Quote from: Abby Claire on April 03, 2015, 03:22:18 PM
Okay, let's rephrase. Free weights are pointless. Unless you're a body builder focusing small muscle areas, free weights never need to be touched. Bench, pull down, barbell squats, military press, and other exercises that hit multiple areas of the body are great for strength building, but are usually better done when you know how to properly lift to focus the right areas to their full effect.
If we're aiming for a toned look, I still stand by weights not really serving a purpose, especially if you're a novice or never worked out properly. All it will lead to is improper workouts and likely no change.
Instead, aim for 10 proper, slow push-ups. 5 pull ups. 5 chin ups. Squats, lunges, inverted rows. Do these and gradually aim for 20 push ups, 10 pull ups, etc etc. Improve your reps. And if we want to burn fat, do 60 second planks with only 30 seconds of rest between sets. If I'm to understand the poster's desire and likely experience level, this is a much better route to go than hitting the weights.
I'm no body builder, and free weights have been the ticket for me to build the strength I want at a price I can afford, in my own home. Body weight exercises such as pull ups are great, but my progress doing that alone would be very slow and not comparable what is achieved by the combination of body weight and free weights. It's easier to achieve progressive overload with free weights than with body weight exercises, and they can be complimentary to each other. For example, my grip improves more by doing barbell deadlifts than by pull-ups. If one's hands fatigue quickly one will not manage many pull-ups. Basically, doing deadlifts lets me do more pull-ups.
It's said too often that free weights are no good because they can be used improperly and lead to injury. There's a wealth of resources online to learn how to do it properly at no cost. As far as doing it improperly and hurting yourself goes, statistically people are more likely to screw up and hurt themselves
running. But all anyone says about that is "take up running, all you need is a good pair of shoes!" ... and learning proper form or you will hurt yourself. Proper form is essential for bodyweight exercises too. Many useful activities in life can be done wrong and lead to injury, that doesn't make them useless, just means it's important to be careful and learn to do it right.
With free weights it's easy to start with as little weight as one needs to safely begin and focus purely on form, on getting it right, before adding weight as appropriate. With body weight exercises it can be difficult to adjust. Some people can't do even one unassisted/unmodified pull-up or push up to start with, but how many people won't be able to lift a 2 or 3lb dumbbell? I got an adjustable dumbbell and barbell set and used them unloaded for some exercises when I first started, to focus on form. That's 3 pounds (dbs) and 16lbs (bb) respectively. I've been lifting a couple of years now, gradually adding weight, and have yet to hurt myself. In fact I've protected myself from injury doing ordinary life activities requiring lifting, since I've developed strength and internalized good lifting practices.
Lifting weights is an effective way to build muscle, which increases metabolism (helps get rid of unwanted fat). And it, well, builds muscle. The more muscle under the fat, the easier to see the muscle.
And I will understand if someone reads this and has only the take-away of "hurrr I like to pick things up and put them down."
