Bad Kit!

Every gym has these machines and yet they are the most useless peices of equipment, that don't build muscle, train the intended target area, and actually encourage injury.

1. Smith Machine

It may appear safer than the squatt rack or bench press to beginners, but it actually encourages bad movement patterns, especilly if the bar is angled on the rack! The bar should go straight up and down for squatts especially so never use this peice of kit for these moves. Also smith machine squatts actually put alot of needless strain on the knee joints as their natural movement when squatting is altered and this can lead to serious injury. It also takes the all important stabiliser muscles out of play in your lift, so when you move onto dumbells or barbell moves you will be far weaker as you cannot balance the weight. I suggest using lighter dumbells until you are ready to perform the actual exercises properly and also encourage others to avoid this injury ridden machine!

2. Abs - Roller

Using this machine won't help give you a six pack, only a fat burining diet and exercise plan can do that. Instead this machine does little other than teach you the basic movement required to perform a crunch. Because the machine is curved it recruits its natural rocking momentum after the first rep and so is really ineffective for abs training, also due to the arm positions on the roller it takes the pressure away from the abs and onto the arms. It wont even build a strong core. Instead try the plank, hanging leg raises and v-shaped situps to really get your abs into shape. Also to get better results try to stick to a good diet plan to see faster, leaner results around your abs.

3. Pec - Deck (resistance machine cest press)

 It was once a chest routine favourite, but this machine actually forces you to move your upper arm horizontally away from your body while rotating it backwards against a heavy weight. This puts huge starin on your rotator cuffs and ca lead to injury that can stop you training your entire upper body. Instead stick to bench press, dumbell flyes or old fashioned press ups.