Machines vs. free weights?

[ghg]

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:

Sounds like a fun hobby...

 

[PersonGuy]

GHG do you currently work out now? Or is this something you're just beginning to look into?

My advice given your situation is this. If you find it difficult to use free weights properly you most likely won't see the full benefit of them over machines. If you can properly work out on a machine I'd go that route. A friend of mine has a bowflex and I know that machine gets a lot of sh*t but I used it for a year or so and I saw a huge improvement over free weights. It truly does depend on the person in most cases. But no matter what you choose, any exercise done properly is better than none at all.

 

[s.a.f]

And since you're not going for the Olympia title dont worry too much about it anyway.

 

[ghg]

GHG do you currently work out now? Or is this something you're just beginning to look into?

My advice given your situation is this. If you find it difficult to use free weights properly you most likely won't see the full benefit of them over machines. If you can properly work out on a machine I'd go that route. A friend of mine has a bowflex and I know that machine gets a lot of s*** but I used it for a year or so and I saw a huge improvement over free weights. It truly does depend on the person in most cases. But no matter what you choose, any exercise done properly is better than none at all.

Yeah I know... currently I'm doing free weights the best I can but mostly on machines and cables. I have made quite a lot of progress in 3 months. Not much visible muscle but my max on most machines has risen 20 kg or so.

 

[powersam]

thats a very good point actually.

machines stop the everday joe doing his exercises completely wrong.

free weights may technically be better, and offer best results, but not until you are doing things competitively.

this thread has made me want to use machines, but as i don't go to gyms i'll stick with free. plus i kinda enjoy making up my own moves, stops me from getting bored and i prefer intuition over junk science anyday.

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

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:

First of all...BOTH of those are free weights....a machine would be like a hammer strength bench or a smith machine bench.

Secondly dumbbell bench pressing does offer SLIGHTLY more r.o.m. but what you gain in that you lose in weight....most ppl can barbell bench press much more than db press.

you honestly think going down a few more inches is gonna add more "cuts" to your chest?....c'mon man.

as far the the barbell for size and db for "cutness" bullshit....
it reallly doesnt matter what you chose to do if you want to get bigger...ideally you should mix it up every few MONTHS.
teh key to gaining size is a EATING and PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD....which means every week you should be either doing more weight (which is harder with dumbbells since the jump is 5lbs each dumbbell) or doing more reps...if you are constantly adding more weight and eating enough you willl grow...it doesnt matter if you bench dumbbells, barbells, sinter blocks, cars, cows....it doesnt matter.

 

[pleasehelpme]

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:

First of all...BOTH of those are free weights....a machine would be like a hammer strength bench or a smith machine bench.

Secondly dumbbell bench pressing does offer SLIGHTLY more r.o.m. but what you gain in that you lose in weight....most ppl can barbell bench press much more than db press.

you honestly think going down a few more inches is gonna add more "cuts" to your chest?....c'mon man.

as far the the barbell for size and db for "cutness" bullshit....
it reallly doesnt matter what you chose to do if you want to get bigger...ideally you should mix it up every few MONTHS.
teh key to gaining size is a EATING and PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD....which means every week you should be either doing more weight (which is harder with dumbbells since the jump is 5lbs each dumbbell) or doing more reps...if you are constantly adding more weight and eating enough you willl grow...it doesnt matter if you bench dumbbells, barbells, sinter blocks, cars, cows....it doesnt matter.

spot on
lol, bb for size and db for "cutness"

 

[hopewas]

free weights are definitely a lot better..if you want to get weights that can suit your hand better because it only has 4 fingers,..i highly suggest kettle bell weights

 

[hair today gone tomorrow]

free weights are definitely a lot better..if you want to get weights that can suit your hand better because it only has 4 fingers,..i highly suggest kettle bell weights

kettle bells are sick!!

 

[ghg]

free weights are definitely a lot better..if you want to get weights that can suit your hand better because it only has 4 fingers,..i highly suggest kettle bell weights

Yeah could be better than dumbells. Thanks, I'll have to look into it...

 

[hopewas]

unfortunately,they're expensive,..but lots of pro athletes prefer them