There Is A Method to the Madness
This is a podcast where I will be discussing all aspects of physical fitness. I am an exercise physiologist and personal trainer and owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs for the last 25 years. My passion is health and fitness and I am excited to share my views, some stories, interviews and much more with you.
There Is A Method to the Madness
Machine Smarts: The Engineering Behind Your Workout
Welcome to there is a Method to the Madness. My name is Rob Maxwell and I'm an exercise physiologist and personal trainer. I am the owner of Maxwell's Fitness Programs and I've been in business since 1994. The purpose of this podcast is to get to the real deal of what really works and, most importantly, why things work. Hence the name there is a method to the madness. Before I get to today's show, I want to thank Jonathan and Lynn Gildan of the Gildan Group at Realty Pros. They are committed to providing the highest level of customer service in home sales. Why don't you give them a shout and figure out what your home is worth? 386-451-2412.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about some selectorized machines here. People, let's talk about strength machines. I think you may like what I'm going to talk about today. I think it's very important. There are a lot of lessons in this, and let me start with lesson number one. Have you heard the saying that if you make assumptions, you are making an ass out of you and me? I am sure you have heard it. So here's an assumption I made a couple weeks ago.
Speaker 1:I was working with a client and he comes to the gym when he's in town and when he is at his other house, home in California, we do remote training sessions and I know he has always really struggled with the leg curl, literally the machine, the seated leg curl. He doesn't struggle necessarily with hamstring strength, he struggles a little bit with hamstring flexibility, but he struggles with the machine itself and we kid around a little bit and he's like you know, I don't want to do that exercise when I'm not training with you or whatever, because I'm going to sit there and play around with this machine and you're trying to make me look like a moron in front of everybody. So it's kind of funny a little bit. And you know I couldn't really figure out why he was struggling so much with this machine. And it's kind of frustrating because here I am, back in Florida, you know, trying to look through the you know lens, trying to figure it out. And it's not like he's an idiot by any means, he's a pretty smart guy, but he had trouble trying to figure it out.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking to myself well, what is going on? So he comes in the town a few weeks ago and I said look, one of the things we're going to tackle is this leg curl. Let's see what's going on and it's similar to the leg curl he has in California because it's a pre-core. It's slightly different, I believe, but it's pretty darn close. So it's obviously a good machine then to look at with that.
Speaker 1:So I bring him over to the leg curl and I kind of help him set the back part of the seat a little bit and I said, hey, remember that you need to line your knee up right here with this joint axis of rotation. And he looks at me like I have three heads, like what axis of rotation and what joint? And it dawned on me that you know I'm making this assumption that he knew what that little circular thing was on the machine in the area where your knees go into the machine. So I'm making this assumption, making an ass out of you and me. And you know that's where sometimes when you work with people who you think have been working out a while, or anybody really, you kind of make these assumptions as a trainer oh, they know this. And then when it's remote, you can't really sit there and show them the machinery as well. And that's where we were were, but a light switch came on, like that little bit of a lesson, changed his whole relationship with the leg curl, like I, I can't, I don't, I can't overstate this enough like he was like, well, that's the problem, like that's what he wasn't getting right, so he didn't know where to position his legs and then the back part of the machine, because he didn't know where his legs were supposed to be in the machine.
Speaker 1:All right, so what I'm going to talk about is that, like these selectorized machines, it's like, yes, they are simplistic, which makes it a good thing, but also, yes, you have to know how to position yourself and then follow some basic rules. And that's what I want to talk about today. You could say it to anybody that's worked in this industry a long time a selectorized machine. I'm looking to buy 12 selectorized machines and they'll know exactly what you're talking about, and then we just assume everybody knows what we're talking about. But a selectorized machine is a strength machine like you think of. I mean, most of these machines are all selectorized machines when you go to the gym. But selectorized means you simply select the weight by setting the pin or the handle. But it's really a pin, right? You take the pin out of the stack, you make it heavier, you make it lower. In most cases, each plate is 10 pounds. Okay, so selectorized just means you are selecting the weight by changing the pen. All right, so that's your first little lesson. That's why they're called selectorized machines.
Speaker 1:Next thing we need to understand and when I was talking to the client about it, I was showing her how we should really do a push-up, and I use the example of like if somebody came up to you or a football player you know that needs to push somebody off of them how are you going to push that person to the ground, if need be? Right, you wouldn't have your elbows flared out because you wouldn't get them very far. You wouldn't have your elbows all the way in, because then you'd be losing a lot of power. So your elbows go out about 45 degrees and if you were like watching this, you'd see how I was doing it right now. But that's the position you're supposed to be in for a pushup or any kind of a press. Now, any selectorized machine made with any form of quality and I literally can't think of any that's not made this way is going to have the handles set and built at that angle. So the other thing we should know about the selectorized machines is there are some seriously, seriously smart engineers that went into the designing of these things. Seriously smart engineers that went into the designing of these things. They're not just like oh, we got to push weight up and you know, put this handle on this seat, put this weight stack right here, make sure the weight stack goes up the guide rod, make sure there's things to protect the carpet. No, I mean, the first thing that goes into the design of all of these is the fact that there's engineers that work with kinesiologists to make sure that the strength curve is appropriate.
