Machines?

[hittman]

I was talking to my friend the other day and he had recently purchased a gym membership and had got an appraisal. The gym instructor then told him to use machines and no free weights for 8 weeks.

WHY?

 

[he-man]

maybe to establish a base and to get his body used to the mechanics of lifting while keeping him from the dangers that sometimes some with inexperienced free weight lifting. how much lifting experience does your friend have?

 

[IronLion]

most people who have never lifted don't have the muscular stability to lift free weights so they are an injury waiting to happen...btw he-man i love your avatar were/are you a green beret?

 

[Lee]

when i first started lifting i couldnt do free weights to save my life. i just didnt have the muscle strength to do it. so i stuck to machines for a month and a half then went to free weights and it worked fine.

 

[he-man]

most people who have never lifted don't have the muscular stability to lift free weights so they are an injury waiting to happen...btw he-man i love your avatar were/are you a green beret?

im in the qualification course right now at ft bragg

 

[CollegeKid]

freeweights require a surprising amount of supporting muscle to balance.. i know when i started i couldnt do freeweights worth shit with proper form, so i stuck to machines. now i'm all about freeweights though.

 

[Lord_Suston]

never have done machines and most likely never will. they are a wast of time unless injured IMO

 

[satchboogie]

if used properly machines can offer very effective workouts.

i still believe that free weights are superior but to perform with perfect form is much harder with free weights.

that takes time my friends.

 

[Baoh]

lol

If one feels he is too weak for free weights, then simply use lighter weights. You won't build free weight coordination from a machine.

 

[endpoint]

This always makes me laugh

Hittman...you are from australia?
i am as well. I participated in a "fitness instructors" course at TAFE.
I nearly got sent out of class because i argued the fact that a beginner needs to develop co-ordination first then strength....and not the other way around. Basically you are putting the trainee in danger by building the strength of a muscle. After these 8 weeks the trainee will be handling heavier weights when they move over to free weight...but with no stabilization and co-ordination to back it up. thats bad news waiting to happen.

Any person new to resistance training will have a rapid increase in strength when they learn any movements (getting more coordinated, confident, and efficient). why not start out at a low weight, and increase it every (couple) week/s?

It seems australia is light years behind in personal training.

 

[Shark01]

never have done machines and most likely never will. they are a wast of time unless injured IMO

Your workouts must be pretty freakin boring. Most of us find machines are a conveinent way to attack the body from different angles than free weights and gives the workout variety by allowing you to change workouts completely every 4-6 weeks.

Sure they have some limitations, but why ignore 1/2 the gym?

 

[Lord_Suston]

Your workouts must be pretty freakin boring. Most of us find machines are a conveinent way to attack the body from different angles than free weights and gives the workout variety by allowing you to change workouts completely every 4-6 weeks.

Sure they have some limitations, but why ignore 1/2 the gym?

lol. my workouts are far from boring. Nothing like seeing the bar bend to add excitement to your routine. The problem is that machines are "Convenient" since the weight is traqcked your supporting muscle groups never get the true stimulus they ned to really grow. Also if you look at body mechanics free weights have many more angle that are applyable to human versus being locked into a machine and then lifting weight.

I'll ask one question though for the peeps who use just machines give me your stats??? Cause I know compard to free weight monsters most machine lifters are not really strong or big

 

[louden_swain]

There is nothing wrong with adding a couple of machine movements for training, but personally I think all beginners should learn how to train with weights so they can learn balance and coordination.

 

[Nonerz]

I've found that most of the machines feel awkward to me. I am able to adapt to most of them, but some of them I won't even bother doing...I'd rather get more bang for my buck with stuff like squats, DL, etc.

 

[casualbb]

supporting muscle groups never get the true stimulus they ned to really grow.

Once again, the "stabilizer" argument for freeweights is incorrect. The reason is that no muscle acts solely as a stabilizer. The term itself is contextual, in that some movements use a certain muscle to stabilize, when different movements use the muscle as a prime mover. There are also a few different types of stabilization.

So you won't be lacking "stabilizer" development if you only do machines, assuming that all muscles see work as a prime mover at some point in your routine. Yeah your abs stabilize a freeweight squat and don't stabilize a leg press, but if you go on to do weighted crunches the following day, the difference is rendered moot.

I would use machines a lot more than I currently do. I do mostly freeweight exercises not out of a belief that they will make me bigger, but because I switch gyms a lot between college and home. It's vastly more convenient to know that everywhere I go, there are dumbbells and olympic barbells and I won't have to retest all my maxes.

There are actually certain movements for which a machine does a much better job than freeweights. A few that come to mind are pullovers, lateral raises, and ab curl. These are exercises whose freeweight motions produce a greatly variable tension on the target muscle. The use of a machine with a CAM system can even out that resistance.

That being said, I think n00bs should be put on freeweight stuff to develop balance, core stabilization, and coordination. Endpoint brought up great points.

-casualbb

 

[bignate73]

That being said, I think n00bs should be put on freeweight stuff to develop balance, core stabilization, and coordination. Endpoint brought up great points.

-casualbb

whew!!! made me nervous for a second there. good point!

machines are, like anything, good in moderation.

 

[Griz]

Keep in mind that alot of the folks on this board are...well...younger and less susceptible to injury. Also they have a higher rate of enthusiasm (likely). As a result alot would advocate free weights...PERIOD.

Ordinarily for a young guy, I'd agree with that approach. I wouldn't worry to much about starting with free weights.

BUT

However, in my own case I can say with absolute certainty that due to my age and my falling out of training for 6 years, and further to that my abused bodilly injuries from life lived in the fast lane without regard for my safety, that machines for the first 2 months for me was ESSENTIAL!!!

Machines did sweet-fuck-all for building my muscle mass but without a doubt it helped my muscles/connective tissues/joints/and everything else. 6 years ago I was as cut as I am now and weighed 175lbs. Now I weigh 200 at the same body fat level. NONE...ABSOLUTELY NONE of that muscle mass came from the first two months of training (just loss of blubber) with machines.

When I switched to free weights all that changed and my mass went up fast because I also moved into HIT of some form or another with those free weights. If I were to have started with free weights in my condition I likely would be as fat as ever cause I hurt myself and would now be sitting on my fat can complaining about my bad back, shoulders, knees, or some of my other idiotic injuries.

Machines DO HAVE THIER PLACE. They REALLY helped my body adjust to my new direction in the gym. I've just abandoned them now for the "fun stuff".

G