Questions & Answers
QUESTION – Some people say machines are better for you and others say free weights are better. Which is best for the older person, weights or machines?
ANSWER — Research has shown free weights are better. Here’s why. As we get older our stability muscles (those are the muscles that help us keep our balance) become weaker and weaker. That happens because we are moving less and less. The result is weakness in the joints and poor balance. The less we use them the weaker our joints become and the worse our balance becomes which sets up for injury.
When you use a machine the stability muscles are not needed because you’re sitting down and leaning against the back. Next, the machine has a fixed plane of action which means you do not determine its direction. The result is you isolate a very small number of muscles to do the required movement. In real life that never happens, because the central nervous system cannot recruit a few muscles. This means you are getting stronger but not more stable. That’s a recipe for disaster.
You should be more stable than you are strong. You achieve this by exercising with free weights in a standing position. This way you’re using every muscle in your body (just like in real life) but concentrating on the targeted muscle group.
No responsibility is accepted for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use of this information or reliance on it. It is a matter for users to satisfy themselves as to their medical and physical condition to adapt the information or recommendations made. Notwithstanding the medical or physical condition of each user, no responsibility or liability is accepted for any loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of adapting the information or recommendations.
Exercise of the month
Opposition Bridge Version 2
A slightly more strenuous version is to extend right arm and left leg then bring left knee toward chest and right elbow back to touch knee then extend arm and leg to original position.
