So I have been going to the gym for a few months now.

I have been using the machines instead of free wieghts, I go by myself and don't want to hurt myself or do it in bad form and thought the machines would force me to use proper form.


What are the benifits of using free wieghts vs the machines

Free weights will use more of your muscles - since with machines there's essentially a fixed path you're basically doing isolation-like exercises. The more muscles you use the more testosterone your body will make as you'll be putting your body under more stress. You can do interesting and more challenging exercises with free weights too. Recruiting the supporting muscles will give you a better rounded work out and make you less likely to get injured as you progress.

If you're having trouble with form, get a trainer or try to stop showing off and lifting so much weight.

In terms of safety there are things like squat racks - in years of doing squats, I had to drop the weight off my back once or twice, and the squat rack did its job. If you need a spotter, make some friends. I lifted free weights for years and never really needed any help. For the big compound exercises, get a trainer to teach you the proper way to recover if you get stuck.

Some machines have benefits, but for somebody new. I always suggest starting with free weights. Make sure each workout revolves around the basic compound lifts. These lifts aren't easy, or pretty. But they f*cking work.

Do free weights trust me, just ease into them so you don't snap yourself up. If you haven't done them before don't be afraid to start light because you will probably feel a little uncomfortable doing them in the beginning, but once you get your body used to stabilizing them the benefits are huge.

if u want to see results do free weights

Free Weights > Machines.
Any day.

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401, my introduction post:
here-vp568455.html#568455

the benefits is
function > structure
Free weights > machine

Free weights gives you soewhat functional strength and machine gives u looks lol, aboisutley just an aesthetic thing

Machines are good for toning
Free Weights are better for building muscle

Yup free weights are much better forces you to balance, machines don't necessarily give you proper form because you can't do something wrong. Start free weights off with low weight and build up so you have proper form.

P90x...

No p90x isn't worth it. It's just muscle confusion where basically you just need to keep working out instead of taking breaks, and plus building is all about diet.

I'm an athlete and my goal is to get bigger, faster and stronger and as such I need to lift heavy weights under uncontrolled circumstances. For this, free weights using large multijoint exercise is unquestionably the way to go.
However, if your just looking to improve your physique, appearence and over all health I dont think this is the way to go. This kind of lifting is hard, very hard, and in order to improve at it, requires enourmous caloric intake-that may leave you with a less then an ideal physique, depending on genetics, metabolism etc.
If I wasnt an athlete and was just lifting for health and appearance, I would defidently do one of two things:
1. circuit training: do exercises one after another with little or no rest in between. For this I would use machines. The beauty of this is your combining cardio and strength traning. This will build lean muscle and give you a more ripped physique-but not really build a lot of size.
2. barbell complexes: you'll have to google this as i dont feel like typing out the recipe here. But this is ABSOLUTELY BRUTAL. Basically you take a barbell and you do 8-10 exercises for 6-8 reps with no rest in between, one after the other, do not put the bar down. This is great way to train both if your an athlete or just a guy looking to get in shape. You will be gasping for air by the end and your muscles will burn. MMA fighters as well as other combat sport athletes love these for conditioning but I think it would be great for overall health and well being. The real beauty of complexes is you can get the hardest workout you've ever experienced in about 20-30 minutes.