Machines To Freeweights

[Ðragons]

ive been training for 14 months now, and id say for the first 9 months i totally left freeweights alone, and used machines, ok i put on some size... but anyone find that freeweights help build u better/feel better and generally look better? ive totally changed my thinking im doing freeweights all the time now for 5 months and try to stay away from the machines and have seen much more improvement, that might be due to 8-10lbs fat loss too, but i get the sense everything feels bigger and has more volume iff that makes sense.

my friend is a beginner and i tried to tell him not to waste his time on machines as it wont do that much for ya, so he thinks coz he can lift the 55kg on his bicep machine he will be able to curl 55kg no problem :p

i might be ranting now, so i wanted to get peoples opinions .

what dya prefer?

machines might be ok for beginners, coz some beginners dont like using hte free weights from fear of looking stupid but...

[RichLockyer]

Hey, I'm perfectly happy to look stupid benching the bar with a pair of 10's on each end and curling 25's.
Ya... freeweights are where it's at for many routines. They engage all of the "real world" muscles involved in balancing and stability that you'd use, say lifting a box or turning a wrench.
For some work, machines are still okay. If you're doing leg extensions or curls, it doesn't matter if it's a Hammer Strength machine, home gym cable, or a nautilus... the only difference is that what's 50lb on one machine may be 90 on another. Tricep rope pulldown is another one that's not TOO much weaker than using a bar or DB.

What it boils down to though, with a cage, incline/decline bench, full Oly's and a good DB set, there's nothing you can't do in the garage that you honestly need a gym for, except motivation... there's no hotties in my garage :)

[JSully]

I stick with freeweights for major exercises and machines for minor. Just basically mixing it up all the time. I'll do hammer strength incline and regular bench press as well as machine flyes, but I also do alot of barbell and dumbbell bench presses and dumbbell flyes as well. For me it just depends on my mood.

But in general, I get better development from free weights. And the best development from including both in my workouts.

[basil]

I use mostly freeweights, for the reason Rick mentioned above. But when I want to really isolate a muscle, I'll go to a machine, usually as a last exercise of the day. You know, to get that last bit of burn that you carry home and brag about.

[Kiaran]

I've read that free weights create a higher NMA (neuro-muscular response), which is great for making muscles grow. Reasoning behind this was that free weights create a heightened sense of danger/concentration to the lifter. Perhaps this is because when you are strapped to a machine, there are nice little tracks, guides and safety mechanisms that will save your a*s if you fail. Free weights prefer to just crush you when you fail. Also, the lifter needs to focus more on form and control with a free weight and they are working with true resistance (a lot of machines use cams, trying to create artificial resistance in sticking points they choose). With free weights, it's just you and gravity. I've always liked free wieghts better.

[geoffgarcia]

there gets to be a point when lifting free weights that if you dont have a spotter its just not worth it (for safety reasons) and you can get more benefit from machines.

Whether you can do the weight easily or not, all it takes is one muscle cramp, a torn pec, or whatever, and all of a sudden your face/chest is all thats gonna stop the bar...not to mention nobody is gonna be there to pull it off of you quickly. DB's are a little safer, but again, once you get up to high weights and your getting the weights into position that positioning can wreak havoc on your wrists.

[Kiaran]

understandable. 300 lbs of iron over your face with no spot probably isn't the brightest of ideas. Then again...

[Mission]

I stick mainly to freeweights. They give more burn and feel better IMO, but the main reason I use them is stabilizers. For instance, if you're moving heavy ass crates, you're going to need those stabilizers and not just the main muscle.

Once in a while I'll do an all machine day to give a little extra tone.

[kairar]

sumeone told me its better to use machine when you start training, to know how to position your body , then later switch to free weight

[RussianRocket]

machines do not ingage the stabalizer muscles like the free weights do.

[fixationdarknes]

I use both. But yeah, dumbbells are where it's at. Although I fear when I'm going to be lifting heavier in the future. I sure don't want my wrists and forearms to fall off.

[darkdan]

Hmmm, I single like 120 or so with freeweights I bet. I haven't tried yet.

But on my dad's weider home gym machine I do like 3 reps with a full stack which is supposed to be a 176 lbs or so.