0
comments
Hello Gordon.
I'm in agreement with all but your closing quote...<grin>
The "geeks" as you term them use the free weights. This list boasts a conspicuous presence of "muscle geeks" world wide....highly literate, highly intelligent, this "muscle geek" tends to make the most of lifting and uses the brain to help it succeed in the endeavor.
Per Ferrum, Ad Astra.
With humor but honoring the great Muscle Geek who brought us here...Mel..
The Phantom
aka Linda Schaefer, CMT, CSCS, competing powerlifter and yes, Bachelors, Major: Physics
Denver, Colorado, USA
------------
From: gordon waddell <g_k_waddell@
Hi all,
since it was my dislike of the Smith machine that caused a lot of this debate, I have been reading all the subsequent posts. There has not been one validated argument for machine training in place of free weights in athletics or proper training. They may have some uses in rehab and bodybuilding (which we all know is NOT as sport).
Can anyone name any current national or world class coaches/ athletes (that are NOT being paid huge endorsements) that advocate machine training for athletes, let alone people wanting to move and function better?? I have found through personal experience that it is poorly educated or lazy trainers / coaches (mostly trainers in commercial gyms) that use machine training for you don't have invest time learning and teaching proper lifting, it takes little program design knowledge and it allows you to train more people in a day which equals a bigger paycheck!
I know that it is mentally & physically exhausting designing, preparing and teaching REAL exercises. I get a great workout all day just lifting dumbbells, kettlebells, plates etc. for my clients / athletes. How much effort and knowledge does it take to move a selector pin and say sit here?
It comes down to money as usual - salesmen get big commissions selling machines with pads and parts that wear out and need to be replaced (more money) and trainers do not need skill or knowledge to use a machine which allows them to train more people which again is more money. Many clients are scared of free weights or told by gym sales people the machines are better - it is up to the trainer to dispell these myths and give real training but they don't for fear of losing a paying client. (or they just don't know how to train). I never had to sell a client a line of BS, I always told the truth and let the quality of the workout sell its self.
In my previous life as a commercial gym Fitness Director I was forced by the GM & Owner to hire MANY poorly skilled trainers for: we needed bodies on the floor, they looked good, they were good at sales or they were a friend of the powers that be. Every basic knowledge test I gave, the trainers scored poorly on - My one essay question was describe how to do a barbell squat, the answers were ridiculous!!
Since the tests scores were so poor I started borrowing a test from Alwyn Cosgrove; it consists of only 1 oral question:" If I hire you today and you start tomorrow and you come in at 6:00am and find the gym empty (all the equipment gone - you have the client & 4 walls) what would you do?" The pathetic answers ranged from: Call immediately and apologize, offer free sessions, extra month on the membership, try to rent equipment etc. The only CORRECT answer is: TRAIN THE CLIENT with bodyweight exercises!! For over 4 years - NO ONE passed the test!
If you need always need machines to train a person, then you are not a trainer but a babysitter or "rent-a-friend" for an hour.
Thanks to all the great coaches and trainers who are putting up the great responses to as the superiority of free weights!
"Machines were created to keep the geeks of the free weights!" - not sure who said it first but it is brilliant!
Gordon Waddell
NJ, USA
To: Supertraining@
From: kshobman@sasktel.
Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:55:18 -0600
Subject: [Supertraining] Re: Free weights versus machine weights
The key consideration is teaching the athlete powerful and coordinated
hip extension, knee extension and plantar flexion. I don't think you
have to teach the entire lift to do so, but a snatch high pull makes a
lot of sense for many athletes that are looking to improve these
movements. Most athletes I know would just as soon learn to clean - they
enjoy the movement and athleticism of the lifts themselves.
I certainly wouldn't advocate nothing, but the olympic lifts. But in a
well-developed program of training for football players (and many other
athletes) they can be a valuable exercise.
Having said that, it certainly isn't the only way. IMO it is one of the
best, but there are many roads that lead to excellence.
Exarchives@aol.
> The suggested use of Olympic Lifting (Sport) for the supplementary
> training of athletes is just plain silly. Teaching the skill of hurling a
> barbell upward for football players is akin to teaching your swimmers
> blocking
> and tackling. If the swim coach was ever seen "coaching" his or her
> swimmers to
> do so, you could be sure the coach would be carted away by the men in
> white
> coats.
>
>
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups
Sign all letters with full name & city of residence if you
wish them to be published!
Earn your degree in as few as 2 years - Advance your career with an AS, BS, MS degree - College-Finder.net.
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe
__,_._,___
March
0 comments: