Weight Machines vs. Free Weights

Weight machines offer several key advantages. First of all, they offer the safest way to exercise with weights. On quality machines, the heavy weight stacks are held by pulleys and cables and locked into a track. If you can no longer lift the load, or for some reason you have to let go, you can do so without fear of having the weights come crashing down on you. Machines also offer muscle isolation. Some machines are better able than free weights to isolate muscle groups that you may want to exercise. Machine workouts also offer efficiency of time and space. Since you can perform as many as 70 different weight routines on some quality multi-station machines just by moving a cable or pulling a pin, your time is spent exercising rather than taking off and putting weight plates back on the bar.

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