If you walk into any gym today, you’ll see a good supply of free weights and machines. The question is, if you’re looking to build strength, what’s the best way to go about it? We now know that resistance training is the best way to build muscle, but the argument in the fitness world is whether we should be using free weights or machines?
According to fitness experts, there’s no universally accepted explanation for this question. To them, working with free weights or machines would largely depend on what the situation is and what you’re trying to achieve. Importantly, however, is the fact that free weights and machines help you achieve the same goals, which make you stronger, but they do it in different ways.
What are the free weights, and what are machines?
Free weights are anything you can pick up, hold, and use for exercises like dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells. Machines, on the other hand, are something you can pull or push while sitting on it. Machines are designed in a way where you choose the size of the weights you want to work with by putting a pin on it. There are different types of machines for achieving different purposes. There’s a chest press machine that’s focused on the chest. There’s a leg extension machine that helps you build muscles on the leg.
Free weights or machines?
Free weights and machines help you grow strong, but the road to achieving this goal is different. So if you want to know which is better for you, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve.
If what you’re after is general body fitness, then the free weight has proven to be the better option. This is because when you use free weights, you support your body yourself instead of using machines for support, which is not a great way to achieve general body fitness.
If you’re trying to rehabilitate yourself from an injury, then machines are the right strength trainer for you. This is because machines give you the support needed as you gradually build up muscles in a targeted area.
There’s no straightforward explanation to the question of whether free weights or machines are better. They serve the same purpose but in different ways. Know what your goal is and use the right equipment to achieve it.
