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Hello and welcome to The Own Your Health podcast, I'm Cyndi Lynne and I can't wait to help you step into your health power. Today we're going to talk about part two of resistance training. If you haven't listened to part one, go back and do that, I put a link in the show notes.
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Today we're going to talk about free weights versus weight machines. And our first inclination, or our first thoughts as a beginner can be a little bit confusing. The idea of going into a gym and working with these huge machines might seem overwhelming to some.
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To others it might be exciting, it might be a good way to get started. Or the idea of being at home with these weights. Sure, nobody can see you, which is sometimes feels a lot better, feels a little bit more secure.
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But how do you know exactly what to do with them? So we're going to talk about some of the pros and cons of each and as always, it's not one size fits all. I'm going to help you figure out where you're comfortable and what your goals are so that you know where you should start.
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So let's talk about free weights. Free weights are just exactly that. They're the, the weights, you may see them colored in plastic covered, you may see them metal. They're usually typically the size of one hand with we weights on, with weight, masses on either end of a small bar.
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And these are something that you can easily, they're designed to easily be picked up and handled. Now the positive side of using free weights of weights that you can just pick up and handle is that you get an increased functional strength.
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So what does that mean? Well, functional strength means strength in the way that you typically use your body, in the way that your body functions. So if we contrast that with say bodybuilding, where you're looking to gain muscle for its appearance and its relationship to other muscles and your ability to fire those muscles, that's a little bit different of a goal if you're working towards functional strength.
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It's the way we want to build strength, to use our body in everyday life to actually function. So increased functional strength is a benefit of using free weights. And that's because free weights require us to stabilize the weight, engaging more muscles and promoting better coordination.
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So if I'm going to pick up a weight and bend my arm, that requires that my wrist, my fingers, my elbow, all of these little muscles around these other joints have to kick in and do their work so that I can pick up that weight and bend my arm. That gives that functional strength.
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So that when we actually pick something up off of the car seat or off of the counter or off of the grocery store shelf, then all those little muscles in our fingers and wrists and elbow, around the elbow area will learn through using free weights to work together to be more coordinated to have that stabilizing benefit.
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Now another advantage, with free, free weights is a greater range of motion. So we talked about range of motion and the importance of a nice full range of motion at each of our joints.
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Well, with free rates free weights, you can take advantage of that full range of motion so it gives you a larger range of movement in your patterns and it accommodates individual anatomy, and individual mobility more so than using machines.
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Now free weights also have a lot of adaptability. So you can get one or two sets of free weights at one or two different weights and do a lot of different exercises with them. Upper body, lower body, full body exercises.
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Because you can just move this weight around wherever you need it. Now some of the downside of free weights are, that they require more technique and experience. Proper form is really important when using free weights to prevent injuries.
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And that can require some guidance from a coach, from videotapes. From videotapes! Listen, my age is showing. From DVDs, from digital streaming. services. There's actually very good services out there that provide very good prompts that along with the good mirror, can help give you feedback of what your body is doing.
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But it is not a substitute for working with a trainer. Now freak weights can also be intimidating for beginners. Again, you may sit there looking at these going, oh gosh, where do I start? What can I do? The complexity of free weight exercises, because they tend to be functional and the need for the stability can be a little bit daunting for those that are new to the process or just starting out.
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And then finally just need to mention that some free weight, lifting training may require a spotter. So some free weight exercises, especially if you are, are moving on to lifting heavier, can be done much safer with the spotter to assist in case of muscles giving out.
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Now let's talk about the pros for using machines. Now machines are beginner friendly and that may sound a little funny to the group that I talked about first off, who feels kind of intimidated walking into a gym. But the machines are set up to do specific exercises and just those exercises.
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The machine actually guides the user through a specific range of motion. So it's easier to learn and to use if you're new to this. It's safer for certain exercises because machines can reduce the risk of injury.
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They provide the stability that we talked about before, and they provide a more controlled environment, again, especially when lifting heavy or if you're working out after having injuries. And then finally, machines are really good for isolating specific muscles.
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If you're trying to target a particular muscle group or set of muscles, you can do that without worrying about using other muscles for stabilization. So you can become very focused in your weight training. Now, the downside to machines are, that they have that limited range of motion because they give you that control and they give you that stability, you may not, as an individual, get your full range of motion because machines restrict the movement to a predetermined path.
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And that might not be optimal for everyone's body mechanics. Secondly, you may not develop functional strength as effectively. So that functional strength goes back to how we use our body in everyday life. Because when we use our body in everyday life, we automatically use all those stabilizing muscles and build coordination.
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So you may not get as much functional strength when you're training on machines, because the fixed path of motion on the machines doesn't translate to the same type of motion we do as we move through our day. And finally, they can be less engaging.
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Some individuals find the lack of freedom and challenge in machine training a little bit less motivating. Now, some of these are very much individual preferences.
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Regardless, you want to make sure that you're using whatever equipment and whatever motions you're doing to meet your specific goals. And for some, that can be a very balanced approach so that you would use some machines, maybe go figure out, learn, understand how your body is moving through certain range of motion, and then you can expand on that range of motion yourself.
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Or you may want to start with free weights and a trainer. And those are highly personal choices. And I'm guessing that the biases that you have or the first thoughts that you have, some of them we talked about in the beginning about being a little intimidated or being overwhelmed or not knowing what to do with these weights, have shaped your ability or your propensity or your inclination to get started.
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So I want you to question those. I want you to ask yourself, what are my goals? And if your goals are to live better in everyday life, to not hurt yourself, going to the grocery store, getting stuff out of the trunk, moving stuff off the high shelf on the cabinets, I encourage you to lift weight and to get the help you need to do it.
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Now, keep in mind that hiring a coach doesn't mean forever. It can be a few simple sessions to get you started, and that can be true with free weights or with machines. If either one of these prospects excites you or makes you feel a bit more curious, I invite you to use that as an incentive as well to get started on this super important aspect of creating your health, maintaining your health, and really owning your health.
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So, as always, if you have questions, I'm here. And until next week, let's go out and own it.
