Exercise machines are in every gym because they offer a user friendly way to work out. But the ease of use comes with a trade-off. They don’t teach you how to move in the real world, which deprives you of some very important benefits that free weights deliver.
Machines Follow A Fixed Pattern
Exercise machines guide the movements of your body all the way from start to finish. This simplifies the motion while adding stability, which makes the exercise safer for you. It also helps you target muscles, which can be great for size and strength. However, that advantage also makes the exercise different from the way the body works during everyday activities.
Machines Don’t Teach You How To Move
In everyday scenarios, your body’s movements are complex. Getting out of a chair, for example, requires not just your legs, but also your butt, core, back, and a host of other stabilizing muscles. Without a strong, coordinated effort from all of those areas, you wouldn’t make it onto your feet.
The upshot of this is that while machines train muscles, they cannot train the coordinated efforts needed for something more complex, like a squat. So while working with leg machines might make your legs stronger, it may not make you any better at getting out of a chair.
Why You Should Learn To Exercise With Free Weights
Ideally, we want to be strong and be good movers. Proper movement protects your joints from injury and can even reverse pre-existing ones. Given the fact that many of the most frequently performed operations are related to joints, we all should be interested in that!1
Both machines and free weights will make you stronger, but free weights are the far superior way to teach your body to move better. They challenge your body to operate as it must in the real world, where you most need strength and movement proficiency.
You Might Need Some Help
Our western, sedentary lifestyle creates some challenges for us when it comes to movement. After years of inactivity and/or desk work there will be stiffness, weakness, and probably some lost motor control. A good personal trainer, strength coach, or even physical therapist, can help you re-boot your movement skills. We highly recommend seaking one out and letting them help you get up to speed.
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