Bodyweight, machines or free weights?

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samoejr
samoejr Posts: 30 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys,

So I did Crossfit for about 4 months and got really good results, but I moved to another country 4 months ago and have hardly been working out since. Naturally, I put on lots of weight and lost muscle mass therefore got depressed. Anyhow I need to start working out again and there are no Crossfit boxes where I am now. Which would be a better approach to rebuild my muscles and lose the incredible amount of fat I have (currently 44% BF!); bodyweight training, machines or free weights? Oh and I have lower back disc problems.

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  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
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    diet is the best approach for losing weight. And any regular exercise will be beneficial. Since you did crossfit you should have a general idea of what kinds of exercises you like. Do something you like. If you want to get sculpted, its a more complicated answer than which of those three choices is best.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
    edited December 2016
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    Your diet is going to have more impact than anything on you losing fat...

    In general I prefer free weights and compound movements at the foundation...I use machines for some assistance and isolation work.

    People also do great with body weight training...either or is fine, I just wouldn't make machines the foundation of any program unless I had to, but that's just me.

    ETA: you should probably check with your doctor or physical therapist in regards to your disk problems. In July I herniated a disk and spent 8 weeks in PT and it's been pretty slow healing all around...I'm cleared now to use free weights, but certain things are still off limits like back squats.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Since you have disc problems, it's probably best for you to discuss this with a physical therapist that can assess your particular situation. Normally, I'd have some other suggestions, but I'd rather not risk giving you bad advice that might make matters worse for you.
  • samoejr
    samoejr Posts: 30 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Your diet is going to have more impact than anything on you losing fat...

    In general I prefer free weights and compound movements at the foundation...I use machines for some assistance and isolation work.

    People also do great with body weight training...either or is fine, I just wouldn't make machines the foundation of any program unless I had to, but that's just me.

    ETA: you should probably check with your doctor or physical therapist in regards to your disk problems. In July I herniated a disk and spent 8 weeks in PT and it's been pretty slow healing all around...I'm cleared now to use free weights, but certain things are still off limits like back squats.

    Sorry to hear that. But glad to hear you're good to use free weights. Back problems are a real pain!
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    I prefer free weights and machines, hate bodyweight.

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