Machine exercises
Fixed path, supported torso, low skill cost. Ideal for taking a muscle close to failure safely and for training around an injury.
What this kit can actually load
42MOVEMENTS
Covering 15 muscle groups as prime movers and 7 of the 9 movement patterns, and the gaps are named further down rather than glossed over.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·COVERAGE COUNTED FROM PRIME MOVERS ONLY·REVIEWED JUL 2026
How the machine list is built
- Start from the joint action, not the sensation. A muscle is credited when the action it produces is the one being resisted.
- Credit exactly one role per exercise: prime mover, or synergist and stabiliser. Nothing is listed twice.
- Rank by technical demand on a 1–5 scale — how much practice the movement needs to be done safely, not how hard the set feels.
- Credit a movement to a piece of kit only when that kit supplies the resistance — a bench you lie on is not the load.
- Attach the published MET category so the energy figure on every card traces back to the same table.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·ATTRIBUTION BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
All 42 machine movements
Muscles you can cover with machine
Not covered: trapezius, forearms, obliques, adductors, rotator cuff. That is the honest gap — fill it with another implement or with bodyweight work.
Programmes that run on this alone
The questions that come up on the floor
What can I train with machine?
42 exercises on this site use machine, covering 15 muscle groups as prime movers and 7 of the 9 movement patterns. 19 of them are compound movements, which is the number that decides whether a piece of equipment can carry a whole programme on its own.
Is machine enough to build muscle?
Yes. With 42 exercises across 15 muscle groups, machine covers enough of the body to run a complete programme. Muscle growth responds to effort, load progression and volume — not to which brand of resistance supplied them.
Can I use machine at home?
Usually not: this is gym equipment. Every exercise page here lists a home substitute that trains the same prime mover through the same pattern, so nothing on this list is a dead end for a home trainer.
How do I make machine exercises harder over time?
Add weight in the smallest increment available whenever you reach the top of the target rep range with clean technique, and keep the range of motion and the tempo identical as the load climbs.
Muscle roles follow standard kinesiology references and are described by joint action rather than by gym convention — see how this site is built. Energy figures are derived from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. Every reference is named and dated on the sources page. General information only — not medical or coaching advice. Load, form and progression should be adjusted to your own experience and any injury history. When in doubt, get coached in person.
SOURCE·Published exercise references·MUSCLE ROLES ASSIGNED BY JOINT ACTION·REVIEWED JUL 2026
The people behind these sites
Follow the build
This site and nine others like it are built and photographed by two people: Amit Sharma — behind the build; Geeta Patel — the poses, demonstrated. New work goes up on Instagram and Facebook before it reaches a page here.
Amit Sharma
@amitsharmaofficial
Instagram
Geeta Patel
@geetapatelnz
Instagram
Geeta Patel
GeetaPatelYoga
Facebook
Following changes nothing here — every page stays open, with no account and no wall.
