Weight Training Machines

For athletes just getting started with weight training, the prospect of free weights can be intimidating. Dumbbells and barbells look simple enough, but they are not self-explanatory. They require an understanding of the types of exercises they can be used for, and offer greater risk of injury if those exercises are done incorrectly. Weight machines are much more straightforward. Despite the fact that many seasoned athletes might favor free weights for their versatility, weight training machines can be an excellent starting point for those looking to get in shape.

Although there are many different kinds of weight machines, a few basic factors untie them all. Weight machines give focused resistance to the parts of the body they engage via pulleys, levers, or cables. They usually seek to replicate one or more types of free weight exercises with weights locked into a metal frame.

A few machines can serve to demonstrate this last point. A leg press, for example, is a mechanized bench press in which the legs are used to push upward on a weighted plate instead of the arms and chest. A Smith machine encloses a barbell within steel rails, allowing it to be lifted in an exercise that replicates a squat.

The list of weight machines goes on and on, but controversy surrounds many of them for the unnatural positions they force upon athletes who use them. Although they can make for useful beginner’s tools, it is widely conceded that serious weight trainers should eventually switch to free weights.

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