Iron Gym the multifunction training system that raises the bar on upper body exercises.

Apart from the weight machines, some of the most effective machines in a gym are the walking, running and climbing machines. Walking and running machines include steppers and treadmills, while climbing machines have pedals that you push with your feet, making it feel like you are climbing stairs.

The reason these machines are important is that they exercise our leg muscles, which are some of the most useful muscles in our body, but at the same time some of the weakest. After all, we are descended from apes, who didn’t walk upright – in evolutionary terms, we’ve only just started walking, and our legs aren’t all that great at it yet. Building good muscles in your legs will help you stay on your feet and go for long walks, hikes or runs without feeling tired quickly, like so many people do in this age of the car. Once you get started, you might even want to take up walking as a hobby, and the more you walk, the better your leg muscles will get.

But in that case, why not just go for a real walk, or climb up and down real stairs? Well, you could do that, but you’d be leaving yourself open to the weather on the walk, making it difficult to have a regular walking routine, and while you could just walk up and down some stairs for half an hour each day, people would probably look at you a little oddly.

Within a few weeks of using walking and climbing machines, you should start to feel more energetic – it is surprising how much of how much energy we feel we have comes from the strength of our legs. Even if we don’t realise it, we are on our feet for a lot of time every day – yes, even if you work in an office and drive to work – so strong leg muscles really can make a world of difference.

Exercise has become an integral part of everyday life of most people. An individual spends at least some part of his life in exercise. Exercise can be done with equipment or without equipment. Gym equipment helps in exercising a specific part or group of muscles or organs of the body. Today a wide range of gym equipment are available in the market.

The most common gym equipment are multigyms, treadmills, swiss balls, dumb bells, bar bells, rowing machines, exercise bicycles, balance boards, abdomen exercisers resistance bands and punching bags. There are various facilities, equipment associated with gym equipment like heart rate monitors, sauna baths, swimming pools etc.

A multigym consists of incremented weight plates that move up and down on steel guides. It usually consists of attachments for exercise of chest, arms, thighs, calves, shoulders and pectorals (sometimes called wings or pecs).

Treadmill is an equipment used for running without moving any distance. It consists of a conveyor belt which slides on rollers on which the individual can run or walk.

Swiss ball or yoga ball is a rubber ball of 50 to 85 cm which is used to develop balance and exercise the abdominal and back muscles.

Dumbbells and bar bells are the traditional gym equipment. They consist of variable or fixed free weights attached to a small or long bar. They are lifted against gravity to tone muscles like biceps, triceps, forearm muscles, chest and shoulder muscles etc. They usually come in pairs.

Rowing machines are gym equipment designed to stimulate rowing in water. They are used to exercise pecs and back muscles.

Exercise bicycles are stationery bicycles with resistance discs for wheels. They are used to exercise thigh and calf muscles.

Balance board consists of a board fixed on a bearing. It is used to develop balance.

Abdomen exerciser consists of an inclined board with leg rollers for doing sit ups. It is used to exercise the stomach and abdomen muscles.

All the above equipment except free weights have attached electronics to monitor number of cycles and other parameters. Resistance bands are elastic bands and in these the resistance of the band to stretching is used to exercise muscles like quadriceps and deltoids.

Punching bag consists of sand filled cushioned bags or other rugged material bags for practice by boxers. They are either hung from the ceiling or fixed on a stand.

Most professional gyms have the above mentioned equipment along with other facilities like swimming pools, sauna baths, steam baths etc.

For a home gym, a multigym with a few dumbbells and barbells are sufficient for workout of the entire body. The starting price of a multigym is around 1500$. The cost of other equipment varies according to the make.

Are you using potentially dangerous exercises in your workout? You have to be very careful with strength training equipment because it may not be the most effective or functional available. How do you know that the exercises you are performing are safe?  Found below are some potentially dangerous exercises with suggestions on how they should be done correctly or avoided completely.

Sit-up

Traditional abdominal exercises such as the sit-up, incline sit-up and hip-raises are exercises that are used to train the obliques and the upper and lower abdominals.

They are performed by first anchoring the feet on an abdominal board which prevents you from sliding back then raising your shoulders up towards your feet, tensing your abs at the top of the movement. Slowly lowering your shoulders back down and then completing the movement again.

The dangers of performing this movement are the shearing forces on the vertebrae and spinal discs when you have a flexed and rounded spine.  In this position, the pressure is mostly placed on a very small area of the disc area, which can cause small ruptures. The safest and most productive way to train the abs is to use the brace and hollow technique. This is a basic isometric exercise that helps strengthen the abs and the muscular girdle around your waist.

