Weight machines vs. Strength classes/videos

[Anonymous]

I have been very happy doing strength training using heavy dumbbells and videos. I just started using weight machines in the gym this week...and I'm not convinced I'm getting a better workout than my videos. I do feel sore, and I probably am lifting more weight than I normally would using dumbbells (particularly for legs). BUT...I find there's a lot more sitting around using the weight machines (if I follow the recommended rest times). I feel like I've gotten more of a workout after my videos than after using the machines (where I barely broke a sweat). Am I doing it wrong?

[Anonymous]

Dumbbells are universally better for strength training than weight machines - unless you are trying to isolate target very, very specific muscles for growth or you have limitations that make moving dumbbells around a bad idea.

Keep going with the dumbbells!

[Anonymous]

Is that so? I haven't heard that before. Why are dumbbells better? More compound movements (engaging core etc)?

[Anonymous]

your muscles have no idea what method you are using.

weight is weight

machines are safer and offer more options. Some will say your entire body gets a workout from using free weights because you have to maintain balance etc but the idea is to get stronger so why not use the most efficient way?

You get stronger by reaching muscle failure not by doing the same weight and same reps all the time, you need to increase weight and reps.

The key is safety to avoid injury and proper form.

[Anonymous]

NP

I also use dumbbells at home.

I don't like the machines, I feel like they are limiting in the kinds of movements you can do and the muscles you can work. Balance is really important and the machines don't help with that.

However, I don't think it's a bad thing to do a slower strength training session with heavier weights. It has different benefits than the faster workouts. I actually think I need to do more of that at home in order to build more strength but I like the videos because I have limited time.

[Anonymous]

THis is a nuanced question. For the pec deck machine your pecs can likely squeeze a lot more weight together because they are isolated whereas if you did the same thing with dumbbells your shoulders, not being able to support that much weight, would likely hamper your pec development. In general, it's good to mix things up. For newbies machines can be helpful because they teach you how to recruit particular muscles. In a class with dumbbells its easier to screw up your form.

[Anonymous]

Are you a man or a woman? I have only been using dumbbells at home and planning to start going to the gym later this year but then I read than most machines are sized for average to larger size men. I might still go but it did make me wonder if it as worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:your muscles have no idea what method you are using.

weight is weight

machines are safer and offer more options. Some will say your entire body gets a workout from using free weights because you have to maintain balance etc but the idea is to get stronger so why not use the most efficient way?

You get stronger by reaching muscle failure not by doing the same weight and same reps all the time, you need to increase weight and reps.

The key is safety to avoid injury and proper form.

I think it's more efficient to use more muscles. I engage my core more when I use a dumbbell. If I stand when I do bicep curls, I engage my legs, rather than a machine where I sit. Isn't that more efficient?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is that so? I haven't heard that before. Why are dumbbells better? More compound movements (engaging core etc)?

I think after I started working out, so when I started to figure out how to do things but was still starting out, started out with dumbbells.

Some things I liked about what I understood about dumbbells is that it required extra stabilizer muscles, allowed more motion, and right depending on how you do it it can engage your core too. ie if you decide to do exercises standing up, like should presses, maybe curls too.

What I later found out was that being able to lift a certain amount of weight does not translate directly to the same weight using a barbell.

So based on my goals at the time, switched over to a primarily barbell only workout. A lot of what is done on barbell can be subbed with dumbbells but are not exactly the same.

What I dislike the most are machines. Doesn't matter if they're the traditional weight stack machines, smith machine or the hammer strength type of machines that you stack plates on.

Like transitioning between dumbbells and barbells, the weights you can lift don't translate between free weights and machines. And it's easy to get a false sense of confidence in what you can lift. Do you see those people doing the leg press machine fully loaded?

Most of the machines provide a bit of mechanical advantage and makes lifting the weight somewhat easier.

Also it limits the natural range of motion. So if you don't have the settings set correctly you can either be working out inefficiently and/or risk hurting yourself.

Some body builders I used to know liked to incorporate machines in their workouts, for something like burning out with 100 reps.

But unless you're resting, recovering or rehabbing, I'd say free weights are the way to go, which in your case sounds like dumbbells.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been wondering this, too, OP.

[Anonymous]

I guess a question is when you're using machines are you following a structured workout, in addition to the recommended rest times?

ie could it be that the dumbbell videos you're using are better structured and why you feel like you're getting a better workout?

Whereas you may be doing things randomly on the machines and why you don't feel it as much during or after a workout?

[Anonymous]

For me, it's been best to mix things up. Some machines, some dumbbells. I have to work around some joint issues and there's no way I can hold enough weight to give my legs a good workout.