Can I just ask one general question here though–how valid are Smith Machine squats where the bar path is directly up and down and the form of a perfect low-bar squat is assumed? Because I might lose access to my gym that has an actual power rack and be instead forced to use my school gym, which instead has a CYBEX smith machine with a 15-lb. bar.
I personally would not be trying to replicate my barbell squat for on a smith machine. However, Smith machines can be used to build up the legs with front squats, feet-out-the-front back squats and some lunge varieties.
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But could you if it meant the difference between missing a workout or doing that? Not trying to argue or spark another debate here, just want to know what I have the option of doing if/when the gym shit hits the fan. And would my lifts be “valid” (as in would I be able to move up in weight the next workout on a barbell squat if I completed my sets and reps successfully)?
Do yourselves a favour. Go watch one of those Starting Strength podcasts on youtube. I’m assuming the people in attendance are fairly proficient in the program and have probably milked their noob gains. Come back and tell me how many of them look like they lift.
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I mean, isn’t the path of a correctly performed low-bar squat straight up and down? All jokes aside, could it be done? If not, why? Thanks in advance.
I’ll explain latter… Unless no one else wants to take this
Anyone interested?
This is what is known as a “false dichotomy”. You will never be in this situation, so it’s not worth planning for it. As @Irishman92 said, you can do lots of great things with a smith machine, but one of those things is NOT replicating your non-smith squat form. If you are forced to use a smith machine, use it in the way he advocated and you’ll make the most of your time with it, and might even get bigger and stronger. Trying to fit the square peg in the round hole is just going to make things bad.
When I blew out my ACL and was recovering from surgery, I didn’t try to run someone else’s program and just substitute the movements, because I knew that wouldn’t work. I just did the things I COULD do as hard as I could until I was healed enough to run a program. It’s a triage style of training.
And @bulldog9899 I think a young trainee could do a lot worse than to hear your wisdom, no matter how gruff, haha.
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There are plenty of options besides the barbell back squat to train the legs.
Goblet squat
Front squat(clean the bar up)
All sorts of lunges (clean the bar up or use dumbbells for weight)
split-squats
Regarding form-
I think you’re better off thinking of where the weight is balanced during the rep as opposed to thinking of bar path.
Warning: applying this outside the gym can result in a one week setback - apparently! 
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“life is too short to make all the mistakes yourself.”
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@strongmangoals @magick @T3hPwnisher @Irishman92 thank you all for your input. So for front squats (which I’m assuming is my best option), how much weight should I begin with to lift about the equivalent of my back squat?
Go in, don’t have expectations and do a hard set to find out.
two steps forwards, one step back.
IN all seriousness I can see you are eager and here to learn, but how can anyone else tell you how much weight you ‘should’ be lifting? Yes there is carry over between the two lifts, but someone might be able to front a quarter of their back, someone else might be able to front 3/4 of their back.
Start front squatting the bar, add weight until it feels heavy. If you cant do a good rep, its too heavy
Again, you gotta stop thinking of this in terms of other movements. You’re not trying to bridge gaps or compensate or make equivalencies here; you’re doing a new workout. Use the front squat and the feet out squat, you don’t have to pick just one movement. Work up to it the exact same way you would any other movement. Start with it unloaded and do some reps. Put on some weight weight and do some reps. Keep adding weight and doing reps until it’s heavy, and then use that weight.
I started lifting a couple of years ago, fucked around with barbells while half-assing programs and it’s only been in the last few months where I started actually trying.
I would never dream of giving advice in a Beginner forum because talk about the blind leading the blind.
Yea, in retrospect I should have realized that.
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