Gym machines vs. free weights

Machines isolate muscle movements - they force you into the right form by doing all of the stabilizing for you. Free weights force you to use your muscles to stabilize yourself.

edit to add: That's not to say one is inherently better or worse than the other, it depends on what your goals are.

edit to add again, to clarify: There will always be a difference between picking up a 5lb plate with your bare hands and picking that plate up with a cable and pulley system. Pulleys make lifting heavy things easier, it's what they're for, if you remember your elementary-school science lessons on simple machines. If you're finding that, say, doing biceps curls with 10lb dumbbells is harder than preacher curls on the machine set at 10lbs, it's because of that stabilization that I mentioned more than anything, but also the plate labeled 10lbs does probably have a gross weight greater than 10lbs - they compensate for the help from the pulley(s), but they can't compensate for the individual variation in ability among users. Also, yes, different companies have different designs for their isolation resistance training equipment and sometimes the increment is different from one brand to another, or even one machine to the next within the same brand.

goal06082021 wrote: »

Machines isolate muscle movements - they force you into the right form by doing all of the stabilizing for you. Free weights force you to use your muscles to stabilize yourself.

edit to add: That's not to say one is inherently better or worse than the other, it depends on what your goals are.

edit to add again, to clarify: There will always be a difference between picking up a 5lb plate with your bare hands and picking that plate up with a cable and pulley system. Pulleys make lifting heavy things easier, it's what they're for, if you remember your elementary-school science lessons on simple machines. If you're finding that, say, doing biceps curls with 10lb dumbbells is harder than preacher curls on the machine set at 10lbs, it's because of that stabilization that I mentioned more than anything, but also the plate labeled 10lbs does probably have a gross weight greater than 10lbs - they compensate for the help from the pulley(s), but they can't compensate for the individual variation in ability among users. Also, yes, different companies have different designs for their isolation resistance training equipment and sometimes the increment is different from one brand to another, or even one machine to the next within the same brand.

Cherimoose wrote: »

IllustriousBee wrote: »

I personally prefer using the machines over the free weights just because the machine kind of forces you into the right form.

Well, machines force you into their form, but whether it's good form depends on whether the machine fits your proportions - which is not always the case, and has injured people before. Unfortunately many trainers aren't knowledgeable enough about kinesiology to determine if a machine truly fits you. Then there is the issue of how machines don't simulate how multiple muscle groups coordinate together when we lift things outside the gym, and that too can cause injuries if those skills aren't trained. Learning & using proper form for freeweights isn't that difficult for most people, especially with the resources on youtube and elsewhere.
Thank you for listening to my rant.

The first bolded is an excellent point and should have been something that occurred to me, a 5'2" woman with a 26" inseam and an ample chest. The people who designed all of the iso machines at my gym did so with a body that shares no features with mine, beyond the general "four limbs, bipedal locomotion" body schema common to humans. The machines are generally designed with a user in mind who stands about 5'8" tall (+/- about 3-4 inches), with average limb proportions and a flat chest. Preacher curls, triceps pushdowns, seated rows, leg curls and extensions, and the hip ad/abductor machines are all hard for me to use - my chest gets in the way of the ones with a chest pad; I can't get my butt and my knees to both be in the right place at the same time to use the leg machines.

I do agree with the second bolded, that's kind of what I was getting at, but yesterday was a long day and I wasn't wordsing very goodly. :P

Usually I prefer free weights to machines for the reason that they force you to stabilize. But there are some machines that I find important to me. Barbell back squats are too dangerous for me, so I stick with a Smith machine. I can’t do pull-ups or dips with my own body weight, but I found a great “assist” machine where you set the weight to counterbalance your own weight.

Cable machines for lat and triceps pull down work great.

It’s like running, rowing or biking, do what you enjoy, and if you enjoy more than one, enjoy the variety.

A couple things not mentioned which I ran into personally in the gym...

First, don't assume the numbers listed are in pounds. Check. I have one machine at my gym which measures everything in kilograms. Not a problem, IF you are aware of this fact. (Fun fact: 100 lb does NOT weigh the same as 100 kg!)

Second, another machine at my place has twin pulleys rather than a single one. The idea is for each hand to pull a separate pulley, enabling the user to work each limb independently of the other. BUT, both cables connect to the same weight stack. (Still trying to wrap my head around how this minor engineering miracle works...) Anyway, the weights listed are for each arm, not combined like it'd be easy to assume were the case.

I think the weights on the machines are mostly accurate. For reference, with chin ups I usually do 185lbs for 3 x 8 and on the reverse lat pulldown which is almost the same movement I do 200lbs for 3 x 8. It makes sense that I can lift slightly more weight on the lat pulldown because I use less stabilizing muscles. And it's the same for chest press compared to the dumbbell bench press.