Sports Medicine

There’s an industry controversy about which is better—free weights or machines. A safe bet is to ask, “What would Arnold do?” There are some important questions to be answered before you decide what’s best for you: “What am I trying to accomplish?” “How old am I?” “Do I have any injuries?” These questions are important because if you’re a competitive powerlifter, your training is 99 percent based on free weights, and if you’re bored, you might use machines.

Conversely, if you’re a bodybuilder, it will be a 50-50 split, and you’ll use the exercises that maximally stress the muscles to increase muscle size. An example is training the calves; the best way to train them is using standing calf raises, seated calf raises, and leg press so you can really overload them with weight. Arnold used to use 1,000 pounds on the standing calf machine! You can use free-weight exercises such as one-legged calf raises while holding a dumbbell, but why would you? You’re limited by how much you can hang on to, so it wouldn’t be your first choice.

Regarding the other questions, as you age, you accumulate injuries, which can determine what exercises you can and can’t do pain-free. The best example of this is Arnold, who said, “I used to love doing the clean and press, because you get the traps, the front deltoids, and the side. I also liked to do the dumbbell press, but I can’t do either anymore. So now I just do my presses on a Smith machine, which is safer on my shoulders because it’s on a track. But I have to say, it’s so fantastic to see the development of all of these machines. It allows you to train around your injuries—you don’t have to stop training because of injuries anymore. These machines allow you to isolate your muscles without the risk of hurting yourself.”
Here’s a review of the different body parts and exercises that Arnold did for muscular development, and what he does today to stay in shape.

Quads:
50-50 split between barbell squats and leg press. Arnold did both when he competed, and even did old-school leg press performed upside down on his back.

Hamstrings:
Arnold focused specifically on lying hamstring curls.

Chest:
For the Olympia, he focused on barbell and dumbbell bench press along with cable crossovers. Arnold now focuses on machine press due to shoulder surgery and also keeping his intrathoracic pressure down so it doesn’t stress his heart.

Shoulders:
Free weights win here if your shoulders are healthy enough, but Arnold has had too much wear and tear with training and movie stunts, so he uses cables and machines now.

Upper Back:
Arnold did chin-ups and lat pull-downs. Chins are actually better, and the exercise has morphed into a hybrid where you can use an assisted machine such as a Gravitron.

Lower Back:
Arnold focused on deadlifts and back extensions. Nowadays, people use machine exercises such as reverse hyperextensions, which are an excellent low back exercise.

Biceps:
Arnold focused primarily on barbell and dumbbell curls and popularized the concentration curl.

Triceps:
Arnold would often superset push-downs with lying triceps extensions.

As you can see, it’s not a case of one being better than the other. It’s more about what you’re trying to accomplish and what the body can handle. So be like Arnold and make wise exercise choices!

For a similar article on the difference between free weight and Hammer strengh machines, click here!