Posted 25 December 2005 - 07:12 PM
It mostly depends on your goals and circumstances, athanatos. If you're not training for any kind of sport, including competitive bodybuilding, you can go a long way, and save some money and time, with just a Bowflex machine and some knowledge about nutrition and exercise physiology. The only thing you're really missing from free-weight training, if you're just interested in noncompetitive physical fitness, is that it promotes bone mineralization more so than machines.
If you're mostly concerned about aesthetics, on the other hand, it really depends on what you perceive as aesthetic. You can still go a sufficiently long way with the basics, as mentioned. But generally, for aesthetic purposes, you can achieve more at a health club, because free-weight training targets larger regions per exercise and aerobic machines or classes can help you maintain consistency, if you require psychological boosts, with your aerobic training, which you need to stay lean (to show muscles) if you're generally inactive.
Personally, I like to optimize and no longer utilize health clubs or machines but use dumbbells and tools such as a heart rate monitor. But if you're into any kind of competitive, physical sport or want to make your body a canvas, you'll likely benefit the most with a health club.