We mean exercises that prepare your body for more challenging activities, such as your favorite sports. For basic muscle-training, there are only seven major muscle areas you need to hit with weights. If you must choose between free weights and machines, you probably should go with free weights. But if you have access to both, then by all means use both. Mixing machine and free-weight lifts isn't a bad idea.
Variety is important, even within a consistent routine.
The more you can vary the work your muscles do, the better-trained those muscles will be to perform whatever tasks you require. Although the core routine lists some essential exercises for fitness, they're not the only exercises you should do. You'll find hundreds of suggestions for those other exercises in the chapters that follow. But first, here's your core routine. Although the free-weight versions of these exercises are described elsewhere in the book, take a moment to review the following positioning tips.