Realize, too, that every weight machine won’t fit every body. Most machines
are designed for people of average height, so if you’re shorter than 5'4" or taller
than 6'2", you may not be able to adjust the seat to fit your body. (Figuring out
which machines don’t fit may take you a while, however. Unlike amusement
parks, gyms don’t post height-requirement signs.) Manufacturers have tried to
get around the height problems by offering a variety of pads to sit on or stick
behind you, but they don’t work for everyone. If a machine feels uncomfortable
to you — even if you’re of average height — try another machine that targets
the same muscle group or head for the free-weight area. As we describe in the
“Weight machines for women” sidebar, Nautilus makes a line of machines
scaled for women’s bodies.Another drawback of machines is that many of them isolate each muscle
group. We know we said this was an advantage, but it can be a flaw. Because
you rarely isolate your muscles in everyday life, some experts believe it
doesn’t make sense to train them that way in the gym. If muscles become
used to working as separate entities, the theory goes, they don’t cooperate
with one another to the extent they should — a situation that may set you
up for injuries.194 Part IV: Lift and Curl: Building a Stronger Bod with Weights
Weight machines for women
Many women don’t fit into conventional weight-
training machines. Either their legs dangle off
the floor when they hop up into the seats, or
their arms are too short to reach the bar they’re
supposed to grab.
About ten years ago, Nautilus recognized
these problems and designed weight-training
machines especially for women. Today you can
find these machines in women-only gyms and in
many large gyms that have several lines of equip-
ment. Some gyms carry only one or two pieces,
usually chest machines because they’re the ones
smaller women have the most trouble using.In addition to downsizing the frames, Nautilus
researchers studied the way women lift weights.
They found that, like men, women are stronger atcertain points in an exercise and weaker at other
points; however, they also discovered that for
men and women these points are not the same.
So, they set up the machines’ pulleys differently
from conventional machines to give women a
better workout. They also made the weight
increments smaller — you can go up by 5
pounds instead of 10.
Liz likes the Nautilus women’s line a lot because
she is, shall we say, not anyone’s first choice to
play center on a basketball team. The line
includes the only pec deck(a type of chest
machine with a butterfly motion) she has ever
used that didn’t make her feel as if her shoulder
was going to be ripped out of its socket.