Thoughts on smith machines..

tang0 · 1 Nov 2012 at 22:16

What do you guys think about smith machines? My gym has no racks at all for barbells, and has one smith machine. Should I still use it for squats and bench press? Or should I ignore it and just do dumbbell presses, and for legs do alternative leg exercises. Every time I squat on it, it hurts my back and groin; it just feels really unnatural.

In before change gyms.. this is the only gym in my town, and the other nearest ones are in Ipswich which is a car journey away, and I don't have a car.

.... in before get a car

LiE · 1 Nov 2012 at 22:20

Don't squat in the smith machine, there are plenty of alternatives.

Do DB bench press instead of smith bench.

tang0 · 1 Nov 2012 at 22:54

LiE said:
Don't squat in the smith machine, there are plenty of alternatives.

Do DB bench press instead of smith bench.

Yeh ok, they do have a leg press and extension machines there. Would lunges w/ dumbells be a good alternative to squat? I mean I could do squats because they do have barbells, but it's incredibly dodgy as I would have to power clean the bar to get it up there, but I'm still a beginner so I wouldn't trust myself doing that just yet.

Morba · 1 Nov 2012 at 23:18

is it a plate loadable leg press? if so, use that. along with lunges and the extensions
If not, just do lunges for now while learning to clean a barbell properly then you can do front squats.

tang0 · 1 Nov 2012 at 23:25

Yeh it's one of these technogym presses

icecold · 2 Nov 2012 at 00:03

Those are stupid; who would design a machine that prevents you from keeping a neutral spine?

JaWalks · 2 Nov 2012 at 01:33

Do you have a garage or a spare room?

Just saying for the price of a gym membership you could get a rack, barbell and some plates on interest free...

Somnambulist · 3 Nov 2012 at 16:54

I use the Smith in my gym.... for chin ups only, as the chin/dip station only has the grips for wide pullups and reg. width semi-supinated chin/pulls.

manic111 · 3 Nov 2012 at 18:16

Somnambulist said:
I use the Smith in my gym.... for chin ups only, as the chin/dip station only has the grips for wide pullups and reg. width semi-supinated chin/pulls.

Haha, I use mine only for bodyweight rows...you'd think gyms would be starting to look at getting some better bodyweight kit in...

ethan · 3 Nov 2012 at 19:17

They have a place depending on the type of equipment available.

GAC · 4 Nov 2012 at 08:14

tang0 said:
What do you guys think about smith machines?

personally i think they should be uninvented, cant stand the things one bit.