Beginners Gym Equipment

With gyms reopening soon, now is a great time to clear up any confusion surrounding gym equipment. You don’t have to be a beginner to find some of the gear puzzling to look at, and names like the “Smith Machine” aren’t exactly self-explanatory! Here, I’ll break down for you how to use the basic pieces of equipment, and explain the benefits you’ll gain from using them. I want to help you make sense of it all so the only thing you have to think about in the gym is your consistent progression.

Chest Press Machine

The seated chest press machine is an upright version of the standard lying bench press machine. When using it, the arms push away from the chest to extension, and then return to the starting position. The chest press helps build up your pectoral muscles, deltoids, and triceps.

Pec Deck Machine

The “Machine Fly”, also known as the “Seated Lever Fly” or the “Pec Deck”, is a common machine found at local gyms. It consists of a small base and seat to sit on with a vertical post that has two handles on each side of you. You select your weight for the machine, grip the handles, and squeeze them together in front of you. This is a simple chest fly. It will build up your major chest muscles and strengthen your shoulders and core.

Cable System

Cable machine exercises are great to include in your workout - they offer a different range of motion and tension for the muscles you are working. Below are two exercises you can perform using the Cable System.

Cable Bicep Curl

To perform a Cable Bicep Curl, hold the bar with an underhand grip. Without lifting your elbows, raise the bar to your shoulders. Lower to thigh level, with control, and repeat. This exercise will help to build up your biceps and give them shape.

Triceps Cable Rope Pushdown

Attach the rope to the high pulley of the cable system. Keeping your elbows tucked in at your sides, grab the handle, tense your core, and lower your hands until you reach full arm extension. Return to starting position, and repeat. Only your forearms should move here. These are great for engaging every area of your triceps.

Lat Pull-Down

The original go-to exercise for developing a wider back, lat pull-downs are the perfect move to fill out your latissimus dorsi (lats) and build that V-shaped back. The lats, or “wings” as they’re commonly called, are one of the biggest muscles in the back and are responsible for shoulder adduction and extension — helping to pull the arms in towards and behind the body.

To perform a lat pull-down, sit with your thighs under the thigh pad, pull the bar down (with an overhand grip) towards you until you reach your chin, and then release back up (with control!).

Seated Cable Row

Another great lat builder, the cable row is one of the best cable exercises around. It very neatly demonstrates the edge this machine has over free weights because throughout the row movement, you work against the same level of resistance. This ensures the muscles enlisted by the exercise are worked evenly. With your back straight and chest proud, pull the handles towards your abdomen, then return to the starting position, with control.

Leg Press

The Leg Press is a popular machine that can help build the key muscles in your legs - primarily your quads, hamstrings, and glutes. There is the Standard Leg Press, as well as the 45-degree Leg Press, with a seat that reclines at an angle while your legs press upward in a diagonal direction. When using a leg press, you will want to sit comfortably, with your bum and back fit snugly against the pads. Place your feet hip-width apart on the footpad, knees in alignment with your feet, and legs at a 90-degree angle. Press the footpad away to reach extension (without locking your knees), pause at the top, and lower back down to 90 degrees.

Leg Extension

The seated leg extension is an isolation exercise and is used to target your quads (and works well in opposition with the leg curl). With your shins underneath the bottom pad, hold onto the side handles, and raise your legs to a full extension. Slowly lower back down, and repeat.

Seated Leg Curl

The leg curl is a popular machine-based exercise for the legs, isolating the hamstrings. This will help to bulk up the backs of your thighs, while the leg extension will build up the front. It comes in seated and lying varieties, but the seated leg curl machine is more common in commercial gyms. With your thighs underneath the thigh pad and your calves resting on top of the lower pad, pull the pad inwards by flexing your knees until the lower pad is almost at the back of your thighs. Slowly release.

Calf Raise Machine

The machine seated calf raise targets the calf muscles of the lower leg, particularly the soleus muscle. It’s quite simple to perform. Place your thighs under the thigh pad and the balls of your feet on the foot pad, with your ankles hanging off the edge. Slowly raise your heels up as high as you can, hold, and slowly release back down. Notice I said slowly twice - it’s very important you don’t swing your heels here - control is key!

Smith Machine

Many Smith Machines include a self-balancing barbell. Equipped with guide rods, you don’t have to worry about balancing the barbell. As a result, you can devote all your attention to lifting the weight and focusing on the working muscle. You can do loads of exercises with the Smith Machine, so I won’t go into them all here - just make sure you are using proper form and technique, as the machine doesn’t allow the same freedom of movement.

Dumbbells

Dumbbells are often used for joint-isolation exercises such as biceps curls, chest flys or shoulder raises. Using dumbbells for full-body, multiplanar movements, however, can provide a variety of different strength outcomes.

Kettlebells

Kettlebells are known to improve overall strength, core power, balance, flexibility, and coordination while also melting fat and sculpting healthy and lean muscles.

Barbells

Some exercises that utilize barbell resistance training are squats, bench presses, barbell rows, shoulder presses, deadlifts, and curls, to name a few. Barbells allow you to move more weight than you could with a dumbbell because you have two hands on a fixed object.

There are, of course, many other gym machines, but the ones I’ve listed can be found in almost every gym. However, that doesn’t mean you have to use these set machines. We are all built differently, so finding exercises and movements that suit your body are key in order to build muscle, drop body fat, and progress in your workouts.

P.S - If you're ready to achieve the results you want, here are two more ways that I can help you:

1) Work with me personally on my online coaching system

2) Tune into my stories, posts and ask me questions on Instagram @brandonhepburn

Beginners Gym Equipment Guide