Dear Lazy but Determined, First of all, it’s great you’re getting back to your workouts. I know how hard it can be to start again after taking a long break. It’s also great that you picked up some fitness magazines and books for pointers. I can’t tell you how many folks just head to the gym without any rhyme or reason to their workouts. When it comes to lifting weights, you want to do it right, with the correct form. Demonstration photos, books, or magazines are really important. These photos generally show a combination of free weight exercises, usually with dumbbells and barbells, and machines, usually cable or Nautilus. But your question gets to the heart of one of the biggest debates in the fitness world: which is better free weights or machines? Some people get fanatical about this and say that free weights give you the best results. Others say machines give you a better workout. My answer is that both work and whichever you choose really depends on your specific fitness level and goals. Let’s start with machines: What I like best about machines is that you don’t have to pay so much attention to form, balance and coordination. The machine guides you through the movement, almost like having your own personal trainer. For this reason, machines are perfect for first timers, seniors, and if you’re recovering from an injury. One machine that gives you a great workout for strengthening and toning your pectorals or chest muscles is the “pec deck.” I really love this one. One of the reasons why it works so well is that the machine “forces” you to perform the proper movement. What’s more, it helps isolate your chest muscles without involving lots of other muscles so you get the most bang for your buck. For men, this machine can help give you nice definition to your chest muscles -- you know that line down the center. For women, this machine does a great job of firming and toning things up. If you try this same movement with free weights or dumbbells, it’s sometimes hard to get the same controlled movement isolating just your chest, especially for those of you new to fitness. Machines are also good if you want to add circuit training to your routine. Circuit training involves going from one machine to the next with little rest in between. You use a very light weight and perform each exercise until your muscles are fatigued and can’t do another repetition. The machines allow you to go quickly from one exercise to the next without having to mess around with lots of different dumbbells and barbells. Circuit training is a terrific way to build muscular endurance and add some variation to your workout routine. Now on to free weights. You might get intimidated at the gym because many of the big bodybuilders are monopolizing all the free weights. Don’t be! One of the reasons many athletes like to train with free weights over machines is that they require more balance, coordination and stabilizer muscles. For example, if you’re doing a standing dumbbell shoulder press, you’re not only working your shoulder muscles but also your abdominals and leg muscles to stabilize your body. Some research shows that you can even burn more calories doing your weight training activities standing rather than sitting. Free weights are more versatile than machines, allowing more range of motion and variation. And if you want to work out at home, nothing beats a set of dumbbells. They are inexpensive and take up very little space. If you decide to use free weights you must always be aware of your form. There’s much more room for error as opposed to the controlled movement on a machine. And use a weight that’s comfortable but not too heavy. If the weight is too heavy you’re going to sacrifice form and that’s a real invitation for injury. As for me, I like to use a combination of free weights and machines. For the upper body I like to use dumbbells. Particularly, I like to do dumbbell exercises standing when I can (standing shoulder press, standing bicep curl and standing triceps extension are good ones). For my legs I like the leg extension, leg press and leg curl machines. If you have any kind of knee problems, machines are the way to go. Whether you use machines or free weights, the bottom line is consistency and variation of your workouts. Mix up it up, but ultimately listen to your body and do what feels right for you. © Joe Decker 2003 |