Tag: Free Weights

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Weight Loss Exercise

Free Weights or Weight Training Machines



Should you do only free weights at the gym or use weight training machines? Something you need to keep in mind and never forget is that when you exercise, you are training for life. You still may spend an hour a day in the gym, although that will still leave another 23 hours or so for your muscles to function without using any fancy equipment.

Whenever you do any type of exercise, the movement of your body during the exercise is known as the range of motion. The more difficult the range of motion is, the more effective the exercise will be, because your body has to work twice as hard to perform the movement.

Bicep curls – Free Weights or Weight Training Machines

Take for the instance the classic dumbbell bicep curl. If you aren’t familiar with the exercise, it is performed by standing up straight with your palms facing forward, and a pair of dumbbells held down by your sides. You’ll contract your biceps to bring the dumbbells up to your shoulder height, then repeat the exercise as many times as you wish.

Using that same movement for exercise on a bicep curl machine, you should sit down, brace your upper arms on a pad, grasp 2 handles that are in front of you, then perform the same movement as above to move the handles in an upward motion.

Now, looking at the muscle contractions in this exercise, you are contracting essentially your biceps if you are using the curl machine, and that is pretty much all you are doing. When you use the machine you are sitting down, which will limit just how much your shoulders give. The machine has several muscles used in this exercise limited to the biceps, as well as the muscles in your forearms and fingers.

Limited Range of Motion with Machines

Free Weights or Weight Training Machines

Weight Workout Machine

Most of the time, when using machine weights, you will always be limited as to what type of exercise you can perform. You must always follow a strict procedure, which is pretty much the same with free weights. Unlike free weights, machine weights offer a certain degree of resistance.

One of the best thing about free weights is the fact that you move a little chuck around to select the weight you want to use. Instead of dragging it over to your exercise area, you simply select it on the machine. When you are tired during a workout, this can be a blessing.

A lot of people argue in the fact that free weights are the best for your body. While this is normally true, many people out there feel that machine weights are the best. There are pros and cons with both machines, although free weights have been around a lot longer and have been proven time after time to achieve dramatic results.

Body builders for example, have used free weights over the years to build very impressive bodies. If you ask most of them about machine weights, they would probably laugh at you and tell you that you need to quit joking around.

Should You Use Free Weights or Machines?

In a nutshell, free weights will use more of your muscles than the weight training machines do, which makes them more effective overall. This doesn’t mean that the machines are a waste of use, as they offer some great advantages. In some cases, it is best to stabilize the muscles that are being used in a movement, which is where machines are the best to use.

The decision on which to use for you should be based on what you hope to achieve with lifting weights and where you plan to use the equipment, such as home or at a gym. Both systems are great for your body, although the free weights are best to use if you want the best possible workout, and always ensure that your muscles are getting the right workouts they need.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Build Muscle Using Circuit Training



If you want to build muscle using circuit training then you have to know that circuit training  is one of the most time efficient and strenuous types of workouts that you can do, but is very effective for building endurance and mass at the same time, and if you want to lose some fat then this type of workout also can’t be beat.

All circuits are comprised of three components.

  • Exercise movements: free weights, body weight, speed, power, or sport based (such as punching drills).
  • Repetitions: ordinarily in the higher ranges (12-50) to increase lactic build up, but lower and medium rep ranges (or a fusion of all three) are great for weight loss and building muscles.
  • Rest intervals: kept short to stimulate a state which stimulates the output of the male growth hormone and anaerobic fitness.

What to Watch When Circuit Training

Working out more often than not incorporates the initial few warm up drills to get the heartbeat raised, followed by carrying out as many repetitions as you can in a specified time frame (or maybe a determined number of reps) at every station, along with a rest interval of 5-20 seconds between each station, until such time as one particular circuit is carried out. If your muscle training program is not giving you the results you really want, and you are struggling to develop muscle size and definition, you may ought to kick start your progress all over again with circuit training. You could find it tricky to start with, but shortly after that you will have raised your strength and fitness levels above your expectations.

