Which is better free weights or machines?
I’ve made good gains with the machine but in all honesty I am kinda afraid to do free weights
What is better?
Which is better free weights or machines?
I’ve made good gains with the machine but in all honesty I am kinda afraid to do free weights
BOTH. Simple.
>which is better
>both
Based fricking moron
It's a dumb question in the first place. There are free weight movements that can't be adequately replicated by machines as well as machine exercise superior to their free weight counterparts (Nautilus Pullovers, Atlantis standing lateral raises)
This. Start with compound free weights and then move to machine isolations.
Machines bore me to death
Both, machines are a tool.
>circumvent injury
>less stressful variant which can be good in relation to your other lifts
>good for reaching maximum failure due to lack of other limiting factors than the prime mover
Free weights are superior for building general strength that is transferable. Generally if you know how to do the usual compounds with barbells or DBs, you can instantly determine if a machine is good or not and how to set it up and use it to the best effect because you're already good at the movement pattern.
Anyway, the usual setup for each prime mover;
>free weight main compound lift, barbell or DBs
>secondary lift which may be a machine, cables or smith machine
Beginners should attain competency in the basic barbell/db lifts first.
you have to figure that out for yourself for each single exercise you want to do, really. if i tell you "chest machine good" bc i have acess to a good one, and your gym has a bad one, or you are too tall or short to set it up in a nice way for you, what good does it do. start with what seems easier when you start working out, and once you've progressed a bit and gotten used to it, try different variations of your exercises on different implements
>burn more calories
>greater risk for improper form and injury
>burn fewer calories
homie what
I only do free weights but that's because I have a home gym. If I had infinite money and space I'd also have machines.
why one needs to be better than the other?
why is it always a VERSUS for your stupid ass zoomers?
Black and white thinking is a very common cognitive distortion. You learn about in CBT. I think partially it's because people who want shortcuts don't want to take the time for nuance, in this case figuring out what machines or free weight exercises are worthwhile. Putting everything in a good or bad category is simpler.
Which lift is better on the machine?
Nautilus Pullovers
the answer is free weights
Unless the exercise you are doing you cannot do with free weights. But I can only think of a few isolation lifts
>Hip Abductors (if you do these unironically you're literally gay)
>quad/hamstring extensions
>arguably weighted ab crunch machine?
Thats about it. Free weights are superior in every metric. The main reason is the machines are basically on 'rails' if you will and you don't get as good of a pump. When you do free weights, the balance component is on you, not the machine.
I've done more weight on machines than free weights. For example OHP. Free weight standing up I can do 1 pl8. I can do 170 on the machine because I'm sitting down and just drop the thing when I'm done.
Okay so you just told me that machines are better. You do ohp with 1pl8 but with machine you can do 170, so you are building more muscle with the machine because it allows you to use heavier weight and probably do more reps.
If you do db incline press with 60lbs vs 100lbs, same reps same everything other than the weight, which builds more muscle? Well obviously if you can do it with 100lbs.
The answer is both. Do OHP, Bench, Squat and Deadlift with free weights and then pretty much everything else with machines. Or pick up exercises you like to do with dumbbells. I like lateral raises, shoulder press, db incline press. But for everythiing else, I like 3-4 exercises for my legs, triceps, biceps, back, chest to be done with different machines/cables and so on.
No, free weights are because they use more muscles, muscles you aren't even aware of if you do machines. Same reason I do farmers walks but when I actually walked my hunting property picking up heavy ass crap and was much more sore despite farmers walking every week.
I've honestly found that the cable machines are pretty good. I do cable flys, cable trap pulldowns, and pretty much any pull exercise with them
>free weight better because its... le heavier
I prefer free weights so I don't have to go to a gym. Still get built without some $1k+ equipment