This debate has raged on in gyms for decades. Many find
themselves lured in by expensive machines, drawn to their
promises for instant success and supported by the claims
of well muscled fitness models. Others completely shun the
machines, and are drawn to dingy gyms and clanking 45 lb.
plates. The truth is that both machines and free weights
have benefits and drawbacks, and understanding this will
lead to greater success in they gym. Maybe some of you out there don’t care at all about
practical applications. Should you completely abandon free
weights? Let’s go back to the idea of supporting muscles.
Not only does the stimulation to these muscles help with
your practical strength, but they also look good! The stimulating
muscles are the muscles that you are never quite sure how
to work out, but they look really cool. Think of the crazy
muscles exhibited by Van Damme or Stallone; those are the
supporting muscles.
The last benefit of using free weights is greater overall
stimulation of large muscle groups. There are certain free
weight exercises, such as rows, pull-ups, bench presses,
and squats, that no machine can duplicate. Why-Because these
exercises require that a large amount of muscles work together
to lift a weight. You can work out your quads with a leg
press machine, but you could never top the effectiveness
of the squat for a quad workout. Exercise physiologists
have even measured muscle stimulation with things like squats
vs. free weights, and almost without fail the free weights
wins out. Now that I have completely bashed machines, let’s
go over the benefits they offer. The most important benefit
machines offer is that they are a great introduction to
weightlifting for beginners. The machines can get you into
basic shape, and can teach you how to lift properly. You
can quickly construct a workout just by looking at the diagrams
of the machines and figuring out what muscles each works
out. However, keep machines as your introduction to lifting.
Only once you are going for a few weeks will you want to
construct a workout that incorporates more free weights.
Another benefit machines offer is the ability to do a safer version of a “dangerous” or advanced exercise. For example, there is a squat machine that guides the bar but lets you do the rest of the motion. If you don’t have any experience with squats, this is a great introduction and starting ground. There are plenty of other examples of exercises that would be best learned on a machine and then done with free weights. Another example is particularly striking. Many people can’t do one pull-up, or can only do a few, but there are machines that let you do assisted pull-ups. This type of machine should definitely be utilized, because unassisted pull-ups are one of the best possible back exercises.
To summarize, a great workout will incorporate both free weights and machines in combination. Try to make the center of your workouts free weights, but use the machines for more specialized lifts if necessary. One word of caution though, do not be lured in by the promises of infomercial style machines that promise to give you a total body workout. A lot of these machines use complex pulley systems, rubber bands, or are just shoddily constructed. If you want to construct a home gym, your first investment should be a free weight rack and a sturdy bench.
