chapter
15
Exercise Technique
for Free Weight and
Machine Training
Chapter Objectives
• Understand the general techniques involved in
properly performing resistance training
exercises.
• Provide breathing guidelines.
• Determine the appropriateness of wearing a
weight belt.
• Provide recommendations for spotting free
weight exercises.
• Teach proper resistance training exercise and
spotting techniques
• Illustrate and discuss exercise technique for a
wide array of free weight and machine
resistance exercises
Bar Grips
Figure
14.1
the palms
• (a) pronated grip are down and the knuckles are
up; also called the overhand
grip.
• (b) supinated grip - the palms
are up and the knuckles are
down; also known as the
underhand grip.
• (c) alternated grip - uses one
hand in a pronated grip and the
other in a supinated grip.
• (d) hook grip - is similar to the
pronated grip except that the
thumb is positioned under the
index and middle fingers.
Additional Bar Grips
• neutral grip - the knuckles point laterally—as
in a handshake.
• closed grip - the thumb is wrapped around the
bar in all of the grips shown.
• open or false grip - when the thumb does not
wrap around the bar.
Figure
14.2
Grip Widths
Exercise Technique Fundamentals
• Stable Body and Limb Positioning
– A stable position enables the athlete to maintain proper
body alignment during an exercise, which in turn places
an appropriate stress on muscles and joints.
– Both free-weight and machine exercises require a stable
position.
– The five-point body contact position provides stability for
seated or supine exercise:
• Head is placed firmly on the bench or back pad.
• Shoulders and upper back are placed firmly and evenly on
the bench or back pad.
• Buttocks are placed evenly on the bench or seat.
• Right foot is flat on the floor.
• Left foot is flat on the floor.
Key Points
• Exercises performed while standing typically
require that the feet be positioned slightly
wider than hip-width with the heels and balls of
the feet in contact with the floor. Seated or
supine exercises performed on a bench usually
require a five-point body contact position.
• Before performing machine exercises, adjust
seat and pads to position the body joint
primarily involved in the exercise in alignment
with the machine’s axis of rotation.
Exercise Technique Fundamentals
• Range of Motion and Speed
– A full range of motion maximizes the value of an
exercise and improves flexibility.
– Slow, controlled movements make it easier to achieve a
complete ROM, though quick movements are
appropriate for power exercises.
Exercise Technique Fundamentals
• Breathing Considerations
– The sticking point is the most strenuous movement
of a repetition, and it occurs soon after the transition
from the eccentric phase to the concentric phase.
– Instruct athletes to exhale through the sticking point
during the concentric muscle action portion and to
inhale during the less stressful phase of the
repetition (which is usually the eccentric muscle
action portion).
Exercise Technique Fundamentals
• Breathing Considerations
– Valsalva maneuver
• For experienced and well-resistance-trained athletes
performing structural exercises with heavy resistance.
• Will assist in maintaining proper vertebral alignment
and support
• Involves expiring against a closed glottis, which, when
combined with contracting the abdomen and rib cage
muscles, creates rigid compartments of fluid in the
lower torso and air in the upper torso
• Helps to establish the “flat-back” and erect upper torso
position in many exercises
Key Point
• For most exercises, exhale through the
sticking point of the concentric phase and
inhale during the eccentric phase. Experienced and well-trained athletes may want to
use the Valsalva maneuver when performing
structural exercises to assist in maintaining
proper vertebral alignment and support.
Exercise Technique Fundamentals
• Weight Belts
– Typically an athlete should wear a weight belt when
performing exercises that place stress on the lower
back and during sets that involve near-maximal or
maximal loads (eg, > 80% 1 RM).
– A weight belt is not needed for exercises that do not
stress the lower back or for those that do stress the
lower back but involve relatively light loads (eg, <
70% 1 RM).
Lifting Technique for Lifting a Bar off the Floor
Figure 14.3
• The position of the feet and back enables the leg
muscles to make a major contribution as the bar is
lifted off the floor.
• Keeping the bar close to the body and the back flat
during the upward pull helps avoid excessive strain on
the lower back.
Spotting Free Weight Exercises
• Types of Exercises Performed and Equipment
Involved
– With the exception of power exercises (such as the
snatch and power clean, in which spotting in NOT
recommended), free weight exercises performed with a
bar moving over the head, positioned on the back,
racked on the front of the shoulders, or passing over the
face typically require one or more spotters.
– Spotters should have their body and hands close to the
bar, dumbbell, or body segment to be spotted, but
should only touch the bar, dumbbell, or body segment
when instructed to by the athlete or when the athlete is
in obvious trouble or danger.
Spotting Free Weight Exercises
• Spotting Overhead Exercises and Those With
the Bar on the Back or Front Shoulders
– Ideally, to promote the safety of the lifter, the spotters,
and others nearby, overhead exercises and those
involving the bar on the back or front shoulders should
be performed inside a power rack with the crossbars in
place at an appropriate height.
