To Smith or Not to Smith...

[swordfish151]

Morning gentlemen...question?...why is it better to do bench presses and squats on a regular bar then on the smith? For size or "growing" does it really matter if you do your squats on the smith...personally i do mine not on the smith at all..but a long time ago i used to do my squats and benching on the smith but dont remember why i stopped..

 

[silver_shadow]

well, i can immediately think of one reason... stabilizer muscles. less needed with the smith

 

[djeclipse]

well, i can immediately think of one reason... stabilizer muscles. less needed with the smith

That is probbaly the major reason for not using the smith, the lack of stabalizer muscles used. Another is it doesn't allow the lifter to follow the natural range of motion when doing any exercise. The smith only goes straight up and down while the natural motion for say the bench press has a slight arc in it.

 

[Madcow2]

NOT the smith. It is in no way similar to free weights. Melt it down, sell it as scrap. Better to have an empty space for pulling from the floor or another power rack.

 

[djeclipse]

NOT the smith. It is in no way similar to free weights. Melt it down, sell it as scrap. Better to have an empty space for pulling from the floor or another power rack.

It's good for stretching and holding weights lol... but I guess a power rack can do all that and more.

 

[Illuminati]

please DO NOT SQUAT IN THE SMITH MACHINE.

NOT the smith. It is in no way similar to free weights. Melt it down, sell it as scrap. Better to have an empty space for pulling from the floor or another power rack.

 

[silver_shadow]

NOT the smith. It is in no way similar to free weights. Melt it down, sell it as scrap. Better to have an empty space for pulling from the floor or another power rack.

lol, in my gym, and even the previous one i went to, the smith would be used by noobs, chicks and shorter guys doing chinups

 

[swordfish151]

All my lifts are free weights..i have noticed more and more guys in the gym doing EVERYTHING on the smith....squats, presses you name it...

 

[Madcow2]

It's looks sort of like a free weight and gives the impression of relative safety. Of course people are used to getting shitty results so no great shocker there. Sort of like lemmings deciding to jump off a 500 ft cliff rather than a 600 ft one. Welcome to bodybuilding and the fitness world.

 

[BOWTECH]

It's looks sort of like a free weight and gives the impression of relative safety. Of course people are used to getting shitty results so no great shocker there. Sort of like lemmings deciding to jump off a 500 ft cliff rather than a 600 ft one. Welcome to bodybuilding and the fitness world.

lol

 

[bignate73]

skip the smith.

stick with the bar. its real world, doesn't change from gym to gym, doesn't require lubrication or maintenance, you won't wait in line to use it while someone supersets drag curls, upright rows, quarter squats, and unnaturally angled and gravitationally impossible incline presses...plus its better for you.

 

[BiggT]

It's looks sort of like a free weight and gives the impression of relative safety. Of course people are used to getting shitty results so no great shocker there. Sort of like lemmings deciding to jump off a 500 ft cliff rather than a 600 ft one. Welcome to bodybuilding and the fitness world.

Did you ever notice that Hammer Strength equipment has the same reputation as the Smith.....sort of like free weight because it is plate loaded and "much safer". In my opinion they all just waste gym space and impede actual progress.

 

[Madcow2]

Did you ever notice that Hammer Strength equipment has the same reputation as the Smith.....sort of like free weight because it is plate loaded and "much safer". In my opinion they all just waste gym space and impede actual progress.

LOL - that's one of the funniest things to me and I've had a running joke about it for 5-10 years. Arms are independent, no cables, just a swivel, and makes you load plates so you kind of feel like it's a free weight. Personally, I hate that crap. If I'm going to use a machine, I want to do nothing more than move a pin. I definitely don't want to be carrying plates around the gym. If I'm going to sit on my ass and be lazy, I take it all the way to 100% maximum momentary laziness. Someone else needs to wipe it down, set it up for me, I'll come in and move the pin and do the exercise, then they can wipe it down and return it to normal. Maybe bring me a hot towel and update me on any news I missed while exerting myself.

