Why Free Weights Are Superior To Machines
It's an old debate: which are superior for building lean muscle mass, barbells and dumbbells, or machines and cables? I'll tell you the answer - barbells and dumbbells, hands down. Now I'll tell you why.
First, let me define what I mean by "free weights" and "machines." Free weights basically consist of movements involving barbells or dumbbells. Sometimes, a piece of additional equipment may also be needed, but if a barbell or dumbbell is involved, it's a free weight movement. For example, preacher curls (preacher bench), dumbbell flyes (bench), and squats (rack) all qualify as free weights.
Machines are basically everything else. In most cases, you sit down when you use machines - obviously, there are exceptions, such as the leg press machine (where you basically lie on your back), the cable station (where you stand), and the lying leg curl machine (where you lie on your front). Even apparatus where you use plates instead of a weight stack are considered machines - for example, the Hammer Strength machines.
Now I won't completely discredit the use of machines in building your body. Machines, when used correctly, and at appropriate times, have numerous advantages. But forget everything you've been told about "circuit training" and "toning" and "you can get a complete workout using these ten Cybex machines." It just ain't gonna happen.
You must use certain machines in your routine. That's a given. To sculpt and refine the body, you should incorporate leg extensions, leg curls, lat pulldowns, and calf raises into your routine. But that's exactly what they're used for - to put the finishing touches in your workouts. Contrary to what some may think, machines will never pack serious mass onto your body.
Besides the minor adjustments that you can make on the average machine - for example, sliding the chair up and down - you're forced to work the muscles according to the groove of the machine. Common sense will tell you that we're all different, so there's no way these machines are going to work for everyone. These aren't "one-size-fits-all" devices; these machines are designed with the average bodybuilder in mind. Considering the fact that both men and women use these machines, and they have to also accomodate the large variety in size between individual women and men, it's ridiculous to think that a machine will be perfectly suited to your body. Biomechanically, it's just not going to work. Take, for example, IFBB pro Paul Dillett. He's 6'2", and when he uses the Hammer Strength lat pulldown machine, he has to grip the actual bars of the machine, not the rubber handles, because his arms are longer than, say, a more typical 5'9" bodybuilder. And Hammer Strength are one of the best companies that manufacture bodybuilding machines.
They say that machines will help you avoid injury, and, to some extent, they will. You don't need a spotter to rescue you from a heavy weight, and nothing's ever going to fall on top of you. But forcing your body to move according to the grooves of the machine is not healthy at all. Maybe you won't get crushed by a heavy barbell or dumbbell, but at times, you'll definitely feel strain.
Machines are useful as supplementary exercises, or for such techniques as pre-exhaustion and drop sets ("stripping"). I like to use the squat-leg extension combo to really toast my thighs - when I just do squats, my legs still grow, but they really don't have that deep down pain and ache that three or four tough sets of leg extensions will provide. Using stiff-legged deadlifts, followed by leg curls, will pack size onto your hamstrings.
Pre-exhaustive techniques are good when you're recovering from an injury, want to give your joints a rest, or are periodizing and are on a "light" day. A common example would be to do three sets of leg extensions, partly as a warm-up, and partly just to flush the blood into the muscle. Then you'd move onto squats, where you wouldn't have to use as much poundage as normal (since your quads are already somewhat tired). This would mean you'd get as intense a workout, without having to risk injuring (or reinjuring) your lower back or knees.
Another use for pre-exhaustive techniques is when the bodypart you wish to work on is too strong in certain exercises. For example, if your triceps and anterior delts fail before your pecs during bench presses, you really aren't doing justice to your chest. So you'd benefit from doing some sort of flye movement first, to tire out the pecs, and then move to bench presses. That way, during benching, your pecs will tire before the ancillary triceps and delts. Of course, in this case, why use machines? Just stick to a free weight movement for your pre-exhaustive exercise.
"Stripping," or drop sets, are when you rep to failure on a movement, then immediately lower the weight and rep to failure once again. This is called a "drop," and advanced trainees may complete several consecutive drops before finally taking a rest. It's a lot easier to lower the weight on a machine, where all you have to do is pull out the pin and stick it into a different slot. It's much harder to lower the weight when using free weights, though with one or two adept spotters it won't be so bad. Another advantage to using machines to do drop sets is that you can lower the weight by yourself.
As I stated earlier, machines are useful for giving your muscles refinement and quality. The peak contraction technique works well for machines, since it's a lot easier to hold the contracted position in a machine than it is using free weights, where balance becomes an issue.
