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Machine of the Month – D7
Illustration: © Kieser Training AG
The D7 – seated dip – is an exercise where you hardly have to think about isolating individual muscles as it uses almost every arm and trunk muscle, i.e. the pectoral, trapezius and triceps muscles. At the same time, it mobilises the entire shoulder. To ensure that your efforts are productive, it is important to keep the trunk still and to look straight ahead during the exercise. The more upright you sit the greater the load on the triceps. In contrast, if you bend slightly forward and keep the elbows pointing outwards, you increase the work done by the pectoral muscles. To do the exercise, press down on the handholds but don’t fully straighten the arms. Then consciously lower the shoulders. This is invigorating and will mean that your arms are able to provide maximum support. In addition, the exercise has a “traction effect.“ This is both soothing and relieves stress as individual lumbar vertebrae are only minimally pulled apart – something akin to the well-known suspension.
Expert’s Tip
Anika Stephan
Research Department Kieser Training
In the last two editions, we explained the two phases of starting training and then building up strength. Customers who have been training for some time with Kieser Training and are quite happy with their strength level, might want to enter a third phase: Maintenance. As you do not need to go to full fatigue on every muscle in this phase, training will feel easier than during the buildup phase.
There are two ways to maintain strength at high levels for a long period:
1. If you have no health constraints, use a weight with which you can do an exercise for 90 seconds but only do the exercise for 60 seconds.
2. If you have health constraints, reduce the weight to 80 % and do the exercise for 90 seconds.
In both cases, you should do at least one training session per week. Every two months, check that your strength is still where you want it to be. To do this, complete each exercise with the original weight for 90 seconds. If you can achieve this without compromising training quality, you can continue with maintenance training. If not, revert to the build-up phase.
Latest research – achieving training aims quickly
People start strength training for a wide variety of reasons. Some want to eliminate pain, others simply want more strength. In a current study by the Research Department of Kieser Training, the 531 participants were asked to select a specific aim before they started their six-month training period. About one third of participants wanted to “strengthen the back.“ 30.7% said “improve general strength.“ 10% wanted to “eliminate pain,“ 9% to “reduce pain“ and 5.5% wanted to “eliminate a specific muscle weakness or strength deficit.“
After 3 months, there was an interim survey. This revealed that the majority of participants were well on the way to achieving their personal aim. On average, 69.5% of the participants in the strength training group had achieved their aim whereas in the group doing 1:1 therapy, 68.1% had already achieved it. By the end of the study, the percentages had increased to 75.1% and 69.4% respectively.
In both groups – “training“ and “therapy“ – the results for individual training aims were equally good: Of those in the training group who wanted to “strengthen the back“ or “improve general strength,“ an average of 74.3% and 74.9% respectively had achieved their aim. For those who wanted to eliminate pain, the average was even higher at 80.8%.
In the therapy group, an average of 74% wanting to “reduce pain“ had achieved that aim. For participants who wanted to eliminate a “specific muscle weakness or strength deficit,“ 75% on average had achieved it.
The extremely good results in terms of the percentage achieving their aims were matched by extremely high rates of satisfaction with the quality of training. 97.6% of participants in the training group and 98% in the therapy group rated the training as “good“ or “very good.“ Participants also awarded top marks for quality of service: 75.2% rated the service provided by instructors and therapists as “very good“ and 24.6% as “good.“
5 Questions … on training technology
28 different exercise machines and two medical machines seat on the floor of a Kieser Training facility, waiting to get your muscles burning. The key attribute of these steely grey colossi is their efficiency.
Werner Kieser, why do we actually need machines?
If you have one leg that is weaker, say after surgery, you tend to protect that leg and so put more strain on the stronger one. This further increases the imbalance. Our training machines force you to put a load on the weaker leg, so eliminating the imbalance. In other words, the machines help you to target the weaker muscles.
What makes the machines so effective?
Our training machines can be adjusted to suit individual needs. Each has a system of pads, supports and restraints that allow you to isolate individual muscles and muscle groups. As a result, the training is targeted. Muscles are then subject to a precise concentric and eccentric resistance. The strength exerted by an individual muscle is not constant but changes as it moves. Our machines have a torque adjustment that takes account of this change in strength. By calculating the precise tension through the range of motion, the muscle is permanently under load and therefore strengthened throughout its range of motion, i.e. from maximum extension to maximum contraction. This ensures a high level of training intensity and means that each session takes just 30 minutes.
Is it safe to train on machines?
The strength machine is one of the safest things in the world. Each movement is guided and is done slowly. This minimises the strain on the joints. Daily activities such as going down stairs or jogging produce a higher exertion peak than even the hardest training session on a leg machine. Machines are also easy to use and there is no complicated process to learn. This provides security, particularly to those who are less strong or elderly. All machines are tested by the TÜV, the German Technical Inspectorate.
Who designs the machines?
I learned from Arthur Jones – the inventor of the first scientific training machines (Nautilus) – what was required for the design and construction of training machines. Our engineers produce the technical drawings and build the prototypes, which our Research Department then test. When we are sure that everything is right and the machine can achieve the desired effect on the target muscle, we start production.
The machines weigh as much as 846 kilograms. Why are they so heavy?
Minimum friction is an essential attribute. Our machines have two features, which allow us to eliminate friction almost completely:
1. Unlike conventional machines, we do not use standard guide shafts. The weight plates are raised from below, i.e. you don’t pull on them. The weight plates “hover“ and are kept in the centre by balls located on the surface.
2. To minimise the initial friction, we use a higher weight with gear reduction. If your range of motion is 50 cm and you raise the weight by only 25 cm, the initial friction is almost zero. Even if you do an exercise too fast, the weight does not develop its own momentum (this would reduce the load on the muscle itself). As a result, the machines are almost twice as heavy as conventional machines.
