I dunno, I think the jury is still out on the smith machine. There’s a case to be made that it allows you to beef up the prime movers of a particular exercise. I can’t afford one, so I don’t bother.
I’ve never used a smith machine before so I dunno, I’d imagine it would work really well for getting in some good extra quality sets of presses (when your stabilising muscles are pretty fried).
the smith machine is just another tool in the gym. It can be used both effectively and ineffectively. I wouldn’t want it to be my only option for squats, but if that’s all I had, it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing.
Outside of leg work, I’ve found 2 reasonably good uses for the smith machine. I’ve used it for some overhead press work. Meadows is a fan of it. I haven’t done this in awhile because I do so much overhead pressing with odd objects for strongman, but it would work. I still use it from time to time for bent over barbell rows. I do enough other stability work that when I do barbell rows, I usually just want to work the back, and the smith machine is good for that. The guided bar path is fine for that lift.
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