And that's where free weights dominate. Balance. Slap some weight onto the leg press machine and try a few reps. Tough? Put even less weight onto an Olympic bar, and try squatting for a few reps. Though both movements are compound, multi-joint movements (movement at the ankles, knees and hips), it takes much more balance and coordination to squat down and get back up than it does to simply slide the leg press sled up and down. In this case, the leg press works primarily the quads, and some hamstrings and glutes. The squat also works these muscle groups - but more importantly, it involves countless auxillary muscles that have to assist the main muscle groups in balancing the weight (and your body). All you have to worry about in the leg press is sliding the sled up and down. In the squat, you must worry about your posture, lower back, balancing the bar on your traps, your hand spacing, and oh yeah, just how the hell you're doing to stand up after you're squatting down with hundreds of pounds on your back.
You may be thinking, "Well, that means that leg presses
isolate the quads more, so it must be a better exercise for the quads." No. The leg press is a multijoint movement, designed to work the quads and neighboring muscles. The squat will build up all the supporting muscles, which results in greater size, strength, and muscle mass. Want to
isolate the quads? Go do some leg extensions.
When your muscles are fatiguing during a machine exercise, you can actually "rest" until you're ready to do more reps. This is not good. For example, during a seated chest press, when your muscles are tired you can either just lock your arms and hold the weight stationary (which doesn't require much strength), or you can let the weight rest in the initial position until you're ready to rep some more. Not so with free weights. Just holding the barbell at arms' length during the bench press requires many stabilizing muscles to come into play. Have you ever noticed what happens when you hold the barbell at arms' length when you're tired? Your arms shake, sway slightly from side to side, and generally have a really tough time. Your ligaments, joints and tendons are getting a workout too.
I don't know about you, but if I'm going to put in time and effort into working out, I want the exercises I do to be productive. I want to work as many muscles as I can. I want to be able to handle heavy weight without getting crushed. I don't want to concern myself with fancy vinyl seat covers and gleaming white machines and nice rubber-coated handles and seatbelts. I want to grit my teeth. I want to ache. I want to sweat. I want to tremble. I want to puke (well, OK, not really).
Why do you think powerlifters do bench presses, squats, and deadlifts? Because those are the big 3. Those exercises are the ones for full-body strength, power, musculature, and heavy mass. Did you know the squat involves well over 200 different muscles? No wonder it's the #1 exercise for overall body strength, power, and musculature. The big 3 CANNOT be replaced by the Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Chest Press, the Nautilus leg press machine, and the Cybex deadlift machine. I'm sorry, it just can't be done. And what the heck is a deadlift machine, anyway? Looks more like a wheelchair.
You don't get big by primarily using machines. You don't get strong by using machines. You don't get lean by using machines. Hell, you don't even get sweaty by using machines. So don't try. By all means, work some machine exercises into your routine, but realize that it's the free weight movements that will pack meat onto your body, reshape your body, boost your metabolism, power up your immune system. Why do so many personal trainers at health clubs advocate using machines? Because they're much easier to use. Trust me, repping to failure on a machine doesn't hurt anywhere near as much as with free weights. Don't rely on machines to build your body, and you won't find yourself stuck in a rut, constantly trying to lower that pin, and move more and more of that weight stack.
Here are the only machine exercises I recommend using in your routine. Don't use them all at once, just cycle them around. If you want to use other machines, feel free. I know lots of you love the Smith machine, and would buy one for your home if you could afford it. That's fine with me. I just like to stick with these, since they're pretty darn good:
Hammer Strength Iso-Lateral Incline Presses
Lat pulldowns
T-bar rows
Rope pulldowns
Tricep pressdowns
Leg presses
Leg extensions
Seated leg curls
Leg press calf raises
Seated calf raises
Standing calf raises
If you're just starting bodybuilding, machines are great for getting used to heavy weights. By all means, get your muscles accustomed to lifting using machines, but go easy. You're not going to set any world records here. Just get grooved, and after a couple months, switch to basic free weight exercises. Hit the iron hard, eat big and rest big, and after three months or so, take a good look at your body and tell me you don't like what you see.
Oh, by the way, if you don't like what you see because you think you look too "musclebound" or "bumpy" or - get this - you look too "huge" and you don't want to turn into an Arnold Schwarzenegger, I have a simple suggestion for you. Want to get smaller? Stick with machines
this is not my work. i found this on the net
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