Let's Settle It: Are Free Weights Or Machines Better For Muscle Growth?

Woman liftingIf you’re looking to improve your mood, strengthen your bones, or even reduce age-related changes to your muscles, strength training is the way to go. Just two or three 20-minute to half-hour sessions a week is enough to notice a “significant” improvement, the Mayo Clinic says. And 90 minutes of strength training a week has been linked to nearly four years less biological ageing, too.But once you’ve reached the gym, does it matter whether you reach for the barbell or the weight selector pin?Well, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, the answer seems to offer good news to those who can’t be bothered to set up for a free-weight hip thrust at 6am.What did the study find?This research involved eight women and looked at the hypertrophy (basically, growth) responses in their front thigh muscles. All participants were untrained before the study began. And once it started, half were asked to train three times a week with an inclined leg press machine, while the other half did lunges with free weights. They did that three times a week in the course of the nine-week experiment. Using ultrasound, scientists checked their muscle size before and after the training. They found that both techniques gave similar results – both machines and free weights were equally effective at building muscle (and both did build muscle). Is that the only study to find the result?No. A 2023 review of 13 studies found: “No differences were detected in the direct comparison of strength, jump performance and muscle hypertrophy... the choice between free-weights and machines [is] down to individual preferences and goals.” And unlike this single-gender study, which was quite small, it included 1,016 participants (789 men and 219 women). So, whatever your preferred method is, it seems lifting in the first place is more important than the precise equipment you use.Related...I Made A Walking Change Ahead Of Clocks Going Back, And My Sleep Is Already BetterI Quit Running After Lifting – And Beat My PB In Both4 Ways A Fitness Expert Reverses The Harm From Sitting All Day

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