If you have ever worked out at Curves Fitness for Women or taken a PACE circuit-training class, you are familiar with hydraulic exercise equipment. Most traditional strength-training machines use a weight stack for resistance. In contrast, hydraulic fitness equipment uses fluid-based resistance, which is determined by the amount of force exerted by the person performing the exercise.
History
In 1967, athletic coach Jerry Brentham watched one of his athletes escape a potentially serious weight-training machine injury. The incident prompted him to develop a safer resistance training method. Brentham had worked at a company that manufactured hydraulic machinery. He used his accumulated knowledge to create the first hydraulic exercise equipment. He called his company Hydra-Gym. The name was eventually changed to Hydra Fitness. Other companies soon manufactured similar products.
Identification
Hydraulic exercise equipment embraces the principles of fluid dynamics, a branch of physics that studies how fluids interact with external forces. The machines are filled with an incompressible fluid called hydraulic oil. Force applied at one point of the movement transfers the fluid to another point. The resistance provided by hydraulic machines directly correlates with the force of the user. Forceful pushing and pulling movements, as well as faster movements, increase the resistance.
Function
Every muscular contraction has two phases. During the concentric phase, which is the starting movement. Your muscles shorten during this phase and lengthen during the eccentric phase, which is the return movement. The eccentric phase is sometimes associated with delayed onset muscle soreness. Hydraulic exercise machines provide resistance during the concentric phase but not during the eccentric phase.
Benefits
Hydraulic machines are usually set up in a circuit pattern, which takes 30 minutes to complete. The lack of weight stack makes it easy to move quickly between the machines. The machines also offer privacy for less-fit individuals, who may not want people to see how much or how little weight they are lifting.
Warning
Hydraulic exercise equipment allows fast transitions between machines, but overly fast, uncontrolled movement may be dangerous in some circumstances. The lack of eccentric resistance may be unsuitable for those interested in sport-specific training since concentric and eccentric strength are essential for athletic efficiency.
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