The 13 Best Machine Exercises for Muscle & Strength (Plus Free Training Program)

When I started training almost four decades ago, the hardcore crowd, clutching their barbells and rattling their chalk bags, would tell me that machines are non-functional and won’t build real-world strength.

Fortunately, we now know those things just aren’t true. Look, free weights are fantastic. I love dumbbells. I adore barbells. But! Machines kick serious behind for a lot of reasons. They let you train to failure without a spotter, they isolate your muscles like nobody’s business, and sometimes, your joints just need a break from stabilizing 300 lb of iron.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through the absolute best machine exercises that deserve a spot in everyone’s routine. Let’s go!

Free Weights vs. Machines: Which Is Better?

One of the classic, never-ending debates in the gym is whether free weights or machines are better for building strength and muscle.

If you ask 100 people, chances are the majority would guess that free weights are better for strength.

But are they? And what about muscle growth?

According to a 2023 meta-analysis that compiled data from all available studies on the topic, the winner is… neither.¹ Or rather, both are pretty much equally effective. And that’s a good thing. It means that the best choice often just boils down to your goals and what you prefer to use.

Let’s take a closer look at what the research shows.

For Building Muscle (Hypertrophy)

If your main goal is to add muscle size, you can do pretty much whatever you like, as long as you train decently hard.

Studies find no significant differences in muscle growth between lifters using free weights and those using machines. Both approaches lead to similar muscle gains.

That said, a combination of both might be the best way to maximize your results. Why? Because different exercises can be better at growing different parts of a muscle. For example, barbell squats aren’t great for growing the rectus femoris (one of your quad muscles), but leg extensions (a machine) do a fantastic job of it.

Then again, you could do leg presses or hack squats instead of barbell squats, and get pretty much the same stimulus from an all-machine workout.

In short, for muscle size, the tool is less important than what you do with it. As long as you put in the effort, both free weights and machines will make you grow.

For Getting Stronger

If your goal is to get stronger, you can also train with free weights, machines, or a combination. Whichever you prefer.

But there is a big but here. If you want to get maximally strong in a specific exercise, you have to train that exercise.

That rule is called the principle of specificity, or the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands).

Your body gets good at what you do.

• If you mostly train with free weights, you’ll see more strength gains in free-weight tests (like a barbell squat).
• Likewise, if you go with machines, you’ll gain more strength in machine-based tests (like a leg press).

Which makes perfect sense. If you want to improve your one-rep max on your barbell bench press, you have to train the barbell bench press. If you only do machine chest presses, you’ll still get stronger in the barbell bench press, but not as much as you would have if you trained the latter instead.

That all being said, both free-weight and machine-based training work and will make you stronger overall.

What About Other Stuff?

Studies looking at how high you can jump often find no significant difference in countermovement jump height between people training with free weights vs. machines. However, the results tend to lean in favor of free weights, probably because the free-weight squat movement pattern is more similar to a jump than a leg press is.

It also doesn’t seem to matter if you’re trained or untrained. The above applies across the board.

Some might argue that machines are a better choice for total beginners because they don’t require as much stability and let you focus on lifting without worrying about any complex movements.

On the other hand, there is no evidence that going straight to dumbbells and barbells when you start strength training is detrimental in any way. You learn that stability quickly (which might be a benefit in itself).

Takeaways

Both free weights and machines are excellent for building muscle and strength. I usually advise choosing based on your goals and preferences.

• If you don’t like to squat, you don’t have to. Machines will do the job (even though some hardcore folks might claim otherwise).
• If you prefer free weights, you can reach any goal using only heavy iron.

The one exception: If you’re a powerlifter, you must train the specific free-weight lifts.

But if you just want to build muscle or general strength (or get or stay healthy and fit), you can use machines, free weights, or (perhaps even better) a combination of both. You don’t have to pick a side unless you want to.

