Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below Ok, so I live in South Korea and gyms here are freaking expensive. I can only afford membership to a small, pretty ghetto gym. There is no squat rack, only a smith machine for me to do squats in. I know it's not ideal, but is it okay to do squats in the Smith Machine if there are no other options? Or is it dangerous, and I should just not do squats at all? Is there any other way of doing squats without a squat rack or smith machine?
Squats in a Smith Machine
- Thread starter natewOw
- Start date
I've had to do squats in a smiths before. It's exactly comfortable! You end up pushing the bar back into the support of the frame, which adds an extra annoying resistance. It forces your boy to lift straight up too, rather than naturally back a bit. You could alwys steinberg lift into squats...
Get really good at powercleans and do front squats.....
If you have no other options then use the smith. Smith machine squats suck.
If you have no other options then use the smith. Smith machine squats suck.
I made a mistake with that post. It should of read "its not exactly comfortbale!"
Why not zerchers and all the other shit I suggested?
mad_monkey59
New member
Does your gym have dip bars? when I was in a gym with just a smith machine I used to use the dip bars to load the bar... to be honest neither option is exactly ideal as such, but squats are fundamental, so use the smith if you don't have any other choice and supplement it with the stuff like ExtraMile suggested.
highlander555
New member
Better to do them in a smith machine than not at all. I'd try to do some of the variations people have mentioned as well.
oso0960
New member
you need a spotter for you on this one. Lie down on your back and put your feet up in the air. Get your partner to deadlift the bar onto your feet and have him place it in the middle of your shoe (where the indent is) so it is firmly in place. now act as if it were a leg press. Hah jk Mark Rippetoe said that that's how the leg press came into use in his book Strong Enough? But I believe he was being sarcastic..I'm sure there's people that would try it though.
I like everybody's ideas except having to use the smith machine as a last resort. I would rather get a sandbag and play with that before I even thought about a smith machine
I like everybody's ideas except having to use the smith machine as a last resort. I would rather get a sandbag and play with that before I even thought about a smith machine
Using the dip bars is a great idea, lol if I did it at my gym Id probably knock some sucker out with the bar cuz the dip bars are right near the door into the gym lol
No dip bars either. This place is GHETTO. Plus...Koreans have no freaking idea what they are doing in the gym lol. Some of the bigger guys have some pretty solid routines, but it's so funny to see these Koreans come in, knock out a set of 10 on the flat bench MACHINE, and then fiddle around on their cell phones for 5 minutes before doing some 10lb db curls.
Anyway, I've been doing what I am calling "Safe Squats" in the Smith machine. I noticed that some people said a normal squat in the Smith puts a lot of strain on your knees, and I have indeed been feeling some significant pain in the knees recently. So to fix this, I have been putting my feet very far forward and using less weight, doing each rep a lot slower that normal. This has practically eliminated the strain on my knees and they feel much better, so thank you for the suggestions.
Anyway, I've been doing what I am calling "Safe Squats" in the Smith machine. I noticed that some people said a normal squat in the Smith puts a lot of strain on your knees, and I have indeed been feeling some significant pain in the knees recently. So to fix this, I have been putting my feet very far forward and using less weight, doing each rep a lot slower that normal. This has practically eliminated the strain on my knees and they feel much better, so thank you for the suggestions.
scotty too hotty
New member
If you're not gay, or if you are, whatever, prison style squats with someone sitting on your shoulders can be a good workout if you're completely desperate. Put a towel on your shoulders to prevent them from t-bagging your neck! Thats a last resort, but i did that in jail and it worked good to deep my leg size when i was away. Smith squats hurt my hips and knees, but some people love them and can lift more on them, because of the weight being stabilized. I can lift more with free weight squats, personally. If smith squats don't cause you any pain, be like nike and just do it! also like the others said, if you want to do higher reps, you could throw 185 up over your head and onto your back and squat it. I do that with lighter front squats sometimes, when the racks are taken.
Zerchers! I keep saying, you dont need a rack or anything for them, they were invented by someone called Ed Zercher or somthing like that and he invented them for people who didnt have access to a squat rack. Then you could do any of the following to supplement it : high rep front squats, one legged squats, those gay ass prison squats scotty was on about but hell no for me I dont want some guys dick on the back of my head, bench stepups, lunges, jump squats with whatever weight you can throw up onto your shoulders, sumo deads, RDL
If his gym dont even have a squat rack or dip bars doubt the db's will go that high! My gym has squat rack and dip bars and the db's only go up to 90lb!
Similar threads
