Regardless of what brand of sliding bench trainer you choose, they still are the most Versatile, Effective, and Efficient (V.E.E.) pieces of home exercise equipment you could purchase. So one day as I was working out on these, I thought about “why I do legitimately love this equipment so much?”
So in this article, I’m going to share my top 3 reasons why I love these machines so that maybe this might be helpful to you if you’re thinking about picking one up or you’re wondering why it’s just not sticking for you. Either way, I think you might find some value in this. If you want to see the video version click here
Reason 1: Fast Transitions Between Exercises
When I was going to the gym, I’d love the traditional barbell strength routines, but where I really would get the most out of body, in the zone flow state experience was listening to my heavy music and being that guy super-setting from machine to machine. Now I tried to not be annoying, only sticking to what was open, but that was one of the best parts about going to the gym. Having access to all this equipment where you could dial in what was working then switch up to something else.
And the Total Gym allows me to do that in the closest and really almost more supierior way than the gym. On a sliding bench trainer, I can go from lateral raises to sit up into pull overs, to tricep extensions, to bicep curls, turn around back to presses, back to some single leg squats, then to pull ups…often times without even moving the tower or messing with the incline.
And even though I’ve covered numerous unique ways to set up and use the machine, I still love keeping exercises simple and quick to transition.
This is why I mentioned in many of Youtube videos, that compared to other home gym staples like resistance bands or even free weights, they kind of lose their fun for me. This is in large part because they take more time to switch out weight or tension which isn’t conducive to those superset workouts I’m alluding to.
Now for some people, they don’t like that. They want things to be trackable, measurable, and methodical. That’s kind of hard to do when you’re quickly jumping from exercise to exercise and going off of “feeling”, which is something else I promote. These types of traditional workouts tend be very conducive to progressive strength training in general however. I often get frequent questions about what are the exact numbers, reps, sets, settings, etc.
And I try to answer these questions as best I can over internet comments, but it can be hard to do as there are many variables at play. But I really want to tell them, just have fun on the machine. Practice a few staples, some pulling, some pushing, do some leg stuff, do single leg stuff and stick to to finding exercsies that dial in that stress in you muscles
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Reason 2: Creativity
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Despite this seemingly limited design of the machine, there’s so much room to make these exercises and the equipment work for you. Something else that I loved and still do is trying different things with physical fitness. I’ve always had an unorthodox style of training that allows all sorts of types of equipment and movements.
One of the best parts of these machines is that it allows me to express my creative nature to discover new exercises and ways to stress the muscles. Not just in finding unique exercises, but also messing with other training variables in each workout such as reps, sets, incline settings, type of resistance, etc. So that every workout is different than the previous one. But many people don’t like this. They want to be told exactly what to do with how much weight to use so that they can accurately measure progress. This is totally understandable, but if your goal is to improve overall fitness, build an aesthetic physique, and have fun in the process, you don’t have to worry too much being so strict on these variables.
But everyone had different needs and interests so doing what works for me might not be the same for you. At the very least I’d like the content that I provide to you be a motivator or catalyst for you to step outside of your fitness box to try something new, but still be effective.
A sliding bench trainer is a tool just like anything else and just like stability balls, barbells, or resistance bands, it can do a lot of things; but it’s really only limited to the individual’s abilities and creativity…and yes, the integrity of the equipment.
Reason 3: How it “Feels”
I’ve mentioned this already, but I often times I encourage my viewers to find exercises that they fine are ones that they specifically can feel the desired muscle working. Some people call this “getting into groove” or the “mind-muscle connection”, but whatever you call it, it’s that range of motion or exercise that works in taxing the muscle.
I also have a video on this if you’re interested.
Never just do an exercise if you’re not “feeling it” or because it was simply written down in a program.
I can get this desired “feeling” from barbells or say resistance bands, but I’ve always loved a well built machine or the tension and stress of a cable tower. If I was going to outfit a large gym space, it would have to be with some sort of functional trainer machine . Heck I’d even considering getting one, but aside from the heavy price tag, they are beasts, and I hate to think about having to move that thing if I had to.
But I love that kind of tension and stress that it provides. And I think the total gym provides that but in a much more compact way and the beauty is you’re using your own bodyweight.
I’ve said in many different videos referring to different body parts, that if given the choice to use a free weight or even a specialized machine for say arms, shoulders, or back; many times over I’d choose a total gym. Now it’s not perfect, some things you’d still have to fine tune to suit your needs and abilities.
Even though these are my top 3, this website and my Youtube Channel is never limited to the amount of reasons as to why I love sliding bench trainers.