These are the questions that keep me up at night.

80% machines 20% free weights works the best for me. I used to do a lot more free weights but since I started to put more emphasis on machines I have grown so much bigger and fuller. Machines are the best for hypertrophy

I’d be 100% free weight. Except I prefer not having to spend 45 minutes a workout loading and unloading.

40% machine with 60% free weights , definitely use machines for more isolated muscle workouts and I use free weights for more compound exercises.

one of the best of the best channels

Wow, man! Great video. This is exactly the type of specific content I was looking for-easy to digest and very well explained. I'm glad to have found this channel.

This is the first one of your videos I ever come across. I find your information very accurate, well-researched, and is well presented. Subscribing immediately

When I was young and into bodybuilding I found about a 50/50 mix of free weights and machines to be most effective for growth. I especially liked plate loaded hammer strength machines. Now at 50 I only do free weights, body weight, and cables. No lever machines. I value functional fitness more now so I want to balance the weight.

I find all of your videos so motivating and so educational, i love that all your information is well researched and that you always cite yourself. i cannot tell you how greatfull i am for your videos. i have recently been getting into using pre workout to help with my workout as i usually train in the evenings. i am a person that does not drink caffee or consume caffeine and never had a habit of it so i feel it really helps for me. though i haven’t found a video of yours to explain this, i hope that you can soon make a video about the effects of using preworkout supplements before a workout and possibly during as well, i would love to know if it has an effect if you take it before or in comparison to during. Cant wait to see more of your content!! much love and respect ❤❤❤

In fact Machines help growing the muscle you wanna train, BUT free weights help growing all the help-muscles for the exercise, too. So if you wanna grow overall , not just the (e.P.) chest ,then do it free-weight

Excellent video! Clear, concise and to the point with great coverage!

All the information given in this video is true. As a certified Trainer I will suggest that one should learn form and technique related to each muscle growth to prevent injury and gain more hypertrophy in the muscle growth.... 😊😊

One of my favourite channels. So informative.

great channel, love the well laid out and explained info yet not an over-zealous reliance on often flawed studies

This video is so great, Its just fully packed with information and facts.

I think every personal trainer should watch this video !!

I only work out at home with dumbbells, but if I had the access i would definitely prefer machines

I have trained for well over 50 years with a mixture of machines and free weights and my routine has changed with aims, age and injuries. Now in my 70s it’s mostly machines but with some other methods eg cables. I think this is an excellent analysis and explains not just what the differences are, but also why. One thing I have found is that you improve at exactly what you do and the way you do it. Just changing an exercise slightly can make a difference to how much you ache afterwards. Also being able to do a particular cardio exercise doesn’t mean you can do a different one just as well. I have therefore tried to vary what I have done to a great degree. Doing this might mean you don’t improve on one specific exercise as much but you do get a more rounded fitness in terms of strength, cardio ability and even body shape.

As usual, another helpful video.. Thank you..

I love free weights because it's harder to work out with them

Switched back to hybrid-50/50 bar and machine/cable/free weight at 40 years old-lifting for 20+ years. I find its the best of both building muscle thickness and definition.

I use both, and both seem to help. I'm very grateful for your evidence based approach and level-headed advice. Too many fitness youtube channels try to portray themselves as THE ONE TRUE SOURCE of all advice, and you have so many that basically use their own experience as the basis of their recommendations - which, when you think about it, is no different from anecdotal evidence. So - exercise is exercise. Free weight or machine based will help you do what you want, provided you do it safely. Thanks!

Awesome content

Super useful and easy to understand content, thanks 🙏🏻

I like both. When it comes to benching, I prioritize free weight just to have a realistic view of what I can lift. I use the smiths machine for benching as well, but I don't use it to gauge my ability, but just to get the workout in.

Machines for biceps Cable for delta and swinging movements that use leverage Weights for everything else

I always use barbell squats, then go heavy on the machines, so i can go max safely and also can develop my balancing muscles as well,,,

Beginner here (2 weeks) i don't want to risk any injuries so ill be sticking to machines

awesome explanation

Nice episode......thank you. Nearing 60 years of age, I pretty much use machines and cables only. Love the hack squat for back support.

I personally do 60% free weights and 40% machines, so like 3 free weight compund movements and 2 isolated machines💪

I have been using free weights for bicep curls for the past couple of months, and it always felt quite bad. A couple of days ago I used the machine for biceps, and now I dont want to go back. The pump from one set was better than any set I have ever had trying to go 3x8 on free weights. I am definitely going to be viewing machines in a more positive light from now on.

