Max's Body Building Tips

Lifting heavy weights

TIP: Avoid bouncing the weight off your chest, using your hands to help move the weight unless you're intentionally performing negatives and need the assistance, which is minimal anyhow and folding your arms across your chest.

Like the other machine exercises mentioned here, position is critical in making the movement work for you rather than predisposing you to injury. The machine seen here has an angled seat and backrest, which helps keep the lower back pressed firmly against the support and sometimes lessens the need for a seat belt to keep you firmly planted. It also makes it more difficult to use momentum at the end reach of the movement or lock out the knees.

These lockouts are trouble in two levels: They’re an invitation to knee injury and also take the working load off the thighs. Your knees should do a soft lockout, meaning you stop short of a true lockout. And the weight should never come to a rest after you first extend your legs until you've finished the set.

TIP: Like the leg press, leg extensions are almost instinctual, but make sure your knee joint lines up with the pivot bolt, and position the padded bar just above your ankles.

The inner thighs are tough to work effectively, and the adductor machine is a welcome addition for both body-sculptors and serious bodybuilders alike. Again, angles are crucial in getting the most out of this movement. And once more, keeping your back and butt where they belong, wedged well against the backrest and on the seat, respectively, is key. The movement is elementary in that you simply keep the inside of your knees pressed firmly against the pads as you move them together.

TIP: Take this exercise seriously. Because you don't use a lot of weight and the machine was popular initially with women's gyms, guys tend to rush through the thigh adductor.