> The first thing that surprised me was him saying it is a myth that machine exercises are less effective than barbell ones. That's surprising to me.

Depends on the definition of "effective". Since the eBook is titled "How to Build Muscle", then yeah, machines are just as effective as free weights.

But in terms of building "strength" (picking up random heavy objects), machines will make life a lot more difficult than it has to be.

> The first thing that surprised me was him saying it is a myth that machine exercises are less effective than barbell ones.

I found the guide useful, particularly the commentary about sleep and nutrition, but disagree with the author on that quote and relatedly on his exercise programming. The program is hypertrophy focused and the machine exercises are useful for targeting secondary muscles for hypertrophy work, but they're certainly not as good of an overall exercise as the compound movements one does with a barbell. Barbell exercises are more effective both for gaining strength and muscle mass.