Free weights for all core exercises machines later in the routine to push reps and get final pump

I started bodybuilding young age of 15 (natural) with heavy free weights and got all sorts of injuries like labral tears and joint problems now I’m 30. I do only machines light weights higher reps nowadays and my problems have not gotten worse and I look as good as ever. As far as building muscle machines are just as effective imo you just won’t be as strong but I don’t really care about strength anymore

I have osteoporosis, so it's machines all the way for me. I've not sought advice on how safe (or not) free weights would be, but I'm 100% sure I'm doing my joints and bones a favour by using machines.

Im really uneasy about squatting since i tore my ACL a while back, deadlifting is great but squatting scares me a bit now. Its good to know the leg press might be just as good

As I understand after this video, it doesn't matter which type of exercise you do. Machines for beginners, and free weights for experienced lifters

I think that for pure hypertrophy the machines are clearly superior. They offer greater stability with which you can train more safely to failure while causing less fatigue. for hypertrophy all this is a godsend. what I see that works for me is doing the first exercise with free weight, and all the other exercises of the day with machines.

I'm still strictly free weights but I do add in some machines and cables but I prefer free weights and body weights, gotta keep it hardcore.

Depends what your goal is, if you training to look good and stay healthy then do a bit of both and trial error your way to the ratio that pleases you. If you an athlete for example training for a sport like rugby and basketball, you’ll find your self better off favouring free weights because those little muscles needed for stability that make it hard. You specifically want to train those because they help you with movements fort your sport. Then again machine have their uses still.

I'd say smith machine and cables should be the other way around at 1:34. Smith machines have a fixed movement pattern, the bar can only go up/down in a straight line. Cables can be moved freely.

Me gusto mucho el video. Nice. ;)

A very useful video, thanks!, the Mario rios guy says that free and body weight exercises are better than machines

I usually use machine isolation after x muscle’s main excercises that are freeweight

Maybe start off with machines to get the form and stability down Then follow up with free weights to get full range of motion and target stabilizers

100% free here Great video tfs 👋🏻

I used to do a mixture of both, but lately I prefer machines. I feel safer and therefore I can push harder. My feeling is that whichever allows you to progressively overload is what is better for you.

Do what works for you. Your muscles aren't like people. They won't be able to tell if you lifted 5lbs of gold, vs 5lbs of rusted steel. If people can achieve great physiques while locked up, lifting any weight they can find, you can to in any gym. Simply, the magical factor is consistency, and challenging your body when it naturally learns to make things easier to do the same thing over and over with... consistency.

Compound free weights for an hour, weighted body weight for half hour with vest on then end it with machines for half hour.. that’s how i train

Amazing video :)

I prefer free weights... i do use a couple machines n cables but very minimal and i also do dips and pull ups

I always prefer free weights, but some machines like the preacher curl machine are one of my favorites

for the study at 4:15 with the incline curl vs preacher curl. Could the disparity between the two groups be partly due to the fact that its easier to cheat with incline curl? or did the study account for that with PTs correcting any bad form?

You overlooked the phenomenal difference in core strength development between the two variants. Free weight lifters are going to have stronger core bcoz core is always recruited in free weight training and that becomes significant in atheletic performance especially cross training and professional weight lifting. If it's only aesthetics one is concerned about then machines would do.

Free weighs are usually always better, but for stability and ease of use, machines are a good alternative. Especially if you are starting off or like most gyms, if the weight room is packed and you can't use anything anyway.

There's another benefit of free weights that people usually don't think about. If you use free weights you can compare your strength to people who don't go to the same gym as you. Knowing someone's strength on machines is useless unless he's using that same machine.

I would not be able to train my legs with free weights because i could not hold or carry the weights for my leg workout (100kg) with my arms or upper body

If you like having a lower back when you grow old, you use machines for compound exercises, simple as that.

I'm lifting my own body weight exercise at home.

free weights 100%, been doing this over 20 years, ive stayed away from machines and gained lot more muscle then people i workout with that use machines...

These days 70/30 machines/free-weights. I have all the stability I need. After 30 years, I’m much more focused on mind-muscle connection than being able to just lift stuff vertically against gravity.

Please make the video data analysis and it's implementation How would you implement the collected workload data to yours athletes 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 please please

I have noticed that some machines cut the ROM short for taller or shorter individuals. For example, the leg press in my gym hits the bottom while I am just around parallel.

Machines automate the movement, making it easier to have proper form, but at the same time making you lazier because the machine is doing part of the work. Free weights depend entirely on you doing the whole thing, which makes them better for gaining strength and building muscle, but they require you to properly manage your form.

