Machines vs. free weights?

[ghg]

So, like I have told you earlier I have got only 4 fingers in my right hand... luckily I got a make-shift "thumb" so I can grab things almost normally. Anyways, I find it very difficult to work out with free weights with my right hand so I'm using more machines than your average gym-joe. I've heard that free weights are far more beneficial compared to the machines... is this true? Oh, I also use a lot of that "wire" thing, does that count as a machine? Sorry, my english gym vocabulary sucks. A lot.

 

[s.a.f]

Technicly free weights are supposed to be better especialy for improving symetry than using machines but the benifit is only minimal.

 

[ghg]

Yeah, thanks that's good to know. It's not that I can't exercise with free weights but it just feels so hard compared to the machines and the "wire thingie" I mentioned. What the f*** is that called in english anyways? Is it cable?

 

[Sean68]

cable, cord, wire thingy. its all good.

 

[metalheaddude]

With free weights its all about the extra free range of movement that you cant get with machines. It just makes you more ripped. Also the fact that you cheat using machines without knowing it, for example one leg or arm that is stronger than the opposing arm or leg could be doing more of the work, thus creating an imbalance and one side will develop faster than the other. This is not a factor with free weights.

Personally I hate machines or even the barbell when using bench press its dangeous! Ive almost had it fall on me a few times because I dont use a spotter. Thats also another benefit of free weights. No spotters are required, so you cant call yourself like with a barbell bench press.

 

[ghg]

With free weights its all about the extra free range of movement that you cant get with machines. It just makes you more ripped. Also the fact that you cheat using machines without knowing it, for example one leg or arm that is stronger than the opposing arm or leg could be doing more of the work, thus creating an imbalance and one side will develop faster than the other. This is not a factor with free weights.

Personally I hate machines or even the barbell when using bench press its dangeous! Ive almost had it fall on me a few times because I dont use a spotter. Thats also another benefit of free weights. No spotters are required, so you cant call yourself like with a barbell bench press.

Yeah I realize that but it's just very difficult to get a proper grip with only 3 fingers + make-shift thumb. The grip is not wide enough.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

With free weights its all about the extra free range of movement that you cant get with machines. It just makes you more ripped. Also the fact that you cheat using machines without knowing it, for example one leg or arm that is stronger than the opposing arm or leg could be doing more of the work, thus creating an imbalance and one side will develop faster than the other. This is not a factor with free weights.

Personally I hate machines or even the barbell when using bench press its dangeous! Ive almost had it fall on me a few times because I dont use a spotter. Thats also another benefit of free weights. No spotters are required, so you cant call yourself like with a barbell bench press.

machines dont make you "more ripped" watching what you eat and cardio makes you more ripped.

The reason why free weights are better is because all the stabilizing and secondary muscles you use to perform the lifts. with machines the motion you follow is a fixed path every rep...with free weights your stabilizing muscles are recruited to support the weight rather that the design of the machine. Also most machines are isolate muscle groups (the are exceptions like power squats) and with free weights you can do compound lifts (i.e. two joints moving rather than 1 which means more than 1 muscle group is being used)....

 

[rusty_y2k2]

The reason why free weights are better is because all the stabilizing and secondary muscles you use to perform the lifts. with machines the motion you follow is a fixed path every rep...with free weights your stabilizing muscles are recruited to support the weight rather that the design of the machine. Also most machines are isolate muscle groups (the are exceptions like power squats) and with free weights you can do compound lifts (i.e. two joints moving rather than 1 which means more than 1 muscle group is being used)....

Spot on... and the more muscle you recruit, the more growth you get.

Free weights over machine almost every time, although machines do serve a purpose.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

[quote="hair today gone tomorrow":7clwup35]

The reason why free weights are better is because all the stabilizing and secondary muscles you use to perform the lifts. with machines the motion you follow is a fixed path every rep...with free weights your stabilizing muscles are recruited to support the weight rather that the design of the machine. Also most machines are isolate muscle groups (the are exceptions like power squats) and with free weights you can do compound lifts (i.e. two joints moving rather than 1 which means more than 1 muscle group is being used)....

Spot on... and the more muscle you recruit, the more growth you get.

Free weights over machine almost every time, although machines do serve a purpose.[/quote:7clwup35]

yah just like smith machines....they make a nice towel rack :mrgreen:

 

[rusty_y2k2]

lol - a man after my own heart...

Back when I used to be a gym instructor I tried to steer people away from the machines and towards the freeweights but a lot of them preferred to use things like the smith machine (especially when i wasn't around lol) because it allowed them to lift bigger weights and look more manly as a result :shakehead:


They can be useful to bust through plateaus by specifically hammering your weakest muscle in isolation with a big weight, but only if you use them corrrectly and are targeting the correct muscle. Also useful for rehabilitation (although free weights done correctly and under constant supervision can be even more so in my opinion). And make good towel racks as you say... that's about it.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

i love watching people squat on smith machines

have fun destroying your knees...lol :mrgreen:

 

[pleasehelpme]

hair today gone tomorrow nailed it on the spot.
Free weights incorporate more stabilizing muscle groups than machines do, and neither machines nor freeweights help you get more "ripped" than the other. Like the dude said, shedding fat is most imporantly about proper diet + nutrition.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

hair today gone tomorrow nailed it on the spot.
Free weights incorporate more stabilizing muscle groups than machines do, and neither machines nor freeweights help you get more "ripped" than the other. Like the dude said, shedding fat is most imporantly about proper diet + nutrition.

