jones4fitness-blog

February 22, 2013 – Dangerous Scale

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 20:28:02 +0100

Most people who are trying to lose weight often become frustrated by the number that is displayed on the scale. As a personal trainer I use the scale as a tool to determine an individual’s fat mass. Multiplying a person’s body fat percentage by the weight measured on the scale easily accomplishes this. The fat mass number is then subtracted from their body weight, thus giving the individuals lean mass, which is the muscle, water, and internal organs of the body. For example, two females that are 5'6 and weight 135lbs can look very different from each other, even to the extreme of being polar opposites. One might have a body fat percentage of 33%, while the other might have a percentage of only 22%.

The individuals whose weight will fall the most significantly on the scale are those individuals that are obese. Generally as body fat percentages go for males, 10% and under indicates very lean, 11-15% indicates a lean individual, 16-20% is average, and 20% and higher is considered obese. For women, the following percentages are used: 20% and under indicates a very lean individual, 21%-25% indicates a lean individual, 26%-34% is average, and 34% and greater is considered obese.

A qualified personal trainer can check your body fat percentage with a skin caliper and will be able to calculate your fat mass. A realistic goal for most people is to lose 3% body fat in 4-6 weeks. This is done without starving the body, and being on a rigorous exercise program.

So get your body fat percentage and lose weight by the test, not the scale!

February 20, 2013 – 10 Smashing Tricks To Burn Yourself To A Gorgeous Body

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:10:08 +0100

Most folks I know start off the New Year by making resolutions to lose weight and get in shape. often, this mission is often easier said than done. Some last a little longer than others, but for most, impetus starts to fizzle soon into the next buffet engagement.

Have no fear: ten delightful tactics can empower you to motivate your self to a better body. Whether you are looking to lose a lot or just a few pounds or you want to exercise more to tone your body, you can create an action plan that can help you stay motivated.

Conviction: Conviction is the primal way for you to motivate yourself to exercise more or to stick to a diet. Faith in yourself is also known as self-efficacy and it means that once you believe that you can do something, no matter how hard, you do it. Those that have a lot of self-esteem believe that they have the power to make changes in themselves. Those without solid self-confidence will find that they will have a much more difficult time sticking to any fitness plan and will not exert much effort.

Support: A staunch support system of friends and family keeps almost anyone motivated to reach their goals. When a person starts a new fitness plan or diet program, many changes need to happen. It is important to surround yourself with others that can support you and understand your personal goals. Let those around you know that you need them to support your new goal and try to include them in your objectives.

Positive Mind-set: Your enthusiasm will soar if you keep a positive attitude towards your new fitness goals. Think about the positive aspects of a healthier lifestyle and exercise plan and keep that in mind you may be tempted to skip a day at the gym. When following any fitness plan, it is also important to remember that you may have setbacks or you may not achieve your goals as fast as you had hoped. Keeping your stance positive even during the rough times will help you stay focused on your goals.

Follow Through: You will find that you have an easier time staying motivated when you make a plan and keep at it. Without understanding each step you need to take to reach your goals, it will be harder to focus on the destination. For example, if you are trying to eat healthier, write down what foods you want to eliminate and foods your want to add to your diet. As you progress, compare your results with your plan and that will help you stay the course.

Keep Organized: Keeping organized will keeps the motivation burning to stay on the new fitness plan. If you plan on going to the gym a few times a week, you can get everything you need ready to go the night before. Have your shoes, gym clothes and membership card by the door. Not only will this make it easier for you find exactly what you need, but it will also serve as a visual reminder of your goal. Keep your days planned out and schedule time in for healthy cooking or burning the asphalt.

Forms of Motivation: Intrinsic and extrinsic are both types of motivation. Understand what they mean and which one helps keep you motivated. Those who are intrinsically motivated do not need outside forces, such as rewards to stay focused. They have the power from within to stay motivated. Other forces, such as rewards or praise from others, motivate those who are motivated extrinsically. Most people feel motivated both ways. Understand what kind of motivation keeps you passionate.

Reward Yourself: Incentives can be a great motivator, especially in a new fitness plan. Give yourself a small reward when you meet each of your goals. This will help you get to your final goal. You may choose to buy yourself a new shirt when you lose ten pounds or maybe go see a movie. Whatever appeals to you would stoke the flames of zeal.

