So I had my girl squatting and I find out 2 months later, it’s all been on a smith machine because her gym doesn’t have racks. It’s a corporate gym and she’s since put in a formal request for racks, but in the meantime…
Should she just continue on the smith machine and supplement it with something else? Or should I teach her to clean and just work on doing what she can with that weight?
I can’t get too crazy with something like bulgarian splits or steinborns because if she ever strains anything, she’ll probably never lift again.
Smith machine gets a lot of ridiculous hate for very little reason. ^See above.
The Smith is fine, as long as she’s using it the correct way.
Feet need to be plenty far out in front of her, and getting to parallel obviously. It should not be used in a traditional squat stance set-up, however, as that’s just asking for lower back issues.
A good leg press is one of my favorite machines at the gym, I can absolutely destroy myself on it. I also like the smith machine for some things, but NOT for squats. What are your girlfriend’s goals? If they are just physique-related, leg press is a great machine, don’t understand all the hate it gets. That said, I also think she should be doing lunges and RDL’s, but it’s not like she’s not going to be able to make any progress because she can’t back squat, unless her goal is a heavier back squat.
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
A good leg press is one of my favorite machines at the gym, I can absolutely destroy myself on it. I also like the smith machine for some things, but NOT for squats. What are your girlfriend’s goals? If they are just physique-related, leg press is a great machine, don’t understand all the hate it gets. That said, I also think she should be doing lunges and RDL’s, but it’s not like she’s not going to be able to make any progress because she can’t back squat, unless her goal is a heavier back squat.[/quote]
This, also. It shouldn’t be the “mainstay” of the leg day, but a tertiary and assistance exercise for the posterior chain. Gmoore has great advice here.
[quote]Gmoore17 wrote:
A good leg press is one of my favorite machines at the gym, I can absolutely destroy myself on it. I also like the smith machine for some things, but NOT for squats. What are your girlfriend’s goals? If they are just physique-related, leg press is a great machine, don’t understand all the hate it gets. That said, I also think she should be doing lunges and RDL’s, but it’s not like she’s not going to be able to make any progress because she can’t back squat, unless her goal is a heavier back squat.[/quote]
This, also. It shouldn’t be the “mainstay” of the leg day, but a tertiary and assistance exercise for the posterior chain. Gmoore has great advice here.[/quote]
x3.
One of my favorite “tricks” with female clients was using 5-rep leg presses, starting light-ish and gradually building to a “max.” It lets them build confidence, break mental barriers, and they get to feel badass moving heavy weight.
Also, if there are dumbbells, consider goblet squats.
Ah yes… i forgot one of the cardinal rules is to state goals.
She’s training for strength… particularly back strength. Physique-wise, she would prefer to keep legs on the smaller side, but I don’t know how realistic that is, and probably means she shouldn’t be on the smith machine or blasting quads.
I finally got a chance to check out her gym (intern was working) and think she may be able to squat off the bench, so we’ll try that… failing that, it looks like I’ll have to teach her cleans and goblets or lunges. Even the leg press is one of those upright cybex things.
She also runs a 5k once a week; I figure that should keep her legs from getting big and she enjoys it.
