Meet Sarah.
About this past year, Sarah saw an infomercial about a “multiunit” workout machine. The announcer called it a “revolutionary” piece of equipment, claiming that people would see results in “just 2-4 weeks “.It exercised all major body parts and the female model shown using the machine said it “was safer and more effective than free weights.”
Intimidated by gyms her whole life, Sarah knew having her own home gym will be the key to her finally getting into shape. She had heard that machines were safer than free weights. Besides, the machine came with “easy to follow video instructions “.The price was steep, but as Sarah imagined changing her body, she got her credit called and grabbed the phone.
On the day of delivery, Sarah was surprised to see it took up twice the space she was told it would, limiting space in her already cramped den. Excited to begin with, she popped in the video, and hopped on the machine. Sarah soon found that she, at 5’3″, was too small to fit on the machine for a few of the exercises. She continued on anyway, trying to ignore the fact her lower back and knees were starting to hurt a little.
Sarah used her new revolutionary machine exactly three more times. For the last six months, it has been her unofficial clothes hanger.
What happened? Sarah thought she was buying a machine that could be very easy to operate and be a safe alternative to free-weights. Unfortunately, Sarah and many others are misguided by heavily marketed hype by machine developers. As it pertains to effectiveness, particularly for the beginning exerciser, free-weights (i.e., dumbbells) rate much higher than expensive machines in terms of:
Cost. Three or four sets of dumbbells would have cost Sarah less than 10 times the amount she spent on her machine. As she gets stronger, she would have to buy more, though even a full set would not set her back nearly as much as the machine did.
Space. Dumbbells take up far less space than a lot of the exercise equipment sold on infomercials. You can easily place them in a closet, out of sight under the bed, or in a corner. There are even dumbbells you can adjust (i.e., PowerBlock) that allow you to adjust the poundage on one set, eliminating the need for single-poundage dumbbells.
Variety. Most machines are designed as one-dimensional. Even the most extensive multi-unit machines will allow exercisers to perform only a limited number of movements in a restricted range of motion. Free-weights can be used in ranges of motion based on the exerciser, not a machine. Use free weights along with benches or Swiss Balls and you have multitude of exercise options.
Suitability. Sarah couldn’t use her “multi-usage” machine for certain exercises because the machine was too big. This isn’t an uncommon problem. Even though most machines have adjustable seats, arm pads, and lever arms, there are limitations to their range and some may not fit the very small or very large person. However, if you’re able to grab a dumbbell, you can use it.
Functionality. Exercising with free-weights increases the likelihood that the effects of the exercise will cross over into real-world situations. Think about it. How often during the day do you lie in a diagonal supine position and push weight up like you would on a machine leg press? Probably never. But how often are you required to do activities that are biomechanically identical to the squat? Sitting, getting in and out of a car, crouching down to pick something up…all the time! Properly using free weights will increase the functionality of an exercise to real-world situations.
6. Safety. It seems counterintuitive to consider free-weights as safer than machines. The majority of us have heard (somewhere) that we could get hurt with dumbbells and that machines were “safer.” Maybe just the notion of someone doing a huge bench press lends itself to imagining the likelihood that one might lose control of the same amount of weight if they ever attempted it.