If you’ve been going to the gym for any period of time, or you’ve taken some time to research physical fitness, you may have heard the age old argument on whether working out with free weights or machines is better. It’s pretty well sustained that both free weights and machines each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately though, it is the free weights that always seem to win the argument.

Why free weights are better than machines

It’s a well known fact that free weights have been around long before machines ever showed up in your local gym. There’s a reason for that. They just do the job better. First, the human movement that is accomplished during lifting of free weights simply can not be duplicated by a machine. The strain your muscles go through in trying to balance and keep the free weight steady is a far better workout for your body than a machine can give you. Second, using free weights in the gym is much more closely related to the strain your muscles might use while in a real life situation. The correctness of a weight machine just can’t translate into real life muscle movement. Further, using free weights can actually prove to do less harm on your joints than a weight machine. By moving your joints over and over in an absolute fixed motion on a machine, you are more likely to experience joint problems. Thus, free weights are better than machines.

Advantages of machines over free weights

To be fair, I should explain a few things I think to be advantages of using machines rather than free weights. One advantage is the fact that machines allow you to perform the proper technique when lifting weights. It is sometimes scary the amount of people I see at the gym using free weights with improper technique. These are the type of people that should be learning technique on a machine first, then switching to free weights. Another great advantage of machines over free weights is the fact that machines essentially have built in spotters, making your workout much safer. You’re able to max out your repetitions for the ultimate strength workout without having to worry about the weight coming crashing down on you if you can’t lift that last rep.

Concluding, we’ve covered the important factors of free weights vs machines. In the end, you can’t really go wrong using free weights over machine weights. Next time you’re in the gym take a shot at using the free weights. Not only will you find that free weights are better than machines, you’ll also find your strength improve ten-fold over time.

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