Free weights provide many benefits that machines do not. Greater recruitment of many muscles, better transfer over to everyday and athletic activities, and safety. You can alter the method in which you perform a free-weight exercise as opposed to a machine, in which you are limited to a predetermined path. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Muscular Recruitment
Many free-weight exercises cause your muscles to work harder than they do on machines, and recruit more muscles at the same time. The barbell squat, a basic leg exercise, activates the quadriceps, or the muscles on the front of your thigh, more than the leg press or leg extension. Squatting also activates the hamstring more than the leg press or leg extension. The hamstrings, or muscles on the back of your thigh, also protect your knees when you are squatting.
Safety
Weightlifting and powerlifting both use very little in the way of machine training. Weightlifting uses practically none, and many top weightlifters will train for years using nothing more than a barbell and a squat rack. Weightlifting has the lowest injury rate of all lifting-related activities, followed by powerlifting. Recreational lifting, which features a great deal of machine training, has a much higher rate of injury. Do not assume that because you are using a machine, you are at less risk of injury than when using free weights.
Benefits
Free weights promote increases in specific bone density, which can help improve your posture and prevent bone-related deterioration such as osteoporosis. This is particularly important because exercises such as squatting and deadlifting promote axial loading, or work your back in a manner similar to daily activities. This can directly strengthen the spinal column. Squatting can even improve your vertical jump. Even the basic act of hanging onto barbells and dumbbells serves to train your grip on a regular basis.
Precautions
If you do not have a competent coach, take videos of yourself lifting from multiple angles. This will allow you to critique your form, and you can compare it to good lifters such as weightlifters and powerlifters. You can see if you are squatting low enough, or if you are rounding your back while you are deadlifting. The key to getting the most out of free weight training is good technique and steady progression over time.
References
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; "An Electromyographical Comparison of the Squat and Knee Extension Exercises"; Joseph Signorile et al; 1994
- "Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery"; "Can Muscle Co-contraction Protect Knee Ligaments After Injury or Repair?"; John O'Connor; 1992
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; "Relative Safety of Weightlifting and Weight Training"; Brian Hamill; 1994
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; "Changes in Bone Mineral Density in Response to 24 Weeks of Resistance Training in College-age Men and Women"; Harold Almstedt et al; July 2010.
- "British Journal of Sports Medicine"; "Strong Correlation of Maximal Squat Strength with Sprint Performance and Vertical Jump Height in Elite Soccer Players"; U. Wisloff et al; June 2004.
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