Compunds on Smith Machine ...

[AndsX]

Is it ok to compunds like Shoulder Press, Brench Press on smith machine?

There are occassion where i can't find a spotter when i want to push more weight? I was wondering if i can do this on Smith.

I know most people will say no ... but go to find out which is better

1. More weight on Smith Machine?
2. Less weigh on normal press?
My Goal: Get Bulk.

 

[ZGzaZ]

You're only pushing more weight in a sense.... the weight you put on a smith machine is not equal to the weight you put on a barbell out of the smith machine.

So, I would definately go with #2.

 

[alex2678]

The smith machine is an awful piece of equiptment in my opinion. You're better off doing a free weight exercise and using less weight. If you want to go heavy and don't have a spotter use the power rack. A much better way to gain functional strength.

 

[Cynical Simian]

Option 2.

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

Stay away from the evil smith machine!

 

[thesuaveone]

Depends on the type of routine you are running. Smythe machines are used quite frequent in the Doggcrapp program due to the safety factor if you aren't using a spot.

 

[blueta2]

I used to do shoulder press on the smith until I saw the light. You're better off doing shoulder press without the smith

 

[SpyWizard]

when you say "bulk"

do you mean muscle??/ i assume you do, thus you should be doing a routine that will add hypertrophy muscle size..

EXERCISE-INDUCED GROWTH IN HUMANS

The main problem with human studies to determine if muscle fiber hyperplasia contributes to muscle hypertrophy is the inability to make direct counts of human muscle fibers. Just the mere chore of counting hundreds of thousands of muscle fibers is enough to make one forget hopes of graduating! For instance, one study determined that the tibialis anterior muscle (on the front of the leg) contains approximately 160,000 fibers! Imagine counting 160,000 fibers (37), for just one muscle! The biceps brachii muscle likely contains 3 or 4 times that number!

So how do human studies come up with evidence for hyperplasia? Well, it's arrived at in an indirect fashion. For instance, one study showed that elite bodybuilders and powerlifters had arm circumferences 27% greater than normal sedentary controls yet the size (i.e., cross-sectional area) of athlete's muscle fibers (in the triceps brachii muscle) were not different than the control group (47). Nygaard and Neilsen (35) did a cross-sectional study in which they found that swimmers had smaller Type I and IIa fibers in the deltoid muscle when compared to controls despite the fact that the overall size of the deltoid muscle was greater. Larsson and Tesch (29) found that bodybuilders possessed thigh circumference measurements 19% greater than controls yet the average size of their muscle fibers were not different from the controls. Furthermore, Alway et al. (3) compared the biceps brachii muscle in elite male and female bodybuilders. These investigators showed that the cross-sectional area of the biceps muscle was correlated to both fiber area and number. Other studies, on the other hand, have demonstrated that bodybuilders have larger fibers instead of a greater number of fibers when compared to a control population (23,30,36). Some scientists have suggested that the reason many bodybuilders or other athletes have muscle fibers which are the same size (or smaller) versus untrained controls is due to a greater genetic endowment of muscle fibers. That is, they were born with more fibers. If that was true, then the intense training over years and decades performed by elite bodybuilders has produced at best average size fibers. That means, some bodybuilders were born with a bunch of below average size fibers and training enlarged them to average size. I don't know about you, but I'd find that explanation rather tenuous. It would seem more plausible (and scientifically defensible) that the larger muscle mass seen in bodybuilders is due primarily to muscle fiber hypertrophy but also to fiber hyperplasia. So the question that needs to be asked is not whether muscle fiber hyperplasia occurs, but rather under what conditions does it occur. I believe the the scientific evidence shows clearly in animals, and indirectly in humans, that fiber number can increase. Does it occur in every situation where a muscle is enlarging? No. But can it contribute to muscle mass increases? Yes.

 

[SpyWizard]

by the way..

when power training.. i love smith machines

and static training with them is the only way to train safely..

 

[Guinness5.0]

The smith is basically junk. The things that people perceive as it's advantages are actually its weaknesses. Stabilizing the weight and forcing the plane of motion one moves it through are RISKS, not benefits.

Anyone who's reasonably healthy should be capable of lifting free weights safely if they just learn a bit about the technique, I think the whole safety argument either comes from ignorance or is a complete cop-out and rationalization to avoid the harder free weight counterparts.