Heroes: When you are trying to get a better body through a fitness plan, look for a hero. That person does not have to be famous, but anybody you look up to. Maybe it is someone you know with zest for healthy living. Use that person to emulate when your spirit wanes.

Knowledge is Power: As soon as you commit yourself to a new fitness plan, arm yourself with piles of information. Compare different diets and exercise plans. Learn the ins and outs of each one and you can make confident informed decision.

Varied Pursuits: Another great way to stay motivated is by diversifying activities. When you start to feel upset, you can set it aside and do something you really love. It might even be possible to include what you love doing to help you achieve your fitness aims.

January 2nd, 2013 – 2 Simple Steps To Ripped Summertime Muscles

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:39:23 +0100

Summer is on the horizon, and the time has come to kick back and relax under the sun. It’s time for beach days, barbecues and pool parties, and for any serious weightlifter these activities also mean one thing: it’s time for the shirts to come off and to showcase that rock-solid physique they’ve been working on all year. No one wants to be walking around with a soft, smooth and flabby body, and for the next month or two, all of those serious lifters will be shifting into “get ripped” mode.

How do they usually go about this?

They lighten up the weights and perform higher reps.

This has always been a widely accepted method of “cutting down” and if you ask most trainers in the gym they’ll tell you that “heavy weights bulk up the muscle and lighter weights define the muscle”.

Do you want to know the reality behind the “light weight and high reps” method of obtaining a ripped and defined physique?

It is completely, totally and utterly DEAD WRONG.

It couldn’t be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no logical basis for this way of training whatsoever, and whoever dreamt up this downright ridiculous way of thinking has caused the vast majority of lifters to waste their time and impede their progress in the gym.

Let me clear this up once and for all: you CANNOT spot reduce. In other words, it is physically impossible to target fat loss from a specific area on your body. Performing bench presses with light resistance and high repetitions will not magically burn fat off of your chest or cause it to appear harder and more defined.

Every single time you wrap your hands around a barbell, dumbbell or cable, your goal is to stimulate as much muscle growth as you possibly can. There are no special, secret weightlifting exercises that will “define” your muscles or cause them to become more “ripped”.

Training with weights builds muscle mass, end of story.

So how exactly do you “define” a muscle?

The only way to “define” a muscle is by lowering your body fat level in order to make your muscles more visible. Body fat reduction can be achieved in two ways:

1) Modify your diet.

You should lower your overall caloric intake to around 15x your bodyweight and focus on consuming smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism naturally raised at all times and will keep your body in a constant fat burning state. Limit your intake of saturated fats and simple sugars, and focus instead on consuming lean sources of protein and low glycemic carbohydrates. It is also very important to keep your water intake high at a level of around 0.6 ounces per pound of bodyweight.

2) Perform proper cardio workouts.

Let go of the traditional method of moderate intensity cardio in 30-45 minute durations. If you want to maximize your body’s fat burning capacity and also minimize the muscle loss that inevitably accompanies a fat burning cycle, focus on shorter cardio workouts performed at a high level of intensity. These types of workouts will shoot your resting metabolism through the roof and will allow you to burn maximum amounts of fat even when you are at rest. I recommend 3-5 high intensity cardio sessions per week, spaced at least 8 hours away from your weight workouts.

That’s all there is to it, folks. Take the notion of “light weight and higher reps” and throw it right out the window, down the street and around the corner. Following this misguided method will only cause you to lose muscle mass and strength, and will not assist you in burning fat or defining your physique.

All you need to do to mold those rock-solid muscles for the summer time is this:

1) Train with heavy weights and low repetitions to build maximum muscle mass.

2) Modify your diet and implement cardio workouts to eliminate body fat and create visibly harder and more defined muscles.

November 12, 2012 – The Skinny on Crash Diets

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 19:56:01 +0100

To diet, as the joke goes, means to die with a 'T'. Such is the case of the vain who go on crash diets just because they think they're too fat; that their clothes no longer fit; or because their love handles are too big, even if in truth they are not fat at all.

Diet is often equated with nutrition. The dictionary defines it as the act of restricting food intake or at least intake of particular food. Diet as a collective is the amount of food a person eats or drinks during the course of a day. People do it for health reasons, some to simply lose weight, and some altogether for all the wrong reasons.

