Free-weight training involves resistance exercises using equipment that you can move freely in any direction, such as dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells. They allow you to add weighted resistance to your movements in an almost unlimited range of motion. Machine exercises are usually done seated/static on fixed equipment with a limited range of motion, and often use assistance from the machine to help you move the resistance. While machine exercises can be a great introduction if you’re new to weight training, it’s important to transition to free weights as soon as you can safely.
That’s because training with dumbbells, kettlebells, and barbells offers significant benefits that machines simply don’t:
🔥 They allow your body to train with movements that are much more natural and closely resemble everyday movements. For example, barbell squats give you much more practical strength when bending to pick up/carry heavy objects, whereas machine leg presses have poor practical carryover as you would almost never be pushing heavy objects with your legs from a lying down and back-supported position.
🔥Free weights recruit much more stabilizer muscles due to the greater instability and range of motion required. While machines have a more predictable trajectory and simpler range of movement to decrease the risk of injury, they also limit the number of muscle groups that work together to complete the lift. For example, you can feel a huge difference between a machine chest press and a dumbbell chest press; the free-weight version simply requires more muscles in your chest, back, shoulders, and arms to activate and coordinate to do the lift.
🔥 When done with correct technique and progressive improvement, free-weight exercises can build full-body strength and pack on muscle gains at a faster rate than machine exercises. Since free weights utilize larger areas of muscles and teach those muscle groups to work together more efficiently, you’ll almost definitely see faster progress and plateau less often than you would if you trained with machines only.
