Lifting free weights is the surest way to get stronger, burn calories and get better at pretty much everything you do, inside and outside of the gym. If your gym routine revolves mainly on resistance machines, it’s time to trade in the butterfly machine for the free weights.

The Value of Free Weights in Any Fitness Routine

Free Weights are Versatile

With free weights, barbells and dumbells that is, you have access to hundreds of exercises that work every muscle group in your body. From squats to dead lifts, overhead presses and bicep curls, free weights are your best bet when it comes to making progress.

Dumbbells allow you to work each arm independently. If one side of your body is stronger than the other (pretty common), dumbbells can help you to first identify that imbalance, and then fix it. Barbells are considered the classic body building equipment because dumbbells don’t allow you to lift quite the same amount of weight as barbells do. It’s a good idea to mix in both.

Free Weights are Functional

The moments when you will use the exact motion of a lying leg curl machine in real life are few and far between. Free weights give you freedom to move through all three planes of motion, so that the muscles you build and movements you practice will be useful in daily life. We call this functional movement.

Free weights don’t lock you in to a set position. In fact, free weights force you to move weight and create tension in all ranges of motion, much like the way life forces you to move in a variety of ways. Think about carrying groceries in from the car…bicep curls can help you get stronger so you only have to make one trip. Think about picking a box or a baby up off the ground…squats help you get down to the floor more easily, and return to standing with added weight but without hurting yourself.

You Will Burn More Calories

Movements that you perform with free weights, like a barbell squat, require you to use multiple muscle groups at once. You engage your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and core to perform just one rep. It takes more energy to use multiple muscle groups than it does to use just the one or two muscle groups you need to do the leg extension machine.

Cardio has long been the Ace card of calorie burning. While it’s true that active minute for active minute, the treadmill tallies calories faster than a barbell squat, free weights increase lean body mass. , which is more metabolically active than fat. On average, moderately lifting weights burns 200-250 calories. Running for an hour can burn 600+ calories in one hours. However, lifting weights builds muscle which is more metabolically active than fat, and burns calories even while you are at rest.

Related: Lose fat and gain muscle lifting weights.

You Will Improve Your Balance

Muscle groups working together is a critical aspect of balance. Whether using two dumbbells on either side of your body or a barbell providing weight for any given movement, force you to use your core to stay balanced. They also force you to be proprioceptively aware (aware of the position and movement of your body), which improves coordination.

You Can Use Free Weights Anywhere

In comparison to a leg press machine, free weights are much more maneuverable. You can easily fit a few sets of dumbbells in your closet, whereas that cable machine? Not so much. Whether you are setting up an at-home gym, on the road or working out outside, dumbbells and barbells are much easier to transport and set up than gym equipment.

At-Home Total Body Dumbbell Workout

Tired of learning about WHY you should be using dumbbells and barbells and ready to actually use them? Grab yourself a pair of dumbbells and do the following circuit 2-3 times for a killer, total body workout.

15 Goblet Squats
15 Single Leg Dead Lifts
10 Push Ups to Renegade Rows
12 Bicep Curls to Shoulder Press
12 Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks
15 Crunches to Dumbbell Overhead Reach

Need more? Here are a couple more workouts utilizing free weights (and body weight and cables) from the Julia Hale Fitness Archives.

45-minute Total Body Workout

Quick Back and Biceps Workout