And with that debate settled (yeah, right), let’s move on to the list of the best machine exercises. We’ll start with the lower body and work our way upward. After that, I’ll show you a great beginner machine program so you can get started right away.

By the way, all these machine exercises (and the workout routine) are in StrengthLog, our workout log app, so that you can check your form mid-workout. You can also track your training for free. Download it from the App Store or the Google Play Store and see for yourself (no ads, no obligations):

1. Leg Press

Why It’s a Winner

The leg press is your heavy squat substitute. It allows you to load up your legs with a lot of weight without your lower back tapping out or your core stability being the limiting factor. You can safely go to failure and get a ridiculous quad pump.

Because you’re stabilized by the back pad, all your energy can go directly into pushing the weight. It’s an unparalleled machine mass-builder, and it will work better than free-weight squats for some lifters. I’ve always preferred it over squats for building quads, although I recognize the squat as the superior exercise for full-body strength and athleticism.

Muscles Worked

Leg presses are phenomenal for most of your lower body. It’s a leg exercise, but the main muscles involved are the quadriceps (the big muscles on the front of your thighs).

• Primary: Quads
• Secondary: Glutes (your butt) and Adductors (your inner thighs)

You might have read or heard the leg press (and the squat, for that matter) touted as a good exercise for the hamstrings, but it’s really not. The hamstrings are mostly co-contractors/stabilizers and don’t get a great growth stimulus.

Pro Tip: While you want to get a full range of motion, you don’t want to go so deep that your lower back and glutes lift off the pad at the bottom. That’s a good way to mess up your lumbar spine.

How to Do Leg Presses

1. Adjust the machine so that you can release the weights with only a slight extension of your legs. Adjust the safety pins so that they catch the weight if you are unable to lift it.
2. Place your feet on the platform, about shoulder-width apart.
3. Inhale and lower the weight by bending your legs.
4. Lower the weight as deep as possible without rounding your back and while keeping your glutes on the seat.
5. Press the weight back up again as you exhale.

2. Seated Leg Curl

Why It’s a Winner

You can’t build a complete pair of legs without hamstrings. While deadlifts train the hip extension function of your hammies, the leg curl machine trains the knee flexion function.

The seated version is (in my opinion) superior to the lying version because it puts your hamstrings in a more stretched position from the hip, which means better muscle growth. Actually, I take that back. It’s not just my opinion; research has shown 55% more hamstring growth from seated leg curls compared to lying leg curls.²

Muscles Worked

Leg curls isolate your hamstrings and, if you perform them with good form, not much else.

• Primary: Hamstrings

Pro Tip: As you curl the weight, make sure you’re keeping your hips down. Don’t let your butt lift off the seat. The power should come only from the back of your legs. The exception is the last few reps of a set, where you might cheat a bit to eke out the last juice from your hamstrings.

How to Do Seated Leg Curls

1. Adjust the machine so that you are correctly positioned. Your knees should be in line with the machine’s joint.
2. Push the weight down by bending your knees as far as possible.
3. Slowly let the weight go back again.
4. Repeat for reps.

3. Leg Extension

Why It’s a Winner

The leg extension is the isolation exercise for your quads. There’s no other muscle that can help. It’s also better than leg presses and other squat-type exercises for growing the rectus femoris part of the quads.³

It’s perfect as a finisher at the end of your leg workout to get a massive pump or at the beginning to “pre-exhaust” the quads before your heavy presses.

For really strong bodybuilders, I often program leg extensions first in the session. Doing so lets them use less total weight in compound lifts, and thus reduce injury risk.

Don’t just kick the weight up. Really squeeze your quads as hard as you can for a second at the top, then control the weight all the way back down.

Muscles Worked

Leg extensions isolate the quads, so you should only feel them in the front of your thighs.

