Should i train with weight or machines?

[ipappnasei]

Hey guys im 20, 1.92meters tall and 67kg only.

my trainer wants me to work out at the machines you sure know what kind of machines i mean. you just sit on them and then push levers n stuff. he says i have to build some muscle mass on them first before i go down to the weight room. do you support this or do you think i should go to the weights room already? does it even make a difference because it seems like you can train all body parts on the machines too.

thx in advance

 

[cdiggity]

Everything in the weight room has their place. Machines can isolate the muscles really well, which is good, and they do not get all the stabilizer muscles that something like dumb bells, cables, or compound movements would get (which is bad). It really isn't a bad place to start, and I still use them for exercises such as my legs. However, I prefer dumb bells, body movements, and barbells over machines but I have been training for a while.

Get used to them, get your muscles sore, then try stepping up to the bigger stuff.

 

[Bootstomper]

Free weights are where you're going to want to end up, for reasons mentioned above plus others, but even then, it's good to have a mix of free weights and machines. Now comes the caveat... There's nothing wrong with starting on the machines and building your form and "base strength" before you move on to free weights. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and without proper form it's much easier to hurt yourself with free weights than it is on machines as well. Be patient, work hard, build up your form on the machines, and then move on to the weight room with free weights.

 

[MBB]

IMO you need to be hitting the free weights and learning the movement patterns of the compound lifts. Once you've got the form, then start to progressively overload.

 

[Southernfish]

You need to utilize everything in the gym, a good mixture of free weight exercises and machine work is ideal. You dont want to do all of one or all of the other. I do, lets say back for example, one day of most free weight and one machine exercise so i can focus on building stabilizer muscles and mass and the next back day ill do all machines to get a good pump and force as much blood into the muscle as possible to stretch the fascia.

 

[Hcmagia24]

When I was first hitting the gym all I would use was the machines. After a couple months I felt I was getting stronger but wasn't gaining much size, I looked the same. It wasn't until I incorporated compound movements, free weight, barbell that I realized I was actually growing and really getting stronger. Like other have said you can use machines to isolate a specific muscle, but compound movements and free weights is the way to go.

 

[Want2lift]

If your just starting out concentrate on your compounds, get your technique right. Even some really good Olympic lifts. Cleans, power cleans, big multi joint lifts will pack more mass on you than any machine ever will.

 

[3J]

sounds like you got great info here.. yes, i switch from free weights to machines myself.. it has its place

 

[juced_porkchop]

free weights i rec 90% of time IMO

 

[Mprtz]

Yes

 

[afton21]

I always do free weights first and then hit machines after to get a better contraction at the end of my workouts.

 

[AereoZon]

I would encourage you to stick to basic compound lifts as well. Have you checked out Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program or Rippetoe's Starting Strength? I think the SS program is great for beginners and 531 is good for intermediate and above. Good luck!