if they need to increase strength and size in the quadriceps then resistance training should also be implemented. If hypertrophy is your aim you will see greater results from doing a machine isolated movement compared to balancing on a BOSU ball.

There is also the importance of addressing weakness in key areas for example, if you discover a weakness in a muscle area especially coming back from rehabilitation, isolating and building the muscles will prove to be very effective as many movements will allow a more dominant muscle to reduce the workload of the weaker one.

If I can give one piece of advice it would be to remember there is no one way to train. Train with your goals in mind, avoid the hype of people trying to reinvent the wheel by claiming a one size fits all training style. Avoid hype, remember everything goes in circles - today's advice will soon be tomorrow's critic. The best way to see if something really works is to try it rather than read about it or take somebody's word for it.

If you are reaching a plateau in performance or are unsure where to start try asking a fitness trainer who has your best inentions at hand rather than their own.

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