Everyone complains about the smith machine. Yes, it is bad for squats, bench press, OH press, you name it, because it essentially “balances” the bar for you and forces an unnatural range of motion. Well, I think I have found a pretty cool exercise that mitigates these issues. It is basically a push-up that uses the bar. Here is how it works
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Set the Smith Machine bar to the same height a bench, step, whatever is at least 12 inches off the ground.
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Put the Bench a few feet away from the bar. It should be enough distance so you can maintain a push-up like form
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Using a weight belt, attach weights around your waste…
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Get in the push-up position with your hands on the bar such that you can maintain a solid torso without lower back pain or over bending of the spine
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Press!
I have found this to be a very cool and effective exercise that will be my primary pressing movement for the next few weeks. It really works the core and seems to take some pressure off the shoulders. I made it up to 100lbs (at 240lbs BW) for reps, but could have gone higher (no room to attach more weight).
Someone probably invented this already, but I highly recommend trying this out in place of the bench. Not to mention you can super-set reverse rows easily!
I guess it’d be like an adjustable decline version of this
but yeah… for non PLers, working this into the program would probably do some good. Looks very functional, ha
That guy in the video has terrible form.
- He isnt touching his chest to the box (can more safely be done using the smith machine for grip)
2)His back is bowing in. indicating a non-tight core. This will lead to lower and maybe middle back injury.
I really wish that people who didn’t know how to workout would stop posting videos. I would make a video of myself doing it but cameras arent allowed in the facility I am working out in.
[quote]Aero51 wrote:
Everyone complains about the smith machine. Yes, it is bad for squats, bench press, OH press, you name it, because it essentially “balances” the bar for you and forces an unnatural range of motion.[/quote]
The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve come to disagree with this kind of overly-broad statement. The Smith machine is a tool, just like a leg press, seated lateral raise machine, or kettlebell. Every tool has pros and cons, times it’s useful, and times when it shouldn’t be used.
[quote]3) Using a weight belt, attach weights around your waste…
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2)His back is bowing in. indicating a non-tight core. This will lead to lower and maybe middle back injury.[/quote]
First, that dude’s form was fine for what he was doing. More importantly, any “bowing” of the back is precisely because the weight was attached to his waist and that’s where the force was being applied. This is why a weighted vest is usually the preferred method of increasing resistance for push-ups. If you were doing regular push-ups on the floor, would you rather have someone sit on your lower back or on your upper back? Same idea.
Also, by having the load higher on the torso/closer to the pressing action, the actual resistance felt will be greater. (A 70-pound vest may be comparable to a 100-pound dumbbell hung around the waist.)
In any case, it could definitely be worth trying for a while. See how you do with it.
Doing this move instead of benching is probably taking it to the extreme, depending on goals, but it sounds like an interesting stabilizer-intensive accessory movement. I also like this Smith push-up as a finisher, changing the leverage and decreasing the resistance as you raise the bar:
Why is his form good, if you dont mind me asking?
His chest is not touching the box
His back is arched like a bridge about to break.
When I perform the lift my back is straight and I can go down low enough to touch my chest.
Not that I recommend it, but I did rack pulls in the smith machine a few years ago and it was the first time I actually felt my back working properly in a hinge type movement. Felt in love with the first rep of smith machine row as well. Along with kroc rows and face pulls, they’re my main rowing movements.
[quote]Aero51 wrote:
Why is his form good, if you dont mind me asking?
His chest is not touching the box[/quote]
It’s a little rough to tell from the viewing angle, but it looks like he’s going below 90-degrees on all but a few reps. Any lower and the kettlebell would be resting on the ground/deloading between reps. While that kind of deadstop/accommodating resistance is a legit technique, it’s fine to keep the weight constant while still hitting decent depth like he did.
Like I said, any bowing is because all of the weight is pulling directly on the lower back. I’d say it would be more efficient for the load to be placed across the upper back, as in a vest or chains. But, again, for the majority of the set I didn’t see what I’d consider a high-risk compromise of form. He was solid and appeared in control until the last rep or two, when the set was appropriately ended.
Just to touch back on this:
The video was posted by Zach Even-Esh, former T-Nation contributor and a sharp coach who has some great material out there. Disagreeing with methods is fine, of course, just understand that some techniques that might look “wrong” can actually be “right” when used for a specific purpose. There’s also the concept that idealized, textbook-perfect technique isn’t always necessary for productive training, but that’s a whole different discussion in itself.
