If you have a gym, you already know that the isotonic room is essential for offering quality service to your members. A well-equipped isotonic area is not just the kingdom of iron enthusiasts but can be a very attractive calling card to get as many people as possible into weight training.
TECA is a business partner of hundreds of gyms in Italy and abroad, which is why since our arrival on the market 37 years ago, we have designed innovative isotonic equipment to enhance results and make training easier, safer, and more effective. Here are our tips for choosing the best equipment and exercises for an effective isotonic workout.
Isotonic Training Equipment – everything you need to know
If you are a fitness entrepreneur, you already know that one of the most sought-after goals in the gym is to achieve a firm, toned, and rock-hard physique with sculpted forms. To do this, you need a well-equipped isotonic room, with machines that best stimulate the major muscle groups. Isotonic training is ideal not only for muscle strengthening, but also for preventing injuries and recovering deficient groups, all with less stress on joints and back than free weights.
An isotonic room should contain at least one machine per body area. Of course, space permitting. There are also multi-stations, or jungle machines, that allow you to perform different exercises on the same station, an ideal solution if the surfaces are limited.
The number of machines, however, is not the most important aspect. What matters most is being able to train all muscle groups with different exercises. For this reason, when you set up the room for isotonic training, the password must be quality and therefore aim for state-of-the-art, easy-to-use, and versatile equipment.
Only the best machines, like TECA’s Isotonic line, for example, allow for easy, safe, and effective training thanks to special devices and great inventions that give them exceptional biomechanics. The ease of use of a machine is an important feature that reduces the involvement of trainers, making the equipment more economically viable.
In addition, only advanced equipment guarantees a safer workout and results arrive faster. For this reason, choosing machines equipped with Range of motion limiter to work with pre-set angles is a smart move. To further enrich the isotonic room, choose equipment with movable levers and independent arms as they allow for a multitude of exercises and are also ideal for personal training.
An example? TECA‘s isotonic machines equipped with the S.A.C (Self Adaptive Control) system. To ensure a memorable training experience, TECA‘s equipment cannot be missing in the isotonic area:
Advanced Chest Press
Ideal for a full workout of the chest muscles. It’s a one-of-a-kind machine with converging arms, with independent movements, some special joints to reduce joint stress, a preload lever for easy start and end of the exercise.
Dorsi-pecto
A unique tool with dual use possibilities. The first is to train the large dorsal muscle with a joint excursion of over 180° per arm. The second is to stimulate the lower portion of the chest muscles with a movement similar to a cable cross-over, but safer and easier for everyone.
Shoulder Press
Equipped with the ROM limiter device to limit the range of motion, it allows anyone to train their shoulders safely, even those with poor joint mobility.
Hack Squat
Equipped with an exclusive and innovative system, the Variable Altitude Pantograph, and some exclusive mechanical principles developed by TECA, this machine revolutionizes the way to train the thighs and glutes in a squat. Thanks to the adjustable large front footrest and two small rear ones, the tool also allows you to perform the lunge and split squat, two fundamental exercises for the lower limbs.
Advanced Leg Press
Indispensable for strengthening the muscles of the lower limbs and the glutes. For a more correct workout from a physiological point of view, the TECA Advanced Leg press also adopts the variable setup pantograph movement.
Other equipment
Another very popular equipment that can’t be missing in an isotonic room is undoubtedly the Lat pulldown, a very versatile machine that stimulates pull-ups and involves many muscles in the back of the trunk, with particular emphasis on the large dorsal. This district, if properly developed, gives the typical and much desired V-shape.
Machines like Pulley, Rowing, Pullover, Triceps or Arm curl, to name just a few from the TECA Prestige line, are the most suitable for toning the upper body with isolation exercises and complete the upper body workout, which was previously performed with equipment more suitable for multi-joint work.
To train the lower body more specifically, equipment such as Leg curl and Leg extension, to train the hamstrings and quadriceps, respectively, or Seated Calf for the calves, can’t be missing.
Don’t forget the female audience: TECA’s Medium Gluteus isolates the Maximus and medium gluteus, while Abductor and Adductor stimulate the muscles on the outside and inside of the thigh.
