If you look around at the 'fitness centres' that saturate the fitness market you will realise that they are the same in almost every way possible. You can bet on the machine weight area being more then twice the size of the free weight area or there being no free weight training area at all. You can count on the reception desk being occupied by someone who knows nothing about free weight training and you can also count on this same person being responsible for selling you a fitness service that they know nothing about. Lastly you can expect to see more people either standing around looking at themselves or sitting on a weights machine then performing a functional free weight exercise.
Machine weights have been marketed as a way to achieve the same results as free weight exercises. Machine weights are appealing options to fitness centres as a way to fit more equipment into a smaller space and provide more exercise options without the need for proper exercise instruction or supervision, thus cutting down on the need for staff and knowledgeable trainers. This marketing has been successful evidenced by the complete absence of free weight training areas in some gyms. Unfortunately this marketing has also successfully eliminated some of the most effective training methods from your average 'gym-goers' training program. Seeing someone perform a dead lift or clean and jerk in a gym is a rare sight however we are used to seeing person after person line to use the bicep curl machine - how did this happen?
More and more often I encounter people who have poor joint stability, functional strength, core strength and flexibility as a result of many years of training using nonfunctional machine weight exercises. I have seen the same cases time and time before; someone who can leg press 200kg+ but cannot barbell squat 60kg. Someone who can seated machine chest press 50kg but cannot do 20 push ups. Someone who does 2 leg sessions in the gym each week but does not have the balance to control a travelling lunge. These are common examples of poor functional strength, core strength, flexibility and stability development as a result of machine weight training.
Free weight training can be defined as any exercise that allows the joints to work through an undefined range of motion, this can include but is not limited to training with dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, sandbags, body weight etc. Compound free weight exercises are those that require movement at greater than 1 joint to perform the exercise, for example squat, dead lift, power clean etc. It is these compound free weight exercises that provide the greatest benefit because they recruit the most muscle groups, require the most effort and most closely resemble functional movements. Compound free weight training allows the joints to work through a full range of motion and challenges the stability and core muscles promoting the development of flexibility, functional strength, core strength and joint stability.
Core strength, functional strength, joint stability & flexibility are important fitness components for preventing injury and maximising efficiency of lifestyle and physical performance tasks. These tasks may be as simple as helping a friend move furniture off a truck, mowing the lawn or lifting something heavy from a shelf above head height to more intense physical tasks such as those performed during sports and physical activities. These fitness components are also important for being physically prepared for planned and/or often unpredictable changes such as falling pregnant, taking up a social team sport or changing occupations with different physical challenges.
Free weight training may appear more complex than using a weight machine however technique instruction can be easily individualised for each person's level of experience, strength and fitness. These benefits of free weight training make the added complexity of learning technique worthwhile. Once you have mastered the more complex free weight techniques they are great training tools that will be available to you forever. So next time you go to sit on the seated shoulder press machine, find someone who can show you how to perform a free weight push press correctly instead - the results you will achieve training properly far outweigh the time spent learning technique. Get back to what works best and don't let your training be dictated by what is easier for 'fitness centres' to manage.
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