Home Multi Gym

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There is an endless debate in fitness circles about machines versus free weights. It's one of those issues that divides people into camps where they often stay and refuse to listen to the other side. I'd like to write something sensible about the subject, showing the pros and cons of each.

Free Weights are more Natural

I must say that I do favor free weights over machines. If an exercise can be done using free weights then I'll normally do it over the machine alternative. Why? It is more natural. This is the most important point about free weights. Our bodies are all very different so why should we be limited to a certain path of movement by a machine? Machines can normally be adjusted but this will never be ideal. For example, if one leg is slightly longer than the other how can we adjust a Leg Press machine to accommodate us?

Potential to Cause Harm

The bad side to free weights is of almost no interest or risk to a sensible trainee but can be an issue to overzealous or inexperienced individuals and especially so in poorly supervised areas. There is a greater potential danger with free weights than with machines. Machines offer in-built protection. If you lose control of the weight, the machine normally won't injure you (at least not too much). For example, in a machine press you will not be stuck with a bar on your chest if you fail to lift it. Then again, there are those that say machines are dangerous because they do not follow natural paths of movement. This is a very good point but injury does not occur too frequently and almost never because the machine doesn't allow this freedom. Machines are pretty much safe.

Range of Motion

Free weights have no limitation in their range of motion. While this is a good thing (think 'natural movement'), it can also be potentially dangerous. For example, the trainee is the only thing stopping a dumbbell from going to low in a fly or press movement which could potentially injure the shoulder. Care is needed to control the range of motion of free weights whereas the machine often takes care of this for you. Still, in my opinion, free weights are the way to go. The natural pathway is a big advantage.

Oh Behave!

Now imagine you were a gym owner. In this day and age you cannot trust everyone that walks in the door to behave themselves. You need to assess the risks to your clients in your gym. To minimize the risk you could either install machines or you could hire good instructors that are able to teach people how to safely use the equipment. This kind of gym education is rare these days. Gyms are businesses and they exist to make money. It's easier and carries less potential risk to install machines. It is also more profitable since instructors don't spend too much time training people. It is important to remember that machines do not represent any kind of advance in technology over a barbell (although cables do offer certain advantages - see below). Their use is for mostly commercial reasons.

Functional Fitness

Functional fitness is all the rage. The word "functional" relates to exercise that mimics real-life situations. The theory is that you do real-world exercises and you benefit in real life. Whether it's sports or lifting a heavy box, functional fitness is what you need. Machines are said not to be functional since they often do not mimic real life but instead invent new pathways for our body to follow. But that does not mean that you can't get a good workout with machines only. It doesn't mean that machines are a waste of time. There are better ways for the more serious trainee but the machine trainee can still improve their quality of their life, enjoy their workout, be healthy and feel good. It's not what I would necessarily recommend but it is way better than what you were doing before isn't it?

The "Normal" Gym

If we took a group of normal, every day gym-going people and split them into two groups, one group using machines and the other group using free weights what would happen? Well, I say that under normal circumstances there would be more accidents and injuries in the free weights group. This is absolutely not because free weights are more dangerous but because, in our normal, average group we have young guys that want to show off on the bench press, we have girls that think a Romanian Deadlift is a Jefferson Curl and we have every day instructors that are checking themselves in the mirror. This is normal. The machines group get on better because Jonny doesn't have a 200lb barbell bouncing off his chest and Janie is doing fine on her Hack Squat Machine while the instructors continue to check themselves in the mirror. My apologies if you are a real instructor. I know you exist and we love you but I'm afraid you are not the norm. If real instructors are thin on the ground in your area then I'd highly recommend you find a qualified personal trainer to get the most from your workouts.

Cables

Machines that use cables are not like other machines. Cables do allow a much greater degree of freedom and have one big advantage over dumbbells or barbells. Using a cable, you have constant resistance and can adjust the line of pull and attachments very quickly. You cannot do this with a dumbbell or barbell since they depend on the force of gravity and the direction of movement. For example, just about any movement that is done in a circular motion (curls, lateral raises, front raises, flys, etc) varies in difficulty through the movement. The fly is harder at the bottom and offers almost no resistance at the top, for example.

Summary

You can make up your own mind on this one. Don't believe anybody that makes sweeping statements like "machines are not functional therefore they are dangerous" or "free weights are extremely dangerous" or "machines are a waste of time" and so on. The truth is somewhere in between. Don't discard something when you don't need to. Keep your options open.

Brian Mayo is an author of RealClearFit which provides articles and news on health, fitness, the environment and related matters.

Bowflex PR3000 Home Gym