Choosing gym equipment for your home

Here’s where I contradict myself. I often point out the fact that free weight training utilizes more muscles, including stabilizers that have to control the body throughout movements, and is therefore a better choice than machines. But that doesn’t mean weight machines don’t have a place in a strength training program.

Why women can benefit from weight machines

They are easier for beginners

Many weight machines put users in the proper position and make it easier for them to use correct form. It also takes the need for balance and coordination out of the equation. When you’re in the health club weight room for the first time, it’s easier to tackle the weight machines in a circuit fashion than it is to pick up the free weights and know what exercises you should do or how to do them correctly. The one downfall with weight machines is they are generally not multi-move exercise equipment. If you plan to create a home gym out of individual machines it’s going to be costly. If you do purchase a weight machine, make sure it’s one that offers an exercise you couldn’t do otherwise.

They allow you to isolate muscles

Unless you’re a serious bodybuilder, muscle isolation really isn’t necessary or the most beneficial way to spend workout time. The best way for the majority of women to strength train is with functional exercises that put their body through movements they experience in everyday life. Too often focus is put on moves like bicep curls that do nothing for functional strength.

But here’s the good part of isolation. Some muscles can be targeted better with machine moves than free weights. Lats are one such muscle. Assisted chin-up machines can be beneficial for women who want to perform chin-ups but don’t have the upper body strength to do so. The machine gives a little assistance by way of a counterweight, so users can build up to full body weight chin-ups and pull-ups over time. A cable station is one of the only weight machines I’d recommend for home use because of the sheer variety of exercises possible. Add a bench and it’s really more of a home gym than anything else.