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Which machines are necessary in your workout routine?

Shrek

Fucked up Kunce
Which machines are necessary in your workout routine?

Which ones are a MUST in your routine?
 
none for me.

maybe the cable machine for some stuff, mostly rehabby things but also horizontal rows, lat pulldowns and face pulls.
But i don't do them often.
 
No machines needed, I have some in my home gym that almost never get used, do use a lat pulldown and pecdec occasionally, but really necessary definitely none.

(Power rack is not counted as a machine obviously)
 
As I've gotten older, the pin loaded/plate loaded stuff has enabled me to keep going.

And also helped me still use the barbell, the squat has always been the one for me.
 
Calf Machine, leg press, cable (for triceps), and some Hammer stuff like shoulder press and lat pulldown.

Edit: And the hyper extension thingy. :)
 
I can use free weights for most muscles. Actually prefer them.

But, as chin-ups not always easy (being old and reasonably heavy), always like a good lat pulldown machine.

Other one I like is a good hyperextension apparatus, and calf machine (seated).
 
Not absolutely neccesary in that I wouldn't sob like a little schoolgirl if it wasn't available, but I like the cable machine for doing facepulls.
 
All of them. Because 95% of the people I share the gym with have little to no idea what they're doing so they stick to the machines. Means I usually only have to share the free weights with 1 or 2 other people.
 
Once I would have included lat pulldown machine - but now that I can do chin-ups (not like ths but http://ausbb.com/showthread.php?p=524564#post524564), I've passed them.

A leg press machine would be nice to have sometimes - when I'm wary of my back, and think that I should stay off squats for a while.

OK, now here comes a practical question - at the shoping mall a couple of days ago, I was ensnared by two attratctive sporty-type women trying to get more members for a gym, and I was given a ticket entitling me to a week's free tryout.

I have no intention of joining up. Even $18/week, which is at the cheaper end of gym subscriptions, I think, that's ~$900/year, and I could think of better ways to spend this. I'm pretty well set up @ home, with a squat rack made from scaffolding joiners and old bed frames, and lots of weight plates from Gumtree and the like.

But - free is free, and I could work out while Sandra Face is shoe shopping or whatever.

So, the question: What program should I devise to make the best use of a one-week opportunity to use a gym with lots of machines?

Obviously, I won't do anything with free weights, that I could do at home. Leg presses are on the list, maybe three sessions over the week (I would give squats @ home a rest). Also, the pec-dec and other pressing machines, to get muscles that have escaped from bench presses.

Other ideas?
 
Ensure you give them a fake number when they inevitably ask for it. I'd just go in and check it out before devising a plan. They may not have things you'd like or may have things you wouldn't have thought of
 
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