Are Machines Better Than Free Weights for Beginners?

Machines are better than free weights for beginners! My high school baseball coach told me that my freshman year 18 years ago and that is a statement that a lot of personal trainers still use today.If you were to sit down at your computer and type in "Are machines better than free weights for beginners?" you would find a lot of information that says yes they are better than free weights. You would also find a lot of information that says no they are not better than free weights.
�If that isn't enough to confuse you lets suppose you go to a gym that has a fairly good size personal training department, 10-15 people lets say. If you were to ask each one of them that same question you would find that just about half of them think that machines are better than free weights while the other half would say no free weights are better.To effectively determine whether or not machines are better than free weights you need more information. What are the fitness goals of the "beginner"? What is the current fitness level of the "beginner"? Machines were designed with safety in mind. Most fitness machines require you to select your weight by placing a pin the stack of weights. The machine's range of motion is designed to mimic what your range of motion "should be" if you were performing this exercise with free weights, this only works however if the machine is properly adjusted to fit you. If it is not then you might be losing out on that "ideal" range of motion that the machine was designed for. Machines are also designed to stabilize the weight across the bar. When the weight is stabilized across the bar you strong side will help compensate for your weak side which means that your workout won't be as challenging as it would be if you were performing the same exercise with free weights.Are Machines Better Than Free Weights for Beginners?

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