The Best Isotonic Workout Exercises
The choice of exercises is one of the most important variables in a workout program. How to choose the best ones? Read our tips.
A common mistake that many trainers make in the weight room is to train men and women in the same way, without taking into account their different needs. In fact, if the waist, legs, and buttocks are a must for the female audience, the trunk muscles (especially the back and chest), accompanied by the arm and abdominal muscles, are a male affair for the most part.
While men seeks to acquire large muscle volumes and dreams of a rock-solid physique, the woman desires a toned and sculpted physique, with curves in the right places, without excessive muscle definition. In creating an isotonic workout program, it will be important to consider the different needs of the two sexes:
• For the man, more work volume on the upper body
• For the woman, more exercises for the lower body, especially for the glutes and thigh muscles, but without exaggerating with the exercises for the quadriceps, in order not to excessively bulk up the legs.
In practical terms, when it comes to choosing exercises, one thing is certain. There are so many for each muscle group that you can feel overwhelmed. How to blame you? To make your work easier, here are some practical tips.
Choose the Exercise Based on the Training Goal
Choosing exercises means much more than just favoring movements that train a specific body area. For example, Hack squats, Hack split squats, Leg press, and Leg extensions all work the thigh muscles, but to ensure exceptional results, it’s important to choose the exercise that is best suited to your goal. In this regard, it becomes critical to understand aspects such as: range of motion, resistance profile, initial setup, and execution.
When you plan a workout, you should evaluate each exercise individually:
• Which muscles are worked
• The position of flexion (for example, Hack squats work the quadriceps in a lenghtened position, while Leg extensions work them in short position)
• The resistance profile (what is the hardest part of the exercise, i.e., the point at which you need to overcome the maximum resistance).
Not knowing these aspects is a serious technical error, as you risk choosing exercises that work the same muscle area, in the same position, and without any variation in the resistance profile. Random exercises unnecessarily increase the volume of training, making recovery between training sessions more difficult and slowing progress.
The best exercises for isotonic training, in fact:
They train the main movement patterns
Hip hinge, hip-dominant, knee-dominant, vertical push, vertical pull, horizontal push, horizontal pull, rotational and diagonal, anti-rotational, anti-flexion, anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion are fundamental movement patterns and must be reproduced for a complete workout.
Let’s see some practical examples to be done on isotonic equipment: Good morning performed at Hack squat (hinge), Leg press feet high (hip-dominant), squats at Hack squat and Leg press feet low (knee-dominant), Shoulder press (vertical push), Lat pulldown (vertical pull), Chest press (horizontal push), Seated row (horizontal pull), Low pulley (rotational), One-arm row (anti-rotational), Hack squat (anti-flexion).
They train more muscle masses (multi-joint)
Exercises that involve large muscle masses produce greater systemic stress for the body, a fundamental factor for progress. However, simply using the muscles is not enough, it is also important to use the right load intensity and adjust the volume of work. To train the lower limbs, for example, two multi-joint exercises may be enough, to which two isolation exercises are added to emphasize the districts, avoiding excessive work volumes (junk). Always perform the multi-joint exercises first and only then the isolation exercises.
They allow for the most complete possible range of motion
It is important to perform exercises over the entire range of motion, but staying within the active range. Equipment with Rom limiter devices, such as those from TECA, limit excessive muscle flexibility and stretching that over time leads to joint problems.
They do not cause muscle-skeleton pains or discomforts
A very common example are people with poor shoulder (condition worsened by sedentary lifestyle, office work or excessive use of electronic devices) or thoracic joint mobility. In these cases, you need to vary the grip (use a neutral grip in a Shoulder press, for example) and avoid exercises that further curve the shoulders (Pullover rather than crosses on bench or cables).
In addition, low-impact exercises for the joints are preferred (Olympic lifts, for example, are very wear and tear). The squat is undoubtedly the king of exercises but performing it on the Hack squat equipment rather than free-body with barbell preserves joint health, but without sacrificing results.