Speaker 1:And in the 1970s they really started with the strength curves. The famous Arthur Jones of Nautilus fame was the first person to really make that famous. There were some other strength curves being worked on, but Arthur Jones with Nautilus perfected it and turned it into pretty much a dynasty. So Nautilus machines were the first ones that weren't just selectorized machines, they also had strength curves built into them. And the reason why it's called nautilus is because the cam that in those days the chain went over because they were chain driven like a bicycle. Then they went to more like um, plastic type of pulleys that were held up a little bit better and didn't have as many issues, and then they literally went to air packed containers where the guide rods were kept in by tight air, so there was no friction. Med-x went in that direction, which was Arthur Jones's second invention. He took Nautilus into Med-X, which were even more futuristic style machines, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So the strength curve is what he worked on, which means that as you're going through the range of motion on each exercise, they knew the strength curve of that muscle. For example, if you take the biceps, when you are down in full extension, just pretend you're doing dumbbell curls. Your arms are at your side and you're curling up from that locked out position. Well, he learned through kinesiologists that the biceps are actually at their weakest at full extension. They are at their strongest at full contraction or full flexion. So if you're doing dumbbells or free weights of any kind, you weren't taking advantage of that strength curve because at the bottom the weight was just as heavy as ever, because free weights don't change right and at the top it wasn't any harder. Yet your biceps are a little stronger.
Speaker 1:So the Nautilus machines were able to use a strength curve cam mechanism where at that time the chain and then later the belt went across the cam to change the arc of the resistance throughout the entire range of motion. The arc of resistance would change based on your strength curve. So guess what? That cam looked like a nautilus shell, so that's how the name nautilus came. It was in that kind of oblong position, all right.
Speaker 1:So again, lesson number two. Lesson number one was don't make assumptions. Lesson number two is there's a lot of engineering that goes into these machines. So all we have to do when we're using machines is utilize them correctly. But there's a lot of engineering, not only the cams but the arm positioning. So, getting back to the push-up example, the arm motions on a chest breast are going to be built in to the natural range of motion and strength curve of the upper body pushing muscles, the pec, the deltoids and the triceps, and that's going to be the same for every exercise, all right. So there is a lot of engineering that goes into it. Third part of this we have to use it correctly. We have to make sure we use it correctly.
Speaker 1:I have heard people joke around and say things like well, you'd have to be a complete idiot not to know how to use the machine when you can look at it and see what direction it goes. Well then, there's a lot of idiots out there. Because let me tell you that is not true and I've had clients that I've trained for over 20 years still occasionally get on a machine backwards. I've had people get on the seated dip machine that I have. You know the machine, your back goes against it. If you don't come here, you don't go to my gym. I'm sure you've seen a seated dip. There is a back pad that goes up vertically. Then there is your seat pad horizontally. You sit down, you push the weight on. I've had people get on it backwards. I'm not making fun of them. I mean, we do these things, we just do it right.
Speaker 1:So if those kind of like obvious accidents happen, then to make the assumption that everybody uses the machines correctly is very false. And I was talking to a client today about how, when I travel to other gyms, if I'm on vacation, I never I mean not out loud critique somebody doing any form of exercise. I'm never going to be that guy that walks up and says, hey, you're doing this wrong. No way. Number one, it's not going to work, it's usually just going to offend somebody. And number two, I'd be there all day and I've got my own workout to do like people don't use equipment correctly. I mean, I would say 80% of the people in the gyms do not use the exercises whether it be free weights or selectorized machines correctly. Most people are doing something glaringly wrong to it an eye of a good trainer so. So that is not true.
Speaker 1:So we have to utilize the machines correctly, and that starts with recognizing where the axis of rotation is on each machine. That's the first thing. That's what we set first. Now we set that for you. When you come here, you know some people like to know and they're inquisitive. So they ask but and you should, I think that's a good thing, but we set that for you.
Speaker 1:But we have to know where the axis of rotation is. The axis of rotation means is the point where the machine mechanics are going to move, lined up with the actual joint that's going to move. So in the case of the leg curl and the leg extension, the joint involved is the knee. So you have to line up the center of the knee joint with that axis of rotation on the machine. Line it up dead center. So go right to the lateral aspect of your knee, the side of your knee, find the most center point to it. Line it up with the axis of rotation. On the machine there's a little knob. The Nautilus puts a little Nautilus shell on it and for anybody that's interested I'll show you. On the Nautilus abdominal machine I have we still have the little red sticker abdominal shell. That is right there for the axis of rotation. A lot of other machines just have basically a silver circle and that's what's on all of the pre-core machines. So we line that up and then we pull the seat for the back portion up or back depending on where you were. Now you are properly positioned on the machine. Now that's going to be true for every machine.
