Free weights or bands – which ones give the best results?

With so much conflicting information out there about fitness and exercise, it’s no wonder that clients often want advice about whether or not to use machines for exercise as opposed to free weights and bands.

But as a professional trainer, my answer is simple – I say, “Machines, free weights and cables”.

Confused? Don’t be. The fact is that each of these types of equipment has benefits and drawbacks that the others do not. Ultimately a good workout regimen will use a variety of exercises and equipment in order to produce “muscle confusion” which is a core element of fitness boot camps. So let’s take a closer look at each one of these and when you would use them.

Machines

We’ve covered this area before – machines are great mostly for safety reasons because they limit your range of motion. But this same limit is also why we’re not crazy about them, as limited range of motion means you cannot work each side of your body independently. Therefore you wind up with one side stronger than the other and your weaker side never catches up. So if you work out from home this might be a good thing, but you will eventually find yourself needing to change up your exercise routine.

Free Weights

In my experience, guys love free weights, ladies, generally are much more intimated by them. Hopefully, this explanation will bring everyone back down to earth and realize the benefits and limitations to free weights. When using free weights you are going to need to recruit the more muscle fibers in the muscle you are working because of the need to stabilize the weight though-out the ROM. Not to mention, that when using dumbbells you will also have to exert the same force on both sides of your body to move the same weight. Another benefit to free weights is the fact that you can change the angle in which you hold the weight, or the angle in which you push or pull the weight, all of which allow you to target different muscle fibers and more fully develop the muscle.

The limitations with free weights are that they are much more dangerous to use if you don’t know what you are doing, or you think you know what you are doing but are wrong! Without a spotter, it can be very difficult to increase the amount of weight you use because of the dangers of dropping the weight or not being able to lift the weight into the proper starting position.

Bands or Cables

The invention of cables machines was an attempt to find a balance between both free weights and machines. You will see many different types of cable machines in your local fitness facility but you can also find them in many homes as well. The famous Bowflex is a great tool to use as well as the Crossbow and other variations as well. The problem with these tools include: most clients have no clue how to perform the exercise properly not to mention that they cannot figure out the correct configuration with the machine to hit the muscle they want to target. While being safer than free weights, you still have to maintain stability using cables which is a great benefit, not to mention that you can hit the muscle at many more angles with cables.

In conclusion, the best answer I could provide is that a proper exercise routine should incorporate all three types of tools, not to mention the numerous other tools available to you including: video tapes, treadmills, elliptical trainers, walking, jogging, and running, swimming, kickboxing, etc. The real secret is to constantly shock your body and never allow it to get use to doing one thing. This way, your body has to continually grow to keep up with the demands you are putting on it.

Tom Kalka is the President of Custom Fitness Concepts, a
fitness boot camp
company with locations in Maryland and Washington, DC. Visit their website or blog to learn more about the best
ways to exercise
including outdoor training and the techniques discussed in this article.

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