Benching on the Smith

Training Bodybuilding
41

[quote]forbes wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Generic statement or fact? Point being is freeweights>smith[/quote]

Glad free weights work well for you. They work well for me too. But don’t assume free weights are the the only thing that you need. Your opinion is clearly coming from your one track mind. At this point in time I prefer free weights, but I also know that they are not suited for everyone, and in time I may respond better to machines.

You can’t dismiss what the big guys have done. If they’re big (which is what they want to accomplish) and people are always asking them to move heavy things, then apparently they’re doing something right. But oh no, since they don’t use free weights, they must be weak as little fairies and are using their fairy powers to move heavy objects.

Dunce.

[/quote]

Don’t wast your time. He’s obviously trolling. Especially after seeing he edited his last post, AFTER I quoted it, to put in even more inflammatory remarks.

42

Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty.

43

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Good for you. Are you done? When I train chest today I will be sure to give a shit about how much you don’t like machines…as I use them exclusively for this session.

Machines do have a place…and that means the idea that free weights always trump machines needs to be tossed out of the window.

44

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Funny how you were coming across as believing that machines DON’T have their place. You never said “machines have their place” or that “you don’t use them as much as free weights” (implying you do use them sometimes).

You were saying that machines suck. Plain and simple. And now you’re trying to make it seem like the can be good at times. That was not your original opinion, and if it was, you did not make it clear.

45

[quote]forbes wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Funny how you were coming across as believing that machines DON’T have their place. You never said “machines have their place” or that “you don’t use them as much as free weights” (implying you do use them sometimes).

You were saying that machines suck. Plain and simple. And now you’re trying to make it seem like the can be good at times. That was not your original opinion, and if it was, you did not make it clear.[/quote]

Typical MO.

46

Again opinion lol. Wether I think freeweights trump machines is of no importance. I was saying IN MY OPINION .

47

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Again opinion lol. Wether I think freeweights trump machines is of no importance. I was saying IN MY OPINION . [/quote]

LOL @ “what I think is of no importance, I was saying IN MY OPINION.”

You do realize what the word “opinion” means, right?

48

Yes and my opinion only carries as much weight as you allow it to lol.

49

Sounds like an opinion from Men’s Health

50

Personaly, i am sore for about 1 to 2 days after a flat/decline/incline bench chest workout. But when i use the machine i am sore for at least 3 to 4 and i get more of a pump, but i also include the butterfly press along with the machine bench.

51

I happen to like and use both.

Free weight bench allows ME to utilize more muscles and to push the most weight. On the machines, I can focus my press more on my chest. Same thing for Dumbells - It depends on what you need the excercise to do.

Profx is correct, in that if you move away from the movement, you will lose strength. Think about a heavy benchpress and all the muscles that you use to lift the weight. There is a lot of coordinated muscle movement that when you move away from it for a period of time, you can and will lose max strength.

Everybody wants to be big but nobody won’t lift no heavy weight - pussies.

52

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Good for you. Are you done? When I train chest today I will be sure to give a shit about how much you don’t like machines…as I use them exclusively for this session.

Machines do have a place…and that means the idea that free weights always trump machines needs to be tossed out of the window.
[/quote]

I personally used to be completely against machines but am utterly failing at the barbell bench press.

My form is atrocious and i can’t seem to fix it. I’ve started doing DB bench instead and am seeming to make much more progress with it. I am currently bulking, so my food intake is most likely not the problem in my situation, but i was wondering if my situation was one of the unique ones that you guys would recommend an HS bench over a BB bench.

My BB bench has been stuck at a pitiful 165 for several YEARS! now and i’ve just gotten frustrated with it and stopped doing it all together. None of my other lifts are spectacular either but i’ve managed to put on a reasonable amount of weight this winter and a lot of my other lifts are making weekly gains.

It’s actually getting to the point where i can DB bench (if you add the two) almost what i can BB bench.

Any advice on this subject would be awesome.

/hijack

53

I have a question about smith machines and I think it’s been answered, but not directly, so I wanted to make sure that I was on target. I’m getting back into lifting and when I was lifting before, I wasn’t exactly an expert on anything, so I’m pretty much a newb.

