5 Exercise Machines NEVER To Use

This gym is pretty awesome for a condo. It has more equipment than some hotel gyms in Vegas that I’ve visited.
Yep, the gym here at my friend’s place in Miami (where I’ve been staying for a few days) has a really great – but also ‘bad’ – set-up.

First, the good: It’s got a squat rack, a bench press, heavy dumbbells (up to 100 pounds), a pull-up bar, and lots of space for me to do my SlamBall slams. It allowed me to do my workout today of Power Cleans, Deadlifts, and Shoulder Presses, followed by a total body ab circuit.

BUT the bad? It’s full of machines. Machines are tempting. You sit down, move a few muscles, it’s ALMOST like working out.
And some of these machines are downright dangerous. So today you’re going to discover 5 machines to literally NEVER ever use again.

#1) The Adductor-Abductor Machine

OMG I can’t believe these things still exist. Over on my TT Facebook page, our fans referred to this contraption as the “Hello Boys” machine and the “Good Girl/Bad Girl” machine.

Hey, don’t get mad at me, I’m just reporting what those folks said!

Never ever use this again!

Listen, this machine is a waste of time, could actually hurt your hips and low-back more than it will help. The bottom line is that it will NOT tone your inner thighs or burn fat.

Replace it with: Wide-Stance Squats

Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Push your hips back, spread your knees to the sides, and drive up by pushing the outside of your feet/heels into the ground. That will work your inner and outer thighs, your glutes/butt, your quadriceps, and your hamstrings. So much better!

Use this workout to build a better butt

2) The Ab Crunch Machine

You never need to do another crunch or sit-up ever again, not on the floor and not in a machine, either. These are really bad for your back, and again, a general waste of time unless you are a pro bodybuilder.

If you want to see your abs, you need to lose belly fat – with great nutrition (3 sneaky tips coming on Friday!) and total body targeted metabolic training like you’ll do in this workout: Burn fat with total body metabolic training instead of crunches

Never use the ab crunch machine again, or this piece of cardio equipment…

3) The Elliptical Machine
Shape magazine reports that ALL cardio machines OVER-estimate the number of calories you burn in a workout, but the elliptical machine is the worst. It overestimates by 42%. So the next time you ‘think’ you’ve burned 300 calories, just realize that you probably didn’t even hit 200. YIKES!

4) The Triceps Dip Machine

Please note: I am NOT talking about the Assisted Dip machine. That’s fine.

The triceps machine to avoid is the seated dip machine where you press down on a weight stack, just like if you are were doing triceps bench dips. Those MUST be avoided because this position is damaging to your shoulder.

Replace this with: Close-Grip Pushups (even if done while kneeling) Close-Grip Pushups not only train your triceps, but also work your chest, shoulders, and abs.

5) The Machine Bench Press
The problem with many machines, including this one, is that they just don’t feel right for people that are tall or short, or have long arms or short arms. Machines are built for ‘average’ people, and for everyone else they just feel awkward, right?

Plus, the chest press machine STARTS you in a very weak position, at the bottom of the movement, and it can be a real struggle to get the correct weight into the proper position.

Stick with pushups or dumbbell chest presses instead.

Take those 5 machines out of your program FOREVER and never do them again. Instead, use the target metabolic resistance training exercises. Go to this website and read more info on the TRUTH about toning:

=> Truth About Toning with Targeted Metabolic Resistance Training

Just say NO to machines,
Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer