No big CF fan here. Gladiator games for urban warriors is what I think. They created "kipups" for many men and most women that can't do a proper pullup. Can't do a pullup do machine pulldowns. far safer and effective. Don't even get me started on "burpees". What's the point???? O'lifts? really?? Those are lifts of SKILL and won't build any muscle. Last thing, lift the weight LOWER it with control. Don't just drop it. makes a big BOOM everybody looks Best muscle builders are convention workout routine executed with control barbell & machines. Nothing will beat this.
Best muscle builders are barbells and free weights, not machines. Do you use a Smith machine to do squats?
Although I personally don't use machines, I don't believe there's credible evidence to support your claim. On the plus side among those who use machines, they can go to true failure without risk of injury from weights falling on them.
I use both machines and free weights. I can always lift considerably more on the machines, but the free weights take more out of me. I also think that lifting free weights gives you a whole lot more work to the smaller stabilizer muscles which results in greater over all strength. Just an opinion.
Yes, I've heard that argument about stabilizer muscles before and had pretty much accepted it for years. But I don't know if it works those stabilizer muscles to a meaningful degree to make that much of a difference. But there is the matter of the SAID principle at play: specific adaptation to imposed demands. So you get better at lifting free weights by...lifting free weights. Some machines actually provide better and more uniform resistance than do free weights. Although I no longer do bicep curls, I had previously always done them with barbells and dumbbells. It was a matter of choice. However, with free weights, after the half-way mark and as you approach the top of the movement of a bicep curl, the resistance actually decreases. On the other hand, a good curling machine will keep the resistance uniform throughout the movement, even as your forearms approach vertical position. So it's not clear to me that one type of equipment is uniformly better than the other. People have gotten good results with both. Here's an article you might find interesting: https://www.ironmanmagazine.com/heavy-duty-machines-vs-free-weights/
I suppose you could make that argument with anything. The more you do it, the better you get, and what comes with that is fewer and harder to come by gains. That's why I like to change things up every couple months. To borrow the phrase, muscle confusion, or what I like better, hitting the same muscle from a different angle. For me it not only keeps things interesting and challenging, but, speaking only from my own personal experience, I get continued positive gains.
I use a great Hammer leg press machine, don't do squats have a bad back. Throw in couple sets leg extensions every few weeks or so. We can have a discussion barbell vs machine if you wish, but one thing is for certain..CF is BS for effective muscle building and fitness. Yes, can build some muscle but CF is designed for people bored with conventional routines, and has become more a social event urban warriors competing one another. They came up with all these ridiculous things like kipups and burpees and O'lifts and "walking with a rack on your back and medicine ball wall bounces and on and on... None of that builds muscle effectively but is fun to do with others and compete if you like that sort of thing.
A lot of people suggest and encourage variety in a routine, and I don't doubt there is value there. And although I used to do a lot more different exercises years ago, I was never that much into variety and changing things up. Perhaps I compromised my potential results, I don't know. I tinkered with my routine from time to time, but more to get it "right" than for variety. Now I figure that as long as I am doing pulling and pushing along both a vertical and horizontal plane, my upper body is getting what it needs. I think legs require less variety and angle than upper body muscles. While you like variety because it keeps you fresh and motivated, I like the familiarity of a good routine, like a good and reliable old friend. As for the "muscle confusion" thing, I'm not so sure. Muscle fibers are either activated or they are not. I don't think they engage in much philosophical debate.
There are good (well designed) machines and a lot of shitty (poor design) machines out there in the gyms. Another consideration does your body/limbs "fit" the physical design of the machine that are designed with "avg" in mind. An attuned & experienced trainee will know the difference in most cases, and know which to avoid and which to use for their particular anthropomorphics.
In the last few years, I have decided to simplify, borrowing from the ideas of Henry David Thoreau. And so, I do fewer exercises, all of which are body weight, but most of which include added weight. Also, I limit my exercises to movements that have evolutionary relevance. Therefore, apart from calf raises, all of my other exercises are compound movements. I just don't think our early ancestors had cause for, say, curl-type movements in their day-to-day lives. As for lateral raises, I have said in the past that this must have been originally conceived as suitable punishment for high crimes.