• Primary: Quads

Pro Tip: Use a reclining seat rather than an upright one if the leg extension machine in your gym allows it. Doing so increases quad activation.⁴

How to Do Leg Extensions

1. Adjust the machine so that you are correctly positioned. Your knees should be in line with the machine’s joint.
2. Extend your knees with control until they are completely straight.
3. Slowly lower the weight again.
4. Repeat for reps.

4. Leg Press Calf Raise

Why It’s a Winner

The leg press calf raise is an isolation exercise for your lower legs. You’re using the leg press machine, but instead of pushing with your quads and glutes, you’re just using your calves.

You can load up more weight than in most other calf exercises, and it’s unprecedented for getting a really good stretch in the calves. You can drop your heels way down, getting a loaded stretch at the bottom of every rep.

Your legs should be almost straight, but not locked out. You want to keep a soft bend in your knees to protect them. I’ve seen knees bend the wrong way, and that’s one experience you can do without.

And speaking of protection, make sure you enable the safety bars if you use a 45-degree leg press. If you should slip (it can happen), they will save you from a potentially nasty accident. These two precautions take no time and can save you a lot of knee aches.

Muscles Worked

This exercise trains your two calf muscles: the gastrocnemius (the big diamond-shaped one) and the soleus (the flatter, wider muscle underneath).

• Primary: Calves

Pro Tip: Once you can’t do any more full reps, continue doing partials in the bottom half (still getting a full, controlled stretch, with no bouncing) to trigger calf growth as proven in studies.⁵

How to Do Leg Press Calf Raises

1. Position yourself in the leg press machine, placing the balls of your feet on the lower edge of the platform, with your heels free.
2. Extend your legs without overextending your knees and maintain slight tension throughout the movement.
3. Allow your toes to drop downward in a controlled motion for a light stretch in the calves, while keeping your heels as the highest point.
4. Press through your toes and push them away from your body for a full contraction of the calf muscles.
5. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat for reps.

5. Lat Pulldown

Why It’s a Winner

The lat pulldown is the machine equivalent of a pull-up. It’s fantastic for building back width and allows you to control the weight, rep speed, and grip perfectly. Can’t do 10 pull-ups? You can do 10 lat pulldowns. Everyone can use it, whether you’re lifting 20 lb or 200 lb.

You can easily change grips (wide, neutral, narrow) to hit your back from different angles. That being said, recent research suggests that it doesn’t really matter all that much which handle or angle you use for lat activation, which makes it easier for you to choose: simply pick the one you like and that feels the most comfortable.⁶

Muscles Worked

True to its name, lat pulldowns primarily hit the lats, but they also work your biceps and rear delts. One study found that they are as good as barbell curls for building bigger biceps!⁷ In untrained participants, but still.

• Primary: Lats
• Secondary: Biceps, rear delts

Pro Tip: Drive your elbows down toward your ribs rather than pulling the bar with your hands. Think of them as hooks. You’ll shift more work away from your biceps and into your lats.

How to Do Lat Pulldowns

1. Begin by adjusting the thigh pad to fit snugly against your thighs, preventing your body from lifting off the seat.
2. Grasp the bar with an overhand (pronated) grip, with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
3. Sit with your thighs under the thigh pad, keep your chest up, and look at the bar.
4. Pull the bar down toward your chest, leading with your elbows. Pull the bar until it is below your chin or touches your upper chest.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the bottom of the movement.
6. Exhale and slowly release the bar back up to the starting position.
7. Repeat for reps.

6. Seated Row (Cable or Machine)

Why It’s a Winner

The seated cable row and the machine row are two similar but distinct exercises for the upper back. If pulldowns are for width, rows are for thickness. Combine the two for a powerful and dense 3D-looking back.

The chest-supported machine versions are my favorite because they take all momentum and lower-back stress out of the equation, and force your lats and rhomboids to do almost all the work.

Note that there is nothing wrong with your lower back being involved in rows. On the contrary, if that’s what you’re going for. I just happen to prefer to focus on my upper back alone when I do them.

