New to working out?
Here are Niamh’s top 7 tips when it comes to choosing what to do in the gym.
Why is using free weights important?
Safety; machines can give you a false sense of security and we tend to lift a little too heavy or use the machine incorrectly which can cause an injury. If you are completely new to the gym stay away from the machines for at least 8 weeks.
Functional movement; free weights allow you to do functional based exercises meaning using a bigger range of motion, using multi joint movement instead of muscle isolation like pumping your biceps. This will help you to build a strength base and generally get stronger overall. Doing something like bicep curls might make your biceps look bigger however it does not necessarily make your arms stronger.
Ligaments and tendons need strengthening too; if you work on 1 muscle group repeatedly and neglect the full range of the exercise it can weaken the joint and lead to injury. Using a leg curl machine doesn’t allow your body to engage fully all of your joints leading to neglect of certain areas and a fast build up of others.
Exercise selection; There is so much more of a range of exercises you can choose from with free weights such as squatting, pressing, pulling and core work included. It much more fun to change up your workouts through the week.
Free weights prep your body much more effectively to build up to the bigger lifts like dead-lift, barbel squats and pull ups. When it comes to becoming stronger, free weights will give you a better quality build up to getting stronger. then when you’ve built up a base of strength the machines are all yours!
Wait time; has someone ever taken your machine you’ve eyed up for ages? Using the free weights area avoids you having to que to use a machine,. With people piling into the gyms this time of year, your bound to not get the machine you desire at that given time potentially messing up your routine.
Less fatiguing on your muscles; using more functional based exercises, meaning you move more, using less tiring types of exercises which allows you to get more out of your cardio work (if your doing it after) and its made a little easier.
Get to the free weight section in your gym, you won’t regret it.