New Squat Rack

By now, many of you would have noticed a few changes we have made to our female strength area. The idea was for us to create a little more usable space by changing the orientation of the area and by removing machines that were seldom used.

The monstrous new apparatus that has sprung up is a Squat Rack. This versatile beast will allow all of the female strength participants to progress their training in the comfort of the female only area. Good huh?

When I say progress, I am referring to the benefits which come from lifting free weights and progressively heavier loads. Let me break it down a little further:

Machine exercises:

Use a fixed path of movement so they do not requireus to stabilise the load
Fail to mimic everyday movement patters
Are easy to adjust and good for beginners
Good for initial rehab

Body Weight Exercises:

Allow your joints to move in their most natural range of movement, as unlike a machine, they are not guided through the range.
Allows us to specifically mimic the movements of everyday life against gravity, in the same way we experience them day to day. For example, lunge exercises are very similar to someone getting up off the ground or walking stairs.
Become limited when the body weight is no longer challenging (squats) or are too challenging (push up).

Free Weights:

Force groups of muscles to work synergisticallly to stabilise the load. This improves joint function and strength.
Use more muscle to get the job done. The great thing about this point is that more muscles working means more muscles burning fuel.
Suit everybody, regardless of size or shape as your own natural joint mechanics are employed.

There are many more pros and cons for all of the options mentioned above, but I feel this info sheds a little light on each. New additions like the squat rack provide options. Options to change how you exercise and how your body responds. Following is a small list of exercises which can be performed on this piece. All can be done with a small tweak of the bar position or bench.