Smith Machine

Hey guys im wondering who here acually uses the smith machine and for what exactly. On these forums I really havent seen to many people that use them. Any people who do or any thought to why you dont. I only use them when I dont have a spotter on the bench.

I use it for incline benching when I feel like going heavy and don’t have a spotter. Other than that, I use it to lean against when resting after a set.

My current gym does not have one, so I could care less. But my school gym did, and no squat rack or pullup bar either. What I did was put it at very top and do pullups off that. I do wish my gym got one though, it’d keep people away from my only squat rack.

Really wide grip seated shoulder presses.
Close grip bench drop sets

I have one and I use it for seated presses, incline bench, reverse grip bench, and bent over rows.

Pretty much anything I can use it for, I will, because I have no spotter, and the 7 degree slant makes the movements feel as natural as free weights.

[quote]rainjack wrote:
I have one and I use it for seated presses, incline bench, reverse grip bench, and bent over rows.

Pretty much anything I can use it for, I will, because I have no spotter, and the 7 degree slant makes the movements feel as natural as free weights.

[/quote]

this is going to sound dum but what do you mean 7 degree slant? on what excerises

[quote]crod266 wrote:
rainjack wrote:
I have one and I use it for seated presses, incline bench, reverse grip bench, and bent over rows.

Pretty much anything I can use it for, I will, because I have no spotter, and the 7 degree slant makes the movements feel as natural as free weights.

this is going to sound dum but what do you mean 7 degree slant? on what excerises
[/quote]

Instead of the guide bars being perfectly vertical, they slant inward 7 degrees.

Honestly, I was doing a lot better before I took the advice of everybody here and stopped using it.

[quote]supabeast wrote:
Honestly, I was doing a lot better before I took the advice of everybody here and stopped using it. [/quote]

Seems to be a mob mentality about Smith Machines. Some author says they are bad, and you get an entire posse of parrots making fun of them.

I think I wasted some serious time fucking around with free weights, and no spotter. I could have been using a Smith the whole time, and throwing up a ton more weight.

pudzianowski would not condone the smith machine…

i don’t either. im actually scared to use it. and really, you dont need a spot. for what, the bench press? use some dumbbells and ditch em. ask the guy next to you for a quick spot. squatting heavy? use the bars.

its garbage. straight garbage.

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
pudzianowski would not condone the smith machine…

i don’t either. im actually scared to use it. and really, you dont need a spot. for what, the bench press? use some dumbbells and ditch em. ask the guy next to you for a quick spot. squatting heavy? use the bars.

its garbage. straight garbage. [/quote]

I don’t squat in the Smith. I have a hip sled that works just fine, and is much easier on the knees, so that I only have to squat about every 4th leg day.

Why would I want to train like a strong man, if I don’t want to be a strong man?

How can I ask the guy next to me for a spot when I train alone, and about 100 miles from the nearest public gym?

Saying that a piece of equipment is worthless when you are scared to even use said equipment is just the sort of parrot mentality I was talking about.

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
pudzianowski would not condone the smith machine…
[/quote]

Have you actually read/heard him say that he would recommend bodybuilders not use the Smith? Or are you just putting words in his mouth?

Scared? Really? I could understand if you had used it and didn’t like it, but scared?

And there are indeed situations where you do need a spot (or Smith).

[quote]
its garbage. straight garbage. [/quote]

No, it’s not.

It has its uses, i used to use it to dish out huge numbers. but, i needed a reality check, and decided to train with free weights.

The smith, helps build strength for the free weights i guess. Just like how the Lat pull down and the assisted pull up helps build strength for the real thing.

[quote]tayjeremy wrote:
It has its uses, i used to use it to dish out huge numbers. but, i needed a reality check, and decided to train with free weights.

The smith, helps build strength for the free weights i guess. Just like how the Lat pull down and the assisted pull up helps build strength for the real thing.[/quote]

If you have a smith machine with the counter weight cable on it, I agree that the weight is not as impressive.

