Let us now sidestep over to weight room where dumbbells are kept, and once again get in start position for a standing bicep curl with dumbbells. Notice term "standing". You know, like you DIDN'T do all day at work, and hopefully also did not do in your car on way to gym. So before we even start exercise, we are using more muscles than we did on machine - namely leg muscles.

Now let's pick up a 10 lb dumbbell in each hand. We've just added 20 lbs to our body weight. What is keeping us from losing our center of balance and falling clean over? The abdominal muscles and muscles of lower back and spine. Now we are using our legs, our abs, and our back. Flex those elbows and start to raise dumbbells. Now our center of gravity has become a fluid state, and our legs, back, and abs all have to constantly compensate to maintain posture. Oh, and biceps are also in on action by this point, as are forearms, fingers, and shoulder girdle.

We now have dumbbells all way up and it's time to start lowering them again, via an eccentric contraction of biceps (also know as extending elbow). What muscle group controls extension of elbow? The triceps on back of arm.

Did you lose track yet? It's okay if you did because you have illustrated point:

Machine Bicep Curl: Uses biceps, forearms, and fingers Cost: Thousands of dollars

Standing Dumbbell Bicep Curl: Uses biceps, forearms, fingers, legs, abs, back, triceps, and shoulders. Cost: $40 for a good set of dumbbells that can be used for dozens of other exercises

In a nutshell, free weight exercises simply USE MORE MUSCLES than machines do, which make them more effective. Does that mean that machines are a complete waste? Absolutely not! In some circumstances it is BETTER to stabilize muscles being used in any given movement. However, those circumstances are exception, rather than rule.

So what do you do? Change up your routine, and incorporate free weights as well as machine exercises. However, keep machine work to a minimum - say 20% of your total time spent working with weights. Spend other 80% developing your stabilizer muscles, your sense of balance and coordination, and if nothing else - just standing up!

After all, you can go home and sit down on couch to enjoy your post-workout snack. The bicep machine already brought kids home from soccer practice, remember?

Oh sure, you may have joined a gym, or bought a new Litmus 3000 Super-Decker top of line treadmill/clothes hanger, but did you really believe that you were going to do it this time? If you are reading this and you are in perfect physical condition, then congratulations - you did it! For rest of you, are you seeing point? You didn't truly believe it, because otherwise it would have happened.

Each of us shelters hidden either very deeply or sometimes NOT so deeply a seed of doubt that we will really succeed. When that seed is there - whether it is planted deeply or not - your subconscious waters it and feeds it. The next thing you know, it is has grown into an entire field of self-limiting beliefs, and you have neither time nor desire to get out there in field and destroy that evil crop!

What are you to do, then? BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Why? The answer to that is simple - because you are only one who truly can. Others may support you, and they may even show you path, but it is YOU who has to walk it.

Taking Action

We have covered need for you to clearly see your goal, and for you to use power of belief to start walking down path, but what's next?

The next step is same for you as it is for an aspiring business owner, or a college freshman, or an artist staring at a blank canvas - you have to TAKE ACTION. You can read top 2 sections of this article all day long, but doing so won't burn off any bodyfat, or pack any muscle tissue onto your body. Only appropriately carried out action can do that.

Think of all self-help books that you have read, or programs that you have watched on TV, or listened to on radio. Did any of them do you any good whatsoever if you didn't take action on what you had learned? What about what you have read so far in this article? Has it been helpful? Most likely. Will it do you any good if you don't Take Action? Nope. Negative. No way. Nada. You get picture.

You can read, listen, and watch your way right into a bodyfat level that would make a sumo wrestler jealous, or consider your options until your muscles have diminished so much that you can't even lift a toast to your dearly departed dreams, but none of that will mean squat if you don't GET UP and make it happen!

Why are you still sitting here? Get out there and Take Action!