Re: Machine Purchase Advice

[Guest guest]

> I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles

makes it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a

particular model, please let me know which model and the price.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Lowry

> Saginaw, MI

I just tried a new " free floating " smith machine a couple days ago.

Instead of guide rods, there are cables attached to the ends of the

bar, allowing more freedom of movement. There is a sensor installed

along the top of the bar, so that if you let go of the sensor, the

bar will automatically lock in place. I am currently out of town, but

when I get back home I will try to give you the brand name and

price...unless anyone else out there can help.

Micah West

Naples, FL

[Guest guest]

If it's cheap enough, I recommend getting one with as many hooks and

posts on it as possible. Keep it near the door of the gym, where it

can be safely used as a coat rack. For virtually any other purpose,

spare yourself and/or your clients the wasted training effort and

overuse injuries and buy a barbell and a power rack instead.

Wilbanks

ville, FL

> I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles

makes it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a

particular model, please let me know which model and the price.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Lowry

> Saginaw, MI

[Guest guest]

> I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles

makes it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a

particular model, please let me know which model and the price.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Lowry

> Saginaw, MI

The type of machine? None. Why let the machine do the work the

the body should doing? (stablization and support) Let the bar be free

the way God intended. Poliquin has written about the

unbalanced forces on the knee during smith machine squats. Chek

has written about movement pattern overloads that occur by training

on machines. How in the world can you do power cleans in a smith

machine? When man grows bars out of his arse that connects him to

the ground then smith machines would make more sense (my attempt at

Tellebonics).

Go find yerself a nice power rack. The type will depend how much you

want to spent and want to use it for. Some have nice spotting

devices and even cable exercises as rows and pulldowns. I visited a

gym that had 6 smith machines and one power rack . Talk about a

waste of space and money.

Tom Rankin CSCS

Rocklin, CA

[Guest guest]

,

I have never had a good experience with any Machine. Why do you

want it? What purpose will it serve you or your clients? Do your

clients a favor and just get a Power Rack. There is no point working

out in 2 dimentions when we live in a 3 dimention world.

Hammond

NY,NY

> I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles

makes it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a

particular model, please let me know which model and the price.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Lowry

> Saginaw, MI

[Guest guest]

Lowry writes:

<< I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles makes

it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a particular model,

please let me know which model and the price.>>

tely

I like the slightly inclined variety with zero resistance counter weight.

Manu, cost?

Get J " TRI VECTER' C to comment!

Jerry " KOAT " Telle pH.d

Lakewood CO USA

Earth

[Guest guest]

> ,

>

> I have never had a good experience with any Machine. Why do you

> want it? What purpose will it serve you or your clients? Do your

> clients a favor and just get a Power Rack. There is no point working

> out in 2 dimentions when we live in a 3 dimention world.

>

> Hammond

> NY,NY

Actually, you give the Machine too much credit. It only

allows " one dimensional " movement: up and down. It may have you

fooled because it looks like the bar is trapped in a plane, but there

is no freedom of movement front-to-back or side-to-side. If they

could figure a way to allow free movement in even one plane it would

be an improvement - although, as most here seem to agree, it would

still be virtually useless compared to the simple, mighty power rack,

so why bother?

Incidentally, I found what I thought was a similar error on the CSCS

test I took. They asked in which plane does the movement of a lat

bar pulldown take place: sagittal, frontal, or transverse. Assuming

straight up and down bar/cable travel, the answer is either sagittal

or frontal, since the line of travel could be in either plane,

whereas I was made to choose one. I suppose if you wanted to get

fancy, you could say that most people lean a little, or use light

enough weights to allow some bar travel in the sagittal plane,

eliminating the frontal answer, but I don't think that's what they

meant. I assumed their answer was Frontal, but I never found out.

Wilbanks

ville, FL

[Guest guest]

> The type of machine? None. Why let the machine do the work the

> the body should doing? (stablization and support) Let the bar be free

> the way God intended. Poliquin has written about the

> unbalanced forces on the knee during smith machine squats. Chek

> has written about movement pattern overloads that occur by training

> on machines. How in the world can you do power cleans in a smith

> machine? When man grows bars out of his arse that connects him to

> the ground then smith machines would make more sense (my attempt at

> Tellebonics).

>

> Go find yerself a nice power rack. The type will depend how much you

> want to spent and want to use it for. Some have nice spotting

> devices and even cable exercises as rows and pulldowns. I visited a

> gym that had 6 smith machines and one power rack . Talk about a

> waste of space and money.

>

> Tom Rankin CSCS

> Rocklin, CA

Although I agree with the thrust of your message, I don't agree with

the invocation of the authority of gurus/training celebrities to

support it. If you have points to make about 'unbalanced forces on

the knee' or 'movement pattern overloads', please explain them and/or

provide references more credible than " Chek said so " . Personally,

invoking either one of those names actually makes me more suspicious

about that which is supposed to be validated by their authority. My

experience with both authors' work has been that they and their fans

were heavy on self-promotion, attitude, and cult-of-personality and

light on facts and clear thinking.

Wilbanks

ville, FL

[Guest guest]

:

The only time we use a machine is with an injured athlete who can't

perform the exercise with a free weight but, because of the controlled

nature of the exercise when performed on a machine, is able to perform

the exercise on the machine without causing pain to the injury site. If

that is your thought process behind purchasing the machine I can

recommend a company we use.

With respect,

Hedrick

U.S. Air Force Academy

Re: Machine Purchase Advice

>

>

> I've got some good advice about purchasing a machine. DON'T. You are

much better off with a power rack or squat rack, and they are cheaper to. If

you check the archives I'm sure you will find some info about smith machines

and their con's.

>

> Condron

> NY, NY, USA

>

> Lowry wrote:

> I am looking to purchase a machine, but the variety of styles makes

it hard to compare. If anyone has good experiences with a particular model,

please let me know which model and the price.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Lowry

> Saginaw, MI

[Guest guest]

Hi All!

In 1997 we received a rack called the Max Rack to test out. It is a

very heavy duty cage ( over 600#), 8 ft. tall, with a heavy duty

bar(1500# test) that moves smoothly both vertically and horizontally.

You can do any exercise with it that you can a barbell ( squats,

cleans, ect.) and it has safety catches front and back with a very

heavy duty adjustable spotter. The cage is over 2' deep. So far we

have had no problems with the rack. We paid about $1700.00 for it but

I suspect it retails for over $2500.00. Contact the manufacturer at

Max Rack, 383 S. 3rd St., Columbus, OH 43215; ph# .

Good luck!

Dan Wathen,

Youngstown (OH) State University