Archive for February 6th, 2010

Which is better, machines or free weights?

There really isn’t a right answer, except to say they both have benefits.  Machines are ideal for beginners in terms of body position and alignment, but they are often intimidating and require some assistance in setting seat positions and adjustments correctly.  In many cases machines effectively isolate muscles, and target muscle groups difficult to hit with free weights.

Free weights on the other hand, are more functional as you can more closely mimic activities of daily life, including sports.  You also engage other muscle groups, particularly your core (abs and back) and have the added benefit of training balance and proprioception.

Ideally, a program will include some of both, so over time as you change up your routine, be sure to make sure your choose exercises for each muscle group that include both free weights and machines.  For example if you have been doing a Lat Pulldown for a while, try a seated, or bent over row which target the lats in a different positions.

How many reps and sets should I do?

This depends very much on your goal.   Typically we say low weight/high reps for muscle endurance or overall fitness, and high weight/low reps for serious muscle building.  So, if your goal is overall fitness you should be lifting a weight around 12 times before achieving muscle fatigue, but if your goal is to ‘bulk up’ you may only be completing 6 repetitions of a much heavier weight.

Research shows that single set training can be very effective, provided that one set is a good one,  achieving “momentary muscle fatigue”.  Certainly, performing two, or three set is more effective, but not proportionately so.  However, if your goal is to build muscl the extra time invested in multiple sets is well worth it.

The bottom line is, if time permits perform two to three sets, but when squeezing exercise into a busy life, know that one set of an exercise will still have significant impact.  Some is better than none.

 How do you know how much weight to lift?

There are some fancy technical tests out there, the most common one being the one repetition max, but in most cases they aren’t practical, so even as “fitness professionals” we use a guesstimate.  We take an educated guess of what we think you can lift, and the then we err on the side of caution, teaching the exercise and watching how many times you can complete with ease.

For example, if you identify you would like to “tone up” a little, you would most likely be best lifting in the 12 rep range.  If you can complete 20 reps, we need to up the weight because it’s too easy and you will not achieve your desired outcome.  Let’s say we up it too much, and you can only complete 6 reps with perfect form, then we need to lower your weight.

Be sure not to stop at 12 reps because your program says 3 sets of 12….a common mistake.  Keep going and if you reach 15 or more, you know in order to get results you need to increase the weight next time.  The best exercise regimens are not long, they are efficient and effective.

Any other queries regarding making the most of your weight training workouts?