Edited by Dr. Simone Losi
In the "muscle training in the gym, for years, there is the controversy regarding the use of strength machines or free weights.
There are those who say that machines are safer, therefore more suitable for those who approach the gym for the first time, and those who assert that it is much better and more productive to use free weights.
Strength machines, even if they seem safer and easier to use, are actually much more "dangerous" than "dumbbells", as they force the person to use a standard movement with respect to the height and length of the limbs; they do not allow also to make the most of the "muscle functions", which very often are more than one ....
Let's take an example: the pectoralis major is an adductor and an internal rotator of the humerus: in this photo, the pectoralis major cannot work at its best, as the exercise does not start from an external rotation of the humerus; therefore the maximum initial is missing. muscle lengthening, which would then allow the final internal rotation necessary for maximum effectiveness with minimum risk.
The same applies to the exercise on a flat bench with a barbell, which is still widely used, but which does not fully perform the physiological functions of the aforementioned muscle.
The talk of cables can also be applied very well to free weights, always mistreated because they are dangerous and because according to someone they do not "isolate" the muscle .... But since when can you "isolate" a muscle? The human body moves through muscle chains and it is practically impossible to work selectively on a single district without involving the corresponding muscle chain; for this reason the fact that the isotonic machines do isolate a muscle has no logical basis.
Furthermore, free weights require greater neuromuscular coordination, allowing the use of synergistic and stabilizing muscles, something that strength machines do not allow.
Whatever the equipment used (dumbbells, barbells, machines or cables), you must never adapt the customer to the exercise, but choose the tool and the most suitable execution methods from a postural point of view and any tensions or retractions that the individual may have some muscle area.
Returning to the initial statement, according to which machines are safer than handlebars, it is clear at this point that this is a mistaken belief; this does not mean that from tomorrow the machines are to be thrown away, but only that it is necessary to learn how to use them with thrift and judgment.
If a person has no particular problems and falls within the average, there is no problem, but if he already has some problems at the start (disc compressions, retractions, calcifications, etc.), certainly using the machines to the detriment of the dumbbells. we solve the problem, indeed ... as already said, the machines, very often forcing non-physiologically correct trajectories, emphasize the postural alterations in progress and / or muscle retractions.
Training in safety is the basis of the final result, disengaging from "fashions" is essential if you want to continue training at your best, anatomy and biomechanics in this sense help us ... and a lot ...
