Free Weights or Machines (or bands)?

In the world of fitness - it's difficult to answer certain questions with a simple "yes" or "no" without some sort of context. Do ab exercises flatten your belly? Only if you're already very lean lean and the muscles were soft (de-conditioned) before doing ab work. Do low carb diets work? It depends what you mean by low-carb. Fruits and veggies, like whole grains, are carbs and essential elements for a fit person who exercises regularly. Creating a calorie shortfall over a longer period of time is what draws down your body fat stores. And there are a number of ways (some healthy, some, not so much) to do that.

So here's the context for the age old strength training question - free weights or machines (and since they've become increasingly popular over the last several years, I'm going to add bands to the mix as well):

1. What are your objectives?

2. What is your access to equipment?

3. What is your current fitness and training skill level?

Bands are great for portability, affordability and convenience, but the resistance is not the most natural form. You're basically stretching a rubber band and it gets tighter the more it's stretched, so stabilizing becomes increasingly difficult during the more difficult phase of the movement. But you can get used to it and if you don't like or have easy access to the other forms of resistance, they can be a great alternative.

Machines have various levels of fixed tracking, limiting movements, sometimes slightly, sometimes dramatically, as opposed to free weights. The down side as compared to free weights is that natural balance and stabilization demands that you have for lifting objects like groceries, kids and furniture is not part of the training focus. But they can often provide a safer, more achievable alternative for some exercises like chest press (as opposed to push-ups or bench press) or lat pulls (instead of chin-ups). Plus they're not constrained to the vertical line of gravity that characterizes free weights, so the direction of force that can be designed into a machine is basically limitless.

Finally, free weights are the most versatile and difficult resistance form to master. But therein lies their inherent advantage, since moving free weights is much more like functional everyday activities. However, people who use poor form (a majority of lifters) can get hurt more easily, especially when they use excessive loads. As long as proper bio mechanics are taught and practiced, though, because of the broader training benefits, if I had to pick one type of resistance to use with my clients, this would be it.

So think about what issues are important to you, how well you understand and practice good quality execution, and choose the right combination of resistance types for yourself.