Started SL yesterday, question about machines??

lisa483

Hi

I started SL yesterday and used machines for workout A. My problem is I do not have any free weights etc, which I understand is better for these workouts. I am in the process of moving so a gym membership is not really an option, plus money is tight with saving.

My question is, is it okay for maybe a few months to use machines, I have a free gym in my apartment block which only has machines?? I do plan to, when I have moved have a gym at home and get all the necessary equipment needed.

Any advice would be great. I really want to get into this SL and hope I will still see good results from using machines for a little while

Thanks :0)

DaniH826

Machines are not ideal because many of them force your body to move in non-natural ways, and so any gains you make on them aren't really true strength gains like they would be with free weights. Basically, a lot of the machines out there give you a sense of false accomplishment but add nothing much by way of true strength gains (which is what the focus of Stronglifts is).

Having said that, not all machines are created equal, and your best bet is to use those that "emulate" free weights. For example, using pulleys for lat pulldowns and rows, while not in the Stronglifts lifting sequence, are still a pretty great workout that engage quite a few muscle groups.

Basically, my advice would be to stay away from anything that isolates muscle groups in a way that's unnatural and therefore useless ( for example, no biceps in the world ever engages by itself with anything we normally do with our bodies, ever .. so unless you're a body builder looking to bulk specific muscles to achieve a certain look, biceps curls are pretty useless).

You can go a long ways using heavier dumbbells also, if your gym has those. That would be a better solution than some machine that forces you to move unnaturally and teaches you bad form, because, for example, doing overhead presses with heavier dumbbells will force you to engage your core for stability and balance the way a weighted barbell would.

You basically can't call it "Stronglifts" in the strict sense of the word unless there are barbells/free weights involved because that's what Stronglifts is designed around. BUT nobody says that Stronglifts is the only game in town. Find compound lifting moves that work out as many muscle groups together as possible becaus that's how our bodies are designed to move. You should be able to make do with alternate compound moves that ought to go a long way to prepare you for free weights/barbells when the time comes, and should enable you to "hit the ground running" at that point do follow the actual Stronglifts course, should you so desire. You just have to get a little creative with it.