– Out-of-the-rack exercises (e.g., forward step lunge or
step-up) with heavy weights can result in serious injury.
– These exercises should be executed only by well-trained
and skilled athletes and spotted by experienced professionals.
Spotting Free Weight Exercises
• Spotting Over-the-Face Exercises
– When spotting over-the-face barbell exercises, it is
important for the spotter to grasp the bar with an
alternated grip, usually narrower than the athlete’s
grip.
– Because of the bar’s curved trajectory in some
exercises (e.g., lying triceps extension, barbell
pullover), the spotter will use an alternated grip to
pick up the bar and return it to the floor, but a
supinated grip is usually preferred to spot the bar.
Spotting Dumbbell Exercises
Figure
• (a) Incorrect
dumbbell spotting
location
• (b) Correct spotting
location
• Arrows indicate the
spotter’s hand
placement on the
athlete’s arms.
• Why is this
considered proper
spotting even
though many
athletes would prefer
the “incorrect”
spotting technique?
14.4
Spotting Free Weight Exercises
• Number of Spotters
– Determined by load and experience and ability of
athlete and spotters
• Communication Between Athlete and Spotter
– Use of a Liftoff
– How many repetitions
– Amount and Timing of Spotting Assistance
Free Weight and Machine
Resistance
Training Exercises
Bent-Knee Sit-Up
Works hip flexors in addition to abdominal musculature,
which may increase stress on lumbar spine especially if
abdominals are weak.
Abdominal Crunch
Takes hip flexors out
and isolates abdominal
musculature. Twisting
to the left or right
increases activity of
oblique musculature
Front Plank
Can be performed on
knees (easier) initially
and progressed to on
toes (more difficult).
Side Plank
Can be performed on
knees (easier) initially
and progressed to on
toes (more difficult).
Better for developing
the oblique musculature
compared to the front
plank.
Stability Ball Rollout
Stability Ball Pike
Is specific to certain activities, such as performing the
pike during diving competition in swimming
Stability Ball Jackknife
Is specific to certain activities, such as some movements
during skiing and snow boarding
Abdominal Crunch (Machine)
Bent-Over Row
What muscles work isometrically to maintain the static
position of the trunk, hips and knees?
One-Arm Dumbbell Row
Low-Pulley Seated Row (Machine)
What muscles work isometrically to maintain the static
position of the trunk, hips and knees?
Seated Row (Machine)
From a muscle recruitment perspective, how is this
exercise different than the low-pulley seated row?
Lat Pulldown (Machine)
Barbell Biceps Curl
How are the elbow flexor muscles recruited different in
this exercise compared to a barbell reverse curl using a
pronated grip instead of supinated curl?
Hammer Curl
Which elbow flexor is recruited the most in the hammer curl?
Standing Calf (Heel) Raise (Machine)
Seated Calf (Heel) Raise (Machine)
Compared to the standing calf raise, which calf muscle is
recruited more and which calf muscle is recruited less
(and why) in the seated calf raise?
Flat Barbell Bench Press
Flat Barbell Bench Press (continued)
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Flat Dumbbell Fly
Vertical Chest Press (Machine)
Pec Deck (Machine)
Wrist Curl
Wrist Extension
Hip Sled (Machine)
Back Squat
Back Squat (continued)
Front Squat
Front Squat (continued)
Single-Leg Squat
Forward Step Lunge
Forward Step Lunge (continued)
Step-Up
Step-Up (continued)
Good Morning
Stiff-Leg Deadlift
Double Leg Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift (RDL)
Deadlift
Leg (Knee) Extension (Machine)
Seated Leg (Knee) Curl (Machine)
Leg (Knee) Curl (Machine)
Why are the two pads not in the same plane and slightly
slanted downward, and how does this help the mechanical
efficiency of the hamstrings (think in terms of the lengthtension relationship in muscle and active insufficiency)?
How is this exercise different than the seated leg curl
exercise in the previous slide?
Shoulder Press (Machine)
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press
Upright Row
Lateral Shoulder Raise
If this exercise were done unilaterally with a dumbbell
only in the left hand and not the right hand, would the left
or right oblique musculature work isometrically during
the exercise?
Frontal Shoulder Raise
Are the trunk flexors or extensors working isometrically
during this exercise?
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension
Triceps Pushdown (Machine)
Triceps Pushdown (Machine)
Do the trunk flexor or extensor muscles work more or less
using this technique compared to the pushdowns shown in the
previous slide, and why? Think biomechanically – what is the
direction of the reaction force from pushing down on the bar,
what torque is generated on the trunk, and what trunk muscles
control that torque? Is the back pad producing a flexor or
extensor torque on the trunk?
Push Press
Push Jerk
Power Clean
Power Clean (continued)
Snatch
Snatch (continued)
Snatch (continued)
One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch