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Free Weight Exercise Routines

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Trends in weight training among professional athletes and their trainers seem to be leaning more and more away from universal-weight machines (machines) that are typically found in gyms.  There are a couple main reasons for this trend.  One line of thinking that is gaining popularity among some circles is that machines do not maximize the sort of results most athletes seek in a weight-training program. Consequently, athletic performance may suffer while the risks of sport injuries may be heightened. Another drawback to machines is their cost and, for many people, the added inconvenience of having to travel to a gym in order to access them.  

Free weights offer a viable alternative to the drawbacks presented by weight machines.  Aside from being less expensive and more easily accessible to the ‘garage’ or ‘cellar’ variety of home fitness centers, free weights offer a wider, more variable, and ultimately – a more natural range of movement.  These qualities provide athletes a means to do forms of resistance training that more closely imitates the range of movement that their specific athletic events utilize. Free weight training also promotes balance and agility.   

Before condemning weight machines, it must be added that there are highly arguable benefits to using a machine over free weights.  Machines are generally safer than free weights in a number of ways including the fixed nature of the weights and the exercise – as opposed to falling weights or free-weight pressing 250 pounds w/o a spotter (not a good idea). Machines also permit the user to target one specific muscle in order to ‘bulk up’ safely and efficiently.   

So then, this argument holds that machines are safer and better suited for bodybuilders than free-weight training.  While free-weight training would hold advantages for athletes in developing agility, balance, and strength of athletic movements that more specifically target their athletic activities.    Both free weights and machines certainly help the trainer burn calories, increase strength, and increase muscle size and bone density. 

Developing a Free-Weight Exercise Routine

Use free weights to target and train all three main muscle groups: legs, torso, and upper body.

Your individual program will depend upon what you are trying to muscularly achieve: endurance, strength, or bulk.    

Theory holds that to increase muscle endurance - use a weight level that allows for between 15 and 20 repetitions (reps) before muscle failure.  To develop strength, add weight that will bring about muscle failure somewhere between 5 and 8 repetitions.   For muscle bulk and power – the weight should be sufficient to bring about failure at 3 – 5 reps. Regardless of which goal, you should aim for three sets for each exercise.    If you are free-weight training for an athletic event, choose free-weight exercises that imitate the range of motions that are associated with the event. 

There are perhaps a hundred free-weight exercises that could be explained in detail. Then there are free-weight exercises that can be creatively devised by the individual.  But there are universally agreed upon sets of practices to follow with free-weight training safely.

Exercise Safely if you want to Keep Exercising

1. Use a spotter when lifting heavy weights.  Spotters also allow you to lift more weight safely.
2. Exhale slowly through the movement of heaviest exertion and inhale during the easiest or reciprocal movement.
3. Maintain a straight posture - NEVER twist any part of your spine while lifting weights.
4. When picking heavy weights or equipment up off the floor – lift with your legs – not your back.
5. Always consult a physician before taking on a new free weight program if you are recovering from any serious physical injuries or have any other physically limiting conditions – be they permanent or temporary.