Muscles Worked

Seated rows train your upper back (traps, rhomboids), lats, rear delts, and biceps. If you do them on a cable machine, your lower back gets involved, too.

• Primary: Lats, traps, rhomboids, rear delts
• Secondary: Biceps

Pro Tip: Let the weight pull you forward to get a good stretch in your lats, then drive your elbows back and squeeze your shoulder blades together.

7. Machine Chest Press

Why It’s a Winner

Many people see the machine chest press as the “beginner” version of the bench press. And they might have a point. But that’s selling it short. It’s a great pec exercise for everyone, from a newbie to a seasoned bodybuilder.

If anything, advanced bodybuilders often prefer the stability they get from machine presses over a free barbell.

The same goes for many older lifters who have been at it for decades. I (older but far from an advanced bodybuilder) do most of my pressing for my chest these days in a machine. I just feel it more in my pecs and less in my shoulder joints.

A good plate-loaded (like a Hammer Strength) or selectorized press locks you into a safe path, letting you chase a pump without needing a spotter. When you hit failure, you just move the pin up to a lighter weight and keep going.

Muscles Worked

Like a regular bench press, the machine chest press trains your chest (pecs), front delts, and triceps.

• Primary: Chest
• Secondary: Front delts, triceps

Pro Tip: Adjust the seat so that the machine handles are at your mid-chest level (nipple line). Keep your shoulder blades pinched together and pressed into the pad throughout the set. You’ll maximize the amount of work your chest muscles do, not your shoulders or triceps.

How to Do Machine Chest Presses

1. Adjust the machine to the appropriate settings, sit down, and grip the handles.
2. Press the handles forward until your arms are straight.
3. Bring the handles back to the starting position with control.
4. Repeat for reps.

8. Chest Fly (Cable or Machine)

Why It’s a Winner

The chest fly, whether you do it on a cable crossover or a dedicated machine, is one instance where I feel machine exercises are objectively better than their free-weight equivalent (i.e., dumbbell fly). As long as you have the equipment, of course.

Why? Because of one simple, annoying thing: gravity. With dumbbell flyes, you lose all tension at the top. It’s your bones holding the weight, not your pecs. You could hold that top position all day (not literally, but until your shoulders get tired).

The machine fly, on the other hand, provides tension through the entire range of motion, including the peak contraction (the “squeeze”) where dumbbells fall short.

That doesn’t mean dumbbell flyes are trash. But yeah, I’d pick a machine every time I wanted to do flyes. Which, in fact, I do.

Muscles Worked

Flyes remove the triceps from the equation compared to presses, which leaves your chest and front delts to handle the work.

• Primary: Chest
• Secondary: Front delts

Pro Tip: Keep your arms almost straight (just a slight, fixed bend in your elbows) and focus on bringing your biceps across your chest (goes for both cables and a machine).

9. Machine Shoulder Press

Why It’s a Winner

The machine shoulder press is a compound exercise for (no surprise) the shoulders and the machine equivalent of the dumbbell or barbell overhead press.

So why bother with this machine when you could be slinging heavy dumbbells or a barbell?

The extra stability is the #1 benefit. The fixed path means you don’t have to think about balancing the weight and can focus all your energy on your delts.

However, and more so than with machine chest presses, I’ve felt that if a particular shoulder press machine doesn’t fit my arm-to-torso length ratio, the entire movement can feel unnatural or janky. But if it does suit my body, few compound exercises let me feel the delts working like this one. Your mileage might vary, of course.

Muscles Worked

Shoulder presses work the front and side parts of your delts and your triceps.

• Primary: Front delts
• Secondary: Side delts, triceps

Pro Tip: Adjust the seat so the handles are in line with the middle of your delts (not below your chest or above your ears). You want to get a full range of motion, but not overly so to the point that it stresses the joints.