I could go on and on, so I will. Some people say squatting in the smith is safer, but nothing could be further from the truth. For one, the body is going to need to move fore and aft during the movement to keep the bar where it needs to be relative to the specific part of the ROM the lifter is at. On the smith your posture must conform to the smith's track. Tpically this causes one to put their feet out. This places nearly all the transitional force of the squat on the knees rather than the hips, which bear the brunt of the squat when done properly and are better equipped to handle the load.

Also, being able to bail ot of a lift by twisting the bar and hooking it is much tougher than it looks (I know this from past experience ). You're better off just using a power rack and setting the pins appropriately. I've bombed on heavy squat singles all by myself and suffered no ill affects beyond the blow to my ego.

Finally, if you get strong on the smith you create some nasty strength imbalances. When the weight is stabilized for you, the body does not have to cope with balancing it. Balancing the weight throught its ROM is an essential element to any exercise. The guy who smith squats is practically asking for injury in any situation in real life where strength is required. Those big beefy quads are gonna be pretty useless when his low back is weak as a third-grader's from being spared of supporting the forces of an unstablilized load over his back. As the saying goes, you're only as strong as your weakest link. I realize that many are strictly in the gym for vanity and care nothing about strength, but it's hard to get big when yu're injured.

Forgot the smith and go with option 2.

 

[Protobuilder]

Option 2.

Smiths are OK if you really know what you're doing. Tweakle uses it and a lot of DC guys do, as mentioned above. But I would NOT recommend it AT ALL for someone w/ less than 2-3 years REAL training experience, and only then if used as a supplement. But overall, IMHO, they're crap.

 

[perp69]

You can't use a cage or rack? Smith would be dead last on the list to use. I do mine in a squat rack. I can walk up and take the bar from the rack and do the presses. When I miss I just walk it back up and rerack it. No spotter ever needed. Actually I rarely ever use a spotter since they usually just fuck me up. The cage and squat rack is about all I use for most my lifts.

Perp

 

[BiggT]

To answer your question, No.

 

[get456]

My opinion on the smith is two fold:

1- the smith in my gym now blows pee pee, its the typical newer smith machine that the bar only ways about 10lbs and it literally lifts the weight for you. which of course sucks

2- in my old gym, the guy had an OOOLLDD smith machine that the bar weighed like 65lbs. that thing was bad ass (for a smith machine)... when it comes to pressing exercises it was great for lifting without a spotter. The plane of motion in a pressing move is way more nuetral than say a squat would be... of course nothing beats free weights overall, but for pressing this old smith machine was pretty pimp.

biggest draw back to a smith in my opinion, for pressing movements, is that you have the ability to push the bar against the rail its riding on which assists the lift. Try pushing that way on a free bar and, well, bad things will happen

 

[Neo22]

The smith is fine in moderation. What alot of people dont realize is that 2 45's on each side on a flat bb isn't 2 45's on each side on the smith bc the smith bar weighs less than 10lbs. I personally don't use the smith bc I don't like how it makes me conform to certain movements.

 

[silver_shadow]

I used to do shoulder press on the smith until I saw the light. You're better off doing shoulder press without the smith

lol trust me blueta2 isn't easy to convince... so if she's switched over then that means the smith is crap.

one thing i just wanted to point out here. i keep hearing folks say that the smith replaces the spotter. so what happens if you're doing flat bench on the smith and you accidently miss getting the hook to catch... you know what happens - the same thing as getting pinned under a free weight. what's the difference!? please don't make the mistake of comparing the smith to a power rack!

 

[al420]

I can say it is terrible for squats as it does not mimic the proper motion, and can 'force' you into a bad spot.

Also - no ones 'gets big' using a smith machine. They may get bigger, but no real size is coming from that poor choice for a mens athletic room.

 

[Nathan]

IT's alright for a change but I have found the free weight exercises beign about the most progress by far.

 

[BiggT]

Things I have found the Smith useful for:

1) Using the frame to grab onto and stretch out on and/or admire my lat development built with deadlifts, rows, and chins.

2) Dump my gym bag and water on.

3) It keeps the quarter squatters out of the racks, so I never have to wait for one.

4) I always thought if you tied a harness around it and dragged it around the parking lot, it would be good GPP/low impact cardio.

 

[Cynical Simian]

4) I always thought if you tied a harness around it and dragged it around the parking lot, it would be good GPP/low impact cardio.

That's a new one.