Machines vs. free weights

Machines versus free weights? Free weights, any day. It’s a nobrainer. Or, at least that’s what I always thought. Dumb-bells and barbells, the two main constituents of free weights, are believed to help maintain proper form during workouts. Dumb-bells, particularly, because you typically hold one in each hand, force you to maintain balance and symmetry. Also, for men there is a macho angle to it. Grabbing a barbell and belting out biceps curls can seem manlier than, say, sitting at a wimpish biceps curling machine.

But are machines really just a wimpish alternative to free weights? In fact, machines could be the smarter alternative. Let’s break down the movement during a biceps curl with a barbell. When you curl a barbell loaded with weights, you first raise it from across your upper thighs to your waist. That is a very easy movement as it doesn’t involve directly countering the force of gravity and your arm moves in an arc. But as the barbell reaches the vertical plane (moving from the waist level upwards), it encounters the force of gravity pulling it down and the resistance is the strongest here. Most people find this middle part of the entire biceps curl movement the toughest to do. What’s happening here is that during the exercise, the targeted muscles (in this case, the biceps) do not encounter uniform resistance through the entire span of the movement.

In machines, like the Nautilus or the Hammer Strength range of equipment, this is overcome by the use of cams or wheels over which belts pass and by the angling of the machines’ levers and hinges. Try the same barbell curl on a Hammer machine and you’ll encounter a uniform resistance throughout the movement. Not only that, machines also isolate your muscles so that they get the full benefit of the exercise.

The Hammer Strength lat pulldown machine, therefore, isolates your latissimus dorsi muscles (that flare to either side of your back), while keeping your form correct. Hammer Strength machines also allow you to load weight plates on to the machine—thereby erasing any wimpish stigma that you may have hitherto attached to machines.

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The movement is isolateral in nature, thus ensuring equal symmetrical development of muscles on both sides and the machine even has the option of being used by one arm at a time—e.g., to first exercise one side and then switch to the other side.

Another great advantage of machines is that you don’t need a spotter because the chances of dropping a weight or injuring yourself is minimised. So, what should it be? Free weights or machines? The best answer: a combination. For exercises where the movement is in a vertical line—like bench presses, squats and deadlifts—free weights still rule. But if you want to do exercises where the movement is not in a vertical straight line and has arcs, for example—like leg extensions, pullovers and flyes—machines are better.

Muscles Mani

Write to musclesmani@intoday.com and click here to read Treadmill blogs
Caveat: The physical exercises described in Treadmill are not recommendations.
Readers should exercise caution and consult a physician before attempting to follow any of these.