The body needs calories for heat. A calorie is a unit of measurement for energy. The unit's name is French and derives from the Latin calor (heat). Although the new unit of energy is joule, calorie remains as the unit of measurement for energy obtained from food.

A crash diet is a diet which is extreme in its deprivations - typically restricting calorie intake abruptly. Meant to achieve rapid weight loss, a crash diet differs from outright starvation only slightly. Crash diets are unhealthy and are hardly - if ever - recommended by doctors or dietitians. A crash diet may lead to malnutrition, and is not a suggested means of weight loss. It involves drastically cutting back on the amount of calories that you take in daily. Highly similar to a starvation diet, it is often paired with other weight loss "fixes," including extreme exercise routines and the use of diet pills. Most people follow crash diets yearly in the hopes that they will lose a lot of weight in a very short span of time. Crash diets are recognized by health care professionals and dietitians as being a very dangerous way of trying to lose the excess pounds.

At a technical level, when one goes into crash dieting, the body is shocked by a sudden change in food intake. From a high-energy diet to low-energy food regime. There appears to be a rapid weight loss, creating an illusion that the plan is working. At this point, no fat has been lost; what happened is that the body's limited store of glycogen, a form of carbohydrate, is used up. As glycogen is utilized, the body loses water with it, so there appears to be a rapid weight loss.

Additionally, weight loss during crash diets doesn't continue for a long time. Eventually, dieters will find themselves hitting a plateau, during which it will become more difficult for them to lose weight. Majority of crash dieters find that this weight loss plateau is followed by weight gain. Many followers of crash diets eventually end up gaining all the weight they lost, with a few additional pounds. This is known as the yo-yo diet effect: just like the up and down motion of a yo-yo, crash dieters find their weight constantly fluctuating with each diet that they go on.

The side effects of crash dieting include Vitamin and/or mineral deficiencies, dizziness and/or fainting (due to extreme calorie cutting), pressure and strain on certain organs like the kidneys and the liver, burning off lean muscle and tissues, among other things. In extreme cases, heart attack or stroke can be a result of crash diets; it may even lead to death.

There was a woman named Matilda Callaghan, aged 25, who died after going on a crash diet for six months straight. She only consumed three servings of food powder mix per day. She was said to have been battling obesity since she was twelve. Following the diet regime strictly, she was said to have lost ten pound in her first week, four pounds in the second and seven pounds in the third. She was being monitored closely by the dieting firm she had enrolled on. She fell ill and was diagnosed to have died of a heart failure.

Before deciding to pursue a weight-loss program, make sure to that it is going to produce a long last result. A balanced diet and moderate regular exercise may take time to get you the figure you wanted, but it will gently get you toned up, and keep the weight off for good.

November 5th, 2012 – Obesity and Binge Eating

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 23:37:21 +0100

Obesity is a condition that has become a major health concern affecting many individuals in the United States. This condition refers to the build-up of excess body fat that may impair health conditions. Obese individuals are prone to health risks like cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, sleep apnea, and many more. These health hazards have prompted many people to include a weight-loss program in their lifestyles. However many health experts advice individuals to understand the cause weight-gain is essential in preventing the additional cases of obesity.

Understanding the cause of obesity might enable overweight individuals to treat their health problems. According to clinical studies, one probable cause of obesity among Americans is an eating disorder called binge eating. It is an eating disorder whereby individuals have a strong addiction for food. The cause of this condition is still unclear but experts suggest stress, anxiety, and depression can trigger compulsive eating disorder. Individuals with this condition crave for food even though they do not need to eat that much. They end up eating too much and not realizing that they should not once they are fool. Individuals with binge eating disorder may gain weight overtime and have obesity problems. However, there are some individuals who have this condition and have normal weight.

Eating too much is one of the symptoms of binge eating disorder. Eating when not hungry or eating while being sad, angry, lonely, or bored can also be a symptom of this condition. After binging, one might feel upset, guilty, or depressed. These individuals may also feel alone because they are embarrassed of about how much they eat. Eating in secret is also a symptom of binge eating disorder.

