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.

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.

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.

In a nutshell, free weights will use more of your

muscles than the 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.