Back in college they redid the main student gym and put all the racks and free weights in the back. It really sucked because I tend to value eye candy (read hot chicks) between sets - which made water breaks all that much more necessary and frequent (I've trained in enough dungeons, backyards, garages, and athletic gyms to make the call and I want chicks between sets). Sometimes for fun we'd come in and do a machine circuit session just so we could spend time looking at the girls. In the end though it was just too much, after 10 minutes the enthusiasm for fun had wained and you just looked at each other like "why the hell are we even wasting our time and effort."

 

[Quadsweeps Sister]

well, i can immediately think of one reason... stabilizer muscles. less needed with the smith

Correct.

Just as one might do a variation on a DB bench press, moving off the bench and doing them on an exercise ball for instance.

Anyone who uses machine exercises religiously will miss the benefit of stabilizer muscle development that free-weight exercise brings.

 

[ass_face]

I would skip the Smith. You will not activate the stabilizer muscles and therefore shortchange any growth. The only exercise I like on the smith is decline tricep presses. I think anything where you want to isolate a muscle would be good on the smith, but if you are trying to simulate true compound movements it is a waste of time.

 

[vin01]

Ugh, today I saw this huge dude squatting on the Smith, with 3 plates and a 25 on each side. Going down about 7 inches on each rep.

He must of thought he was tough shit.

 

[nelmsjer]

My wife used the Smith machine perfectly...



for pullups.

 

[BiggT]

If you tie a harness around the Smith and drag it around the parking lot you can gain a lot of GPP.

 

[eh!]

lol, in my gym, and even the previous one i went to, the smith would be used by noobs, chicks and shorter guys doing chinups

LOl, I love to see all the weird shit people do on the smith.

 

[djeclipse]

LOl, I love to see all the weird shit people do on the smith.

That is actually a good idea, I may try it today if it's not being used by some tard to to 1/4 squats.

It's a PIA for someone short like me to have to jump up and adjust your grip while hanging before doing chin ups.

 

[Chambewy20]

I use it on the bottom to do elevated push ups so we can change our grip and actually have a reference point. Also have used for one legged squats because by that exercise my ass was kicked and didn't feel like looking like a pig on roller skates.

Sad thing is at my gym they have just as many smith machines as squat racks, gotta love corporate stinking gyms...

 

[36drew]

I've never ever been a fan of the smith machine for any purpose. It seems to cause more harm to my physique than anything because of all the damage it caused to my joints. The path in which the bar travelled just wasn't right.

 

[iceprincess]

Not a big fan of the Smith Machine at ALL for MANY reasons! Squat rack is where it's at!!

 

[asdfzxcv]

If you tie a harness around the Smith and drag it around the parking lot you can gain a lot of GPP.

LoL,imagine what the people watching would think if you did that

 

[blut wump]

I used a Smith for almost two years and anyone reading this who currently uses a Smith in preference to free weights won't understand what all the hate is about. I felt no ill-effects from using the Smith. I had no knee pain, elbow pains nor noticable imbalances in any other joints. I was content to use it.

The realisation that it had been a crap thing hit me when I switched gyms and found that my legs and upper body were pitiful on exercises I had been feeling proud of. It took months to work up the muscles which had been neglected using a Smith machine and I was lucky that I hadn't been called upon to make heavy lifts outside of the gym since I'd most likely have found that my stabilizer muscles would have crumpled under the strain of heavy weight.

Bottom line: the Smith only does half a job of training your body and the neglected half turns you into an accident waiting to happen should you have cause to try to use the strengthened muscles in a free environment. This is because the neglected half is the part that the strong muscles will be relying on for anchorage, support and stability in the absence of the Smith supports. Don't waste your time on it if you value your safety.

 

[nelmsjer]

LoL,imagine what the people watching would think if you did that

I think BiggT would be more than happy to create a scene with the Smith machine.