Free weights or machine based weights..which is better?

Free weights are good because it develops your core muscles and makes you strong from the inside whereas machine weights make you bulky but weaker insides! so i suggest you to do free weights!

Free weights are good because it develops your core muscles and makes you strong from the inside whereas machine weights make you bulky but weaker insides! so i suggest you to do free weights!

Depends on what I'm doing. I like to use machines for like my legs, but I mostly use free weights for my upper body. But I do a mixture of both. That way I'm constantly using different muscles and doing new things!

I like to use both. I'n no expert, but I think the machines are good for the beginners that are just starting out. They do give you the best form if you don't know how to properly use the free weights. I see alot of people using free weights and the form is horrible. Like the arm curl. I see these muscle kneck idots with the 70inch arms curling a 90 pound dumbell. If you can do it more power to you. But if you can't do it correctly then why bother. These guys are curling 90 pounds in each hand, and they're using their whole arm to lift the weight as well as their back. They can lift the weight, but not with perfect form. When yopu do an arm curl, the only muscle that should be used is your bicept. Your back should be still and you should not be using your whole arm to help lift the weight in the air. It is good to challenge yourself with heavier weight for muscle growth. It also has to do with genetics. Some people are just blessed where they can get big and ripped in no time. People also need to remember that if they are going to lift heavy, you don't have to do a high number of reps. If you can bench press 100 pounds at 20 reps, don't try to do 20 reps at 200 pnds. Maybe you can only do 5 -6 reps at 200. That's how I used to mess up when I started working out. I like to lift heavy with the free weights for muscle growth and strenght, and if I feel up to it I like to finish off with the machines at a lighter weight for form and definition, or I'll use lighter free weights. Another good thing to do other than weights is pull ups, dips, and push ups. Using your own body weight is really good for development and strenght. I heard an old football player say that when he was coming up back in his day he never used weights. All he did was dips and pull ups. If you look at some of the old school athletes, these guys didn't have the equipment that we have today. They ate right and trained with nothing.

Stinge has some decent points there. If you are a beginner you can gain some benefit from machines. However i would always suggest that free weights are the way to go even for beginners. They just need to start on a low weight and get good instruction such that their form is right. I was in the gym this afternoon and watching 3 guys deadlift. Their form was truly awful and they were the type to gee each other along and check their biceps after each set. they were lifting around 150lbs. One of them was struggling to deadlift 95lbs all in and I really wanted to tell them all they were heading for back injuries because their form was that bad. However I shut my mouth and let them get on with it as it is not my business. These guys wouldn't even benefit from machines in truth. What freeweights do is force your stabiliser muscles to work for you whereas machines do all that work freeing you up to simply pull or push the weight around. No-one who can bench 200 lbs as a max on a machine could then go bench 200 lbs on a free bench. They would kill themselves. Freeweights on big compound moves will increase the core strength of an individual. I would suggest all machines be tossed away and people just be taught properly but what will happen is gyms will continue to conveyor belt people through and they just want to make a buck most of them so it is minimal instruction, machines and get on with it.