But mine does not. In fact, the empty bar weighs about 15 pounds more than an empty oly bar. I actually had to drop amount of weoght I was loading on the smith for the incline BP.

[quote]rainjack wrote:
I think I wasted some serious time fucking around with free weights, and no spotter. I could have been using a Smith the whole time, and throwing up a ton more weight.[/quote]

Same here. Lacking a spotter, I recently moved to benching on a Smith and couldn’t have been more pleased.

Last Thursday, I tried seated overhead presses using…a machine. And, guess what? I felt my triceps and shoulders working a lot more intensely than when I use BB’s or DB’s.

Needless to say, the past few weeks have been eye-opening for me, as I’ve discovered I actually prefer using machines for a lot of my exercises. I don’t give a shit about what any specific author may say - my muscles don’t lie.

People should really give them an honest shot instead of blindly following what someone else writes.

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
ZeusNathan wrote:
pudzianowski would not condone the smith machine…

Have you actually read/heard him say that he would recommend bodybuilders not use the Smith? Or are you just putting words in his mouth?

i don’t either. im actually scared to use it. and really, you dont need a spot. for what, the bench press? use some dumbbells and ditch em. ask the guy next to you for a quick spot. squatting heavy? use the bars.

Scared? Really? I could understand if you had used it and didn’t like it, but scared?

And there are indeed situations where you do need a spot (or Smith).

its garbage. straight garbage.

No, it’s not.[/quote]

i see you are trying to protect your friend but it wasn’t anything against him. i just dont like it.
i have used it, and hated it. i cringe when i see someone using it to bench. my shoulders always felt uncomfortable from using it. i then read a couple articles discussing the smith machine, and discrediting it… and that further strengthened the implication that its not for me.
its like you’re a lawyer trying to defend the smith machine in court

[quote]anonym wrote:
rainjack wrote:
I think I wasted some serious time fucking around with free weights, and no spotter. I could have been using a Smith the whole time, and throwing up a ton more weight.

Same here. Lacking a spotter, I recently moved to benching on a Smith and couldn’t have been more pleased.

Last Thursday, I tried seated overhead presses using…a machine. And, guess what? I felt my triceps and shoulders working a lot more intensely than when I use BB’s or DB’s.

Needless to say, the past few weeks have been eye-opening for me, as I’ve discovered I actually prefer using machines for a lot of my exercises. I don’t give a shit about what any specific author may say - my muscles don’t lie.

People should really give them an honest shot instead of blindly following what someone else writes.[/quote]

Good post

I love it for heavy standing calf raises. Use it occasionally for presses too.

I prefer cables and hammer strength machines when I am not using free weights but it works great on for things like presses to the neck and calf raises.

It’s the best coat rack money can buy.

[quote]ZeusNathan wrote:
Sentoguy wrote:
ZeusNathan wrote:
pudzianowski would not condone the smith machine…

Have you actually read/heard him say that he would recommend bodybuilders not use the Smith? Or are you just putting words in his mouth?

i don’t either. im actually scared to use it. and really, you dont need a spot. for what, the bench press? use some dumbbells and ditch em. ask the guy next to you for a quick spot. squatting heavy? use the bars.

Scared? Really? I could understand if you had used it and didn’t like it, but scared?

And there are indeed situations where you do need a spot (or Smith).

its garbage. straight garbage.

No, it’s not.

i see you are trying to protect your friend but it wasn’t anything against him. i just dont like it.
i have used it, and hated it. i cringe when i see someone using it to bench. my shoulders always felt uncomfortable from using it. i then read a couple articles discussing the smith machine, and discrediting it… and that further strengthened the implication that its not for me.
its like you’re a lawyer trying to defend the smith machine in court

[/quote]

Protecting a friend? WTF?

Dude - you define parrot.

How big are you? I mean do you have the size to back up your “experience”, or are you yet another 150 pound “expert” reader?