Show of hands. How many of you sit in a chair and push weight out in front of you each day? Nobody? I didn't think so, so why would you train your body that way? Why would you walk into a gym, plop down onto the chest press machine, and start pushing out repetitions? The truth is you shouldn't.
A little know secret among those who are most successful at getting weight loss results is that doing exercises while seated on a machine isn't the most effective way to drop the fat.
Right now, I want you to stand up where you are. Just stand where you are for 10 seconds. OK, now stand on one foot for 10 seconds? Which is harder? Obviously, standing on one foot is a little harder than standing on two feet. Now let me ask you this?
What do you think burns off more calories? Standing on one foot, or standing on two feet? Sure, it may not be a lot more, but standing on one foot definitely makes your muscles work more in order to keep you from falling over, and because of this, you burn more calories standing on one foot.
Now take this concept and apply it to weight machines. What is one thing that the majority of weight machines have in common? In order to use them, you sit down on them. Like I said earlier, if your daily tasks don't require you to sit in a chair and push weight out in front of you, then why would you train your body that way? The fact is weight machines create a lazy core. When you sit on a machine, you tend to slouch and relax the core. You also become lazy with your exercise movements because most machines have a predetermined/fixed path that you move the weight through; all you have to do is actually move the weight. You don't have to worry about balancing the weight as you're moving it, maintaining proper form as you're moving it, or using the right technique. All of these equate to lazy muscles, a lazy nervous system, and less calorie burn. A lazy nervous system and muscles, especially the core, means that the risk for injury is increased.
But isn't the reason you use weight machines because you're scared you'll get injured with using free weights and body weight? True, the risk for injury may be a little higher with the use of free weights and body weight, but in all my years of personal training, I've seen as many gym members get hurt using weight machines as I have free weights.
By getting away from weight machines and onto your feet, you require a lot more of the little stabilizers muscles to be activated throughout your body when you perform an exercise with free weights and body weight; this means greater calorie burn, and increased calorie burn means faster fat loss.
When I train my clients, if I have the availability of weight machines, I'll typically start them out on machines for the first couple of weeks. This allows the body to become more accustom to working out, but after those first few weeks, it's on to free weights and body weight.
My philosophy is that you train the body for how it performs in life. Your body requires a lot of balance, stability, and rotation, so you should train your body that way. You don't look like a robot when you're unloading groceries from the car or playing with the kids in the back yard. You're bending, you're squatting, you're twisting, you're jumping; you're doing all kinds of things that require your body to function in more ways than just sitting down and moving forward and backward.
So my advice, spend a few weeks on weight machines to become accustom to lifting, but after that, move into free weight and body weight exercises. They're a lot more effective, and you'll see a lot better results with these type of movements. If you're not sure how to do these type of movements, either ask for some help from a fitness professional or you can check out some videos I've created that don't require any machines or dumbbells.
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