Free Weights vs Machines: Why Free Weights Are the Base of Functional Training

Walk into any gym and you'll see two worlds: racks of barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells on one side, rows of machines on the other. In the Method, the base of every program is free weights. That doesn't mean machines are bad. It means each tool has a job.

Why free weights are the base

• You control the load: with a dumbbell or barbell, nothing guides the path. Your body has to stabilize the weight, so more muscles work together, just like in real life. In one study, a free-weight squat produced about 43% more leg muscle activity than the same squat on a Smith machine (Schwanbeck et al., 2009).

• Strength is specific: you get best at what you practice. A meta-analysis of 13 studies found that free-weight training improved strength more on free-weight tests, while machine training tended to improve machine tests more (Haugen et al., 2023). Daily life and sport look a lot more like free weights: you lift groceries, kids and bags, not handles on a fixed track.

• Movement over muscles: functional training is built around patterns like squatting, hinging, pushing, pulling and carrying (Boyle, 2016). Free weights let you train those patterns in the way your body actually moves.

• Simple and portable: a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell goes a long way, which also makes free weights a great fit for online coaching and home training.

Machines still have a place

Here is the part people often miss: when you compare muscle growth and overall strength, free weights and machines produce similar results (Haugen et al., 2023). The latest American College of Sports Medicine guidelines say the same, finding no consistent difference between machines and free weights for healthy adults (American College of Sports Medicine, 2026).

So machines are a useful tool, especially to:

• learn a movement safely when you are just starting out;

• train around an injury or a painful joint;

• isolate a specific muscle or add extra volume at the end of a session;

• keep training with confidence when balance or mobility is limited.

The bottom line

Free weights are the foundation because they build strength that transfers to how you move every day. Machines are a complement, not an enemy. The best program uses the right tool for your goal, your level and your body, and it's the one you'll stick with.

Not sure how to combine the two? Coaching is 100% online for now, through the Trainerize app. Start online coaching and we'll build the right mix for you.

References

American College of Sports Medicine. (2026). Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults: An overview of reviews [Position stand]. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Boyle, M. (2016). New functional training for sports (2nd ed.). Human Kinetics.

Haugen, M. E., Vårvik, F. T., Larsen, S., Haugen, A. S., van den Tillaar, R., & Bjørnsen, T. (2023). Effect of free-weight vs. machine-based strength training on maximal strength, hypertrophy and jump performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-023-00713-4

Schwanbeck, S., Chilibeck, P. D., & Binsted, G. (2009). A comparison of free weight squat to Smith machine squat using electromyography. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 23(9), 2588–2591.