Recent postings have discussed exercises that are used for one muscle group when it should really be used for another, but there also certain machines that have more than one purpose in the gym, and most really have no idea that even just a small modification of how the equipment is adjusted, can change the muscle that is being targeted.
In Custom Fitness we have talked about equipment adjustment to body sizes, and one of the exercises mentioned was the Peck Deck. After reading that post did you change your “one size fits all” way of thinking and start adjusting the seat of the peck deck to fit you? We have already discussed that the height of the seat determines what muscle is working out, but do you really know what height it should be? What about the position of the handles? Are they in the appropriate place to work out your chest or your posterior shoulders?
Sharing a machine may mean that you will have to increase your rest interval to adjust the equipment to your size, and on some machines it might just be an adjustment to your comfort zone. But in the case of the peck deck, whether it is being used for the front of the body or the back, a slight change can affect more or less the muscle that it is intended for.

Regarding the height of the seat is important to define the primary activation of chest or shoulders. You see some people not using the seat and performing the exercise while standing. This is to target the chest more without using much of the shoulder muscles. When lowering the seat the shoulder muscle will be more activated and less intensity to the pectoralis major. When doing reverse peck deck, as mentioned before, handles are straight in front of you throughout the set. Difficulty may be increased when lowering the seat so that your elbows will slightly be directed towards the ceiling as they move back.

So when you do the peck deck what are you really working out? The best way to tell is to pay attention to where you feel (not necessarily during the movement), this why you can play with adjustments to test how you can increase intensity.
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