Resistance training equipment

At NO BULL! STRENGTH & PERFORMANCE we use a variety of tools to train the body. Looking through the pictures on the website you'll notice machines, free weights, resistance bands, chains, suspension trainers, etc... You may also notice the brand of equipment. We use Nautilus machines for our non-plated loaded equipment. The reason for this is that our bodies are usually in a mechanical disadvantage. Each muscle has a unique strength curve and within that strength curve there are the points in the muscle when it is weaker, known as a sticking point, and points when the muscle is stronger. For example the hamstring muscle would have a strength curve of strong, weaker, and weakest at full contraction. To properly work the hamstring muscle you would need a variable resistance machine using a cam that works within the strength curve and allows the weight being used to drop off at the weak point of the motion and to drop off even more at the weakest point of the exercise. Another example utilizing the picture of this post is within the bicep curl. The bicep muscle has a strength curve the is weak, strong, and weak again. Look closely at the cam in the picture and you will notice that it is an odd shaped cam. The shape of the cam allows the weight to seem lighter in the beginning, then it gets heavier in the range of motion in which the muscle is strongest, lastly the weight will drop off again at the end allowing the lifter to "stick" the lift at the top and achieve a full, hard contraction. With this being said if you go into your local fitness center look at the equipment and see if the cams that the belt, chain, or cable runs around is just circular or actually changes its shape to produce better results in your resistance training program. Now I'm not saying that free weights, chains, resistance bands, and other implementations do not work, but if you want to get the best out of your workouts you need to use the proper tools. Along with using the proper tools, they need to be used in a safe, progressive, and intense manner to force the body to adapt.