Today, the barbell’s crown might be slipping.
Many well-equipped commercial gyms now have Pendulum squats, Arsenal Strength rows, converging chest presses, and other machines that look like they belong in a NASA training facility.
Modern designs feature sophisticated resistance curves and adjustable movement paths, letting lifters challenge their muscles without worrying about anything but the lift.
But before you put down the barbell, consider this question.
Are modern strength machines better for building muscle, or are we mistaking clever engineering for superior results?
Here’s what’s coming next.
- Why free weights still work
- The rise of the machines
- What the science says
- An exercise comparison
- Where free weights have the advantage
- Workout examples combining both machines and free weights
Why Free Weights Still Work
They’re effective, versatile, and have helped generations of lifters build impressive muscle and strength.
“Free weights should always remain the foundation,” explains Matt Wenning of Wenning Strength. “They develop strength, coordination, and stability that machines cannot fully replicate.”
Here are three other reasons why they still work.
Progressive Overload
Barbells are easy to load, and most dumbbells increase in 2.5- to 5-pound increments. This makes it easy to track progress. Barbells let you handle heavier loads because they’re more stable than dumbbells.
Stabilization
Our bodies include prime mover muscles like the quads and smaller stabilizer muscles like the rotator cuff. Free weights engage both, but machines require less stabilization because they’re more stable. Stabilization helps build strength and coordination, but more stabilization doesn’t always mean more muscle.
Freedom of Movement
Many machines have a fixed range of motion, but with dumbbells, you’re not locked into a fixed lifting path. This lets you adjust grip angles, elbow position, and pressing or pulling paths. That freedom lets you adjust to your needs and comfort.
The Rise of the Machines
Jay Ashman of Ashman Strength has a unique take on the rise of the machines.
“We are in the midst of the “optimization” trend, that’s heavy on aesthetics,” he explains. “Why would a trainee not use the easiest tool for the job? Doesn’t make it the best tool, but it’s the most efficient.”
Companies like Arsenal Strength, Rogers Athletic (Pendulum Strength), and Prime Fitness have taken advantage of that with more ways to customize exercises to your body.
Here’s what they bring to the table.
More Sophisticated Resistance Profiles
A big development is how they apply resistance throughout an exercise’s range of motion. They do this with cams, lever arms, and adjustable loading positions. For example, some Prime Fitness machines offer multiple loading positions that let lifters emphasize different parts of the range of motion.
Why does this matter? Your muscles don’t produce equal force at every joint angle. A machine that places resistance where a muscle can produce more force may give you a muscle-building advantage.
Greater Stability = More Focus
Greater stability isn’t new, but it’s still worth mentioning. When you lift along a fixed path, without worrying about stabilizing, your target muscles get more love while your stabilizers take a break.
“If I’m trying to maximize mechanical tension through a particular muscle,” explains Gareth Sapstead, CSCS. “Reducing the stability demands can be a good thing because you’re challenging the target muscle rather than worrying about balance, coordination, or maintaining position.”
That’s handy when hypertrophy is the goal.
Adjustable Movement Paths and Better Ergonomics
The modern machines offer more ways to adjust your setup. Adjustable seats, chest pads, starting positions, handles, and range-of-motion settings help lifters find positions that better match their bodies. The newer chest press machines feature converging arms, allowing your hands to move closer together as you approach lockout. Some row machines use diverging movement paths, while others allow the arms to move independently.
Independent Loading and Unilateral Training
Another feature of many modern machines is independently moving arms.
Instead of both arms working together as a unit, each side moves separately. This lets lifters perform unilateral reps, notice side-to-side differences, and adjust their training if one side is weaker. Unilateral training isn’t new, but modern machines combine single-limb movement with stability and a guided path while reducing coordination demands.
Science Back Facts: Free Weights vs. Machines
Is one really better than the other for building strength and muscle? “We know that our muscles, “ explains Ashman. “We cannot tell the difference between free weights and machines regarding muscle growth.”
Here’s what the science says.
A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis examined 13 studies involving 1,016 people comparing free-weight and machine training. Five of those studies measured hypertrophy, and the researchers found that neither had the advantage.
Another systematic review and meta-analysis by Heidel and colleagues concluded that machines and free weights both built similar amounts of muscle. A separate 2023 study comparing free-weight and machine-based exercises found similar improvements in muscle hypertrophy and strength between training approaches.
NOTE: These studies compare general categories of machines and free weights, not the newest machines featuring adjustable resistance profiles.
Strength: Why Specificity Matters
Although muscle growth appears the same, the strength findings reveal something interesting.
The Haugen meta-analysis found that lifters who trained with free weights improved more when tested with free weights. Those who trained with machines also performed better on machine-based strength tests. Strength is equipment-specific, with limited crossover in technique. For example, a Pendulum squat develops the quads and glutes, but it won’t teach the same balance, coordination, or barbell-specific technique as a barbell back squat.
Do Modern Workout Machines Have an Advantage
You’ve seen that science can’t separate them. But with all the money they’ve poured into development, they must have the muscle-building edge.
Let’s compare the Pendulum Squat to the barbell squat to see where the modern machine might offer an advantage.
Pendulum Squat vs. Barbell Back Squat
The Pendulum squat uses a guided, arcing motion that reduces balance demands. Depending on the machine’s design and your setup, this can make it easier to achieve depth and focus on leg drive. Some Pendulum machines also feature resistance profiles that adjust how challenging different portions of the movement feel.