In any event, I’ve been doing some reading on Smith Machines and I came across the idea that because they lock you into a very tight range of motion that you can end up hurting yourself if you switch to doing a different chest exercise. So, for example, say you did the SM for 8 weeks as your primary heavy lift and then you switched to BB bench. The idea was that you would easily hurt yourself.

Now, from what I gather, this isn’t the case - unless you are ONLY doing SM presses. Am I correct on this? I think this is what has been alluded to, but just making sure. Thanks.

54

[quote]jahall wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Good for you. Are you done? When I train chest today I will be sure to give a shit about how much you don’t like machines…as I use them exclusively for this session.

Machines do have a place…and that means the idea that free weights always trump machines needs to be tossed out of the window.
[/quote]

I personally used to be completely against machines but am utterly failing at the barbell bench press.

My form is atrocious and i can’t seem to fix it. I’ve started doing DB bench instead and am seeming to make much more progress with it. I am currently bulking, so my food intake is most likely not the problem in my situation, but i was wondering if my situation was one of the unique ones that you guys would recommend an HS bench over a BB bench.

My BB bench has been stuck at a pitiful 165 for several YEARS! now and i’ve just gotten frustrated with it and stopped doing it all together. None of my other lifts are spectacular either but i’ve managed to put on a reasonable amount of weight this winter and a lot of my other lifts are making weekly gains.

It’s actually getting to the point where i can DB bench (if you add the two) almost what i can BB bench.

Any advice on this subject would be awesome.

/hijack
[/quote]

It might be time to choose another hobby.

55

[quote]jahall wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Good for you. Are you done? When I train chest today I will be sure to give a shit about how much you don’t like machines…as I use them exclusively for this session.

Machines do have a place…and that means the idea that free weights always trump machines needs to be tossed out of the window.
[/quote]

I personally used to be completely against machines but am utterly failing at the barbell bench press.

My form is atrocious and i can’t seem to fix it. I’ve started doing DB bench instead and am seeming to make much more progress with it. I am currently bulking, so my food intake is most likely not the problem in my situation, but i was wondering if my situation was one of the unique ones that you guys would recommend an HS bench over a BB bench.

My BB bench has been stuck at a pitiful 165 for several YEARS! now and i’ve just gotten frustrated with it and stopped doing it all together. None of my other lifts are spectacular either but i’ve managed to put on a reasonable amount of weight this winter and a lot of my other lifts are making weekly gains.

It’s actually getting to the point where i can DB bench (if you add the two) almost what i can BB bench.

Any advice on this subject would be awesome.

/hijack
[/quote]

Just to be real with you…BODYBUILDING IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. If it takes you YEARS just to bench press less than 200lbs, you either fucked around all of those years and never truly lifted heavy or ate enough to see any progress or you have the worst genetics someone could have for this.

When we write in this forum, it is no longer for the “I can’t gain no matter what I do” crowd. People like that will never “get huge”. The people who can take this to an extreme level are the type who pick up on these activities a little faster than that.

That doesn’t mean you can’t make progress, but when people like you read threads like this and assume that you too should be ignoring entire exercises, we know things are fucked up.

I stopped doing the bench press because I was using so much weight that I could no longer lift safely without a SERIOUS spotter covering me. Most people in most gyms can NOT spot someone well while they lift over 400lbs which means you either find a new partner or change what you are doing.

People who have absolutely no innate athletic ability are not cut out for this.

That is reality.

56

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]jahall wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]GorillaBiscuits wrote:
Not dismissing, i simply stated my opinion. Machines have thier place, i prefer not to use them as much as free weights. If that makes me have a one track mind i guess im guilty. [/quote]

Good for you. Are you done? When I train chest today I will be sure to give a shit about how much you don’t like machines…as I use them exclusively for this session.

Machines do have a place…and that means the idea that free weights always trump machines needs to be tossed out of the window.
[/quote]

I personally used to be completely against machines but am utterly failing at the barbell bench press.

