Do you really need machines to build muscle?

[skully]

I'm curious....do you really machines like leg presses, lat pull downs, should press...whatever...to actually gain muscles...? Or can simple gain just as much muscles with simple things like push-ups, weighted squats, bench press w/ a barbell/dumbbell....etc?

[fitoverforty]

Free weights are preferred by most folks who lift weights for several reasons.
This is an excerpt taken from Alwyn Cosgrove's "Your body is a Barbell" :
"Free weights are superior to machines when it comes to building strength because free weights require you to stabilize the load in three planes, however, the weight on the muscles is not any different."
In fact this entire article is really a great read:
http://www.elitefts.com/documents/body_barbell.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[skully]

Wow...very interesting article indeed...and it makes a lot of sense. I honestly struggle doing 7 push-ups at once! Let alone TRY a "T" pushup!

But generally speaking if you do pushups or squats...they will not really let you gain "a lot of mass", correct? They will strengthen the muscles, but what about the gain?

[daveb]

Gaining mass has to do with applying greater amounts of stress on your muscles so they can grow to accomodate the load. if you dont continue to stress your muscles they will not continue to grow, they will only get big enough to handle the stress they are given. Increasing the number of reps will increase strength more than add size. Of course if you are having trouble doing seven pushups that means you are putting a significant load on your muscles meaning you are already applying enough stress to make them grow but they will eventually plateau if you do not continue adding weight. I wouldnt say you need machines to gain muscle but i would say they are a very effective peice of equipment.

[daveb]

Im sorry i should have been more specific with response. When i said machines i meant cables, as an effective way to build muscles. I do not prefer machines because of the lack of movement and stabilzation. Cables i use to isolate on certain areas of back, wide grip pull dows, etc. but wide grip pull ups are just as, if not more, effective. Most machines put un-wanted stress on joints which can obviously cause injury.

[franance]

I'm curious....do you really machines like leg presses, lat pull downs, should press...whatever...to actually gain muscles...? Or can simple gain just as much muscles with simple things like push-ups, weighted squats, bench press w/ a barbell/dumbbell....etc?

hi, I believe that weight training with free weights like dumbbells is a lot better for you as a machine can do a lot of the work for you. For example if you use something like a fly machine which works your chest you would be able to lift twice as much as you would be able to if you do the same exercise with dumbbells. With dumbbells you are more in control and I believe you get a lot more out of using free weights than machines. However I'm not saying never use machines or course not machines are still for useful and effective.
I will be posting more tips similiar to this on blog if you are ever interested it's http://www.howtobulkup.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hope this helps