Whether to Use Free Weights or Resistance Machines

When you talk about the gym to people there are a few debates that commonly reign supreme and one of these often debated subjects is whether you should workout with 'free weights' or using 'resistance machines'. But just what is it that these meat heads are arguing about anyway? And what is the answer to this age old question?
First of all you need to know what free weights and resistance machines are. Essentially they are both types of weighted exercises but they are at different ends of the spectrum in that free weights are loose dumbbells and barbells that you can just pick up and rep, and that resistance machines are machines that allow you to go through a pre-set motion. In the gym then the free weights are all the heavy weights in the darker dingier room that just let you pick them up, while the resistance machines are generally out by the cardio machines and have names like 'pec dec' and 'chest press'.

So What's the Difference?

The difference essentially is that free weights let you do anything with them and don't help you while resistance machines force you through a specific movement and help you along the way. If we look at a bench press normally you will find yourself lowering and pushing a barbell up from your chest, whereas in a chest press you are seated upright and pushing two pads that are connected to a winch.
Simply the free weights are harder and more difficult and will have a large impact on your body that resistance machines will. This is because resistance machines are machines that help you through the motion and that only let you do the specific range of movement (isolation exercises) whereas in a bench press you need to balance the weight use your small muscles in your forearms and your shoulders etc to stop it from swaying around or falling on your head. This means that although resistance machines are reassuring for beginners and more suitable for the elderly or those with injuries, if you want to start making serious gains then you really need to start thinking about making the move to the great wider world of the free weights. Apart from anything else this will simply let you perform a wider range of exercises.

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