To Smith or Not to Smith...

[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.