So I have been working out at gyms since about 1997 or so … but have definitely seen more results in the past eight months doing Crossfit than I have in the past decade. There’s a good article here from BestLife magazine that is worth reading:
Critics also charge that a traditional machine-centric regimen has other downfalls. In general, it relies excessively on the discipline of the exerciser, it promotes training muscles in isolation (as opposed to how muscles really work, in a chain of movement), and it can stress vulnerable joints more than is necessary. At issue is not only the very meat and potatoes of how you work out, but also the best way to get the most out of your time in the gym. ….
If you are a bodybuilder—that is, if you have strength trained for years and dieted so rigorously that your body-fat percentage is in the single digits—then it potentially makes sense to train individual muscles in isolation. The other case in which machine-based training makes sense is in rehab, when the body has become so disabled that it must be rebuilt brick by brick. But most of us are neither crippled nor on the verge of entering the Mr. Olympia competition, so why do we train as if either is the case? The answer is a combination of the gyms’ desire to maximize profits, and our own desire to find workouts that don’t involve work. …
Perhaps the best evidence against traditional health clubs is that these days most elite athletes rarely step foot in one. They work out in environments designed for functional training [or FT].
An FT approach to fitness stresses the training of movements over muscles, the irrelevance of strength without mobility, the neurological foundation to strength and athleticism, and the use of simple tools to gain complex results. … In general, FT discourages the use of machines in favor of free weights, body-weight exercises, and certain devices used in physical therapy, such as medicine balls, stability balls, wobble boards, and resistance bands.
It suggests Crossfit as one such workout. I actually would really recommend the New Zealand-invented BodyPump cardio program as being really good too, although I don’t think they’re offered here… but and Crunch has its “Chisel” classes, which when I was a member I found a pretty exhausting workout, far better than using most machines.
I mean, really: if you’re already in relatively decent shape, how exhausting is it to sit on these machines? How sore do you get? How tired? So how can it be a good workout?
But aren’t you partly comparing a class or workout where someone is pushing you to just a workout where you are by yourself pushing yourself on a machine? I know if you do a cardio class you will be more tired. Part of that is because it will just involve more activity, but part of that is because you have someone yelling at you. When I’ve used a personal trainer even though at least half of the stuff we did was machine based I was very exhausted at the end of the workout. But that was because I had someone pushing me on each exercise to go farther than I normally would. We also did a lot of core work like you discuss (which I also think is great for most people and especially helpful for my basketball game), so it isn’t exactly a comparison between machine and core body workout. But I think the real difference is having support or pressure from someone else to push you to keep going.
I agree with Tallman, you aren’t exactly comparing the same thing. There have been times when I have done the Crossfit workout of the day, by myself, and at the end, thought it wan’t that hard, but then realised that if I’d done it with someone else I would have pushed myself harder…. and it would have been a completely different workout. On the otherhand,there is an argument for a more functional focus to weight training than is available with most machines. Most weights machines do isolate the the muscle they are designed to target, if they are used properly. But, outside of the gym we rarely use muscles in isolation and frequently need to rely on our core musculature to maintain the integrity of the spine while we perform a movement. Only training on weights machines at the gym can lead to laziness, but can also lead to functional muscle imbalances, and injuries when “stressful” movements are performed outside the gym.
That is a good point Tallman but that just shows another problem with just doing the machine-based workouts. Okay not everyone is able to go to Crossfit or work out with a trainer. But a lot of gyms do offer group fitness classes — traditionally not very popular with guys, but there’s a lot more out there now than step aerobics. The “chisel” classes at Crunch really did kick my butt. (Since you’re using weights, you can just choose big ones and challenge yourself in a class full of women).
I think what my sister said is v. true about the machines just isolating muscles. My first two weeks of Crossfit, I was so sore from various little muscles I didn’t know I had! Little ones under my arms and stuff that had escaped my attention during my regular gym routine. Could barely run I was so sore.
So instead of doing like a chest press machine, for example, I think throwing a medicine ball against a wall is a better exercise. Or something with dumbbells or barbells like a push press. Yes this is the old “free weights vs. machines” question … interesting article on it here (pdf).
Also there are some cool cable-based machines out there that don’t isolate muscle groups. Like my gym at work has a Freemotion Cable Cross … they are ever-so-slightly intimidating because you have to figure out how to use it rather than just sit in it and go. But I think it’s a v. cool, versatile machine.
I think this article gets at some interesting issues. I’ve always found the machines at health clubs very dull. And I never felt like I got a decent workout. It makes sense that they are more isolation exercises–probably targeting larger muscle groups that may already be quite strong (esp for runners). I like the weights at the gym and feel that as long as I keep varying my lifting routine, I get results. I think a lot of people just like to sweat–and you can do that on traditional cardio machines. I prefer to run and then just use the gym for core strength or toning.