Smith benchpresses = crap?

[Santa_Claus]

I've always done smith benchpresses and yet my chest is alright. A couple of months ago I started doing dips. My chest has gotten bigger after I started dips. I tried to do a real benchpress but I sucked at it and couldn't balance the barbell correctly because my "stabilizers" were not developped enough.

As a result, I decided to work on my stabilizer muscles by adding a few sets of dumbell presses each week. Now I believe that those muscles are well developped enough to allow me to do a decent benchpress.

Right now my routine is...

Day 1: Smith machine press
rest
Day 2: No chest
rest
Day 3: Dips and barbell press


My question is... if I switch the smith machine press with a real benchpress. Will that increase the mass of my chest? (Please keep in mind that since I train alone, I wont be able to go to failure anymore because the bench has no safety shit.) Even if I cannot go to failure, will the benefits of the bench outweigh those of the smith?


Thank you.

PS: I absolutely LOVE dips because I have freakishly long arms and dips allow me to hit the chest hard without getting my arms tired before my chest.

 

[big4life]

I wouldn't say that it is crap, but as you are finding out, you don't get the same benefit that you get from bb or db presses.

What else are you doing for chest?

I would do something like this.

Incline bb or db presses
flat bb or db presses
dips
incline flyes

 

[Santa_Claus]

I wouldn't say that it is crap, but as you are finding out, you don't get the same benefit that you get from bb or db presses.

What else are you doing for chest?

I would do something like this.

Incline bb or db presses
flat bb or db presses
dips
incline flyes

My chest routine is...

Day1: Benchpress
Day2: break time for chest
Day3: Dips and dumbell presses

You think I should add flyes on day 1?

About incline bb, can the chest really be isolated by exercises? or should I just stick with what I got already?

Thanks.

 

[big4life]

My chest routine is...

Day1: Benchpress
Day2: break time for chest
Day3: Dips and dumbell presses

You think I should add flyes on day 1?

About incline bb, can the chest really be isolated by exercises? or should I just stick with what I got already?

Thanks.

I don't know how much the chest can or can't be isolated, but it can be debated forever. I do incline bb presses, about a 30 degree incline, because they are what really work my chest the best. I then follow it up with flat db presses and decline bb presses. I don't do flyes due to two previous shoulder operations, but I do think that they help round out your chest routine if you can do them.

In the end it's all about what works for you. I can do a rotine that works for me, but it might not do anything for you, or vice versa. That's why I tell people to experiment with different routines / programs, and find what works best for them, and don't be afraid to take something from one routine and mix it with something from another routine. It's all about what works for you.

 

[Illuminati]

smith machine bench=waste of f@#king time. get your A$$ on a real bench. if you want to go to failure, set your self up in the power rack, and set the safety bars up. there are no excuses why you can't go to failure

 

[H_T_]

you're missing out.

 

[blut wump]

smith machine bench=waste of f@#king time. snip...

Not true. Benching on the Smith feels very unnatural for someone unused to it since it does force the body into a rigid line of motion. It also does very little for the stabilizing muscles which any free-weight bencher needs. I won't begin to suggest that it's as good as a free-weight bench but you can work up your strength on a Smith machine just as with anything else and you have to pay extra attention to body positioning since you can't adjust the bar after unracking it.

When you move from a Smith to a real bench the bar will be all over the place and it'll take three or four weeks to get it under control. After that time you might find you've lost 10 or 15 pounds from what you could do on the Smith but you're up and running with most of the strength you'd already grown on the Smith.

Not everyone has access to decent kit and the Smith is better than a seated press machine and at least lets you use real poundages until such time as you can switch to a better gym. I wouldn't want to go back to a Smith machine but it wouldn't be a disaster to have to.

 

[Illuminati]

im not going to even get into this arguement.

 

[d3track]

Day1: Benchpress
Day2: break time for chest
Day3: Dips and dumbell presses

QUOTE]

i'm sorry
but does this mean you dont do anything but chest?

 

[Santa_Claus]

Day1: Benchpress
Day2: break time for chest
Day3: Dips and dumbell presses

QUOTE]

i'm sorry
but does this mean you dont do anything but chest?

Day 1:

Dips
Inclined bench press
Dumbell Press
Pull ups
Abs

Day 2:

Deadlift
Bent over row
Shoulder press
Benchpress
Abs

Day 3:

Squats
Leg Press
Pull ups
Calf raise
Abs


My complete (and revised) workout. I just added pull ups and leg press 2 weeks ago, removed smith bench press from day 3 to allow more rest and now I just added inclined press.


I think im gonna put the incline bench on day 3. I wasn't able to perform well on my dumbell press because of it.