I’m often asked about my recommendations for weight machines. I use and recommend free weights, but I’m not opposed to beginning resistance training with the mechanical assistance.

I’ve been training with weights for 25 years. The 5 x 5 has been by far my most effective routine for gaining strength and burning fat. In the interest of making any newcomers feel welcome and informed, if you haven’t read my recommended routine, check this out and rejoin us.

However, I didn’t start by getting in the rack and throwing around iron. My first introduction to weight lifting came when I was 13 and on the Nautilus machines. From the University of Illinois:

Many machines use a stack of weight as a means of resistance. By the use of cams, cables, gears and pulleys, the resistance from the weight stack can be controlled by one specific movement. Still other machines may require giant springs or rubber bands to provide resistance, and may be less capable of gradual increases in resistance. Some large multi-station weight machines allow a variety of exercises for a full body workout.

Yes, I remember those days well. They followed an RTD bus ride and a brief stop at Pioneer Chicken for battered, fried fingers and a pile of shoestrings covered in a mysterious sweet red sauce. Those were the days. I was barely a teenager, and everything was new, including hitting the fitness center. I needed guidance, so a plug and play setting for my sessions was ideal.

There are some significant advantages to training in an extremely controlled environment, particularly for a beginner. Safety matters and using a machine is like training with a partner. You certainly won’t drop weight on your face if you’re using a pec deck machine.

If you use machines as your introduction to weight lifting, be prepared for a transitional period when you move toward traditional free weights. Weight training is a skill, and you will essentially be starting over. From angrytrainerfitness.com:

So here’s what happens: you join your local gym and start using machines and soon you become fairly strong. So you figure it’s time you go hit some free weights. But then what? Well now you must stabilize the weight, control the path, and call upon intrinsic musculature that hasn’t really been used yet.

This is cute. It’s extreme, but cute. It is possible to build lean tissue with machines, simply by incrementally adding weight over time. There is no law that you have to move to free weights. What’s the hurry, and what’s wrong with starting fresh and learning from the ground floor a second time if you do choose to scurry along to the next level? Nothing.

There is a consideration that tips the balance of my scale in favor of free weights. Generally, stability is a good thing. Infrequently, being less stable is desirable, and such is the case when weight training for athletic performance. From active.com:

One of the reasons many athletes like to train with free weights over machines is that they require more balance, coordination and utilization of stabilizer muscles. For example, if you’re doing a standing dumbbell shoulder press, you’re not only working your shoulder muscles but also your abdominals and leg muscles to stabilize your body.

It is prudent to at least consider beginning with a barbell dressed with some light weights, but we are human beings. My beginnings are not yours. We all must find our own way in the world through trial and error.

I’ll leave you with this. The most empowering thing you can do is begin. You will not be permanently wrong, no matter what. Pick a path and follow it. I’ll be here if you get lost.

Kap