Weight Lifting Machines or Free Weights? What's the fastest way to build muscle?! 

Find out the Free weightlifting benefits!

Weight Lifting Machines -- I am sure at some stage or another you have strolled into the the gym with the intention of Gaining Muscle Mass and to use weightlifting exercises as a means of do so. With little knowledge or experience of weightlifting techniques you stuck to the easy-to-use weight lifting machines rather than approaching the big, long ever incrementing rack of weights. 

After all they don’t have straight forward instructions and comfortable seat attached to them, so why bother with free weights right?? 

WRONG! While machines can increase the muscles of the body, they don’t do it as well as free weights for a number of reasons:

Ab Muscles Definition

A prolonged use of free weights can dramatically increase your core strength and therefore building muscle and adding definition to the Six Pack Ab region without you even know it. 

This is so, as a result of the constant balancing act we encounter from lifting free weights. The second we take the weights off the rack our core ab muscles are engaged immediately. This core engagement is continued and becomes even greater when we carry-out the sets of the weightlifting exercises we’re doing. 

Weight machine training does not engage the core even close to the degree that free weightlifting routines do as the individual doesn’t have to balance as much thus not engaging his/her core. 

Lower body conditioning

If you haven’t noticed already, practically all fixed weightlifting equipment machines are to be done while sitting. Screw that! We do enough sitting at work, school, in the car, on the bus and so on. We’re at the gym so we might as well do our exercise standing up. The benefits are tenfold! 

Your lower body muscles such as our calves, quads, hamstrings and gluteus will love you for standing up as it will develop, strengthen and condition the area far more than sitting down. This is a result of the force acting down through your lower body from holding the free weights in your hand.

[TIP: If you’re up for the challenge, try doing you upper body free weights on one leg for added strength and conditioning! This is extremely beneficial to those involved in sports and other activities as it promotes speed, agility and balance. Vital attributes in all sports!]

Weightlifting Fat Loss

The increased intensity and level of activity from free weights as opposed to the sedentary nature of machines will add to your Fat Loss alone. 

What may not be as obvious is that the recruiting of additional muscles and the development of them through Free Weights routines can increase your metabolism more so than that of weight machine training.

Conclusion

From the previous information, your dilemma of ‘free weights or machines’ should well be resolved and free weights your chosen method of weight lifting. 

However, there are some instances in which it is necessary to include machine weight into your workout routine. Sometimes, machine weights can target a muscle group of the body such as upper chest, hamstrings, calves etc., much more effectively than if a similar exercise were done using free weights. 

This is especially concerning those who have a ‘trouble’ region (which most of us do) of the body where they wish to give more shape and build muscle to.

Overall, it’s what you, the individual seeks to achieve. So try out the machines that utilize the body part that you find problematic the best and you can make a decision whether to use machine/free weights for that muscle. Free weights are, most of the time the wisest choice!