Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Machines to stay away from at the gym/Part 4

OK. Last one. This one is a tricky one. It is the HAMSTRING CURL from a prone position. It is NOT NECESSARILY a problem machine, but it CAN be. Here is the problem with this one.

Many lying down hamstring curl machines are designed in a way which the user has to bring the bar up to curl the weight causing severe strain to the back of the knees as well as the lower back. If one can arrange the particular machine to begin the motion from a plane where the weight is already above the beginning position it MAY be safe to use this machine. The other, and certainly the most pragmatic, way to use this machine is to have another person RAISE the bar pad (which is on one's back of calf) manually so that the motion of each repetition does not injure the knee or lower back. This assistance needs to be done at each beginning and ending of every set.

Later models of this machine are now allowing the user to set the bar at a position where the range will not drop below a safe position so this problem is alleviated.

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