When I first started gym, I used a lot of machines. Now I just enjoy lifting free weights, it’s just more fun

As someone who suffered from shoulder injuries for years and learned a lot about the causes and the biomechanics from experts to get me out of that, I'd like to inform many beginners and intermediates of the danger of using fixed machines way more than free weights. let me explain... ~ This might be a long comment, but bear with me if you care about longevity and staying away from injuries ~ Using Fixed machines (machines that have a fixed plane of motion, lets take an example of chest press, your Joint Stabilizing muscles (infraspinatus, teres minor, Supraspinatus, serratus anterior) gets too weak with time compared to the chest (since the stability is already provided by the machine and thlese stabilizers wont be strengthened along with the main muscles). With time, big unbalances around your shoulder joint start to develop, in this example the shoulder will get excessive internal rotation strength and will cause continuous wear and tear caused by bad mechanics in the joint. The amount of shoulder instability is already existed since most men focuses more on the manly muscles (chest front shoulder, lats) which are internal rotators of the shoulder and neglect adding exercises that balances such as ( serratus anterior, lower traps, rear delt, infraspinatus, Supraspinatus, teres minor), so using fixed machines without addressing these issues will make it even worse. Don't get me wrong, Machines are still great for hypertrophy in terms of adding more volume = more muscle growth since they don't require much CNS fatigue, meaning after you've done your majority of workouts targeting all muscles (including the stabilizers) you finally add one or two machines at the end since you're already exhausted and machines don't exhaust the body as much. Many free weight exercises devoop better hypertrophy - by using techniques like loading the muscles at full lengthened position- there's many studies about this, and many Machines can't provide that. in addition, the strength you gain from stabilizers muscles will have a carryover on hypertrophy along the road. At the end of the day, both machines and free weights must be done for maximum hypertrophy, but balance is key guys. We should understand the pros and cons of each and the biggest disadvantage of machines is the imbalances it creates. Don't learn the hard way

Since free weight training requires more effort for stability, could it be that machines, on the contrary, lead to fewer reinforcement of stabilizing muscles? Leading to joint pain due to insufficient strength of smaller stabilizing muscles if few free weight exercices are performed compared to machine exercices ?

"The reason prisoners are so jacked is because they don't have access to machines" - Jason Blaha

Although what you say about the resistance profile is very important, generally speaking machine is way better than freeweight for the simple reason that: it is safer. It is safer to evaluate your RIR, it is safer to go to muscle failure, it is safer because you're more stable. Obviously you would need to learn how to set up the machine for your morphology but that's the same issue with freeweight, you need a specific technique to handle the weight even before starting the set, safely. Also, what a HUGE gain of time with machine (which is rather again of energy).

I only use free weight if I have a gym buddy, but if I'm solo I use machines cause I don't need a spotter

How does a rowing machine compare to walking? Strictly from a fat loss perspective.

When I go in the gym the only thing I’m thinking about is ripping my muscles to pieces and kicking my own ass and that seems to be working well!

@maroiRios needs to see this quik

I've never used free weights simply because I dislike them and I fear injury due to being a bit of a knob. I'm no Sam Sulek, but I'm more than content as to where it got me

I do literally all lil bit of these types 😆

My personal trainer has me do a mix of free weights and machines.

1. All machines are different. However, if you bench press 100 kg you can do it at any gym. 2. Machines are perfect for dropsets. 3. Machines are great when you train with a partner who has a big difference in strength.

Is there a workout that you could do everyday with no drawbacks? Something like dead man hangs or farmers walk

The downside of the machine is that it's not fun😢

calisthenics and machines and cables… every now and again free weights (light weight) for variety

What does it mean if my shoulder hurts when doing chest press

I just not fond of re-racking free weights after use 😂, so I prefer more machines

I’m about 50/50

Machine with a heavy MYO reps

I'm about 95% Machines and Cable. 5% free-weights

I powerlift so I only free weight

Probably free weights and supplementing machines

For me, 85% free weights and 15% machines

i rather free weight i got a multi gym at home i never use it i rather sell my multi gym and buy more free weights

We go to the gym because the machines

You clearly got one thing wrong Cables are free weights basically. Only the way of the force is alterered.

A smith machine is called a machine so boom

I love machine exercise. I can rest and 1 pump more and 1more and more 😂😂

first three comments are spam of half naked grill pfps and an esl arab who is from another universe i love KZfaq

😊

Unless u lift weights for a living. Do what u enjoy first.

Long story short - "Time to bleeeeeed".

Algorithm

Gravity is the key. Machines are better bc of that.

The thing with science based lifters and their reliance on research is that NONE of the studies account for genetics