I use free weights almost exclusively because I enjoy them and the benefits I derive from their use. Even if they were not as safe as using machines, I would still prefer to use them.

When people see us doing barbell and kettlebell snatches, squats and deadlifts, they see something inherently unsafe with what what we do because we lift free in space, on three planes just like out in the real world. Sometimes those movements are fast and violent, like an Olympic lift. To the uninitiated and unfamiliar, powerlifting and Olympic lifting may look like an accident waiting to happen, so to them, resistance machines look like a safer way to get the results they desire.

A few have said, at the very least, I should wear a weightlifting belt. (Perhaps, they fear for my safety!) I have nothing against belts, of course, but it is far more important to develop your core and then use the belt rather than to just use a belt for the false sense of security it gives you when you have weak abdominals.

I don’t know exactly when machines first came to replace barbells and dumbells in gyms across America, but when I first entered high school in 1969, the school had just acquired a new, shiny, state-of-the art Universal machine. Ever since that time, I have observed most people who train in gyms are familiar mostly with resistance machines. Many have no clue about the effective use of free weights for anything other than for biceps and triceps work and are intimidated to learn how to safely use them for more beneficial and functional training.

In our age, everything is about safety and liability and in the gym it is no different. But are machines safer than free weights? I don’t believe they are, and often times more unsafe.

As it turns out, injuries on machines are just as common as free weights. Shoulders and pecs take a beating on bench presses and pec decks. Knee shear and ACL issues from doing squats on the much-maligned Smith machines are well-documented. Harold Leon Bostick certainly knows this and has paid dearly.

(In the interest of fairness, not that I think being fair is always so important, here are 10 uses for a Smith machine.) I have discussed my take on the other comparisons between free weights and machines in my post, Barbells vs. the Machines.

Have you ever had sore elbows from doing bicep curls? Injuries to the back and knees are common on the leg press, hack squat and sled machines. The compressive force on the spine is significant when you are seated in a leg press machine, pushing heavy loads. You would think spotters are unnecessary on machines but on many of them, if you are lifting heavy, you better have a spotter standing by. Even though the machine has a controlled movement path, faulty technique can get you injured. Whether you lift free or machine, you better pay attention to proper form at all times.

Many of the machines out there force you to start the movement from the least biomechanically efficient position and potentially the most harmful to the joints in play. Machines isolate movement and just train the muscle without allowing the body to recruit other muscle groups and stabilizers that would normally come into play outside the gym in the real world. If you are an athlete training for a sport and all your strength work is with machines that train a muscle in isolation and not a movement, I believe the likelihood of injury increases. Thus, the injury was due the limitations of the equipment. That is why I favor training movement over muscle. The body moves in harmony with the load and working as it was designed to do.

A good, everyday is example is someone who is well versed in training on resistance machines. He looks strong and has a pretty good physique and then, in the garage, moves a few boxes around and throws out his back and then other muscles he never knew he had are hurting like hell for the next couple of days. He would never think of blaming it on the machines he used at the gym. It was just “one of those things”. Well, I was that guy!

These machines do have a valuable place in the gym when you use them to supplement free weight training and they are definitely useful for injury rehabilitation. To say they are safer than free weights though is misleading and in the gym where I train, there are so many machines on the floor you are as likely to get injured walking into one as using it!

Whatever you use in the gym, free weights, machines or both, know the inherent risks and stay focused on the exercise, not on the hard body training next to you. Stay aware, be in the moment and stay healthy.

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