5. Alpha Exercise

Proper Body Positioning

Copyright 2002, Terry Duschinski.

Fat-to-Muscle Makeover

Ocala Family Physicians'

Medical Exercise Center

It was the first machine in the circuit, and several of us were waiting for an opportunity to use the leg press. When my turn came, I moved the seat carriage forward so as to achieve adequate hip and buttock stretch in the starting position.

Two young guys were behind me, watching and waiting. At the completion of my 15^th repetition, another rep was not possible and so I vacated, moving on to the next machine.

One of the young guys situated himself onto the leg press, changing neither my seat adjustment nor my resistance level. I took note: 7 reps were all he could do. I noticed him sneaking a peak at me, this graying middle-aged guy. His buddy made it to 8 repetitions, meaning that together they matched my 15 reps.

These two young guys verified my contention. I can walk into any health club any hour of the day and find most trainees performing a press without setting the seat to achieve a full stroke. Their seat setting will not provide enough stretch in the starting position. There is a simple reason why they fail to set up the machine most effectively. They can use a greater resistance if they shorten the distance the weight has to travel, starting in a position of mechanical advantage over a more acute angle in the legs.

The shorter distance, however, is less work, since the equation for work is mass times distance, and a portion of the muscle’s range of contraction isn’t stimulated.

These two young men, I am sure, were unaccustomed to training at optimal range of motion. 

This is an important lesson. You may think that you’ve tried strength training, or that you know how to exercise, but presume for the time being you’ve never heard of it. I’ve seen the eyes light up on many people who’ve trained for years without ever tapping into the full potential of the equipment.

Let’s take command of the exercise room.

The first principle to realize, as we’ve just illustrated, is that you have to make the machine fit. If you were to get behind the steering wheel of someone else’s car, you’d probably adjust the seat, mirrors, maybe the steering column, cup holder, cell phone receptacle, or radio and tape player. You’d customize the car to both your preferences and necessities.

An exercise machine has a path of motion that should replicate that of your effected body segment. The machine should apply bio-mechanically appropriate varying resistance along this path. But because they’re built to accommodate a range of body sizes, adjustments are required for each individual.

and/or

Whatever you sit on, or sit against, is likely to have optional settings. Possibly the machine’s movement arm – and I’ll soon explain what that is – offers restricted range of motion options for those dealing with an injury.

Knowing where to set the seats – the task of body positioning – depends on whether the machine is designed for the muscles of a single joint, or for multiple joints, such as the aforementioned leg press which works the buttocks, hip, thigh, and calf muscles.

Don’t let this confuse you. Compound movements, those that involve more than one joint, are pushing and pulling exercises, linear motion. Single-joint exercises are rotational, like the second hand on a clock.

or

There will be a bearing, bushing, or possibly a shoulder bolt that “hinges” this piece to the machine. Think again of the hands on a clock. The joint of the muscle you are exercising should be in direct alignment to what we call the axis of rotation.

There is just one exception to this rule.

Back on the leg press, while getting the full stretch at the start, once I initiated the exercise I pushed only to a point where there was still slight bend in my knees. I could have pressed another two inches and “locked out” my knees.

For long-term safety, do not press into lock-out; that point of bone-on-bone contact where actually the muscles are relieved of the load because it’s resting fully on your skeletal system. This is an issue with any multiple-joint pressing motion, such as squats, bench press, military press, and so forth.

  or

You are properly aligned in the machine when you’re initiating the exercise in a fully stretched position of the targeted prime mover muscle and the weight travels the greatest distance without resorting to joint lock-out.

On pulling motions, such as a row or pulldown, since direct pressure into the joint does not occur, lock-out is not an issue, nor is it on any rotary exercise.

Grasp this basic principle of positioning and alignment on strength-training machines and you too will be able to humble your juniors at the health club.