The advice I’ve seen elsewhere is that machines are all very well for specialised physiotherapy needs, but outside of that, always to use free weights or bodyweight exercises. The machines fix all the degrees of freedom but one, so you don’t engage all the muscles needed to control the movement, so those muscles and the control they give you get no training. To avoid injury, don’t use weights heavier than you can control. Don’t expect to go from bench-pressing 60 kg on the machine to a 60 kg barbell, or from that to a pair of 30 kg dumbbells. Thus have I heard, but I am not an expert.
For injury prevention (and can help with exercise efficiency as well): use machines, not free weights.
The advice I’ve seen elsewhere is that machines are all very well for specialised physiotherapy needs, but outside of that, always to use free weights or bodyweight exercises. The machines fix all the degrees of freedom but one, so you don’t engage all the muscles needed to control the movement, so those muscles and the control they give you get no training. To avoid injury, don’t use weights heavier than you can control. Don’t expect to go from bench-pressing 60 kg on the machine to a 60 kg barbell, or from that to a pair of 30 kg dumbbells. Thus have I heard, but I am not an expert.
I used to be pretty anti machine. I still think 100% machines is a bad plan, but they’re useful training wheels.