Free Weight For Fitness

Posted by Paul on January 25th, 2010 at 10:58am

If you have dived into the world of resistance training you would have noticed that there are two types of resistance methods: free weights and weights equipment. So which is better? Well – it depends upon your goals.

If your goal is to build a lot of muscle you will want to focus mainly on the free weights. If your goal is fitness, a mixture of both is ideal…

Free weights are those which do not provide any assistance such as cables or machines. They involve you solely lifting the weight without any help or counter resistance. In other words, free weight for fitness means that you can judge exactly how much weight you can lift at any one time without being hampered.

Strength training equipment now comes in hundreds of different types that cover almost the entire body. Many people opt to use equipment for leg exercises and free weights for training the top half of the body.

Whilst it is entirely possible (and highly beneficial) to use barbells and dumbbells to train your thighs, hamstrings, calves and entire lower body, using equipment is easier; particularly if you are just starting out. It is easy to strain your back when doing leg muscle free weights, so it’s not a bad idea to strengthen up for a few months on equipment before experimenting with exercises like dead lifts (lifting a barbell from the ground to train your upper legs).

There are advantages and disadvantages of using machine weights. On the good side machines are safer as there’s no danger of you getting stuck holding weights that you can’t put down. They can also help you to target a particular muscle easier than free weights in the beginning.

But the benefits of free weight for fitness outweigh those of machines when you consider what they can do for your body. You can perform movements cleanly and without obstruction or help. This makes your muscles totally extend for the entire action. The action of free weights also closely mimics actions you make in sports and in stretching.

They are also very versatile as a pair of dumbbells can serve to provide you with exercises for many different muscle groups. You don’t have to join a gym if you concentrate on free weights for fitness as the equipment will cost you under $100 and will provide you with an all over body workout for many years into the future.

Tags: Dumbbell, fitness, free weight fitness, Health, Muscle, Resistance training, Weight training, weights

Under Fitness Equipment+ Weights and Fitness