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 Training Discussion Board
 are benchpress machines good for mass building?
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| Author | Topic: are benchpress machines good for mass building? | ||
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Cool Novice 
Posts: 43 |
i have read that using free weights is great because it forces you muscles to work...or something like that, but i wanted to know how effective machines (specifically the bench press one) are at building mass. unfortunately, my gym is small in numbers, usually empty, and the only workout partner i can find usually only goes to the gym when he can, but can't come every day so i have no spotter. any help or thoughts on the matter would be much appreciated. (and for any extra reference i'm still a beginner [This message has been edited by danielson (edited December 06, 2000).]    | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder 
Posts: 437 |
The machine is good, but only at the end of a workout. Do not use as your primary exercise. It can help as a shaping exercise at the end. I guess that different machines by different companies are different too, but nothing replaces the barbell. B True  | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder 
Posts: 614 |
If your scared that your gonna be crushed by a falling barbell... USE DUMBELLS!! they will just fall to the side if you cannot handle them for another rep. also they kick butt over a machine (and even barbells *cough*) because they incorporate all the stabilizer muscles in the arms, chest, back, deltoids. drop sets will also be helpful, as well as rest/pause sets. hope this helps. | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 43 |
dumbells sound like a nice idea. but do i have to keep the dumbells moving completely vertical or is some swaying allowed? my left arms a little weaker than my right (i.e. you can see the difference in forearm and bicep size) will this affect the weight of dumbell on each arm? also whats a drop set? any heelp you could offer on the matter would be much appreciated | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder 
Posts: 162 |
Bro, Machines are a heap of crap, I do not rate them atall, if you want to grow atall, you just use free weights, As one of the other bros was saying, machines do not recruit the stabilizer muscles, infact i dont think they recruit any fuckin muscle's. If you dont have a spotter then, some free weight movements can be tricky, but as valdez was saying you can use dumbells when you dont have anyone available, I would like to know what he would reccommend for me, the biggest dumbells we have at my gym are 150lbs, which is not enough weight, so I have to use barbell's. A drop set, could be done for instance with the barbell bench press, you woud begin with the heaviest weight you could rep with, go to fail with that, then drop down 20kilo's go straight into a set with that until you fail, then drop the weight again and again until you are left with the bare bar, but it is still heavy because your muscles are exhausted. this is a good thing to do once you have finished your working sets and you are looking to exhaust the muscle still further. If you are needing anyhelp, just send me a mail and I will see what I can do for you, rarely log on to this board. Hope this helps you Bro. ------------------ | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 43 |
cheers, thanks a lot for the posts guys. turns out i'm doing those drop sets, now i know what they are  i do come onto the board a lot, it's just with my awe-inspiring lack of knowledge about body building, i usually only have something to throw in when i'm asking a question or someone asks a health related question i've studied or know the answer too. but i do learn a fair bit from reading other peoples posts. cheers for the e-mail offer, i might send you something soon as the pec dec has been worrying me.... | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 614 |
150's not enough? you must be a "bigman" haha I've only got up to 110's at my gym. You could do some incline flyes, keep the arc in closer. (btw: doing a flye with a huge arc, ie almost straight arms is a waste of time!) then hit some flat DB press. supersets are ok. but I would rather hit failure in the 4-7 rep range in one intense set. pre-exhaust and supersets, tri-sets worked the best for me when I had to work out at my community college. heaviest DB's were 65!! god that was a pain in the ass. but I was able to work around it. | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 220 |
I think machines are alright for a change of pace. When your tired of the same shit throw in a machine on an exercie just to spice things up abit. ------------------ | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 162 |
Point taken with the incline flyes VALDEZ, already do them after FBench, totally in love with them, not using 150's fr them just yet, maybe this time next year. keep us posted danielson. ------------------ | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 1168 |
I hate machines. The idea of using one for benchpress scares me. If it works for you, do it. | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 43 |
i tried the dumbell bench press- nice . i can't quite figure out how to get the weights over your shoulders when siting down, so when i finally managed it, it was was with a weight slighly to light? any ideas?seated cable pulls- i can really feel the burn on those. and chest flyses don't affect my neck as much so good news all round. thanks very much for the advice! | ||
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Elite Bodybuilder
Posts: 614 |
easy! put the weights on your knees while sitting up-right on the bench. rock back into a lying position and the dumbells will follow you- right above your shoulders. with this method you can easily "prep" dumbells that are way to heavy to even do 1 rep. You have to have seen someone do this in the gym? | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 43 |
DOH!!!!!!!!!! a website said put the dumbells on your knees but it said just lie back. i kept on doing it and not figuring out how the dumbells get above you shoulders, and ended up having to a bicep curl. I just tried rocking back now on my bed and it worked a treat. cheers! now i won't look like a total idiot in the gym. (and my gym rarely has more than 2 person in it including me. today was a record as 2 people were in there. and they all use the barbell or the smith-machine for benching!). thanx again for enlighting me on that, i'd been thinking how to do it all day! | ||
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Amateur Bodybuilder
Posts: 71 |
Danielson, I just got back from London and the whole time I was there I couldn't find one decent gym. Supplements were hard to get too. I was living in Rickmansworth. Is it just me or is bodybuilding not very popular there at all. ------------------ | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 43 |
yeah, in a nutshell. All gym's require an introductory fee of like �50 (thats more in dollars!) compulsory, and like minimum �250 a year memberships. If your wondering why, the only gyms in london are for business men who like to burn calories, (or pretend that they are)by signing up to the most expensive gyms with hundreds of other business men in there. All they'll have are machines, and treadmills. They're crowded and full of yuppies. Fair enough, they pay hundreds for the privilidge of using an overcrowded gym, and they get the very best money can buy, but it is way to expensive and requires too much travel for me. i work out in my uni's gym. it's in a basement, with to tiny windows letiitng light in. all the chromed bars have lost their chrome, and the uni's plumbing network runs through it as well. and all the weights are ancient and it has the oldest speedball and punchbag i've seen. Oh yeah, and it's FANTASTIC! I'd take that any day--> mainly becuase it's �20 a year!! but also because it's never packed and if someone does go in their it's easier to get to know them! Oh yeah, and if you want to get supplements, cheaply, mail order is the only way. vitamins and minerals and creatinine etc can be found in high street stores and health food shops (depending on area of london). bulk buying is much cheaper! not overly popular then! | ||
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Cool Novice
Posts: 20 |
machines give u a false account of your abilities and neglect stabilizer muscles | ||
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Pro Bodybuilder
Posts: 425 |
I use both machine and free weights.....I prefer free weights..I try to do flat and incline and flyes with free weights, anything else I may do, I use machines.... |
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posted November 29, 2000 06:33 PM