Speaker 1:Now some exercises don't necessarily have an axis of rotation because for the chest press, for example, there is two different joints moving and three different muscle groups. So the two joints moving are the elbows and the deltoids or the shoulders, and the muscles again are the pecs, the shoulders and the triceps. So because of that there's not one axis of rotation. But you still have to get in the machine correctly. You have to line up the handles where it should be for full range of motion. You know, I always tell people use all of the seat, just keep it really simple. So when there's a back pad and a butt pad, use both. In other words, if the seat is set up vertically for your back pad, lean against it, use it. It is there for a reason, all right. So we get onto the machines correctly, using the axis of rotation. We set the back pads and make sure that we're securely on the machine.
Speaker 1:Next we hold the handles. If there's handles, you're supposed to use them. I'd see a lot of people sometimes take their hands off of the handles on the leg curl and the leg extension. Now you are not keeping your hips and butt down and, number one, you are losing a lot of energy. We want to keep closed contact. We want to make sure that we are keeping everything down that's supposed to be down. I mean, how on earth are you lifting, say, a hundred pounds in leg extension with your hands in your lap? I mean you're literally now fighting the load. You're supposed to be fighting and you're fighting your butt coming up. I mean you're supposed to grab the handles pretty tightly, pull your butt down, drop your traps the best you can, but you're still supposed to use the handles. Okay, position yourself correctly axis of rotation, butt pad, back pad. Use the handles. If there's no handles, there's nothing to use, you don't have to worry about it.
Speaker 1:Next thing we have to do we have to use full range of motion. All right, the machines are set up for full range of motion. When you are positioned in the leg extension it is already set at the bottom at 90 degrees I'm sorry, at 180 degrees. Now when you raise it up, you're at 90 degrees. Knee angle it's already set. Go through full range of motion all the way up, squeeze the muscle all the way down until the weights almost touch full range of motion.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of reasons why people don't use full range of motions. All right, full range of motion. I mean the biggest reason is ego. You can't always go as heavy, not always, I mean, it's just you can't ever go as heavy through full range of motion as you would doing half a range of motion. I mean it's just common sense. You're moving the load less distance but you're not strengthening all of the muscles. Then when you do it and you are setting up some very bad habits when you do that Full range of motion is a must. We have to go to full range of motion. I say all the time we go to the gym to build strength, not demonstrate strength.
Speaker 1:Okay, so use full range of motion. Every joint, every exercise has its own full range of motion. Every exercise has its own full range of motion. They might say but I can't and you told me that when it hurts only go to that point of discomfort and then don't go to the point of pain. That's exactly right. We call that a modification. But we shouldn't be increasing the load then, like, if we can't go through full range of motion, we have to either stay at that reduced range of motion forever or hopefully get stronger to where we can go through the joints full range of motion and then start adding load. So both are true, we should modify if need be, but our goal should always be to try to get the full range of motion.
Speaker 1:And again, sometimes it's very subtle, it's you think you're going all the way down and you're not, but it makes a world of difference. I have a client that says you know, it's that last half inch on a pull-up, like if I didn't have to go down that last half inch, I could probably get six more. I'm like, yeah, but you do Like, and who cares? Probably get six more. I'm like, yeah, but you do like, and who cares about the six more? I mean, we have to go all the way down and it can be very frustrating for me as a trainer. You know I've said before on here I'm a perfectionist, trying to get people ready for things like my max fit games. And when I'm working with people and I know like they're way more competitive in their mind than I'm thinking Right and I'm like, okay, but you got to get all the way down on these. And when you go to the games like you, you get, you have an inside edge man, you're training with me, so you got to do this right. You know you can't be like skating by on these three quarter pull-ups. You've got to go all the way down and you've got to get your chin over the bar. That is full range of motion.
Speaker 1:Push-ups. We have to go down to 90 degrees. How many times do I say that to people? And they leave like this crease in their elbow. 90 degrees Again modification injuries, of course. Then you are working on it until you can do that, but of course you should not be competing if you're injured, right? I mean that's a given, so that's just kind of an excuse.
Speaker 1:90 degrees to full lockup lockout how many times have I seen videos of people doing pushups online and I'm like, what is that? Like their chest is coming off the ground. They're doing like these little pumper things. I see like guys in the NFL doing that at the NFL combines and they're like, oh, jojo, just did, you know, 100 pushups straight. I'm like he did about 20. I mean, he didn't go nearly all the way down and all the way up. Those are not good pushups at all.
Speaker 1:So, full range of motion, no matter what machine, what exercise you're on, all right. So the machines are there simply to help you get better, but you do have to utilize it, right. All right. So there are four lessons there, right? Number one for me, don't make assumptions. Not everybody knows this. I should know better than that. Number two make sure that we get on there, understand the axis of rotation and understand that we get on there properly. Number three make sure that we go through full range of motion and do our part to do the best we can to do the exercise correctly, and we are there to build strength, not demonstrate strength. And number four make sure we keep working out door of Daytona Beach, the area's premier garage door company. They have the best product. They have the best service. I personally vouch for Jeff and Zach Hawk, the owners. They are great people with a great company. If you have any garage door needs, please give them a shout at 386-222-3165.
