If you read long enough about strength training,you will undoubtedly hear people singing the praises of the machines. You'll hear about ideal they are for gaining strength; about how they are technologically and scientifically superior to old-time rusty barbells and such; about how they work the muscles better because they "designed" to do so. Well, being that I am from the "old school" of lifting, let me give you my two cents worth...

There are two main reasons why I tend to look down on machines; well, three actually, if you count the reason that they are mostly designed for lazy people who don't want to get dirty or who just want to look good. But anyway, one reason is that I believe (and this is personal opinion- you are all more than welcome to disagree) that the most "ideal" way to gain strength is to actually be lifting a weight, not lifting, pushing, or pulling something that is attached to a weight. Direct contact is the key. For example, you do a barbell overhead press; you are moving the weight. You do a machine overhead press; you are moving a bar that is moving a cable or another bar that is moving a weight. To me, that just doesn't cut it.

A lot can be said about leverage coming into play when gaining strength. Some believe that you are getting not only the benefit of moving a weight, but you are also getting that very productive added resistance provided through a machine's leverage. What do I say to that? Hogwash! Doing heavy weight gives you all the resistance you need. I am a proponnent of keeping it simple- and to me, it is pretty simple to just move a weight and not something else that moves the weight.

The second reason ties in with the leverage issue, but from a different angle. A big drawback of machines is that one cannot honestly judge how much he is actually "lifting" because he is not really lifting anything; he is moving the bar, handle, etc., that moves the weight. Taking this further, how do you measure something like that? Let's say I walk in to a gym in which I have never lifted. If I walk over a pick up a plain ol' barbell with three 45's on each side, I know I am picking up 315 lbs. Truth be known that at every gym I go to, I will be picking up the same 315 lbs. If I go do a (gulp) tricep pressdown at a gym with the pin set on the 5th level, it may say I am doing 50 lbs. If I go to another gym, it may say 60 lbs. Even further, even if the machines read the same thing, will the exercise be the same on both machines? No, because I have no earthly idea what kind of leverages are being applied, the cables may be spaced or maneuvered differently, etc. Even if the two machines are the same brand and are designed the same, they don't necessarily work the same way.

So the next time you see someone doing a machine bench press or a lat pulldown, just think about these few things. More than likely, a lot of you won't agree with me on this, but maybe...just maybe...some of you will agree that the old man has a little wisdom behind his words.

Just some useless thoughts from a relaxed, more in-control old man!