Home gym equipment vs. free weights

When it comes to choosing between home gym equipment and free weights workouts, things aren’t as simple as they seem at first sight. This is because both have their advantages and drawbacks so making a decision based only on one criterion, such as price for example, is not the best way to solve your dilemma.

You might be wondering why you should invest in the home gym machines when you can work your muscles and lose pounds through free weights exercises? Well maybe because home gym stations have plenty of features and accessories that enable you to train even the hardest to reach muscles.

On the other hand, why should you limit to free weights instead of choosing some complex fitness machines for home gyms? An answer could be because you’re on a budget, don’t have plenty of room at home or don’t have time to work out regularly. If that is the case, then free weights are certainly better choice for you. Either way, it’s really good to have some dumbbells or kettlebells at home, no matter what fitness machine you already have.

Anyway, to make things simpler, we took the time to analyze the pros and cons of both these options so look at the lists below if you want to make sure you get the most of your home workout routine!

Home gym equipment – pros and cons

If you have a larger budget and want to invest in some quality fitness machine for a home gym, then a multifunctional home gym machine is definitely a great starting point. It incorporates enough components and accessories to allow complex workouts and a wide range of exercises for all muscle groups.

What else is good about home gym machines?

• They’re generally easy to use and come with clear instructions, so even beginners can perform the exercises correctly and avoid injuries.

• Home gym machines are safer to work with. For example, to lift barbells, it is always good to have someone else with you, as some exercises can be very dangerous if you put too much weight.

• Machines for home workouts are generally compact, including a solid frame, some mobile parts, padded seats or benches and adjustable weights systems, with cables and pulleys most of the times. This means you won’t have to waste time changing parts, mounting additional components or removing accessories for doing your exercises.

• They can also be used for rehabilitation programs as resistance can be adjusted to meet the user’s needs and muscle strength and tone.

• Home gyms save lots of time. These machines are built as all-in-one stations so all you need is there, from the moment you start the training session.

• You won’t have to figure out by yourself how to use weights for a wider range of exercises and what else to include in your workout program to target multiple muscle groups. Thus, these home gyms are less intimidating than kettlebells, dumbbells and exercising resistance cords.

How about the bad parts of home gym equipment?

• They’re expensive, sometimes too expensive compared to free weights. Beside, they need more maintenance then simple weights, which may result in extra costs.

• By offering support to the muscles that aren’t involved in a certain exercise, they sometime work fewer muscle groups than what you can do with free weight workouts. Consequently, with some home gym machines, you may have to work out for longer to get the same results, then what you can achieve with free weights.

• They’re not adapted to your health state and physical condition so if your right side is weaker than the left one, you’ll have to find a way to adapt the resistance in order to avoid injuries even in exercises involving either arms or legs simultaneously.

Free weights – pros and cons

How that we saw why home gym equipment is good or bad for working out your body, let’s switch to free weights and see whether they’re a better option or not!

The good parts of free weights training

• They always offer a greater versatility as you can do any exercise and target any muscle group as long as you have the needed weights.

• You can do movements that are more natural and adapt workouts to your shape, size and muscle strength easier, whether you do squats, lift bars, raise shoulders or do crunches on an incline bench.

• If you have a good weight stack, there’s no limit when it comes to the resistance you can work with. Machines always have a maximum resistance provided by the weights and cables system, but free weights workouts have no limits. If you want to do the chest press with a 400 lbs bar, you can surely do it.

• Given that you have to use your own body for stability and support, you end up working muscles that are often neglected in machine trainings.

The negatives of free weights

• They imply a higher risk of injury as they don’t have fixed parts, stabilizers and cushioned pads. Barbells, dumbbells or kettlebells can cause serious injuries when used improperly, so this is one of the greatest drawbacks of free weights trainings.

• Another disadvantage is that you have to figure out by yourself how each tool can be used in order for the workout to target a specific group of muscles. Of course, you can browse online but this takes time, while in home gym machines, all exercises are given in the user’s guide or sometimes even on a DVD.

• They’re less motivating than home gym equipment, and it’s easier to get bored when doing the same routine with free weights than when repeating some workouts on a home gym machine.

As a conclusion, both home gym equipment and free weights workouts have their pros and cons, and this is not a situation when anyone can declare a clear winner. However, as it was previously mentioned, it’s good to have both home gym machine and some free weights, as that can help you to achieve your fitness goal faster.