Fitness Questions & Answers - Page 126

On March 10 2013 01:14 Swordland wrote:
1. Yes I heard that as a general rule, I should be able to lift 3 sets 12 reps and no more. However, does this mean that if I can lift something 20 or more times, it means it is not heavy enough for me and therefore won't give good growth, because it is not heavy enough? Plus, is 3x12 scientifically proven to be the best? Not 4x10, 5x8, 2x15, etc.?

2. If I do 3x12, what is the rest time between each set?

FF, you mentioned 5 times, isnt this number a little too low?

On March 12 2013 05:37 Thor.Rush wrote:
What do you guys think of the chest press machine? Bench press is obviously better, but if you don't have a spotter, could you use moderate weight on the bench press and then go heavy on the chest press machine? I'm sure some will say the machine can cause injury (especially to shoulders), but I think it's fine if it is positioned and performed properly.

On March 13 2013 00:11 phyre112 wrote:


There's no reason to need a spotter on bench unless you're going for a 1 or 2 rm. Anything that's a 3rm or higher, if you've been lifting a few months you'll be able to tell if you're not going to get the next rep. Even if you do occasionally fail, so long as you're not completely alone in the gym (you're never alone in a commercial gym) someone is going to come help you.

It's not that the machine is the worst thing you could do - it's a hell of a lot better than nothing - it's just that there's no reason to be so afraid of benching. If it's really that big a problem, go do your benching in the power rack.

On March 13 2013 07:10 MtlGuitarist97 wrote:

I've done the chest press machine and all I can say is this: It doesn't really make you that much stronger. You will be able to lift more weight, but that's more due to the fact that it's repetitive motion than it is about gaining strength.

As someone who can do 200 lbs on a rowing machine (the one with the two handles) and 170 lbs on the chest press machine, I can tell you that really the only thing that has helped me gain strength is the rowing machine in conjunction with dumbbell training and pullups. I'm not really that much stronger after doing the machines, it's more that I can just move more weight.

You won't build function strength by doing those machines, and your physique won't change much. It might be ok if you are just doing some light work and need to warm up, but I don't really recommend it for much other than that (at least in my experience). The only machines that really can help you build strength are the ones where you have to physically move the weight up or down (like the shoulder press or the pull down machines) instead of horizontally.

On March 13 2013 09:10 ieatkids5 wrote:

your last sentence doesnt make any sense to me. why would the shoulder press machine get you any better results than the chest pess machine simply because it's in a different direction? in both machines, you're still only creating force in one direction along a controlled movement path.

if anything, you should get better results in pulling movements done on a machine (rows and pulldowns) compared to pushing movements (chest and shoulder press) because the machine pulling is more similar to freeweight pulling than machine pushing is to freeweight pushing. there is less stabilization involved in pulling than pushing, and working the stabilization is what makes using freeweights better than machines.

In the chest press (I wasn't really referring to the rowing machine with that last statement, but I'll talk about it anyway), you're just pushing the object out horizontally. There's a slight angle that you're pushing it at, but it's not really much of an angle. That means that the only "resistance" you're pushing against is that slight incline. As said in Starting Strength, the only way to measure how much work you're doing is by vertical movement. If something is being moved vertically, that means you're going to have much more resistance than if you're just moving it horizontally.

Horizontal movements tend to be...easier (?) than vertical movements because you can kind of bullshit the rep and not do a great job on it. If a weight is too heavy for you to push up, there's no shot of you being able to push it up (think a bench press, ohp, or like a row where you're pulling the weight up). Since you're just kind of pushing the weight out, it's a little bit easier to get the weight to move because you don't have gravity pushing so heavily against the weight.

If you go do the machines yourself, you'll be able to feel a huge difference in the exercises. I have done the chest press machine and the shoulder press machine and the rowing machine before. I don't see much of a visual (or even strength) difference in my chest as much as I do back, and I definitely don't see as much of a difference in the strength of my back as I do in my shoulders. It's anecdotal, but it's way easier to build muscle when you're moving a weight vertically because that's the only way that you can measure "work."

I think you misunderstood what I was saying (or I didn't work it clearly enough). I wasn't saying that pushing vs. pulling is any better, I was just saying that vertical movement vs. horizontal movement makes a huge difference when using weight machines.