Free weights or machines - which is right for me?

When it comes to strength training, you’ve got two types of equipment - free weights and machines. Both are effective at helping you to build muscle, get stronger and improve your fitness. However, they each provide their own benefits and drawbacks, and you might find that one is a better fit for you than the other.

If you’re unsure if you should choose free weights or resistance machines, this article should help. We’re going to cover what free weights and resistance machines are and the advantages of each one.

What are free weights?

Free weights refer to ‘free’ objects that aren’t attached to any kind of machinery, such as barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, weight plates, medicine balls and sandbags. They add resistance to different movements to challenge your muscles and stimulate muscle growth.

What are resistance machines?

Resistance machines are sometimes called weight training machines or strength machines. Some have a stack of weights that you can adjust using a pin, and others have slots where you can add or remove weight plates to adjust the resistance of the exercise that you’re doing.

Both free weights and resistance machines offer a number of unique benefits, but they also come with their own drawbacks. Generally, the pros of one option equate to the drawbacks of the other. Let’s take a closer look!

Benefits of free weights

Free weights challenge your muscles from multiple angles, directions, and planes because they offer much more freedom. You can do almost anything you want with a free weight as long as you do it with good form.

Using free weights also increases your functional fitness, stability, and balance because you need to activate your core muscles to stabilize your body while you’re lifting the load. This is particularly true if you’re performing free weight exercises while standing.

Benefits of resistance machines

Resistance machines are a lot more beginner friendly than free weights because they only let you move in one particular direction and on one plane. They guide your body through the exercise, so it’s very difficult to get it wrong.

Machines are also great for isolating a particular muscle or muscle group (although you can do this effectively with free weights too). It’s great to finish off your workouts with some machine-based movements to fatigue the muscles and maximize your gains.