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Home :: Strength Training :: Differences among Types of Strength Training Equipments

Differences among Types of Strength Training Equipments

It is considered that the strength training equipments have basically been categorized in four different classes that include the mechanisms that provide isometric resistance, isokinetic resistance, dynamic invariable resistance or dynamic variable resistance. More over the use of Thera-band as well as the weight of your own body are also appropriate for strength training. Anyway, there are dissimilarities between the four diverse kinds of strength training equipments all of that having some advantages and disadvantages. It is usually noticed that people generally enquire about what typical kind of strength training equipment effects the best or even ask whether the machines work better for toning the muscles or even they claim to have heard people saying that the machines cannot help building muscles larger.

Isometric Exercise: Isometric exercises and equipments are widely used for testing the muscle strengths but are rarely used as isometric muscle constrictions limit the blood flow to the muscles which is exactly the contrary of our target in strength training. This type of exercise is stationary, there is resistance but there is no movement. For instance, doing the biceps twist halfway up and holding it for around thirty seconds of a minute, or doing the wall sits for the specific amount of time. The only benefit to such exercise is that it needs little or almost no equipments for exercising, costing negligible and occupies little space and time.

Isokinetic Exercise: These kinds of equipments have the consistent movement speed and offer the matching resistive energy to the force generated this means the amount of force thus applied ascertains the amount of resistance encountered. There are various kinds of isokinetic equipments, if you are in the physical therapy or in the rehabilitation clinic, you would have of course seen the hydraulic resistance machine or electronic resistance machine. Although such machines could not be recommended for strength training exercises, it is identified that such machines have accommodating resistance forces, performance feedback as well as regulation of speed. Such disadvantages incorporate the higher cost of equipments and lack of its accessibility.

Dynamic invariable resistance: This is one of the next two kinds of equipments. Dynamic invariable resistance is barbells or dumbbells or free weights. The amount of resistive weight or force with free weights used, ascertains the amount of muscle force or strength applied. This means if the 50 pounds barbells are used, it would require you using the 50 pounds of muscle force for lifting the weight. More resistive force needs more muscle force and vise versa. Thus the more weight you use the more strength your muscles would have to apply. Also the resistive force remains consistent throughout the exercise movements when you have 135 pounds on the bench press, the weight is not changing throughout the motion as it is done while exercising on some Universal and Nautilus machines of dynamic variable resistance.

Dynamic variable resistance: The dynamic variable resistance equipments like Universal and Nautilus or pulley machines are similar to dynamic invariable resistance equipments in which the amount of used resistive force or weights ascertains the amount of muscle strength applied, this clearly means that the more weight you put on the machine, the more force your muscles would have to apply.