In case you are already experienced with lifting weights, the stimulus from high repetition circuit training is unlikely to be good enough to activate strength increases. Include instability as a substitute for doing exercises using a fixed surface, like the floor or a bench, use an exercise ball to make your body and muscles continue to work harder so as to keep balance.

How to Build Muscle using Circuit Training

Build Muscle Using Circuit Training

Build muscle using circuit training

To boost the potential to build muscle using circuit training, a strength and fitness circuit can be devised. This may be done by introducing exercises from a strength training programme and performing them back-to-back with exercise movements from a calisthenics program. For example, complete a set of dumbbell squats in the 6-15 rep range. End the set 2 or 3 repetitions prior to reaching failure. This is quickly followed by 10-15 reps of step ups. Build muscle using circuit training by constantly overloading your muscles and making sure that you have nothing left at the end of each set.

The secret to a decent figure is excellent muscle development plus low body fat. Make use of the Kettlebell swing to develop your leg muscles and incorporate it in a metabolic resistance training workout this way:

  1. Kettlebell swing
  2. Hip Extensions
  3. Kettlebell swing
  4. One Leg Lying Cable Knee Raise
  5. Kettlebell swing
  6. Dumbbell Pullover
  7. Kettlebell swing
  8. Reverse Grip Smith Machine Bent Over Row
  9. Behind The Back Barbell Shrug

You may need a couple of circuits using sub-maximal weights at the start. Make sure to determine what resistance you can expect to handle following a few loosen up rounds. Because every single movement triggers your body in a different way, you can actually work at a fast tempo. This helps to develop muscle size and definition and get rid of fat. Unlike low intensity cardiovascular exercise that eats up muscle, using weights like this forces your body to pack on muscle mass and to reduce excess adipose (or fat) tissue.

It’s essential to have a record of the weight loads used as well as rest periods. Endeavor to boost intensity each and every training session.On completing every round, take a breather for about 15-40 seconds and after that start another circuit. If you wish to shed extra pounds, shorten rest periods, but still train with big weight loads always.

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Weight Loss Exercise

Advantages of Using Weight Training Machines




Proper nutrition is not the only way to keep the body healthy. Regular exercise and strength training at least twice a week should be done if we want to keep our body in top condition. Weight training can be done with free weights and machines. While many people consider free weights as being for professional bodybuilders, weight training machines can be used by everyone for a similar purpose. Weight training machines are ideal for beginners and rehabilitation patients as well as serious bodybuilders.

When you step into a gym for the first time, you may be overwhelmed by all the complicated exercise machines around you. Weight training machines are designed to exercise specific muscle groups. For example, you can workout your chest, back and shoulders with a lat pull-down machine or chest-press machine. For lower body workouts you could use a leg-press or leg extension machine. A fitness expert can show you how to use a weight training machine for your workout.

Serious bodybuilders say there’s nothing better than free weights when it comes to strength training. However, weight training machines offer many advantages and benefits too.

1. Places you in the correct position

While free weights allow freedom of movement, a weight training machine automatically places you in the correct biomechanical position to accomplish the exercise motion in the proper form. The machine effectively isolates the muscles that you are using, and all you have to do is push or pull the weight. Your movement is restricted because you can only move the weight in one direction.

2. Safe to use

Weight training machines are typically safer to exercise with compared to free weights. The limited range of motion prevents you from using your muscles incorrectly. Weight training machines also eliminate accidents such as dropping a barbell that you are trying to lift.

A weight training machine is ideal for those who have an injury and are undergoing physical rehabilitation through strength training. An exercise machine is also useful if you are working with heavy weights and do not have a spotter.

3. Faster workouts

In general, it takes less time to complete your exercise when working out with a weight training machine rather than free weights. When working with free weights, you have to remove or add plates on a barbell. On a weight training machine, you can quickly adjust the weight by moving a pin or clipping cables to the desired resistance setting. This allows you to go through your exercise routine faster while maintaining an elevated heart rate.