Weight training machines vs. Free weights – That’s always been a big debate! For the most part, we feel that free weights have it on machines since they force you to use your stabilizer muscles, allow you to move naturally, and require you to control not just the load being moved, but also the direction (path) of the movement.
That being said, at Performance U Hybrid Strength & Conditioning, we’ve found there are a few exceptions in which machines may be a better bang for your muscle-building buck than free weights. In this article I’m going to share with you 5 machine-based exercises that we’ve found to be more beneficial at increasing muscle size than their free-weight counter-parts.