How to Do Machine Shoulder Presses

1. Adjust the machine to the appropriate settings, sit down, and grip the handles.
2. Press the handles upward until your arms are straight.
3. Lower the handles with control.
4. Repeat for reps.

10. Lateral Raise (Cable or Machine)

Why It’s a Winner

The lateral raise is arguably the best exercise for isolating your side delts, the part of your shoulders that gives you the boulder shoulder look.

Dumbbell laterals are good, but then you see people hooking up to cables or strapping into a medieval-looking machine. What’s the deal?

Dumbbell laterals are timeless classics that definitely work. They’re just a little inefficient with how they apply the load. The tension is almost zero at the bottom, unless you do a lean-away version.

But a cable (or machine) pulls at you from the side, and you get tension from the first inch of the movement, when the muscle is in a lengthened, or stretched, position. Some research suggests that training in that lengthened position could be a big driver of muscle growth.⁸

Muscles Worked

Provided you don’t use too heavy a weight that forces you to recruit other muscles, this one is all side delts.

• Primary: Side delts

Pro Tip: You don’t need to raise your hand higher than your elbow at the top of the rep. That’s when your traps start to take over. And a bonus tip: don’t go too heavy for your side delts to handle the weight alone.

11. Machine Biceps Curl

Why It’s a Winner

Doing curls on a machine means true biceps isolation. It locks your upper arm in place and makes it almost impossible to use your shoulders or swing your back to get the weight up. It’s just you and your biceps, and that is just what you want for building muscle.

The downside of a machine biceps curl is that if you’re very tall or short, the machine’s pivot point might not line up with your elbow, which can make the entire exercise feel janky. Some machines take your arm and torso length into consideration, but far from all.

Muscles Worked

Only one muscle, but it’s the most important one of them all: the biceps!

• Primary: Biceps

Pro Tip: When you get tired toward the end of a set, your elbows and upper arms will probably try to lift off the pad and bring your front delts into the lift to take the focus off your biceps. You don’t want that. Quell this rebellion by gluing your arms to the pad (not literally, but you know what I mean).

How to Do Machine Biceps Curls

1. Adjust the machine so that you are correctly positioned. Your upper arms should rest on the padding, and your elbows should be in line with the machine’s joint. 
2. Grab the handles with an underhand grip around shoulder-width apart.
3. Curl the weight up as far as possible. Make sure to do the entire movement at a controlled speed.
4. Reverse the movement, and stop just before the weights hit the stacks.
5. Repeat for reps.

12. Overhead Triceps Extension (Cable or Machine)

Why It’s a Winner

The overhead triceps extension, either with a cable pulley or on a machine, is the best way to build the meaty long head, the part of the triceps that really adds size (it makes up around 50% of your triceps volume). You can do it with a dumbbell (or dumbbells) too, but we’re talking machines here.

Research shows that overhead extensions can make your triceps grow up to 40% more than triceps extensions with the upper arm in a neutral position (i.e., pushdowns).⁹ Unlike the other two heads, the long head crosses your shoulder joint, and to stretch it fully under load, you must raise your arm over your head when training it.

Not every gym has a dedicated machine for overhead extensions, but if yours does, I suggest you at least give it a go. If it fits your body, that is. I’ve tried ones that feel just right, and ones that feel super wonky, no matter how I fiddle with the settings. Either way, if they feel good, both are S-tier triceps exercises. You can’t go wrong.

Muscles Worked

Overhead extensions work the entire triceps, and not much more.

• Primary: Triceps

Pro Tip: Lower the weight until you feel a full stretch in your triceps (just short of your forearms touching your biceps, if you have the mobility). The eccentric phase and the loaded stretch are where a lot of the muscle growth happens.

13. Crunch (Cable or Machine)

Why It’s a Winner

The cable crunch is the exercise you see people doing on their knees in front of a cable stack, looking like they’re praying to the gains gods. And it works; it’s great for building your six-pack abs.