The common treatment for binge eating disorder may include the use of medication like antidepressant pill or counseling or a combination of the two. Recent treatment for this condition includes cognitive-behavioral therapy which teaches patients to monitor their eating habits and respond properly to difficult situations. Treatment for this condition may last for extended period to fully recover. Individuals with this condition which includes depression, obesity, and other conditions that may be associated with being overweight.

Health experts advise individuals to include exercise and nutritious diet in their lifestyle to eliminate depression and anxiety. Physical activities promotes the release of endorphins. Endorphins are substances that is released by the brain and is the body's natural pain-reliever. These substance may elevate the mood and promote a state of bliss. Many health specialists refer to this phenomenon as the runner's high. When this state well-being is accomplished the use for antidepressant pill may not be necessary. For overweight or obese individuals, it is never too late to engage in regular exercise and healthy diets. Exercise is good for different people of all ages, sex, and weight. It is necessary to maintain improved overall health and enhanced well-being. Individuals who decide to include a regular program of physical activity should consult doctors and other health professionals for advice. This is important because a lot of individuals tend to workout too much or workout improperly, which may do more harm than good. Understanding proper workout and including a healthy diet in one's lifestyle may lead to improved health and overall well-being and therefore eliminate mental disorders that may lead to eating disorders like binge eating.

October 24th, 2012 – 7 Calorie Burning Tips

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:17:04 +0100

These are just a few habits you can embrace to start revving your metabolism right away. You may have heard stories about people who have lost dozens of pounds simply switching to diet soda or walking a few minutes each day. These are all small habits that contribute to a big difference and increase your metabolism over time. You will make weight loss quicker and easier by increasing your metabolic rate and burning more calories.

1) Move More

Sedentary people burn about one-third less calories per day. By simply taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn in one day. Small movements will add up over time to lots of calories. The trick is to keep moving throughout your day. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Then, take every opportunity to move – here’s some ideas for burning extra calories:

Tap your feet

Swing your legs

Stand up and stretch

Move your head from side to side

Change position

Wriggle and fidget

Pace up and down

Use the restroom upstairs

Park in the furthest corner of the parking lot

Stand up when you’re on the phone and step from side to side

Clench and release your muscles

2) Eat Little and Often

Evidence suggests that eating small meals every 2-4 hours will keep your metabolism burning faster than larger, less frequent meals. When you eat small amounts often your body is constantly working to digest and absorb food which requires energy.

3) Eat Fat

If you want feel good and keep the fat off you need to first put it in. Fat not only tastes good our bodies need it to work efficiently. By consuming several servings of ‘healthy’ fats every day you will actually increase your calorie burning potential. Try incorporating fats like Flaxseed oil, hempseed oil, olive oil, avocados, salmon, albacore tuna, nuts and seeds into your diet daily.

4) Drink Cold Water

Evidence shows that your body might expend more calories trying to raise cold water to the temperature of your body then hot beverages. And overall being well hydrated will help your body’s metabolic processes burn quicker.

5) Exercise With Weights

Training with weights boosts your metabolism in a number of ways. By lifting weights you will build muscle tissue. And muscle tissue is metabolically active, so it requires calories even when at rest and so it helps to increase fat-burning enzymes in your body.

6) Spice up

Eating hot spices might speed up your metabolism. Just half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day can help boost metabolism and keep blood sugar levels in check. Can’t stand the thought of cinnamon in your morning cup of coffee? Spice up with cayenne, crushed red pepper or wasabi.

7) Eat More Protein

Protein requires a more complex chemical breakdown by your body in order to be digested and used as fuel. For example, 100 calories of protein may take up to 30 calories to process. Protein also takes longer to digest and helps to stabilize blood sugar for longer periods of time and this can help you to not overeat later in the day. Eat a portion of protein at every meal and as part of your snacks and you will increase the total number of calories you burn each day.

October 18th, 2012 – Can Fat Turn Into Muscle Or Muscle Into Fat?

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:13:05 +0100

Can muscle turn into fat or fat turn into muscle? How many time have you heard this hilarious fats and muscles myth?

Yes, this is one fats and muscles myth that will never go away. Get this straight. Fat will never turn into muscle and muscle will never turn into fat.

