OMG that is terrible. Remember, these people also drive :roflmao:
[quote=“downtownandrew”]These are just some of the examples of what I have witnessed at the gym in Taipei.
This is the top one really… after searching around some more: youtube.com/watch?v=vIS4FYhNxEY
Here are the rest:
youtube.com/watch?v=dKahgSwLvpM
youtube.com/watch?v=rtEyYvbdgn8
youtube.com/watch?v=er5GBIg2s8k
youtube.com/watch?v=hKMqzduyQfM
youtube.com/watch?v=7KXvBJ3HO6w
youtube.com/watch?v=6JfQUxkhoMQ
youtube.com/watch?v=GIqSqfevniw
youtube.com/watch?v=q6s9XCaCcBc&NR=1
youtube.com/watch?v=JPTDKv7cjv8
youtube.com/watch?v=nlZtN9DX6Zk[/quote]
Good examples of why a trainer is necessary for newbies. 
I actually do have a knackered spine, so I tend to take things very easy in the gym. Lots of stretching-type stuff, mobility, and core-muscle work. I was using the lat machine to do a warmup, allowing the machine to stretch my back straight with a narrow grip and slow, full-range movements. Personal trainer comes over. You don’t want to do it like that, he says, you want to do it like this. He gets on the machine and does a fairly standard wide-grip, short-range, hit-your-lats movement. Fair enough. I explained to him that I wasn’t attempting to isolate my lats, I was just stretching bits that are otherwise hard to do in a controlled manner. Was I doing something dangerous? I enquired. No, but that’s not what it’s for, says the expert :no-no: . It’s for training your back (points to his lats) and nothing else. 
i’m inclined to agree with the trainer
For what reason?
Most machines are designed for a limited range of related exercises. Performing a long pull instead of a short ‘crunch’ is a common movement, it’s within the standard recommendations for the machine, and has no physiological issues (unlike, for example, a behind-the-neck pull).
For what reason?
Most machines are designed for a limited range of related exercises. Performing a long pull instead of a short ‘crunch’ is a common movement, it’s within the standard recommendations for the machine, and has no physiological issues (unlike, for example, a behind-the-neck pull).[/quote]
Fair enough, whatever you say. After all you were doing what you were doing and I wasn’t there to see it or anything. I’m just agreeing that the cable Lat pull down machine is only for lat pull-downs. You can use it to stretch if you wish, (and if you were doing the exercise properly you would get a nice stretch), but that’s not what its for. In general, as a principle & as you say “machines are designed for a limited range of related exercises” - vis the lat pull down. I 'd say the range of exercises are limited to hand positions. That’s it. I guess one shouldn’t be using weights to stretch anyway. Try Yoga or swimming. 
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/CBFrontPulldown.html