Workout with free weights or machine

Which brings more? Free weight training vs. machine training

In this article we ask the question whether free weight training or machine training makes more sense. This is a question that is often asked by beginners, the answer to which leaves even advanced fitness athletes and many a bodybuilder or fitness trainer stuttering. Reason enough for Energyme to finally shed some light on the subject. The openness of the question already suggests that it will probably depend on many factors to which result we will come!

The never-ending debate – free weight or machine?

“Which is better – dumbbell training or machine?”

At the end of this article, you can only answer the question of whether free weight training or machine training is better suited to your personal needs and conditions. We would like to say in advance that we would only recommend isolated free weight training or isolated machine training for muscle building in special cases.

Why shouldn’t you use both when both offer advantages that are hard to imitate with the other?! Instead of going into the controversial question, we would therefore like to give you tips in this article on how to find the perfect exercises that you can use in the free weight area and also in the machine area. In a well-stocked fitness studio you will find a number of machines for all muscle groups.

A well-equipped gym will also give you the opportunity to train in a special free weight area with heavy dumbbells and barbells and other equipment, such as a power rack, presser benches or in specially equipped cross fit areas. We believe that the skilful individual combination of free weight training and machine training will lead to maximum success!

In the following, we would like to introduce you to the advantages of both variants, and you will also learn in which context it makes a lot of sense to carry out free weight training or machine training almost or completely!

The advantages and disadvantages of free weights

Advantages of free weights!

The free weight area stands for pure power and bodybuilding, even the powerlifters find their place here. Bodybuilding is certainly possible without free weight training, but it is seldom implemented and rarely really effective! The barbell enables the heavy training of the large muscle groups, here the muscles are stimulated to grow to the maximum. The heavy exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses and rowing are performed with the barbell, these set the foundation for maximum muscle growth and can hardly be replaced by other exercises performed on the machine. It is not for nothing that you will find heavy basic exercises with the barbell in every basic plan. These exercises train the muscles comprehensively, very heavy weights can be used and the supporting apparatus of the body (trunk etc.) is trained super!
Of course, dumbbells are used just as often as barbells. These can be used to perform many other effective exercises, such as side raises, front raises and the Arnold Press! Of course, all basic exercises can also be performed with the dumbbell, although we believe that the dumbbell should only replace the barbell in special cases (e.g. targeted training for advanced users)!

Probably the biggest advantage of training with free weights is the training of intramuscular coordination. While in machine training your movement is guided and directed by the respective machine, when training with free weights many small muscles have to do valuable work to coordinate the execution of the exercise so as not to lose balance. These small “auxiliary, supporting and holding muscles” are extensively used and trained during free weight training. In addition, the muscle-nerve connection is promoted by free weight training. This means that more muscle fibres are activated at the same time than would be the case with rigid machine training.

All in all, it can be said that intensive free weight training with a system forms the basis for bodybuilding and muscle building!

Disadvantages of the free weights!

The disadvantages of free weight training are more likely to be found in the application and technique than in the free weights themselves. However, this circumstance in no way diminishes the danger. One should never work out with free weights without proper instruction. As exciting as the training is and as playful as it may look for advanced users, you are handling heavy cast iron here, which can lead to extreme injuries if mistakes are made! Free weight training is therefore a good deal more dangerous than machine training if used incorrectly. That is why we recommend a medical examination for all beginners. Free weight training brings a coordinative variable into play that older people in particular need to be aware of. If the coordination is not right, injuries can quickly occur. We therefore recommend that older athletes train exclusively on machines at the beginning, unless the trainer on site instructs otherwise! Apart from these “disadvantages”, free weight training is probably one of the most solid and most proven heavy methods for maximum and rapid muscle building!

Advantages and disadvantages of training on machines

Advantages of machine training

Machine training also offers advantages that are not found in free weight training. For example, with machine training it is extremely easy to isolate even the smallest muscle groups. Do you want to train the leg curl or the adductors? No problem, because there is a machine for everything, provided it is a well-equipped gym!

Machine training also offers advantages for beginners and older people, as it requires much less coordination than training with free weights. Especially for people with deficits due to a previous illness, it can make more sense to do machine training after consulting a doctor than to switch to free weights and risk injuries there. In the area of rehabilitation training, machines are used almost exclusively, as training here can and must be very controlled. In this area, the focus is more on strengthening and moving the muscles than on the concentrated growth of new muscles, as is desired in bodybuilding!

Disadvantages of machine training

Machine training, when used exclusively, is often not very effective on functional strength. Functional strength is expressed by the fact that it can be used well in everyday life. Machine training usually trains the muscles themselves, but there are no centrifugal forces like with free weight training that have to be compensated for by the muscles (as is the case in everyday life, for example). In addition, the muscular interaction is trained much better with the large free-weight exercises. Imagine a strong athlete doing 180kg deadlifts and 220kg squats. How do you think this person will cope in everyday life with weights such as a bubble box? Machine training, which trains the muscles in isolation, may or may not lead to such an effect! As you can see, there are good reasons for free weight training as well as for machine training and also disadvantages that speak against it. It is up to you to find the perfect combination of free weight training and machine training. To make this easier for you, we would like to give you a few tips below.

The perfect combination – free weight training and machine training!

We would like to start by mentioning two special cases that should either be trained exclusively with free weights or exclusively with machines. You should train exclusively with free weights in your home gym if you have a small budget and little space. It is better to invest your money in proper barbell, dumbbell and bench equipment than in medium-priced machines, some of which yield much less. When training at home, remember that you should also learn the technique, ideally with the help of a trainer. All beginners should train exclusively on machines without instruction. Every good gym offers instruction in free weight training. Here the trainer can show you the exercise in detail, check your technique and thus avoid injuries in advance. Furthermore, older people should check with their doctor whether free weight training is an option at all. Otherwise, older people should generally not train without consulting a doctor, and it is better to train on machines than in the free weight area! Otherwise, we have a very simple model that you can follow. The basic exercises should always be done in the free weight area. These exercises include the bench press, squat, deadlift, rowing and overhead press for the shoulders! In order to build solid muscle mass, the machine exercises should be a supplement to, but not a substitute for, the barbell exercises or dumbbell exercises! If, for example, your chest grows very poorly even though you are doing bench presses, then you should definitely try another exercise on the butterfly machine. However, if your chest is growing great and your triceps are rather behind, then a triceps exercise on the cable tower is perfect. As you can see, the machine training serves perfectly to compensate for the imbalances in terms of muscle build-up that can occur with free weight training! If you have any questions about this article or other areas (e.g. nutrition, training, regeneration), the Energyme team is of course always available to help and advise you!

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