Tip The Truth About the Bad Girl Machine Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The Truth About the Bad Girl Machine Can strength athletes actually benefit from the adductor and abductor machine Here' s what you need to know by Paul Carter May 9, 2019August 18, 2019 Tags Legs, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training The Good Girl Bad Girl Machine These two machines get a bad rap because for a long time women were told to get on them to "shape and tone" their thighs via the bullshit known as spot reduction. In fact, I often have to wait for some little old lady to be done with these before I can hop on. And yeah, I got a few stares along the way. Even from granny. It's crazy how many people hate these machines because they're not regarded as "hardcore." They saved me from a recurring injury when I was competing in powerlifting. I suffered from a bout of adductor strains during those years that drove me nuts, but once I got really freaking strong on the adductor machine my squat climbed from 635 to 660 pounds. I'm not saying there was "carryover" to my squat from doing the good-girl machine. But once I stopped having adductor strains, I was able to smash out some very productive squat cycles that allowed those gains to happen. I credit the adductor machine for that. But I didn't approach it like Suzanne Summers ThighMaster time. I really pushed the progressive overload and worked to get brutally strong on them, eventually working up to using the whole stack for lengthy sets. With the bad-girl machine, aka the abductor machine, I used it prior to squatting as a way to get my hips and glutes warmed up. I stayed lighter for this movement and worked in the 15-20 rep range. When I initiated a squat workout this way, my squats felt way better and were more "in the groove" right out of the gate. If you find yourself struggling to hit depth early in your squat session because the loading isn't heavy enough to force you down into position, or that your hips and knees are ornery in the warm-up process, throw these in before squats to potentially alleviate that problem. Three to four sets of 15-20 reps will do the job. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Best of Quads Five great exercises to hammer your quads. Some you know, some you don’t! Check ‘em out. Bodybuilding, Training T Nation July 31 Training Question of Strength 5 Q & A with one of the world's premier strength coaches. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Question of Strength, Training Charles Poliquin June 12 Workouts A 6-Week Squat Bench or Deadlift Program A simple, foolproof program to boost up your big lifts in just six weeks. Check it out. Bench Press, Deadlift, Squat, Training Tim Henriques September 27 Training Tip One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch From the hang, fire the dumbbell up. Drive through the heels, fully extending the hips. Drive the elbow high and catch it overhead with knees slightly bent. Abs, Exercise Coaching, Tips, Weightlifting Eric Bach June 6