Free weights vs weight machines

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Replies

  • PoshDinosaur
    PoshDinosaur Posts: 49 Member
    That's a good point about the risk of dropping. I involuntarily moved my foot when unread it!

    For me though, the only time I've actually pulled something at the gym was using the odd cable machine. I put it down to an unusual posture and having little control over the movement.
  • TamaBrett
    TamaBrett Posts: 22 Member
    A lot of the exercises above are not appropriate. Anyone over 40yr needs to be careful about back and shoulders. You should not be doing exercises such as squats, deadlifts and military press, especially if you don't have a history of doing these exercises.
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    Free weights will always be superior to weight machines due to the fact you will use your muscles more ( your core) to keep balanced.
  • pinky_pinkster
    pinky_pinkster Posts: 56 Member
    I don't know the technical difference but I do know that free weights always make me feel like i'm working harder than when I use the machines. I also find that the machines sometimes give an unnatural movement.
    I take a small notebook with me to the gym with free weight exercise pictures I've cut out of fitness magazines :smile:
  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
    machines are good for beginners
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    I prefer the machines for a few reasons. I know that free weights are better for your core and help with balance and all that, but the machines do all the thinking for me. And I'm ok with that. I'm a total spaz and lack concentration, so if I don't have someone or something (machine) guiding my range of motion I'm all over the place and getting injured. Plus, the machines are all lined up in order, so I don't forget what I'm supposed to be doing. This is good for scatter-brains like me. :wink:

    I do know how to use the machines correctly and haven't had any problems with injuries, etc. The trainers have told me I have good form. I do a complete circuit and it doesn't take that long because I've lifting small reps at heavy weights, not hundreds of light reps like some do. I figure the machines are far better than doing nothing at all. I have decreased body fat, increased lean mass and my running pace, and I like the way it makes me look. (I'm not as scrawny as I was before.)

    Aside from that, I don't even know if I could even get into the free weight area. It's so clogged with people and the equipment is scattered everywhere. It's *kitten* to elbows over there, and just me and some old people over on the machines. I'm getting the results I want so I'm good with it. :flowerforyou:
  • rougenoire
    rougenoire Posts: 114 Member
    Must read this properly later, lots of useful replies!
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Very interested in this topic right now as I've been told I shouldn't use the free weights by my exercise physiologist today :(
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    Some good advice here.

    I would go and see one of the trainers at the gym and get them to write a programme for you. Machines are good when you are starting, but free weights are excellent for your core and also will give you full range of movement, can use compound groups of muscles and make you learn better technique. I use free weights when I can, but if no benches or area is available then I'll do the machines.

    Also with free weights, you then learn what to do anywhere, not just at the gym.

    A good book to get: the New Rules of Weight Lifting for women - also a group on MFP. Awesome stuff!

    Good luck with your goals!
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/01/24/rage-against-the-machine-how-to-switch-from-exercise-machines-to-free-weights/

    Look into:
    Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe
    Stronglifts 5X5
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    A lot of the exercises above are not appropriate. Anyone over 40yr needs to be careful about back and shoulders. You should not be doing exercises such as squats, deadlifts and military press, especially if you don't have a history of doing these exercises.

    Bullpoop. I'm over 40 and I work my back and shoulders BECAUSE I'm being careful about them. What better way to avoid injury than by being strong?

    Lifting weights allows me to increase my strength in a safe, slow, controlled way. I don't know what you imagine lifting to be, but I don't lift anything I can't handle. I increase the weight in 2-5 pound amounts when I'm able to complete my reps in good form at the previous weight.

    Whether I lift weights or not, I'm still going to need to buy heavy bags of cat litter year 'round, garden soil and mulch in the spring, and rock salt in the winter. I'm still going to need to shovel my sidewalks when it snows, carry laundry and groceries, and sometimes move furniture. I want to be able to do those things without risking injury, now and in the future.

    Before weight lifting, I was laid up on the couch with some kind of "I did something I shouldn't have" injury at least three times a year. Once, I twisted funny while cleaning up cat vomit and threw out my back.

    In the past two years, the only injury I had was a stress fracture from running. My collection of wrist, knee, and ankle braces, and ace bandages, are just collecting dust. :smile:
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
    A lot of the exercises above are not appropriate. Anyone over 40yr needs to be careful about back and shoulders. You should not be doing exercises such as squats, deadlifts and military press, especially if you don't have a history of doing these exercises.

    Bull. I started lifting at 46. I have not had a single injury. Max squat 305, deadlift 285, overhead press 135
    These are exactly the exercises someone over 40 needs.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    And about the "dropping the weight on my foot" fear... it's not very likely. I used to have that paranoia myself, until I thought about it. The very shape of a barbell means that there's a nice bridge over your feet. If your lifting a barbell where the weight itself can hit your foot, you're doing it very, very wrong.

    The plates themselves are generally not that heavy. The big ones are typically 45 pounds. If you're using 45's on an olympic bar, that means your total weight is going to be 135 pounds. If you can do whatever it is you're going to do with 135 pounds, you should be able to manage to put the 45 pound plate on the bar without dropping it. IE, if you can't manage one plate, you won't be able to manage the bar and two plates.

    Granted, accidents happen, but accidents can happen anywhere at any time. That's why they're called accidents. But if you're careful while lifting, and not slathering yourself with butter beforehand, you shouldn't have any problems. :smile:
  • RunDoozer
    RunDoozer Posts: 1,699 Member
    Granted, accidents happen, but accidents can happen anywhere at any time. That's why they're called accidents. But if you're careful while lifting, and not slathering yourself with butter beforehand, you shouldn't have any problems. :smile:

    I need to try that sometime and see what looks I get. I love butter.
  • NobodyInParticular
    NobodyInParticular Posts: 352 Member
    I love free weights but they both have their positives.
    For someone new... I'd start with machines to ensure you have the right form and range of motions
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
    Granted, accidents happen, but accidents can happen anywhere at any time. That's why they're called accidents. But if you're careful while lifting, and not slathering yourself with butter beforehand, you shouldn't have any problems. :smile:

    I need to try that sometime and see what looks I get. I love butter.

    Slathering in butter before lifting would be a great way to work on grip strength.
  • jimmie65
    jimmie65 Posts: 655 Member
    I love free weights but they both have their positives.
    For someone new... I'd start with machines to ensure you have the right form and range of motions

    I'm not sure I understand what you mean. How can machines ensure range of motion when they limit it?
  • OhLibra
    OhLibra Posts: 221 Member
    Bump
  • NobodyInParticular
    NobodyInParticular Posts: 352 Member
    Because they encourage only the correct range of motion. There are settings on each machine to ensure you're achieving a full range of motion as well. Just adjust and you're not limited.
  • vjrose
    vjrose Posts: 809 Member
    I do agree with the free weights as being more overall, however, there are plenty of folks out there that if it weren't for the machines would be getting no strength training at all. I'm a perfect example, lots of negotiation convinced my doctors to take off the leash on lifting over 40 lbs but only on the machines. As a victim of two abdominals surgeries (one an abdominal hernia precipitated by the first surgery) the machines allow me to get my weights in without ticking them off. Free weights i would be restricted to 40lbs, on the machines I run from 50 - 80 and working up. So, for some of us, machines, properly used, are a valid method of strength training and certainly better than only doing cardio.

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