:bravo:

 

[metalheaddude]

hair today gone tomorrow nailed it on the spot.
Free weights incorporate more stabilizing muscle groups than machines do, and neither machines nor freeweights help you get more "ripped" than the other. Like the dude said, shedding fat is most imporantly about proper diet + nutrition.

:bravo:

No no no no no no and no!

Ok most of that is correct to but most poeple over looked my input and thats that you cant change the fact that free weights still have a greater range of movement than machines, so you can actually develop the muscle more completely and evenly than what you would with machines. So for that simple fact you can create more starations in the muscle fibre. Hence "yes" it can make u look more ripped when u diet down. Ive only ever lifted free weights and I have freaky defintion compared to some of my friends who do more machine compound lifting. Sure they are big, but their muscle lacks detail.

 

[ghg]

hair today gone tomorrow nailed it on the spot.
Free weights incorporate more stabilizing muscle groups than machines do, and neither machines nor freeweights help you get more "ripped" than the other. Like the dude said, shedding fat is most imporantly about proper diet + nutrition.

:bravo:

No no no no no no and no!

Ok most of that is correct to but most poeple over looked my input and thats that you cant change the fact that free weights still have a greater range of movement than machines, so you can actually develop the muscle more completely and evenly than what you would with machines. So for that simple fact you can create more starations in the muscle fibre. Hence "yes" it can make u look more ripped when u diet down. Ive only ever lifted free weights and I have freaky defintion compared to some of my friends who do more machine compound lifting. Sure they are big, but their muscle lacks detail.

Might be due to genetics or diet, no? Ever thought about that?

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

hair today gone tomorrow nailed it on the spot.
Free weights incorporate more stabilizing muscle groups than machines do, and neither machines nor freeweights help you get more "ripped" than the other. Like the dude said, shedding fat is most imporantly about proper diet + nutrition.

:bravo:

No no no no no no and no!

Ok most of that is correct to but most poeple over looked my input and thats that you cant change the fact that free weights still have a greater range of movement than machines, so you can actually develop the muscle more completely and evenly than what you would with machines. So for that simple fact you can create more starations in the muscle fibre. Hence "yes" it can make u look more ripped when u diet down. Ive only ever lifted free weights and I have freaky defintion compared to some of my friends who do more machine compound lifting. Sure they are big, but their muscle lacks detail.

Im not gonna sit here and argue with you...youre wrong....and you cant compare yourself to your friends...there are so many variables you are failing to consider.

muscle shape is genetic btw.

 

[metalheaddude]

So you disagree that free weights have greater range of momevent than machines?

If you disagree you really are a moron....




So now im assuming you agree with this FACT now, so what might the extra benefits of this extra movement have on the muscles? Please do enlighten us, oh mighty one :roll:

to use your words, you just got "OWNED"

 

[docj077]

The extra range of motion is beneficial to the advanced weightlifter, but it is a great hinderance to those just starting. Machines typically teach proper form in the absence of a quality coach or guide. That is where their usefulness ends. If you have a quality weightlifting machine, you willl never be able to tell the difference between free weights and the machine as all the more expensive machines take you through your entire range of motion and are quite good at mimicing freeweights in terms of balance and resistance.

In reality, if you have a decent machine, then all freeweights do is take up space.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

So you disagree that free weights have greater range of momevent than machines?

If you disagree you really are a moron....




So now im assuming you agree with this FACT now, so what might the extra benefits of this extra movement have on the muscles? Please do enlighten us, oh mighty one :roll:

to use your words, you just got "OWNED"

What do you mean by greater range of movement? do you mean that they are not fixed in a straight path? that they dont offere 3-d range of movement like traditional free weights?....

The benefit they have is
1) functional strength (for sports)
2) the ability to perform compound lifts which lmore efficiently leads to hypertrophic goals
3) the ability to recruit stablizing muscles that cannot be stimulated using a isolation machine...there are hundreds of mucles in the human body....there arent machines that can directly stimulate those stabilizng muscles so the only way they are worked is through compound lifts and balancing and stabalizing the weight during lifts (the machine usually does this when using machines)

if you want to get ripped you need to lift to develop the muscles and diet so shed the fat from your body. its that simple.

 

[metalheaddude]

HTGT. Have you ever done bench press with the dumbells?

When you bench with a barbell you cant lower the weight past a certain point because the bar hits your chest. But if you have ever done bench presses with dumbells you can actually take the dumbells right down past the the level of your chest and really stick your chest out, then push it and squeeze it up. Thats how I have always done benches. Granted my chest is not as big as some friends of mine who I play Rugby with but when we take our shirts off my chest has more lines and cuts in it and their chest is more big and round. I could be wrong, but its just a personal observation. Ive also read on many bodybuilding pages if you want to bench for size use a barbell if you want more cuts use dumbells for your bench :dunno: