I recieved a gym membership and I am overwhelmed by the number and variety of devices to use. I would like to develop upper body strength. What machines should I use and how often should I use them?
My routine: Mondays I “push” weight, Wednesdays I “pull” weight, and on Fridays, I do my leg workout.
It’s totally up to debate, but I find that I get a better workout using freeweights. Using a bar you can bench press, incline or decline press, military press, “goodmornings” (where you lay the bar across your shoulders and do alternating toe touches), upright rows, etc. Hell, you can even do a good majority of those with dumbbells.
I would say, check out a few websites/books to give you an idea of different types of workouts and different routines. Most likely you’d have to change some of 'em around for your personal tastes.
Just remember: start slow and light, but you can do a fair amount of reps. You don’t want to get hurt your second day, and then not work out at all for the next three months. [sub]I’ve seen that happen before :rolleyes: [/sub]
Tripler
I try to workout as if I’m playing a regular hockey schedule–that keeps me motivated.
Bench press machine for your pecs, upright row for your back and shoulders, shoulder press press for your shoulders, and bicep curl for your biceps. That should take care of the basics, but you can do all of the above with free weights as Tripler said. Take it easy and don’t expect to see big gains soon - it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
the gym should have someone LICENSED that can guide you. Generaly, for chest (pecs) you want butterfly on a bench for lower, bench press for the lower muscles to get eveness.
Dead curls, free curls, and side curles for the 3 bicep muscles.
Tricepts you want the motion where you hit the power in the lift while raising from behind your head, or lifting from dead(from the floor) while kneeling on your opposite knee from a bench.
Delts (shoulders) you want rowing motions as well as the pull-down (where you face the weight and pull down behind the neck.
Listen to everyone’s warnings. Start slow! I had to spend a pretty penny geting an injury healed thinking I could do at 30 what I did while playing football in college with the 7-year lay-off of the weight room.
Other than that, get creative, anything that wieghs in is the same as actual iron. Just find the motion, and get the equiptment to accomidate
Oh yeah, for the love of all that is holy, don’t neglect the legs if you’re going for upper strength
I’m totally agreeing with this.
** Muad’Dib **, I developed shoulders and my neck because I hauled paint in a paint store for 3 years. You will not achieve anything but pain overnight. Over a few months, you wil notice results. . .
Like ** Bibliovore** says, it’s a long term thing, not a short term sprint. Plan for 6 months to a year. And after that, I’ve planned to ‘maintain’ my routine.
I have to tell ya: my personal goal was to be a better hockey skater. Find your personal goal, and work towards it. It’ll give you motivation.
Tripler
Trust me. You find a goal, and you will find a way to get there.
Totally agreed. The funniest thing I’ve ever seen was a guy with big pecs and biceps and whatever that muscle is that goes from the shoulder to the neck. Problem was, he had itty bitty triceps, forearms, and skinny little legs… maybe not initially, but the well-developed muscles he’d chosen to work on had only served to make the others look smaller in comparison.
It was obvious from the well-defined nature of the doted-upon muscles that he got a few things right, but PROPORTION man! He looked really silly. And was really proud of what he’d done, judging from the tank top and shorts he was wearing.
Make sure to work your whole body!
I’m fairly anti-machine. There’s nothing you can do with machines that you can’t do with freeweights (barbells, dumbbells, and a few other things) and cables. Furthermore, machines don’t build functional strength because they do a lot of work in stabilizing the weight, which is something you need to develop if you want to be strong outside of the gym. Lastly, machines force you into a certain pattern of movement, which may not be right for your body or even for the exercise that the machine is supposed to be giving you.
You might want to subscribe to a fitness magazine too. I’m subscribed to Men’s Health and Ironman, and in every issue there is a wealth of information on workout tips, nutrition, and overall health.
Wrong. Triceps (the back of your arms) are only worked when you make those muscles move the weight. Your first exercise (what we call reverse curls) are only good for non specific tricep development as its too easy to get the delts involved. A much better triceps exercise would be the push down with one’s elbows held tightly to one’s sides. Your second one is just plain wrong. Bench pulls like that only work the upper lats and the delts. To work the triceps in that position you would lift the weight from the floor, hold your arm at a 90 degree angle, then extend the arm so that its parallel to the floor.
Wrong again. Both of those work the lats (the large muscles that form the V-shape) and not the deltoids (the large bulb muscles at the shoulder).
The only thing you’ve said so far that is right.
As to the OP, you first have to ask what you are really looking for: definition or strength.
All muscle building is dependant on working the muscles that you want to develop. This might sound terribly simplistic, but this isn’t exactly rocket science.
If you want definition the key is to work very specific muscles with lower weights and a high number of repititions. If you want mass and strength you would work with higher weights, fewer repititions and less structure.
A good example is the basic biceps curl. You approach the bar, slap weight on, and start to raise the bar towards your chin. There are two ways you can go with this:
You start just lifting with your biceps, but it isn’t long before your shoulders and other muscles are helping out. In fact, by the end you’re almost throwing the weight up with your whole body. And you are. And because of this all those other muscles are gonna get bigger too. Maybe not as big as your biceps, but remember that definition is really a factor of contrast.
