Fitness Tips – Exercise Equipment to Avoid

For a lot of people, and anyone who may feel uncomfortable in the weight room or fitness classes, gym machines seem like an ideal way to workout. Or maybe you use machines some days of the week as part of your routine. However, the reality is that using nautilus and the like machines during your workouts may in fact be holding you back from obtaining your fitness goals.

The problems with fitness equipment and gym machines are:

One of the biggest negatives about incorporating machines into your fitness plan is that they severely restrict your range of movement – this effectively prevents the smaller stabilizer muscles all over your body from getting a workout.
Weak stabilizer muscles can lead to injury in normal day to day activities. Using free weights/body weight/kettlebells during your workouts ensures that your stabilizing muscles get the workout they need to become stronger – adding increased lean muscle fat burning power to your whole body.


Gym machines and other types of fitness equipment may seem safe, but they can actually cause more injuries than they prevent. When you insert yourself into these machines, you may notice that the range of motion your body follows as you perform the various exercises often does not feel particularly natural. Everyone is build differently, we each have our own natural body movements specific to our physiology – machines simply cannot replicate the natural movements of the human body. Forcing yourself to move according to the machine – especially if the machine has not been properly adjusted can lean to strain and injury.


The best way to avoid all of these issues is to incorporate resistance training(dumbells, kettlebells, barbells and especially body weight exercises) into your fitness routines. These allow you free range of motion and actively engage your stabilizer muscles as well as larger muscle groups that you are targeting with your exercises. It allows the body to perform full body exercises that are much more beneficial and effective, and will deliver results faster.