If you want to build muscle, you need to lift heavy weights. The Gold's Gym XR5 weight bench gives you several options to train your upper body for hypertrophy, or increasing muscle size. Besides the weight bench, the XR5 has a lat tower, curl pad and leg developer. You can do an incline chest press to build muscle in your chest, triceps and shoulders, a standing lat pulldown to work your back and shoulders, and a preacher curl off the curl pad to build up your biceps so that you can target most the major muscle groups.
Standing Lat Pulldown
Step 1
Stand in front of the lat tower with your feet shoulder-width apart. Extend your arms above your head and grab the lat bar from the high pulley with your hands greater than shoulder-width apart. Hold your wrists straight with your palms facing the tower. Press your shoulders down while keeping your arms straight.
Step 2
Pull the bar toward your sternum and lift your chest to meet the bar. This engages the entire length of the lat muscles in your back. Bend your arms and point your elbows out to the sides as you bring the bar down. Retract your shoulders too.
Step 3
Extend your arms straight to return the bar up toward the high pulley. Perform four sets of eight repetitions at the highest weight you can safely use. Rest for three minutes between sets.
Incline Chest Press
Step 1
Place a barbell on the weight rests and then sit down on the incline bench. Place your feet on the floor with your knees bent. Reach above you and grab the barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart, wrists straight.
Step 2
Bring the barbell above your chest with your arms straight. Bend your arms with your elbows pointing at the floor and lower the barbell to your sternum.
Step 3
Contract your chest muscles and push the barbell back upward at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Perform four sets of eight repetitions at the highest weight you can safely use. Rest for three minutes between sets.
Barbell Preacher Curl
Step 1
Hold a barbell with your hands shoulder-width apart and sit on the bench in front of the arm pad. Lean slightly over the arm pad and rest your elbows on the pad. Position your palms to face your torso with your elbows bent. Put your feet on the floor on the sides of the arm pad frame.
Step 2
Extend your elbows to lower the barbell toward the floor. Do not touch your forearms to the arm pad.
Step 3
Flex your elbows to curl the barbell toward your neck. Perform four sets of eight repetitions at the highest weight you can safely use. Rest for three minutes between sets.
Tips and Warnings
- The leg developer attachment can be used to do leg extensions, but the amount of weight you can lift is limited by how many weight plates you can stick on the machine and a lot of weight may be uncomfortable for your knees. You are better off using a leg press machine to build muscle. Recovery time is just as important as lifting weights for building muscle so take a standard bench that is essential to any equipment called a day or two off, but no longer, between workouts.
Things You'll Need
- Gold's Gym XR5 bench
References
- Gold's Gym XR5 Bench User's Manual; ICON IP, Inc.; 2004
- Exerciseequipmentexpert.com: Golds Gym XR5 Review
- ExRx.net: Barbell Preacher Curl
- American Council on Exercise: Dumbbell Incline Press
- Stack: Exercise: Standing Lat Pull Down
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training: Course Manual"; Michael Clark, Scott Lucett, Rodney Corn; 2008
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