The reason is simple. Your body fats and muscles are made up of completely different cell structure and they are so different that they cannot be converted to each other. Your muscle is very much alive and work very hard whereas fat just sits there doing nothing and just plain looking ugly. How can they be the same or can be converted to each other?

How did this fitness myth come about then? Well, let me offer some suggestions.

When a fat person train with weights, he will build muscles and then for his muscle definition to show, he will have to lose fat. He will do cardio exercises and eat healthily to achieve a healthy fat loss. When that is accomplished, he will revealed a lean muscular body because he has already packed on some muscle mass and have lost a substantial amount of body fat from his lose fats and build muscles program.

So when people see his new found lean muscular body and noticed that his body fat is now gone, some will comment that his fats has turned into muscles. Isn't that a nonsensical comment? Not just nonsensical, it is downright hilarious.

Now, just say that this same guy has lost his motivation to train for whatever reasons and because he no longer wants to maintain his lean muscular body, he naturally will lay off exercises and start to eat unhealthily. Gradually, he will put on body fat because of his unhealthy diet and the fact that he no longer exercise to burn calories. Then as he put on more fat, the fat begins to cover up his muscles and his muscles are no longer noticeable.

Ahhhh....these same people who do not know the biology of muscle and fat will proclaim that his muscles has turned into body fat. Well, these chaps must be magicians or how else can muscle turn into fat or fat turn into muscle?

Why am I exposing this fat and muscle myth? Because it is funny? Well perhaps that too. But the main reason is that this fat and muscle myth has put alot of people away from exercising to build muscles and continue to indulge in unhealthy eating habits by proclaiming that there is no point building muscles because once they stop, they will get fat. Again, this is rubbish because most of them are fat to begin with anyway. It is just a lazy excuse not to exercise and eat healthily.

So if you have friends who tout this fat and muscle myth to you, send them this article. You may be doing them a great favor when they realised the truth and head for the gym to build some muscles and lose some body fat.

Then what about you? Are now convinced that muscle will never turn into fat and fat into muscle? If not, write to me and tell me why.

October 15th, 2012 – 7 Reasons Why Your Muscles Stop Growing. How To Get Muscle To Grow Again

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:14:49 +0100

Have ever wondered why your muscles stopped growing after a few months of training even though you are training very hard? Here are 7 reasons why your muscles stopped growing and how to get your muscle to grow again.

• You are training too hard – Every time when you train your muscles intensely, you are actually breaking down your muscles. So your muscles need to recover from the damages you inflicted on them. So train each muscle group only once or at most twice a week.

• You are training too long – Keep your workout intense but do not workout more than an hour each time. After 45 minutes of intensive training, your cortisol level will increase. This hormone is known to destroy muscle cells.

• You are sleeping too little – You need to sleep more for good muscle growth. Your muscles grow when you sleep. So sleep more than 8 hours a day and watch those muscles growing fast.

• You are abusing alcohol – Alcohol is known to break down muscle mass plus many other body destruction ability.

• You do not change your workout routine – You must change your workout routine every 6-8 weeks. Your muscles adapt to your routine and stops growing.

• You do not progressively overload your muscles – You must try to increase your reps or weight every time you next train a particular muscle group. Otherwise, there is no reason for your muscles to grow.

• You do not eat sufficient protein – If you want to build bigger muscles, you must eat more protein. Protein is the building block for your muscles. It is recommended that you need 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight equivalent. If not enough protein is consumed with your normal diet, do supplement with protein shakes.

There you are, the 7 reasons why your muscles stopped growing even though you are training hard. There are many more methods on how to grow your muscles bigger but these 7 reasons and how to overcome them will be sufficient for an average bodybuilding beginner.

October 11th, 2012 – What Makes Our Blood Cholesterol High?

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 19:55:33 +0100

People with heart disease or those who are at high risk for developing it typically have too much LDL-cholesterol in their blood. Many factors help determine whether your LDL-cholesterol level is high or low. The following factors are the most important.

Your blood cholesterol level is affected not only by what you eat but also by how quickly your body makes LDL-cholesterol and disposes of it. In fact, your body makes all the cholesterol it needs, and it is not necessary to take in any additional cholesterol from the foods you eat. Patients with heart disease or those who are at high risk for developing it typically have too much LDL-cholesterol in their blood. Many factors help determine whether your LDL-cholesterol level is high or low. The following factors are the most important.

