Gym equipment may look intimidating at first: It's made of heavy steel, has lots of moving parts, and depending on which company made the equipment, two machines intended to work the same set of muscles may look completely different. There are, however, some common, easy to use lower-body machines you can count on finding in almost any gym.
Leg Extension Machine
The leg extension works your quads, the front-of-thigh muscles responsible for straightening your leg at the knee. Using the leg extension machine is easy; just adjust the back rest so that your knee lines up with the machine's obvious hinge or axis of rotation, slip your ankles behind the footpad, and straighten your legs against the weight. Lower back down until your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle and repeat.
Leg Curl Machine
You're likely to encounter two types of leg curl machines in the gym: Seated and prone. Both strengthen your hamstrings, the large pulling muscles in the back of your thighs, but the seated version is easiest to use correctly. Adjust the backrest so that your knee lines up with the machine's axis of rotation, place your ankles in front of the footpad, and lower the knee pad so that it contacts, but doesn't compress, your legs at the knee. Squeeze your heels back toward your buttocks. Stop when your knees are bent at 90 degrees, release the contraction and repeat.
Leg Press Machine
The leg press may look more intimidating than a leg extension or leg curl machine since it forces you to move multiple muscles and joints at the same time, but the leg press is actually an easy way of working your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves all at once. Think of it as doing both a leg extension and leg curl at once.
To use a leg press, sit down in the seat, adjust the platform toward you so that your legs are bent at a 90-degree angle, then use your legs to push the platform away. Stop when your legs are straight but not locked, then slowly return to the start position. Repeat.
Butt Blaster
More properly known as a glute machine or glute isolator but frequently referred to as the "Butt Blaster", this machine positions you to do bent-over mule kicks. Depending on how far back each machine lets you kick, you may get a workout in your quads in addition to your glutes.
To use the butt blaster, bend over the hip and chest pads, grasp the handles to keep your upper body stationary, place one foot in the foot pedal and push it back. Keep your hips down against the providing padding throughout the range of motion.
Member Comments