Weekly Gym Machine Workout Routine with Free PDF

You can try a gym machine workout routine for a few months to improve foundational strength and build lean mass.

Doing exercises on gym machines is safer than free weights, especially for beginners. They can help build confidence and familiarity with exercise, which can make it easier to progress to other types of training in the future.

In this article, I’ll share a couple of cardio and weight machine workout routines that will help you train in an organized way and improve your overall fitness.

I’ve designed this program primarily for beginners who want to build their foundational strength and scale their fitness to the next level.

Benefits of Training with Gym Machines

1. Stimulate Muscle Growth

Free weight exercises engage multiple muscles to perform the movement, whereas weight machines place the greatest amount of force on muscles where you want to focus. For example, pec deck fly puts decent stress on pectoral muscles and helps promote muscle growth and improve definition.

2. Gym Machines are Safer than Free Weights

Gym machines are safer than dumbbells and barbells as they control the range of motion and excess movement and allow you to perform each movement with full control. This can reduce the risk of injury and ensure that you are using the proper form while exercising.

3. Easy to Use

You don’t need special instructions to perform exercises on gym machines. You can also easily adjust the weight on machines to perform each exercise effectively.

4. Various Exercise Options

You can do various exercises with machines to target each muscle group throughout the body. For example, cable machines allow you to perform as many as 70 exercises, while you can perform thirty exercises on the Smith machine.

Moreover, you can use a preacher bench, butterfly, leg press, and other gym machines to work on your entire body and enhance your overall fitness.

List of Machine Exercises You’ll Do in This Program

Here is an ultimate list of machine exercises you can integrate while creating a gym machine workout plan.

Chest

1. Smith Machine Bench Presses
2. Horizontal Chest Press
3. Hammer Strength Bench Press
4. Pec Deck Fly
5. Standing Cable Fly
6. Incline Cable Fly
7. Cable Crossover
8. ISO Incline Press

Back

1. Lat Pulldowns
2. Seated Cable Row
3. Lat Pullover
4. Landmine Row
5. Hyperextension
6. Single-arm Cable Pulldown
7. Pullup
8. Chest Supported Row

Shoulder

1. Machine Shoulder Press
2. Smith Machine Overhead Press
3. Cable Pulley Front Raises
4. Cable Lateral Raises
5. Cable Reverse Fly
6. Smith Machine Shrug
7. Reverse Pec Deck Fly
8. Face Pull

Arms

1. Narrow Grip Smith Machine Bench Press
2. Triceps Rope Pushdown
3. Overhead Tricep Extension
4. Cable Skull Crusher
5. D-handle Cable Pulldown
6. Seated Machine Dip
7. Cable Triceps Kickback
8. Bar Dips

Biceps

1. Chinups
2. Straight Bar Curl
3. EZ Bar Cable Curl
4. Preacher Curl
5. Cable Hammer Curl
6. Overhead Biceps Cable Curls
7. Squatting Cable Curl
8. Cable Spider Curls

Legs

1. Smith Machine Squat
2. Smith Machine Lunges
3. Leg Press
4. Machine Hack Squat
5. Leg Extension
6. Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift
7. Machine Leg Curl (Seated/Lying)
8. Smith Machine Hip Thrust
9. Standing Calf Raises
10. Leg Abductor

Core

1. Abdominal Machine Crunch
2. Kneeling Cable Crunch
3. Reverse Cable Crunch
4. Lying Cable Leg Raises
5. High to Low Cable Chop
6. Low to High Cable Chop
7. Hanging Knee Raise
8. Cable Pallof Press
9. Vertical Leg Raise
10. Hanging Leg Raises

Cardio

1. Treadmill
2. Elliptical Cross Trainer
3. Stationary Bicycle
4. Air Rowing Machine

Program Summary and Description

Sessions Per Week

You’ll train four times a week in this program with three full rest days.

Duration Per Session

The one session in this routine will take around 60 to 75 minutes to complete, including the warm-up time; however, if it is too much for you, you can skip one to two exercises or reduce the number of reps/sets.

Program Duration

You can use this program for as long as you like.

Who Should Train with Machine:

Anyone can use gym machines to build strength and size. They are particularly helpful for those who may not be comfortable using free weights or other types of equipment.

Workout Level

Machine exercises are safe, so people of all fitness levels and age groups can try this workout program.

Target Gender

Both Males and Females can follow this program.

