Why I Refuse to Use Benches or Machines
By: Anthony Moulesong
Tags: Exercise, Kettlebells, Strength Training, Fitness, Body Weight Training

Before

When I was younger, I followed a more traditional bodybuilding type of program. I availed myself of all that fancy machinery and did a lot of isolation exercises. I did the things most lifters are familiar with: bench press and dumbbell flyes, leg presses and curls, lat pulldowns, lateral raises, and dumbbell curls. I did get some decent results. I could go shirtless with the best of them. It was the only way I knew to approach hypertrophy and strength, and I was happy enough with the results.

Now

My return to regular lifting came in a very different form, although I didn’t realize it at the time. I didn’t want a whole crazy rack system and a gazillion plates, dumbbells, etc., so I opted to go with kettlebells. I also picked up a power tower (for chin-ups and dips), some push-up handles, a weight vest, and a plyometric box. I started a program much like what I’d done before: a lot of grind exercises designed to build muscle. Now, it was push-ups and pull-ups, dips and shoulder presses, rows, deadlifts, and squats. And I got results. Fairly shocking results for a middle-aged guy if I’m being honest. I can lift heavier than I could when I was younger, and I’m twenty pounds heavier (not fatter). Even though now my workouts were much simpler from the standpoint of equipment and variety, I was getting better results at a much older age. What?

The Difference

It bugged me. I wanted to understand what the difference was. And the only real difference was this: when I lift now, I don’t use any crutches. If I want to press some weight overhead, I have to clean the kettlebell(s) to my chest and do it while standing, not pick the weight up off a rack and press while seated. Ditto for squatting (try cleaning a pair of sixty-pound kettlebells while wearing a forty-pound weight vest to see the difference). If I want to work my chest, I strap on the weight vest and hit the floor for some push-ups. I have to work hard to keep my body straight while lowering and raising myself; I’m not lying on a bench letting it do all the work to stabilize me. I do chin-ups now instead of lat pulldowns, which forces me not only to lift more weight but to stabilize my whole body by activating my core. To make things even worse, the lat pulldown machine had these knee braces you slid under to hold you in place. That was the difference. Before, I had so much assistance from the equipment that I was actually cheating myself out of half of the work. Now, all I have to rely on to get through a workout is myself.

Working out sans any specialized equipment forces you to use more muscles to stabilize yourself rather than letting some exercise aid do it for you. I get a more complete workout now using less equipment. Another difference between then and now is that I don’t do any isolation exercises (other than triceps extensions). I don’t do any biceps curls or lateral raises, dumbbell flyes or leg extensions. I still work all those muscles, but the movements I use now are all compound in nature. Everything I do while working out hits multiple muscle groups rather than just one at a time. If you’re looking to be purely a bodybuilder, this might not be what you want. If you’re looking for particular peaks and proportions, you might need to do all those isolation exercises and use machines. But from the standpoint of raw fitness and strength, using compound exercises is the way to go. The more muscles you activate during a movement, the more muscles you work during a movement. You get more bang for your exercise buck.