Strength-training fitness machines help you target specific muscles and muscle groups during your workout. Performing a regular strength-training program facilitates an increase in your lean muscle mass and a decrease in your percentage of body fat. As you get older, your muscle mass naturally diminishes if you do not engage in physical activities or strength training to replace it.
Cable Tower
The cable tower is a strength-training fitness machine featuring several weight stacks, adjustable cables and various attachments. You can perform dozens of exercises including biceps curls, kickbacks and rows when you clip-in different attachments. To perform a biceps curl, choose the mustache-shaped bar --- not the straight bar or the bar shaped like a V --- and adjust the weight to suit your strength. Face the adjusted weight stack and pick up the bar with your palms facing up and your feet hip-distance apart. Slowly curl the bar toward your shoulders --- your elbows maintain contact with your sides the entire time --- and lower the bar to the starting position to complete one repetition.
Leg Press
The leg press machine strengthens your quadriceps and hamstrings. Adjust the platform to allow your knees to bend no more than 90 degrees and set the weight to pair with your strength. Sit down on the machine and grasp the handles for leverage and balance. Place your feet flat on the platform, push through the ball of your foot to extend your legs --- do not straighten your knees completely --- and press the platform away from your body. Bend your knees as you slowly lower the platform back to the starting position.
Smith Machine
The Smith machine --- also known as a chest press --- effectively targets your pectorals and triceps. Place an equal amount of weight plates on both ends of the bar and secure it on the ends with the accompanying attachment. Lie down on the bench with your chest beneath the bar and place your feet flat on the floor. Grip the bar with your hands slightly wider than the width or your shoulders, palms forward. Unhook the weighted bar, straighten your arms, bend your elbows until they are just below your shoulders and press the bar back up.
Lat Pull-Down
Use the lat pull-down machine to strengthen your biceps and latissimus dorsi, which are commonly called "lats." Adjust the weight to suit your strength, place the thigh pads at a height above your quadriceps that allows you to brace yourself as you perform the exercise, and clip the long bar to the overhead cable. Grip the bar by placing your hands 1 to 2 inches from the center to target the biceps --- or use a wide stance to target the lats --- palms facing toward the machine and sit down. Lean back slightly, pull the bar to your chest, hold this position for one second and slowly extend your arms to the starting position.
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