In this
article, I am going to be discussing the merits and drawbacks of
exercising with free weights, including barbells, dumbbells, sandbags,
or other weighted objects, bodyweight exercises, which include
calisthenics and gymnastics, and machines, which include both weight
machines and aerobic machines such as treadmills and step machines.
Let's start off with what you hope to achieve from your workouts, and
we'll correlate your goals with what kind of workouts you should be
doing.
Unfortunately, the trend nowadays at most gyms is towards "cosmetic"
workouts, where a trainee will simply try to acquire blown up biceps and
a large chest without caring about the development of the legs, back,
neck, as well as the functionality of his body. By functionality, I mean
the ability to use the body for purposes other than the means by which
it acquired the strength or stamina. For example, our trainee back there
who pumps up his arms on machines, probably cannot do a heck of a lot
more with his body now than before he started working out, other than
push more weights on the arm machine. Thus his workouts are not
functional. On the other hand, a trainee who lifts and carries heavy
sandbags has functional strength which he can use when lifting,
carrying, or moving other heavy things such as furniture, heavy luggage,
boxes, etc.
This is the
primary reason machines are pretty useless. They have no crossover
benefit to real life situations. No balance is required when pushing a
handle on a machine, and so all of the accessory muscles, tendons, and
ligaments that come into play in real life situations are not being
worked. Furthermore, machines tend to isolate muscle groups. A gym will
typically have a circuit of machines set up where one works the chest,
one the quadriceps, one the shoulders, one the triceps, and so on and so
forth. However, in virtually no real life situations do muscles work in
isolation. Whether one is throwing a ball, punching someone, kicking,
pushing, jumping, or running, many muscles are working together.
Machine based
workouts
also emphasize going slowly "to take all of the momentum out of the
lift." Once again, in virtually no real life situations do we move
slowly. Did Muhammad Ali throw slow punches? Did Nolan Ryan throw the
fastball as slow as he could? Did Michael Jordan slowly make his way to
the basket to dunk? Of course not. Speed is essential in most
activities. You don't want to be teaching your muscles to work slowly.
The aerobic
based machines are also usually harmful. Step machines, ski machines,
and exercise bicycles all involve repeating the same motion along the
same track thousands of times, which can lead to overuse injuries
involving the knees, hips, feet, and back. It is preferential to sprint
outside on hills or grass, where every step is slightly different, and
by virtue of the intensity of the workout, one cannot continue it for
long periods of time due to fatigue.
So, are there
any benefits to using machines? Yes - they do have limited uses. For
example, when rehabilitating an injury where you cannot support a
barbell, dumbbells, or your own bodyweight, a machine might be used.
Similarly, an injured leg might be rehabilitated on an exercise bicycle.
The only non-injury related use for machines I can think of is running
sprints on a treadmill. Again, sprinting outside is better, since on a
machine your acceleration into the sprint is limited by how fast the
machine adjusts the speed, but for those that absolutely cannot get
outside, the treadmill is an acceptable alternative.
Let's move on
to the bodyweight vs. free weights debate. Bodyweight exercises are
superior for wrestling and other grappling and martial arts, gymnastics,
and for those who want to join the armed forces. Weight training is
superior for brute strength, football, lifting competitions, and many of
the sports. However, when training for other sports, free weights should
be combined with sprints, some bodyweight exercises, as well as sport
specific drills.
Why are
bodyweight exercises superior for grappling, combat, and gymnastics? For
several reasons. First of all, in each of those activities one needs the
ability to use a muscle group over and over again at high levels - that
is, muscular endurance, which is developed very well by bodyweight
exercises like squats, push-ups, sit-ups, etc. Second, each of those
events requires body awareness.
I define body
awareness literally as being aware of every part of your body at any
given point in time in any given position. The problem with weight
lifting exercises, even the good ones like snatches, cleans, jerks, or
bent pressing, is that you use "weight awareness" - that is, you have to
be aware of where the weight is at all times more than where your body
is. As long as the weight is lifted and caught in the correct position(s),
the body will naturally follow suit (or else the lift fails).
However,
bodyweight exercises take the weights out of the equation. To
successfully do such challenging exercises as handstand push-ups,
one-legged squats, headstands, and bridges, you have to be focusing on
every part of your body. That is why they are so good for wrestling, and
other combat sports where your body is in many different positions
during a match, and to be able to successfully recover and counter
attack, you must have full awareness of where each part of your body is
at all times. Similarly, in gymnastics, where you flip and end up in
many different positions, body awareness is crucial.
Not all
bodyweight exercises develop body awareness equally. Some of the ones I
mentioned above such as handstand push-ups and bridging do a very good
job, but regular push-ups on the other hand develop it to a lesser
extent. The more a bodyweight exercise requires agility and balance, the
more body awareness it develops.
Bodyweight
exercises are also good for people always on the road, those without
money to purchase weights, and those with very little time, as a set of
push-ups or squats can be squeezed in at odd moments during the day.
So what are
weights good for? Many things! Nothing packs muscle on a skinny frame
like heavy, intense lifting. Nothing is better for increasing brute
strength and power - the kind used to lift a heavy box, open a jar
that's stuck, tackle a 210 pound running back running at the speed of
light, smash a homerun over the Green Monster at Fenway Park, or throw
the discus record distances. However, you should choose useful exercises
that work many muscles at the same time, exercises such as cleans,
snatches, jerks, presses, squats, and deadlifts, using barbells,
dumbbells, or sandbags.
Let's sum it
all up. Use machines very sparingly. They have poor crossover to real
life activities. Use a predominantly bodyweight exercise regimen when
training for such activities as wrestling and combat sports in general,
gymnastics, diving, acrobatics, and the military, where you have to use
muscles again and again and need highly developed body awareness, or
simply if you're always on the road or have very little time. Use a
predominantly free weight exercise regimen for most other sports and
activities, but include some bodyweight exercises, and no matter what
kind of activity you're engaged in, sprinting in all its forms will
enhance your athleticism and fitness.
Bodyweight Exercise vs. Free Weights vs. Machines
