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I found an article online that said these are the essential exercises needed for a short, newbie weight routine using mostly machines. I would like to gather some thoughts??
squat, chest press, deadlift, leg press, overhead press, biceps arm curl, triceps pull down, seated cable row, lat pulldown, and crunch
I would not do a complete workout using mostly machines. I'd do a combo of free weights and machines if you really want to use machines.
I'll come back and finish my answer because I have more to write. I'll post the work out that I do.
But here are my days and what I do on each day:
Wednesday: Chest,Shoulders,Triceps
Friday: Legs
Sunday: Back,Bicep
Crunches on all 3 days.
BTW, I only use free weights. You can get a better measure of your true strengh.
Since it's a newbie, I would only use the machines just so I could get in the habit of going to the gym. Once you've been going for about 3 days a week for a month, I'd go with the free weights.
I'll be back later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJingle
I found an article online that said these are the essential exercises needed for a short, newbie weight routine using mostly machines. I would like to gather some thoughts??
squat, chest press, deadlift, leg press, overhead press, biceps arm curl, triceps pull down, seated cable row, lat pulldown, and crunch
Thanks Ron! I'll look forward to your post. A little background might help. I'm not a newbie to the gym, just the weights. I've been sort of a cardio queen. I'm trying to scale back the cardio and include a weight routine. My problem with free weights is that I tend to get bored and lose all sense of concentration and direction. I'm at the gym 5 or more times a week.
those are all good exercises but its also a bunch of isolation moves.
I hate lat pulldowns and might opt for pull ups or chins instead. Also look at lunges for your lower body. They kick ass! Deadlifts are good but you have to be careful. I would advice having someone show you proper form.
Bent over rows are another possible substitute for the lat pulls.
Ron makes a very good point of mixing it up with free weights and the machine.
those are all good exercises but its also a bunch of isolation moves.
I hate lat pulldowns and might opt for pull ups or chins instead. Also look at lunges for your lower body. They kick ass! Deadlifts are good but you have to be careful. I would advice having someone show you proper form.
Bent over rows are another possible substitute for the lat pulls.
Ron makes a very good point of mixing it up with free weights and the machine.
those are all good exercises but its also a bunch of isolation moves.
I hate lat pulldowns and might opt for pull ups or chins instead. Also look at lunges for your lower body. They kick ass! Deadlifts are good but you have to be careful. I would advice having someone show you proper form.
Bent over rows are another possible substitute for the lat pulls.
Ron makes a very good point of mixing it up with free weights and the machine.
Agreed that Ron makes a good point about a mix of machines and free weights. He also has a good suggestion with the idea of starting with machines until ganining a feel for proper form, then mixing in some work with free weights.
Re, bent-over rowing: One of the basic exercises suggested to the OP was cable rowing, which accomplishes the same thing.
Re, isolation moves: None of the exercises suggested to the OP is a full-body movement like those involved in Olympic lifts, but most of them are compound movements, with rotation around more than one joint in the regions of the body they work.
Compound movements are good. They tend to strain the joints less than movements focusing on single joints. Compound movements also focus on the large muscles, a good way to gain mass and overall strength. A bodybuilder will want to do focus work to develop the preferred appearance in each localized part of the body, but most of us, interested in fitness primarily, can do fine sticking with the compound movements, and these are especially the best exercises for beginners, who need to make overall gains in strength and conditioning before moving from that base into anything specialized.
One isolation kind of exercise that was listed by the OP was biceps curls. These are okay, but not really necessary for all-around fitness, as the biceps will be worked by other movements that involve flexing the arms, such as lat pulls and rowing. Triceps pulldowns are good, if you're talking about the exercise that involves using both the chest and arms to push the bar straight downward close in front of you, similar to bar dips except that you grip one bar in front of you instead of parallel bars to the sides. If you are talking about triceps extensions, it's probably best to avoid these. They can really strain the elbow joints. They are another isolation movement, not the most efficient way to exercise, and maybe best avoided altogether, but definitely best avoided until you have enough experience to develop a feel for how to do them safely.
One additional lift I would suggest is upright rowing. This one is really good for the traps and the front and middle deltoids. It also works the biceps pretty well (pretty good for the backs of the forearms as well), so this one would be good to substitute for curls. Also, crunches are great for basic ab work, and probably fine for developing a base of abdominal strength in the beginning, but before long it would be good to add in something for the obliques. This would involve ab exercises with a twisting motion, such as alternating crunches. If you do standard crunches, alternating crunches, and also dumbell side raises for the external obliques, you have a basic ab combination that's hard to beat.
I'm a weight newbie as well. Quick question, which is better, less weight with more reps or heavier weight with less reps?
less weight more reps (12-20) will help you become lean and toned. Heavier weight less reps(8-10) will increase the size of your muscles thus, making you look bulkier.
less weight more reps (12-20) will help you become lean and toned. Heavier weight less reps(8-10) will increase the size of your muscles thus, making you look bulkier.
Not unless you eat in a caloric surplus. You can't gain tissue unless you give your body the fuel it needs to grow. You can still eat at a deficit and lose unwanted fatty tissue with high weight and lower reps.
Not unless you eat in a caloric surplus. You can't gain tissue unless you give your body the fuel it needs to grow. You can still eat at a deficit and lose unwanted fatty tissue with high weight and lower reps.
That was a general statment thnx In general my statment is correct.....I could go into details all day but the question was General as was my answer
and no....more weight less reps will increase mass unless the person is starving themselves.....
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thnx 
In general my statment is correct.....I could go into details all day but the question was General as was my answer 
