Q: hello mike i was wanting to know how if my free weights are better than my total gym i use them both but which is better?

A: In general free weights are better than machines because they work all the little stabilizer muscles that don't have to do much with machine work. They also allow for different paths of motion working muscles from different angles and for working through different sticking point in the exercise. Finally they allow for compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, and lunges. If you have the Total Gym advertised on TV by Chuck Norris, then it's also limited as to the exercises you can do, especially for the lower body (which is true for almost all machines actually). So you definitely want to use your free weights. The important thing though is that you have and use heavy enough free weights that they cause muscular failure in between 6 and 12 reps on most sets because that's the optimal fat-burning (and muscle-building) rep range. So you may want to get heavier free weights acoordingly. You can structure your workouts primarily around heavy free weights and then finish off your muscles with the Total Gym.