Warm-up

Perform aerobic exercises for five to 10 minutes to increase your heart rate, flood, and get your muscles ready to perform resistance machine exercises.

Gym Machine Workout Routine for Muscle Building

• Monday – Back and Shoulder
• Tuesday – OFF
• Wednesday – Legs and Core
• Thursday – OFF
• Friday – Chest and Arms
• Saturday – Cardio
• Sunday – OFF

Note: You can make desirable changes to this program to make it suitable to your fitness level and goal.

Monday – Back and Shoulder

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Front Lat Pulldown	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Straight-arm Lat Pulldown	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Straght-arm Lat Pulldown	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
SM Overhead Press	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Cable Lateral Raises	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Reverse Pec Deck Fly	10-12	2-3	1-3 min

Wednesday – Legs and Core

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Leg Press	10-15	2-3	1-3 min
Hack Squat	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Leg Curl	12-15	2-3	1-2 min
Calf Raises	12-15	2-3	1-2 min
High to Low Chop	8/side	2-3	1-min
Kneeling Cable Crunch	10-12	2-3	1-min

Friday – Chest and Arms

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Smith Machine Bench Press	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Incline Hammer Chest Press	10-12	2-3	1-3 min
Pec Deck Fly	12-15	2-3	1-2 min
Rope Pushdown	12-15	2-3	1-2 min
EZ Bar Cable Curl	10-12	2-3	1-2 min
Cable Hammer Curl	10-12	2-3	1-2 min

Saturday – Cardio

Exercise	Duration	Rest
Treadmill Run	10 minutes	3-5 min
Elliptical Cross Trainer	5 minutes	1-3 min
Stationary Bike	5 minutes	1-2 min

Gym Machine Workout Plan for Weight Loss

• Monday – Cardio and Core Machine Workout
• Tuesday – Strength and Cardio Workout
• Wednesday – OFF
• Thursday – Strength and Aerobic Workout
• Friday – Cardio and Ab Machine Workout
• Saturday – OFF
• Sunday – OFF

Monday – Cardio and Core Machine Workout

Exercise	Activity	Rest
Treadmill Run	10-15 minutes	2-5 mins
Elliptical Cross Trainer	3-5 minutes	2-3 mins
Machine Ab Crunch	2 sets of 15 reps	1-min
Cable Pallof Press	2 sets of 10 reps	1-min
Kneeling Cable Crunch	2 sets of 10 reps	1-min
High to Low Cable Chop	10 reps/side x 2	45-sec
Stationary Bike	5 minutes	1-2 min

Tuesday – Strength and Cardio Workout

Exercise	Activity	Rest
Treadmill Run	5 minutes	2-5 mins
Leg Press	2 sets of 10 reps	1-3 mins
SM Overhead Press	2 sets of 10 reps	1-3 mins
Front Lat Pulldown	2 sets of 10 reps	1-3 mins
Pec Deck Fly	2 sets of 10 reps	1-2 mins
Stationary Bike	5 minutes	1-2 mins
Treadmill	5 minutes	–

Thursday – Strength and Aerobic Workout

Exercise	Activity	Rest
Treadmill Run	5 minutes	2-5 mins
Hammer/SM Bench Press	15 reps x 2	1-3 mins
Cable Lateral Raises	10 reps x 2	1-3 mins
Seated Cable Row	15 reps x 2	1-3 mins
SM Hip Thrust	12 reps x 2	1-2 mins
Stationary Bike	5 minutes	1-2 mins
Elliptical Cross Trainer	5 minutes	1-2 mins
Treadmill	5 minutes	–

Friday – Cardio and Ab Machine Workout

Exercise	Activity	Rest
Treadmill Run	10-15 minutes	2-5 mins
Elliptical Cross Trainer	3-5 minutes	2-3 mins
Machine Ab Crunch	2 sets of 15 reps	1-min
Cable Pallof Press	2 sets of 10 reps	1-min
Kneeling Cable Crunch	2 sets of 10 reps	1-min
High to Low Cable Chop	10 reps/side x 2	45-sec
Stationary Bike	5 minutes	1-2 min

Download Program PDF

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Final Thoughts

Training with gym machines can be a safe, convenient, and effective way to achieve your fitness goals.

People of all fitness levels and age groups can work out with machines to perform numerous exercises.

In this article, I’ve shared two gym machine workout routines to help you train efficiently and achieve the best results.

Depending on your fitness level, you can download one of them to work on your fitness goal.

You can also combine free weight exercises to make a well-rounded program.