•Advantages of weightlifting machines
a) Excellent for beginners because it is not so intimidating and the range of motion is fixed, so a bodybuilding novice need not wonder whether he is lifting correctly to target a muscle group.
b) Easy to use as machines usually have instructions on them.
c) Safer – It won’t drop on you in a middle of a lift.
d) Isolate your muscles so that you can rest your injured body part and yet able to workout other muscle part.
•Disadvantages of Weightlifting Machines
a) Increase injury risks since the range of motion is fixed and repeated workout will place tremendous stress on the same joints, tendons and muscles because you are lifting on a fixed pathway.
b) Because of its isolation of muscles, your workout hit only the targeted muscles with little involvement of supporting or synergistic thus your muscle gains will be slower and less balanced.
c) Since weight lifting machines have fixed configuration, your workout does not factor in your body frame and structure. Whether you have a big or small built, narrow or wide shoulders, you will be using the same pathway range of motion and width of grip. This will raise your chances of being injured as well as poorer muscle development.
•Advantages of free weights
a) More stabilizing muscles synergistic muscles are involved. So you are actually exercising more muscles and therefore will develop more muscle growth and strength.
b) Improve your balance and muscle coordination since you need to balance the weights during your lift and this call on many muscles to do so. So your muscle coordination and sense of balance will naturally improve.
c) Convenient and inexpensive since you need not join a gym and free weights are much less expensive than machines.
•Disadvantages of free weights
a) Increase injury risks if lifting with wrong form and technique.
b) Time consuming because you need to bring the weights from one area to another or physically taking time to adjust, add or decrease weights.
So which is better for building bigger and well balanced muscles? Yup, free weight takes the cake over weight lifting machines for building muscles faster and bigger. However, since both weightlifting machines and free weights have its own advantages and disadvantages, you can then weigh the pros and cons to use machines or free weights for your workouts or even a combination of both to suit your personal requirements.
