Now, before you think I'm wishing myself back to the 70's, where most machines were ergonomically incorrect in one way or the other, let me first say that I truly welcome and applaud the ingenious development of exercise machines in the past decade. Hammer Strength, for one, revolutionized the industry with their excellent line of machines.
Today we have well-engineered machines, that not only makes sure that we hit the muscles from right angles, we are also allowed free range of movement and support at critical points, so that we run lesser risk of injury. For example, a good leg-curl machine of today makes it natural to keep a straight spine, instead of the extreme arch you saw everywhere only 10 years ago (which puts extreme pressure on your lower back, by the way, which can lead to plenty of trouble down the road. Now we can avoid that.).
So... These are the good machines. Unfortunately, there is a whole bunch of machines put together by people who either have no clue of biomechanics, have a complete disregard for the customers except for their wallets, or a combination of both.
Real life example: The Hack-squat from Notre Dame!
At the gym where I train, there is a variety of hack-squat machines. They're all of different makes. All of them are slightly different, but one stands out from the crowd. The reason for this is the pad on which you normally rest your head. In all the other ones, that pad is basically an extension of the big pad against which you rest the rest of your body while working out. Not in this case. Instead, some yahoo thought it was a brilliant idea to take that pad, weld it to a 4-inch steel bar, and arrange the whole thing at a 30 degree angle against the rest of the pad. If you stand up straight and look down at your toes, you get the angle you end up with in the neck. Now, imagine putting on a couple of hundred pounds of pressure on your shoulders. Say hello to some serious upper-spine problems.
Go To Page: 1 2
