Universal gyms help you improve your fitness in more ways than just bodybuilding. Depending on the amount of weight or resistance you use to perform exercises and the number of reps and sets you perform, you can create weight-loss, cardio, sport-specific and muscle-building workouts.
Universal Gyms
The term “universal gym” applies to a single piece of equipment that offers different stations for creating multiple exercises using weights or some type of resistance mechanism. The original Universal Gym was discontinued in the 1990s, but the name has stuck with exercisers who use it to describe multipurpose weight machines.
Bodybuilding Workouts
Create consistent upper- and lower-body workouts targeting specific muscles by tracking your weights, repetitions and sets. Start by writing a list of the muscles you want to build. Write a list of exercises you want to perform, and practice them with little or no weight to learn the correct technique for each. Warm up with dynamic stretches for several minutes before you begin heavy lifting. Perform three to five repetitions of an exercise using the maximum weight you can lift, or close to that amount. Take a break of several minutes, then repeat the same set; perform three to five sets. Alternate upper-body and lower-body exercises as you move from exercise to exercise. Cool down after your workout with arm swings, walking in place and a good stretch.
Cardio Workouts
Use little or no resistance to move the universal gym at a pace you can continue for 30 minutes or more without fatiguing. Perform reps of each exercise at a pace that raises your heart rate, gets you breathing hard and makes you sweat. To prevent muscle fatigue and frequent breaks, change exercises every few minutes. Warm up with dynamic stretches, perform your exercises, then cool down and stretch. Cooling down, lowering your heart rate and stretching help reduce stiffness and soreness later. Work your arms with curls, presses, extensions, rows, flies and kickbacks. Work your legs with presses, squats, lunges, curls and deadlifts. If the bench moves, create a rowing exercise pulling yourself back and forth with cables.
Endurance Workouts
You can improve your muscular endurance using a universal gym for circuit training. Use 50 percent to 75 percent of your maximum intensity to perform an exercise for one minute. Take a one-minute break, then move to a new exercise. Keep this pattern going for 10 minutes, then take a five-minute break. Repeat these cycles during a 30- or 60-minute workout, depending on your conditioning. Warm up, cool down and stretch after each workout.
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