Pec Deck

The pec deck is an exercise that trains the chest (pectorals) and shoulder (front deltoid) muscles.

This exercise is performed by sitting at the machine with your back flat against the back pad. Placing your forearms on the padded levers and position your upper arms parallel to the ground. Pushing the levers slowly together and squeezing your chest muscles at the end of the movement. Return slowly to the starting position.

This exercise is potentially dangerous because it places the shoulder into one of its least stable positions, the dislocation position. Because of the extreme position when performing this exercise at the starting position it can also cause tearing of the ligaments and injury to the rotar cuff tendons.

More effective and less dangerous is the bench press, keeping the arms at shoulder width and exercising in the strongest range of motion (partial reps) and the parallel bar dip with the elbows out.

Behind the neck Press
This exercise trains the neck (traps) and shoulder (deltoid) muscles and is performed by placing a loaded barbell onto your upper back just above the trap muscle.
This exercise is done by standing with your feet about shoulder width apart. Placing your hands on the bar about three inches wider than the width of your shoulders. Pushing the bar overhead to arm’s length, holding and then slowly lowering back down to your shoulders. This exercise can also be done seated. Try performing it in a smith machine or power rack for added safety.
This is an exercise that places the shoulder joint into the dislocation position and the range of motion puts unnecessary stress on the rotator cuff tendons of the shoulders.
Many trainees may experience injuries from this behind-the-neck movement. As with before stick with dips and bench presses for your shoulder work.

Dead lift
The dead lift is a compound movement that works the hips, lower back and also exercises the hamstrings and glutes (buttocks).
You can perform the dead lift by approaching a loaded barbell and taking a stance about as wide as your shoulders.  Grip the bar so that the arms are slightly on the outside of your thighs. Your feet should be pointing straight forward with the shins about two to three inches from the bar.
Heave the load upward using the hips and lower back keeping the back straight and the bar as close to the shins as possible. At the top of the movement hold for a few seconds and then lower the bar to the starting position.
The exercise has a knock-on growth effect on the whole body when worked hard. The problem with the lift is that if the spine becomes rounded during the lift it then becomes dangerous. Because of the forces working on the vertebrae and the spine injuries may occur.
A lot of these problems can be solved by keeping the back as straight as possible during the lift and keeping the bar held close to the body during the lift as the forces are then not that excessive.

Leg extensions

Leg extensions are arguably one of the most popular leg exercises for strengthening the quadriceps (thigh) muscle.

These are done by using a leg extension machine and sitting in the seat with your feet hooked under the padded lever. Raise the weight with your legs until they are pointing straight out in front of you. Hold briefly, and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.

Leg extensions are a potentially dangerous exercise because when only the shin is in motion, the exercise draws the patella back onto the femur increasing joint compression forces, which can damage the connective tissue and the ligaments supporting the knee joint.   It can also cause anterior knee pain so people with existing knee problems may aggravate them by doing this exercise.

For greater safety and equal effectiveness, try doing the Squat, Leg Press, and Lunge for safer and more functional use.

We all know how difficult in might be to make it to the gym after 9 long hours at work. I bet it has happened to you as well.

But what do you do when you don’t feel you have the energy to stop by the local gym on your way home? Or may be you don’t have the time for a workout at the gym. You can only use 20 – 30 min.

What’s the solution then? It could be only one – a full body workout at your home gym.

But first take this from me. If you don’t have a home gym set up already, don’t even think of missing a workout. Go to the local gym where you are a member. Missing a single workout can set a path for a habit. Vice versa, not missing a workout won’t let you think of such an option.

So, let’s suppose that it’s one of these days when you can’t make it to the gym, and are planning on working out at home. That means you have a gym of some sort, already set up.

In this article I want to advise you on your choices for a full body routine. The workout you will pick however, will all depend on how your home gym is equipped.

For example you might have a home-gym machine. Or you might be a hardcore bodybuilder. Then you have free weights as your main equipment.

If you belong to the first group – you own a home gym machine – this is the part you should be reading.

The simplest home gym machines are equipped for at least several exercises such as: bench press, lat pull down, seated rows, biceps curls, triceps push-downs, leg extensions and standing hamstring curls.

That’s actually plenty. You can complete the whole body in a single session.

