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Why You Should Stay Away from Exercise Machines

By: Jonas Forsberg

You see, there is lots of stuff that has happened in the fitness industry over the last few years.

Way back, most people either did military-style workouts, such as a lot of pushups, pull-ups, squats, and situps.

Now days, you see tons of commercials about fitness equipment on TV, in magazines, and on the Internet. What these commercials often focuses on is home-based equipment, such as ab machines that gives you six-pack in 3 minutes per day, total body gyms that you can hide under your bed, etc.

You get the point, right? This is both a waste of time and a waste of money.

However, the approach they use about home-based training, that is something they are actually right on.

You see, to lose fat and get in shape, you definitely do not have to own a gym membership and workout 45-60 min per day, quite the opposite actually.

What happens for most people who buy a gym membership is that they get a program where 60-80% of all their exercises are performed on machines.

This number should not only be decreased, it should be erased = 0%. Let me tell you why:

1. The one-size-fits-all type of approach.

Believe it or not, even though you can change the seat and height of the machine, it still is not adjusted for you. Everyone has a unique body composition, and that is something machines can be adjusted for.

2. They do all the work for you.

Some people use machines because they allow you to add on more weight to the exercise, in comparison to bodyweight exercises. Sure, this may be correct, but when working out on machines, you mostly work one muscle group at a time, and that is not optimal for either muscle building or fat loss.

3. Leads to injuries.

It may seem as if the machines are safer for you and will not get you injured, but fact is, that is completely wrong. Sure, you can control the motion during your exercise, but machines are actually created to do most of the work for you.

You do not have think about holding your balance on machines, hey, you could even look somewhere else and talk to someone meanwhile you are exercising. Does that sound like a good solution?

These are just 3 examples to why you should avoid the machines at the gym (or in your home).

Remember what I said about military-style workouts? That is the approach to aim for.

You workout schedule should be created around bodyweight exercises in the first place, and when you are able to handle your own bodyweight, then you should move over to free-weight exercises.

When you are able to perform the following bodyweight exercises for 15-20 reps in a row, with good technique, then talk to your trainer about setting up a new schedule:

- Pushups
- Squats
- Lunges
- Front and Side Plank (30-45 sec)

This is the way you should start your workout program. Master these exercises and you will have a good foundation for when you move on over to more complex exercises!

Remember, bodyweight and free weight exercises are the melody. Stay away from the machines!

Article Source: http://www.bluearticles.com


Jonas Forsberg is the author of Burn Fat At Home, a workout program that helps people lose ugly belly fat and build sexy muscles in only 12 min per day.

He updates the official Burn Fat at Home blog daily at http://burnfatathome.blogspot.com

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