Your abs are a muscle, just like any other, and if you want them to pop or get stronger, you have to train them against resistance. Floor crunches stop being challenging pretty quickly, and loading them with a weight plate can be awkward. But with the cable crunch, you can increase the pin-loaded weight more than you will probably ever need, with comfort and stability.

You can also do machine crunches if your gym has such a machine. This contraption takes care of the stability so you can focus on one thing: squeezing your abs as hard as possible.

Muscles Worked

Crunches train your abdominal muscles, primarily the big rectus abdominis, while the obliques at the sides help out. You also activate your hip flexors and a number of stabilizing muscles, but not to the point that you “train” them.

• Primary: Abs
• Secondary: Obliques

Pro Tip: Make sure you actually curl your spine and crunch your abs. I see people keeping their back straight and just bending at the hips, but what this does is it almost completely bypasses your abs and turns it into a hip flexor exercise.

Free Beginner Machine Program

Armed with that arsenal of machine exercises, let’s put theory into practice with this great machine training program for beginners.

It is entirely machine-based and consists of two workouts, which you will alternate between, doing each once per week. You can pick whichever days fit your life and schedule, but try to spread them out somewhat so you get a few days of rest between them.

Workout A

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Leg Press	3	10
Leg Extension	2	10
Chest Press	3	10
Seated Machine Row	3	10
Machine Crunch	3	10

Workout B

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Leg Press	3	10
Seated Leg Curl	2	10
Shoulder Press	3	10
Lat Pulldown	3	10
Back Extension	3	10

When you can complete all sets of 10 reps in a given exercise with good form, you increase the weight a little next workout.

You should be able to get through each workout in 45 minutes or less.

Follow This Workout in StrengthLog

What’s the best way to track the beginner machine program?

In StrengthLog, our workout log app. It’s one of our many free programs.

That way, it’s super easy to keep track of your weights and reps and make sure you’re on the right track.

StrengthLog remembers what weights you used in your last session, and automatically loads them into your next session. And trying to improve on your last workout is the key to improving and getting stronger over time.

Download it and start tracking your gains today.

Final Rep

I hope you enjoyed reading about all these machine exercises as much as I did writing about them.

As I get older, I tend to lean more and more toward machines rather than free weights. I get a better pump, and they feel nicer on my joints.

Don’t get me wrong. The clanking of rusty iron will always be near and dear to my heart.

But the best thing is I don’t have to choose. And neither do you.

Besides, the free weights vs. machines debate is kinda old. Smart lifters know the answer isn’t “either/or.” It’s both.

Want more?

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Last reviewed: 2025-11-04

References

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2. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2020 Oct 1. Online ahead of print. Greater Hamstrings Muscle Hypertrophy but Similar Damage Protection after Training at Long versus Short Muscle Lengths.
3. Burke, R., Piñero, A., Mohan, A.E. et al. Exercise Selection Differentially Influences Lower Body Regional Muscle Development. J. of Science In Sport and Exercise (2024).
4. J Sports Sci. 2025 Jan;43(2):210-221. The effects of hip flexion angle on quadriceps femoris muscle hypertrophy in the leg extension exercise.
5. J Strength Cond Res. 2023 Sep 1;37(9):1746-1753. Greater Gastrocnemius Muscle Hypertrophy After Partial Range of Motion Training Performed at Long Muscle Lengths.
6. J. Funct. Morphol. Kinesiol. 2025. Electromyographic Analysis of Back Muscle Activation During Lat Pulldown Exercise: Effects of Grip Variations and Forearm Orientation.
7. Asian J Sports Med. 2015 Jun; 6(2): e24057. Single vs. Multi-Joint Resistance Exercises: Effects on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy.
8. Sports Medicine and Health Science, 6 March 2025. Does longer-muscle length resistance training cause greater longitudinal growth in humans? A systematic review.
9. Eur J Sport Sci. 2022 Aug 11;1-11. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position.