My form is atrocious and i can’t seem to fix it. I’ve started doing DB bench instead and am seeming to make much more progress with it. I am currently bulking, so my food intake is most likely not the problem in my situation, but i was wondering if my situation was one of the unique ones that you guys would recommend an HS bench over a BB bench.

My BB bench has been stuck at a pitiful 165 for several YEARS! now and i’ve just gotten frustrated with it and stopped doing it all together. None of my other lifts are spectacular either but i’ve managed to put on a reasonable amount of weight this winter and a lot of my other lifts are making weekly gains.

It’s actually getting to the point where i can DB bench (if you add the two) almost what i can BB bench.

Any advice on this subject would be awesome.

/hijack
[/quote]

Just to be real with you…BODYBUILDING IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. If it takes you YEARS just to bench press less than 200lbs, you either fucked around all of those years and never truly lifted heavy or ate enough to see any progress or you have the worst genetics someone could have for this.

When we write in this forum, it is no longer for the “I can’t gain no matter what I do” crowd. People like that will never “get huge”. The people who can take this to an extreme level are the type who pick up on these activities a little faster than that.

That doesn’t mean you can’t make progress, but when people like you read threads like this and assume that you too should be ignoring entire exercises, we know things are fucked up.

I stopped doing the bench press because I was using so much weight that I could no longer lift safely without a SERIOUS spotter covering me. Most people in most gyms can NOT spot someone well while they lift over 400lbs which means you either find a new partner or change what you are doing.

People who have absolutely no innate athletic ability are not cut out for this.

That is reality.[/quote]

I think the main problem is you been working out with a bunch of people who have no idea what they are doing lol. Do you work out alone? Do you have friends in the gym that tell you to do certain things or to follow some workout program that you dont fully understand?

You say your form is atrocious, but thats an easy fix… If i were you, id take a week off, research a workout plan that focuses on what you want to accomplish, get your eating habit in order, then start out slow using lighter weights then usual in order to get your form right. As soon as your form is dead on, move the weight up slowly.

Starting from the begining sucks my ass, but you need to relearn the basics, focus on the goal, and kill it in the gym… Good luck man!

57

[quote]Loudog75 wrote:
I happen to like and use both.

Free weight bench allows ME to utilize more muscles and to push the most weight. On the machines, I can focus my press more on my chest. Same thing for Dumbells - It depends on what you need the excercise to do.

Profx is correct, in that if you move away from the movement, you will lose strength. Think about a heavy benchpress and all the muscles that you use to lift the weight. There is a lot of coordinated muscle movement that when you move away from it for a period of time, you can and will lose max strength.
[/quote]

^^^^^^^^^^ This

OP, I suggest you give it a try for a couple weeks and see what you think, as it’s only YOU that matters. People bashing the Smith either (a) don’t know what they’re talking about and just trying to jump on a paranoia bandwagon, or (b) they tried it and it doesn’t work for them.

What works for you may not work at all for your buddies and vice-versa.

Keep an open mind, try different things and use what works for you and reject what doesn’t…

58

I think for those people who struggle with improving strength, size etc and have at least been eating at a caloric surplus probably need to take it to the EXTREME like do what Modok posted in the T-Cell “Mass phase(or whatever its called)” thread. Just go all out lift 2 times a day or add more volume do whatever it takes to facilitate growth.

59

I like to use the Smith for a modified bench press where you push the bar off your hands as you get to the final part of the push, then catch it on your hands and go back down as smoothly as possible. I don’t know if it has a name, but it is not really safe (and would be incredibly hard) to do on a regular bench but the Smith is perfect for it. It’s a different take on the lift and I think underutilized as I am the only person I have ever seen do it.

You can also do jump lunges on the Smith, kind of like this bench, where you go from left leg front, right leg back to left leg back, right leg front in the air simultaneously as you come up from the initial lunge. This is another good one and a lot easier to do on the Smith with non-minimal weight on, and works very nicely as a hard lift in the latter stages of a workout after you have done a primary lift like regular squats with much heavier weights.

60

I’ve seen a guy doing the SM throw press miscalculate the catch portion of the exercise and tear out his pec at insertion. Wouldn’t doing pushups with a clap suffice? I mean worst case scenario there is you fall on your face right?