Myth #7: Weight lifting using machines is safer than free weights.

It may seem like a machine automatically puts your body in the right position and helps you perform the movements correctly, but that's only if the machine is adjusted for your weight and height. If you do not have a coach or a trainer figure out the right setting for you, you can make just as many mistakes in form and technique which leads to just as  high a risk of injury, as if you work out with free weights or do other nonmachine exercises.

Myth #8: Weight training machines are better for gaining strength than free weights.

There are pros and cons to weight training machines. For beginners, machines are great (as long as you are properly adjusted) because they are supportive, generally easy to use, and less intimidating than dumbbells, kettleballs, and stability balls. However, they are also very limiting because they often isolate a single muscle which means you have to use many machines to get a total body workout. They also do not allow you to work on your weaknesses because you are using both arms or both legs so if one side is stronger than the other it will be doing more work. They also do not allow for natural body movement. Machines have a fixed path so the body does not get to go through the different planes of motion.