Fitness Together Brecksville: What's the Difference Between Machines and Free Weights?

Trainer Tuesdays

Welcome back to the weekly edition on Trainer Tuesdays. Make sure to check in at our blog every Tuesday evening to learn the expertise of our great staff of expert personal trainers. Aside from being fantastic exercise coaches, they are also extremely knowledgeable in many aspects of health and fitness; so, it's time that you get to know them a little better! Each week, we will post a frequently asked, or sometimes just a fun fitness related question followed by the answers of each of the personal trainers at Fitness Together Brecksville.

What’s the Difference Between Machines and Free Weights?

Cody Plank: The difference between machines and free weights is that a machine works about a

Expert personal trainer Cody Plank gives his input on Machines vs. Free Weights

specific axis while free weights are not attached to another structural device. Personally I like working with free weights rather than machines for a few reasons the first being that free weights add the dynamic of balance to an exercise which keeps you more engaged throughout the entire exercise. Another reason I prefer free weights over machines is that machines keep you in a set position so you don't have the ability to modify the exercise as you could with free weights.

Adam Teplitz: Both free weights and machines have a rightful place in a workout regimen. Generally speaking, one is not 'better' than the other in all instances. There are benefits and drawbacks to both machines and free weights, and some exercises tend to be more effective when done using one or the other.

The benefit of a resistance machine is that it will allow to focus your mind on the effort, as opposed to the mechanics of the movement.

The primary difference between free weights and machines, however, is the fact that when using free weights, your body moves in three dimensions: forward and backward, laterally, and vertically. This is important, because this is how your body normally moves in daily life.

When you use free weights, you therefore end up engaging more muscles, as you have to work to stabilize the weight while lifting it.

Machines, on the other hand, are fixed to an axis that will only allow you to move in one or two planes. If used exclusively, this could lead to a lack of functional fitness , which can translate into injuries outside the gym.

Some may have strong opinions about using free weights over machines or vice versa. I believe a balanced approach is the best and will lead to overall greater results.

Amanda Ricci: When many people join a gym one of the questions that they may have is "What is the difference between weight lifting machines and free motion strength training exercises? and is one better than the other?" As an experienced personal trainer, these are the two most popular questions asked from clients and other individuals just beginning a fitness program.

Fitness Together trainer Amanda Ricci addresses the importance of functional exercise!

As you walk around the gym, popular weight-lifting machines include: bicep curls, rowing machine, triceps press downs, military press, etc. Free motion exercises include: squats, lunges, jerks and the push press, etc. Both machines and free motion exercises work to increase your muscle mass. The difference between the two is that free motion exercises target more muscles while training. For example, while standing up performing bicep curls with the dumbbells you are also using the abdominal muscles to stabilize yourself. When doing the bicep curls on the machine you are specifically targeting the bicep muscles. The free motion exercises are using more stabilizing muscles and are similar the movements that you are performing in everyday life. When you are carrying your groceries into the house, this is similar to doing the farmers carries with the dumbbells. Another example is when you may be bending down to pick up your child or dog, you just did a squat. You were using multiple muscle groups that include: your quadriceps, abdominals, and biceps. The muscles in your body are designed to work together as part of the kinetic chain. The kinetic chain means that joints and segments have an effect on each other when they move. A chain of events that affect the movement of adjacent joints occurs. These functional, free motion exercises encourage the muscles to function the way that they were designed, which is in a natural motion.

In addition, performing these functional movements will promote weight loss as since you are using more muscles while doing the exercises. Another benefit is that it will not take you hours at the gym to complete your training program because you can work more than one muscle at the same time. I love strength training and cardio just as much as the next person, maybe even a little more but when I work out I do not want to spend hours at the gym. Instead, I want to be able to strengthen as many muscles as I can without having to travel from one machine to the next. That does not include the time at the end that is required for you to clean off each machine.. I don't know about you but when I go to the gym, I want to get there and do my exercises and not worrying about cleaning off machines.

The machines that you see at the gym are not similar to functional movements that you do in your day to day activities. They encourage a repetitive motion on the joints that can place stress on these joints.

This is why I prefer free motion, functional exercises not just when working with my clients to increase their lean body mass but also in my own training program. These free motion exercises are what is going to help prepare you to perform everyday activities easier such as: laundry, mowing the lawn, weeding, and other yard work as well as cleaning the bathroom, etc. Once you gain more muscle mass you will find that you will have more energy in everyday life, and who doesn't want that?!!

Mike Roberto: When it comes to exercise, you have two choices: free weights or machines. Both are effective for achieving your goals. Machines are effective for people starting out their exercise journey because it helps them build a strong foundation to help them progress to more difficult exercises. After 2-4 weeks of building up your muscles on machines, move on to free weights. Although they are more challenging to handle, your body will thank you in the long run. Free weights helps strengthen your stabilizer muscles to help balance the weight from wobbling side to side. Not only that, but your core is activated to help keep the weight in place. In conclusion, both machine and free weights are effective to build muscle. But I would recommend free weights just because it works more muscles than a machine will ever work.

Justin Traft: A lot of clients always want to know or ask what better weights or machines. Its like the age old question. Really it comes down to a couple of things to consider when using either weights or machines. First, both pose great benefits from using in any exercise program. One way of looking at it is maybe your body may not be ready for weights just yet so using machines would allow the body to prepare for weight training. How you ask preforming the same exercise but with greater ease versus struggle. Also, cable machines are great to really work on the range of motion to properly learn how to do the exercise such as bicep curls first. Learning how to get the contraction in the bicep head medal and long heads. Also, a good way to have any body with restriction able to do exercise without having to really worry about the weight its self being to much. The functionality of a machine you can't beat especially if you trying to target a specific muscle group that may be hard to hit just using weight. But don't get me wrong weights are very important. They play a big part in people keeping and maintaining that muscle tone and bone density. Which is vital in the later years in life. Weights also allow the body to feel more of the stress then a traditional machine would. The more that stress felt the more that muscle starts to fatigue. This is why using lighter weights allows more of a toning effect the " BURN" they call it. Heavier weights you get the "PUMP" or muscular hypertrophy of the muscle group you are working because of the concentration to that muscle. So in my conclusion both are great to use and present many pros and cons. I don't favor one or the other when both combined together they both present get health benefits. Happy exercising guys!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

What's the Difference Between Machines and Free Weights?

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