Your circuit workout:

/Warm up/
Crunches 2-3 x 15 – 30
Seated bench press 3 x 10 – 12
Lat pull-down 3 x 10 – 12
Front cable raises (machine behind you, lower pulley cable between your thighs) 3 x 10 – 12
Standing biceps cable curls (lower pulley cable, facing the machine) 3 x 10 – 12
Standing triceps push-downs (using the lat-pull down handle) 3 x 10 – 12
Leg extensions 3 x 12 – 15
Standing hamstring curls (facing the machine) 3 x 12 – 15
/Cool down/

You have more options for replacing some of the exercises:

Replace seated bench press wide grip with seated bench press close grip.

Replace lat pull down with seated rows (facing the machine).

Replace standing biceps cable curls with lying cable curls (lie down on the floor on your back and place your feet on the rolling pads for support).

In case that you belong to the second group – you are a hardcore enthusiast or bodybuilder, the least equipment you have (I would guess) is an adjustable bench, a power rack, an olympic barbell set and a pair of dumbbells with adjustable weights.

For you I’d suggest two circuit routines. You can do only one of them or you can do two circuits, using both if you feel you have energy (and desire) to do that:

Workout One/Circuit One

/Warm up/
Crunches 1-2 x 15 – 30
Flat bench press on the rack 2-3 x 12 – 15
Barbell rows 2-3 x 10 – 15
Seated dumbbell overhead presses 2-3 x 12 – 15
Barbell curls 2-3 x 8 – 12
Barbell lying triceps extensions 2-3 x 12 – 15
Squats 2-3 x 10 x 15
Stiff Leg Dead Lifts 2-3 x 10 – 12
/Cool down/

Workout Two/Circuit Two

/Warm up/
Reverse crunches 1-2 x 15 – 20
Dumbbell flys 2-3 x 10 – 12
One-arm dumbbell rows 2-3 x 10 – 12
Dumbbell lateral raises 2-3 x 10 – 12
Seated dumbbell curls 2-3 x 8 – 12
One-arm overhead triceps extensions 2-3 x 8 – 12
Lunges (holding a pair of dumbbells) 2-3 x 12 – 15
/Cool down/

Note that the number of reps is slightly higher than what you would normally do should you have worked out at the gym. I did it this way intentionally. My advice is that you use 50 – 70% of your One Rep Max due to the fact that you don’t have a spotter. If you think you can go heavier please do, but at your own risk.

That’s it. Now that you finished your workout you deserve a nice, chilled protein shake. After all you are at home and can make it any way you want, right. And, yes, you should feel good because you didn’t miss your workout.

Total gym workouts are the key to developing and sustaining a healthy and strong body. There is a trend for bodybuilders just to concentrate on one limited area, and miss out on the holistic benefits of full body training. Here, we show you the benefits of a total gym workout.

Phase 1
When you start a total gym workout, you should start by doing cardio work. Warming up is essential for any athletic endeavor, and with bodybuilding, you want to get the limbs loose and the blood pumping. Warming up will also help burn off excess fat. Running is a very common way of warming up, but for something really strenuous try the boxer’s training of skipping.

Phase 2
People often start total gym workouts by working the arms or legs, but this really makes little sense. It makes a lot more sense to end your workout with your limbs, as tiring them early will mean that your arms will only be able to handle reduced weights during the rest of your workout, and your legs will not be able to carry you as vigorously around the gym. Working the chest and back first is a much better progression. Try to use dumbbell bench presses to enhance your chest, and if you have a pec deck, use that. It is not so easy to work your back, but you can do lat pull downs and  deadlifts if you have access to the right equipment, and these should produce very satisfactory results.

Phase 3
The arms can come next, and this is a favorite area of so many bodybuilders. You can look forward to this part of your total gym workout, as your arms can produce the most visible results from your hard work. Too many people don’t consider that there are 3 sets of muscles in the arm, so you need to exercise them all in turn. You can try some dumbbell curls which benefit the biceps, some triceps pulldowns which will build the  triceps (hard work!), and then forearms curls and reverse forearm curls to enhance your forearm muscles. If you work this hard, you will see for yourself why this is not a good place to start!

Phase 4
Time now for some leg work. Even with total gym workouts, many people overlook the legs, unless they are competitive bodybuilders. As the legs do a lot of work carrying the rest of your body, they respond well to exercise. Start out by doing squats to build your thighs, and if you try single footed heel raises for your calves you should find them highly effective. The hamstrings are the final part, and although they will be exercised by default during your running and warming up, you can also do some basic leg curls which will increase the effect.

This will show you that total workouts can be simple enough, and not take that much time, and also that working the whole body is far more effective.