Free Weights Vs. Machines — Aren’t Dumbbells Old-Fashioned?

Every gym you go to, unless it’s really body-builder focused, is loaded with machines. If you’re new to fitness, getting back into it after a long time, or just don’t know where to start, the very fact that your new gym (or exercise equipment store) is so jam packed with these huge machines is a gigantic factor in how you view working out.

The very physical presence of all these machines, along with a ton of people using them, tells our brains that this is important. These are the fundamentals of the gym.

I’m here to tell you why that’s not the case.

Why Weight Machines are Popular

It’s very simple — free weights can be intimidating and hard work. Weight machines are not.

I could stop there, but I’ll go on a little bit more — free weights don’t come with an instruction guide that tells you how to use them, because you can use them in so many ways.

Weight machines, on the other hand, have little diagrams right on them that help you through the exercises, to an extent.

So what’s wrong with that?

Weight Machines are Limited

In the very act of helping you through these exercises, weight machines limit themselves (and by extent, you).

They suggest that help in the gym is just a few easy instruction-steps away.

That a machine can tell you what to do just as well as a person.

That a gym is a naturally intimidating place, but machines are here to help.

All of these things aren’t terrible on their own — I’m sure exercise machines have got a lot of people into gyms, working out, and getting good bodies that they otherwise wouldn’t have got if there’d been only dumbbells. To be totally honest, if you are just starting out weight machines might even be the best place to start.

But you don’t want to just lose a bit of weight, do you? Not when the dream of a lean, ripped body is so achievable now, when you can get free six pack workouts online, all the motivation and support you need, and fulfill that dream you’ve been carrying.

And to do that in the most efficient, healthy, strong way? You need free weights and the flexibility and versatility they bring you.

Why Free Weights Are Better

Here are 5 simple reasons:

1. They don’t limit your range of motion. You can make adjustments depending on what you’re able to accomplish, rather than being locked into what a machine designer has prescribed. They also keep your body guessing because there are so many exercises to do, so you aren’t stuck with the same 5 or 6 machines, week-in, week out — which is a recipe for plateauing, hard.
2. They teach you. It’s all the more important to have good form and posture when using free weights, so by choosing to use them, you automatically force yourself to not slack off on your form.
3. They are catalysts for conversation. It’s not a cakewalk, figuring out how to use free weights all by yourself. You’ll probably want to talk to a trainer and consult a lot of advice online. This is a good thing!
4. They engage your whole body. Rather than isolating a specific muscle and leaving the rest alone, free weight exercises are very frequently compound exercises that work multiple muscles. You get a more well-rounded workout and the results show in a balanced, kick-ass body.
5. You aren’t sitting down! Sure, if you use a bench you might be sitting or lying for some workouts, but just the fact that so many free weight workouts involve standing (where their machine counterparts involve sitting) makes a huge difference in the intensity you bring to your workout.

How to Start Making the Transition

Watch more of my workout videos. Talk to a trainer at the gym. If you’re using a lot of machines now, start slow — you don’t want to change every single aspect of your workout all at once. See which ones you can replace first, and every time you hit the gym or do your home workout, replace a machine with a free-weight exercise.

By the end, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without them.