Hey guys,
After reading about the Smith Machine and its possible benefits, I was curious what you all think of Hammer Strength Machines? I am a big fan of them myself, especially when I don’t have a spotter and don’t want to do DB’s.
A Powerhouse that I lifted at years ago had Hammer equipment. I think they rock. Especially the seated row that you can do either one arm at a time or both. Unfortunately my current gym doesn’t have any Hammer. They have some pretty kick ass stuff. I used them when I needed a break from weeks of heavy barbell rack work.
My gym has them, and while they are well designed machines you are still stuck in their predesignated plane of motion. You won’t incorporate auxillary muscles for stabilizing, but they are a better option than letting a loaded bar crash on your chest. Our HS Rowing machine is my favorite. Another local gym has a HS shrug machine that I have heard great things about. I HATE the tricep machine they have with a passion…or at least the one that is in my gym.
Why not find someone else working out alone and ask them to spot you during their between rep breaks? That is what I do. I also offer to spot someone should they be in the gym alone. Sometimes people are afraid to ask.
Thanks for asking this question, I am looking forward to hearing what the more veteran lifters have to say.
Where did you read about the benefits of the Smith Machine? Not on this site, maybe from someone trying to sell you a SM?
I like using some of them as the second or third movement for a body part, but I rotate them in and out with other things.
Like anything else (except Smith machines), HS has its place, but I see a lot of people relying on them far too much.
Haven’t used a Hammer Strength equipment in a couple of years. Just got no need for them.
I used to like the shoulder press, row and chest press. But I do other things now that do the job better than those machines.
“Benefits” of the Smith Machine? What? As a expensive coat rack?
Patricia, don’t think of it as expensive, but adjustable! How many coat racks do you know that can change their height so easily?
In the past I tried many of the Hammer Strength machines. I really liked the Shoulder Press and the Seated Leg Curl. However, it’s been a while since I’ve used any machine.
The only lifts I would need a spot on are squats and benches, but I do them both in a power rack with the pins set to the proper height in case I fail.
I used them when I first returned to the gym in the beginning of the year as a break in. They were ok but I don’t see how many people on this site can use them. I’m only 152 lbs and ran out of room for more plates on most of them. Not sure if they are all like the ones in my gym but you can only fit 4 plates on each side which is easy to do since you mostly are swinging it and not lifting it.
Melt them down and make more weight.
I consider Hammer machines to be among the better machines on the market. That said, they’re machines, with all the problems of fixed movement patterns and limited adaptability for extremely tall, short, or obese lifters that come with machines. They’re frequently a good choice for rehabbing, and they’re good for continuing to work the prime movers after the stabilizers are exhausted (assuming you’re a bodybuilder). Their value to athletes is, of course, much more limited. If more than 20% of your training is done on machines at all, though, you probably need to rethink your training.
I gotta agree with Patricia on this one. Damn thing takes up more room than anything, and causes more harm than good IMO. I knew I was in trouble when I asked the owner of my gym to replace the Smith machine with a reverse hyper machine, and gave me a look of perplexion.
My gym has two circuits of Hammer Strength machines–one uses the Hammer Strength plates that you have to load on the machine, and the other circuit is a cable-based system; both are pretty similar. HS machines are good for isolation excercises, and for working around certain injuries. I like them a lot. I mainly use them at the end of a workout and also for dropsets on some excercises.
At another club in town that I rarely go to, they have a curcuit of machines using pneumatic resistance (air pressure). I didn’t feel like trying to figure them out, but has anyone else seen/used these? How are they?
i like using a couple of HS machines for bodybuilding purposes only. everything else i do pretty much consists of high end compound movements and strongman implements. i thinnk it is kind of nice to give my nervous system a bit of a break once a week, so i do things like chest that don’t really get emphasized in SM training.
personal favorites are the seated row, incline chest press, and especially the HS deadlift! a problem that i am starting to run into is how much the machines will hold (kind of a cool problem though 
the DL only goes up to around 500-and since the movement plane is controlled i can do a good # of reps.
PLease petition HS to use longer or multiple loading pins!!!
(ps-i agree that the tricep one sucks)
BTW, by “benefits of the SM,” I meant that there were a few people that thought they were ok for a few isolated movements, but unfortunately, are not all that great. I rarely use them, and actually blew my rotator cuff doing military with them about 6 years ago…
I don’t have much use for most of them, although I do like the shrug machine, I talked about this in a strongman thread, it’s great for the farmers walk grip. Just load it up with however much you’re gonna be carrying in the next show and then hold on for time, once it gets too easy, slide some pipes over the handles to make thick bar holds. Otherwise, I’d rather stick to freeweight stuff.
I like to use HS for a supper set every once in a while with chest press. you can go incline flat and decline relativly easy. But like I said once in a while
They certainly shouldn’t be the core of your program, but what’s wrong with using them for variety?
I think they’re a very smooth operating machine and I love using them to isolate a bodypart at various points in a workout.
I like the lat pulldown (with rev. grip), incline chest press, and another, though I’m unsure how to describe it–you stand in it and it can be used for exploding with the legs and pressing up with the shoulders/upper chest (like a lineman coming off the line and hitting).
Never heard of a DL HS machine–that’s just crazy! The shrug machine is nothing special.
RSU
Our university just got rid of all of our Hammer Strength equipment from the varsity weight room (except for the Jammer). The only peple that complained were the people that really didn’t belong down there - the ‘mature’ lifters (>50 y.o.a.) and the beginning lifters (who really don’t know what they’re doing). The stuff didn’t get used all that often, and the footprint of the machines was huge so it took up way too much space. The leg curl was an especially bad piece of equipment: totally unadjustable, and once you got the weight about 3/4 of the way up, it just ‘fell over’ from gravity.
All we have left down there is power racks, lifting platforms, glute ham, reverse hyper, plyo boxes, bands/chains and a bunch of benchs and db’s. Totally my kind of gym.