Alternatives to Weight Training

Many people spend workout time building non-functional muscles that rely on weight machines to function the right way.  Weight machines are good for: 

1. helping to provide stability  , supporting a week muscle when just starting an exercise routine or ending  a long break; 
2. helping to provide a safe motion when balance is a factor;
3. assisting in fitness care during an injury (i.e., performing leg extensions when rehabilitating a sprained ankle).

But the rest of the time, working out on weight machines builds muscle that has no significant functional application – the small, stabilizing muscles that support the major muscle groups aren’t built up on a weight machine, because the machine is providing the stabilization.

So even though major muscle groups are strengthened, when the weight machine isn’t there providing support, these people only have a muscle that can provide a strong contraction with little to no support from the other stabilizing muscles . This is counter-productive for an athlete, and can also cause injury.

For example, the machine shoulder press, where you sit in a back-supported chair and press two overhead handles attached to a lever . Normally, in an everyday situation, if you were to press a weight overhead, or exert a force in that direction, you would not be sitting down  and the item you are pressing overhead ( milk crate, a kid, a basketball ) wouldn’t be supported by a lever. Moreover the machine moves straight up and down, whereas a free object moves in countless planes of motion.

The absence of multiple ranges of motion means that you are getting a very strong contraction from the deltoid ( shoulder muscle ) while wholly ignoring rotational muscles, stabilizing ( neck ) and supporting muscles ( feet, legs, hips, torso ).  Now if you throw a ball, the deltoid is able to produce a very strong force, but the rotator cuff and other supporting muscles such as the low back, are not in the same shape.  You’re likely to tear your rotator cuff or throw your low back out, and that’s why weight machines can often cause more harm than good.

 The alternative to working out with machines is functional exercises. These simulate the movements that  our “primal ancestors” ( cavemen ) would have performed in order to survive in an unpredictable environment, whether tracking a wild animal ( or being chased by one ), lifting objects such as logs and rocks, or fighting via swinging, throwing, and pulling ( such as a bow ).

You can see how for athletes – triathlon & duathlon training, cycling and bike workouts, this data is really important.

I really recommend Shape 21, which is a great book that show you how to put these movements together into a routine for ideal balance between muscle groups, efficient calorie burning, fat utilization, metabolic boosting, and injury avoidance. It also includes grocery shopping lists, a nutritional plans, and a range of functional workout programs from beginner to intermediate to advanced.