10 best machines to build muscle

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Welcome to The BarBend Newsletter! Here’s what’s in store for you today:

• How to use machines to build muscle

• Get the most out of the Smith machine

• Core training with the Chinese weightlifting team

Training

Machine-Assisted Growing

Free weights have a well-earned reputation as being the most rugged inanimate objects you can use for strength training. However, when it comes to straight hypertrophy, machines might exceed their weather-beaten, gritty cousins.

These 10 machines have been specifically designed to maximize your muscle gains, and if you don’t know how to spot them in a crowd of iron and rubber, you might miss out on potential growth.

First, there’s the Prime seated row, which gets high marks for its ability to isolate your back muscles in a way that free weights sometimes can’t. Similarly, the Pit Shark belt squat lives up to the hype by focusing on your quads and helping you maximize your lower-body growth. Other machines — like the assisted pull-up and leg curl — are gym staples that you might otherwise be underestimating. 

Your muscles are needy creatures, and sometimes, they need the best of the best to fulfill their potential. 

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Exercise Selection

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’s Gym

The Smith machine has been through so many cycles of internet hate that it’s hard not to feel a little sympathy for the poor thing. While not the replacement for free weights that some people like to pretend it is, this muscle-building contraption is still a valuable tool in your shed.

The 15 exercises we detail below make the best use of the Smith’s restricted range of motion in order to help you concentrate more directly on the muscles you’re targeting. Like the machines we touched on above, these moves are all about muscle growth. 

One of the best ways to use the Smith machine is by not even letting the faux barbell move at all; it’s hard to set up the perfect inverted row station with anything else, after all. If you do want to move the well-oiled joints around, it can be the ideal choice to hammer your legs during squats or hoist some serious weight during seated overhead presses.

Malign the Smith no more and come to embrace the warmth of the most quixotic contraption in the weight room.

Core Training

Follow the Silk Road to a Stronger Core

If you are even the slightest bit familiar with international strength competitions, the Chinese national weightlifting team needs no introduction. Rivaling only the old Soviet teams in terms of their legendary feats and domination, the Age of Information allows us to have much more access to this team’s training techniques than their mid-century predecessors.

Even though it’s not shrouded in secrecy, the team’s core training techniques, which they share below, may simply be too intimidating to try at your local Lifetime Fitness. Even so, you can learn about the art of stability and core strength from some of the best-trained athletes in the world. Get a behind-the-scenes view of the Chinese national weightlifting team’s not-so-well-hidden routine by clicking below.

Big Lifts

Blaine McConnell (@blaine.mcconnell) busts out 24 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press… how many do you think you’ve got?

Do you want us to share your next big lift? Just use the hashtag #BarBendLifts on Instagram to be featured on our page!

Sound Off!

Quick Hits

Lean Into This: The Cossack squat is an underrated move that develops mobility and flexibility and could be a huge boost to your leg strength. Here’s how to do it.

Pay This: CrossFit has had its share of troubles recently. Last year’s increase in affiliate dues was controversial at the time, but how has it played out? Examine this aspect of the economics of the still-breathing fitness juggernaut with this article. 

Recover Here: Taking charge of your recovery isn’t always as sexy as trying out a new workout, but since our bodies adapt in times of rest, you might want to check out these nine RD-approved post-workout supplements.

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