The Machine advantage: Greater external stability allows some lifters to challenge their quads more without balance, bar positioning, or torso control becoming the limiting factor. For lifters with mobility limitations or discomfort supporting a barbell, the Pendulum Squat machine offers a viable alternative.
The barbell advantage: The back squat develops barbell-specific strength, coordination, and the ability to control heavy loads. It’s also essential for competitive powerlifters and more versatile for developing lower-body strength.
The verdict: If your goal is bigger quads, the Pendulum squat may be a better fit, but it doesn’t guarantee greater muscle growth. For more total-body strength and muscle, the barbell is still your best bet.
Advantages of Using Free Weights
Modern machines let you focus on specific muscles and ranges of motion, and you can adjust the setup to suit your needs, but strength training is more than just building muscle.
Maximal Strength and Exercise Specificity
If your goal is to improve maximal strength, the barbell is still the way to go. No amount of Pendulum squats will fully replace the skill, coordination, and technique required to get under a heavy bar and squat. Barbell squats also improve your ability to coordinate muscle actions, stabilize the load, and produce force in that movement.
Machines can strengthen the muscles involved, but they don’t reproduce every demand of a free-weight lift.
Coordination and Movement Skills
Free weights require you to control the load rather than allowing the machine to guide it. This means coordinating multiple joints, maintaining your position, and adjusting your movement as the weight travels through space.
“I still favor free weights for developing strength, coordination, positional control,” explains Sapstead. “The ability to produce force through more complex movement patterns works well for clients who want a physique that performs as well as it looks.”
Modern machines reduce some of those demands, but free weights offer a better chance to practice coordination and movement skills under load.
Versatility and Accessibility
With free weights, you have everything you need for a great workout. They make it easy to modify exercises without changing equipment. Adjust your grip, stance, range of motion, or body position to change the training stimulus.
Modern machines, especially premium plate-loaded equipment, cost more, take up more space, and often serve a specific purpose.
The Bottom Line
Modern machines have challenged the idea that barbells and dumbbells are superior for building muscle, but free weights are popular for a reason. Free weights remain essential for developing specific strength, offer greater versatility, and demand movements that many machines reduce.
“Free weights have an important place, and I wouldn’t necessarily say one is better than the other,” says Sapstead.
The question isn’t whether machines have dethroned free weights. It’s whether you’re choosing the right equipment for your goals. For most lifters, the answer is both, not either or.
How To Use Free Weights and Workout Machines To Your Advantage
Sapstead’s approach is refreshing. “The best exercise is the one that places sufficient tension on the muscles you’re trying to develop through a useful range of motion while allowing consistent progression,” he says.
“Sometimes that’s a barbell, sometimes a dumbbell, and sometimes a really well-designed machine.”
There’s no need to pick a side, but you do need to choose exercises based on the three factors below.
Goals Determines Equipment
If your goal is a bigger squat, deadlift, or bench, free weights rule because you need to be under or over the barbell. “Machines should support your free-weight training, not replace it, “ says Wenning.
But building muscle offers you more flexibility between free weights and machines. The important question isn’t whether you use a machine or free weights to build muscle. It’s all about progressive overload. If one is easier for you, go with it.
Use Machines to Reduce Unnecessary Fatigue
Modern machines let you adjust your setup for enhanced stability, so you don’t have to worry about stabilizing or balancing. This doesn’t mean machines eliminate fatigue or that free weights always produce more. It means that choosing exercises with different stability and positioning demands can help distribute fatigue more effectively throughout your workout. Wenning agrees.
“Machines are tools to help improve performance with free weights,” he explains. “They allow us to isolate weaknesses, build additional muscle, and increase training volume without the same level of systemic fatigue.”
Safety Concerns
Pushing the limits with free weights often requires a spotter. If you want to do a bench-press drop set and you don’t have a spotter, wouldn’t it be better and more efficient to do it on a chest-press machine, where failure doesn’t mean you’re pinned under the barbell?
Sapstead agrees. “ Taking a hack squat or leg extension to failure is generally more manageable than doing the same with a heavy barbell squat.”
So does Ashman. “Training to failure is much safer on a machine than with free weights, and because I’m seeing an emphasis on “effective reps” and training close to failure.”
Sample Upper-Body Workout
This workout combines free-weight pressing with supported machine pulling.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| 1A. Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 6-12 |
| 1B. Chest-Supported Machine Row | 4 | 10–15 |
| 2A. Converging Machine Chest Press | 3 | 10–15 |
| 2B. Meadows Row | 3 | 8–12 per side |
| 2C. Cable Lateral Raise | 3 | 12–15 |
Sample Lower-Body Workout
This lower-body workout combines free-weight hip-hinge and unilateral exercises with machine-based training.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps |
| 1A. Barbell RDL | 4 | 6–12 |
| 1B. Pendulum Squat | 4 | 6–12 |
| 2A. Dumbbell Split Squat | 3 | 8–12 per leg |
| 2B. Hip Thrust Machine | 3 | 10–15 |
| 2C. Seated Leg Curl | 3 | 12–15 |
Final Verdict
Now more than ever, machines are neck and neck with free weights in the muscle-building stakes.
With improved resistance profiles, greater stability, and more adjustable lifting paths, today’s machines have earned their place alongside barbells and dumbbells in the weight room.
But have they overtaken free weights for building muscle? Not quite.
Research shows that machines and free weights can produce similar muscle growth, and we don’t yet have convincing evidence that newer machines yield superior results.
But it is not about choosing sides; it’s about choosing which better fits your goals and body type.
Choose wisely.