OR
You can do a concentration curl. This means that you lay your arms on a padded platform that basically locks your elbows so that the only muscles that are moving the weight are the ones on the top of your arms. No shoulders, no nothing. And the more you do it the more effect you’ll get. Hence lower weights.
Remember those two scenarios and you’ll be on your way to creating the body that YOU want.
And hopefully the chicks will too. 
James, expect an e-mail in the next few days for some hints for me. I’m always looking for suggestions and help.
Tripler
I’m a dopey hockey player. What do I know. . .
Dude, its all there.
Pick a muscle that you want to develop. Put your finger on it and move your bones so that that muscle tenses up. Replicate that motion with weights and that muscles will get stronger. Like I said there’s a reason why Arnold is a former actor and not a former atomic physicist.
I will tell you this though, that with either route you take you should work your whole body. You don’t hafta work them the same way (tight defined upper body, strong non descript lower), just do 'em both.
Take care
The posterior delt is most certainly involved in chinups and rows (although less as you bring the weight in closer to your pelvis). You’re thinking of the anterior deltoid, which is not involved in those motions.
**
This again? See here for an explanation of why this is wrong.
Muad’Dib, there are a couple websites that you should definitely spend some time reading.
The first one is a weight training site aimed at women, but it’s a fantastic guide for anyone who’s just starting out.
The second one is a little more intermediate, but it has animated .gifs of lots of different exercises, which can help you greatly.
Remember that muscles only pull, never push. If you’re pushing something, you’re really pulling with a muscle that straps across the joint that’s flexing. From that, with a little thought, you can realize what muscles you’re using, and if you’re doing something that repeats a muscle, and if you might be overdoing it.
Take your time getting toned. Wait a few weeks until you really turn it on and lift a weight that makes you fail at that tenth rep. If you try to hit afterburners too soon, you’ll regret it. I’ve been there.
Technically,Cardinal, yes you’re right.
But the apparent motion of certain exercises is either push or pull.
Large muscle groups first then smaller. In groups of either push or pull together at first.
The great thing about machines, especially when you’re first starting out, is that you can take a set to failure without a spotter.
Try maxing out a bench press without someone to help you and you’re screwed!
Muad - pay more attention to what ultrafilter (as ever!) said, rather than what JamesCarroll suggested. Sorry bro, but that “more reps, lower weight for definition” thing is just crap. If you want definition, reduce body fat %. More reps, lower weight is a half-assed way to train muscles for endurance (instead of strength).
Machines have their uses, but mostly as supplemental exercises, freeweights are more beneficial as ultrafilter already pointed out - you have to stabilise yourself and you aren’t locked into doing the exercise in a particular form - one which might not be correct for you. Machines also tend to isolate muscles, which is fine and dandy, but then you need to perform more exercises to cover the muscles that are being left out.
Rather stick with the basic compound exercises (bench press, squats (yes, lower body!), chin-ups etc.) for the first few weeks at least. Work each muscle group once every 5-7 days, two or three exercises per group max - each workout 30-45 minutes. Don’t overtrain! 
JamesCarrol, notes taken:
I made 4 points, and you named one of three as the only one right. But I digress. let me clarify.
The tricep motion you corrected me on was the one I meant. In an attempt to shorten the response, I left that key element out in my rush.
The delt/lat motion was misstated. Hey, gimme a break here, I don’t get paid for this shit. I was just referring to the athletic “V” look that most are going for.
I would also argue that when you do a certain excercise, and other muscles start to help out, you were doing it right to begin with and need to increase weight/resistance?
Muad’Dib, concentrate on getting stronger every week whilst maintaining proper form on the most productive exercises.
The most productive exercises are the multi joint compound movements like the Squat, Deadlift, Shouler Press, Dips, Bench Press, Chin etc.
To learn proper form, find a powerlifter in your gym. He’ll be the one coming in and quietly lifting huge pundages week after week. He will not be the puffed up gym monkey wearing tank tops and handing out sh*tty advice that he read in a muscle comic. (PS in my experience these guys often get big by having great genetics combined with steroids, almost despite their awful training form/routines)
Exercises like flies, lateral lifts, french curls, tricep pull downs that ‘isolate’ small muscle groups are are pretty much a waste of time, however they are easy exercises (ooh but they burn!!)hence why many people advocate them.
Have a look for the book Brawn by Stuart McRobert, or have a look at www.hardgainer.com, it is a good starting place for strength (and therefore) muscle gains.
Jim
I’d have to say from a personal perspective that I need the machines (at least at first) to keep some semblance of form. From my experience, a newbie weight trainer is more liely to use incorrect form with freeweights. The machines help a lot in keeping form, but you can still screw up. But I agree that freeweights are better in the long-run. If you can get a trainer to help you start a program and learn the correct form, I’d go for it!