If you lift free weights like dumbbells or barbells, you'll get stronger at those types of exercises compared to other training methods — it really helps to train the way you're tested.

If you want to get stronger at lifting weights like dumbbells or barbells, training with those same free weights will help you gain more strength than using machines — because your body gets better at the exact movements you practice.

If you train using weight machines and then test your strength on machines, you’ll get stronger than if you trained with free weights — but only because the test matches the training. It’s like practicing basketball shots from the free-throw line and then being tested there: you’ll do better than if you practiced elsewhere.

If you lift weights with your own body and free weights, you'll get stronger at doing just that — not necessarily at using machines. And if you train mostly on machines, you'll get better at those machines. Your body learns the exact movement you practice.

If you measure strength with a tool that doesn’t favor free weights or machines, both kinds of workouts—free weights and machines—help you get just as strong. The difference between them is so small it might just be due to chance.

If you're already trained in lifting weights, whether you use free weights or machines, you'll get about the same strength gains after 8 weeks—as long as you're lifting the same amount, at the same intensity, and moving through the same range of motion.