Heredity. Your genes influence how high your LDL-cholesterol is by affecting how fast LDL is made and removed from the blood. One specific form of inherited high cholesterol that affects 1 in 500 people is familial hypercholesterolemia, which often leads to early heart disease. But even if you do not have a specific genetic form of high cholesterol, genes play a role in influencing your LDL-cholesterol level.

What you eat. Two main nutrients in the foods you eat make your LDL-cholesterol level go up: saturated fat, a type of fat found mostly in foods that come from animals; and cholesterol, which comes only from animal products. Saturated fat raises your LDL-cholesterol level more than anything else in the diet. Eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol is the main reason for high levels of cholesterol and a high rate of heart attacks in the United States. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol you eat is a very important step in reducing your blood cholesterol levels.

Weight. Excess weight tends to increase your LDL-cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have a high LDL-cholesterol level, losing weight may help you lower it. Weight loss also helps to lower triglycerides and raise HDL.

Physical activity/exercise. Regular physical activity may lower LDL-cholesterol and raise HDL-cholesterol levels.

Age and gender. Before menopause, women usually have total cholesterol levels that are lower than those of men the same age. As women and men get older, their blood cholesterol levels rise until about 60 to 65 years of age. In women, menopause often causes an increase in their LDL-cholesterol and a decrease in their HDL- cholesterol level, and after the age of 50, women often have higher total cholesterol levels than men of the same age.

Alcohol. Alcohol intake increases HDL-cholesterol but does not lower LDL-cholesterol. Doctors don't know for certain whether alcohol also reduces the risk of heart disease. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver and heart muscle, lead to high blood pressure, and raise triglycerides. Because of the risks, alcoholic beverages should not be used as a way to prevent heart disease.

Stress. Stress over the long term has been shown in several studies to raise blood cholesterol levels. One way that stress may do this is by affecting your habits. For example, when some people are under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods contribute to higher levels of blood cholesterol.

October 10th, 2012 – Free Weights Or Weightlifting Machines To Build Bigger Muscles?

Wed, 10 Oct 2012 21:31:00 +0100

Are free weights such as dumbbells and barbells are more superior to weightlifting machines for building bigger muscles? Well, both free weights and weightlifting machines have its own pros and cons.

•Advantages of weightlifting machines

a) Excellent for beginners because it is not so intimidating and the range of motion is fixed, so a bodybuilding novice need not wonder whether he is lifting correctly to target a muscle group.

b) Easy to use as machines usually have instructions on them.

c) Safer – It won’t drop on you in a middle of a lift.

d) Isolate your muscles so that you can rest your injured body part and yet able to workout other muscle part.

•Disadvantages of Weightlifting Machines

a) Increase injury risks since the range of motion is fixed and repeated workout will place tremendous stress on the same joints, tendons and muscles because you are lifting on a fixed pathway.

b) Because of its isolation of muscles, your workout hit only the targeted muscles with little involvement of supporting or synergistic thus your muscle gains will be slower and less balanced.

c) Since weight lifting machines have fixed configuration, your workout does not factor in your body frame and structure. Whether you have a big or small built, narrow or wide shoulders, you will be using the same pathway range of motion and width of grip. This will raise your chances of being injured as well as poorer muscle development.

•Advantages of free weights

a) More stabilizing muscles synergistic muscles are involved. So you are actually exercising more muscles and therefore will develop more muscle growth and strength.

b) Improve your balance and muscle coordination since you need to balance the weights during your lift and this call on many muscles to do so. So your muscle coordination and sense of balance will naturally improve.

c) Convenient and inexpensive since you need not join a gym and free weights are much less expensive than machines.

•Disadvantages of free weights

a) Increase injury risks if lifting with wrong form and technique.

b) Time consuming because you need to bring the weights from one area to another or physically taking time to adjust, add or decrease weights.

So which is better for building bigger and well balanced muscles? Yup, free weight takes the cake over weight lifting machines for building muscles faster and bigger. However, since both weightlifting machines and free weights have its own advantages and disadvantages, you can then weigh the pros and cons to use machines or free weights for your workouts or even a combination of both to suit your personal requirements.