Alright, we all make fun of these things but can anyone think of a REAL use for a Smith Machine? Or are they really just overpriced coat racks? Just curious if anyone has come across a legit smith machine exercise…
Top Ten Uses for a Smith Machine
-
Pull/chin-up bar.
-
Limbo bar.
-
Coat rack.
-
Hammock stand.
-
Place to point the newbies so they stay out of your way.
-
Adjustable ledge for girls in tiny shorts to prop their legs up on and stretch on (I have witnessed this).
-
Guillotine prop in a play.
-
Use for ballistic benching.
-
"You must be taller than this: " prop in front of a roller coaster.
-
Good place to bend a hottie over.
i wouldnt waste my money on it. Way overpriced coat hanger… Ballastic bench is the only thing that comes to my mind that makes the smith machine any useful at all. You’ll achieve the same thing by simply throwing medicine ball or power push up.
Close grip bench press is the only thing I use it for. I just read an idea (here?) that I’ll try: One-Armed Negatives - push up with both arms, lower with just one arm, alternate. It sounds interesting.
That’s what I thought…My favorite use for the smith machine was voiced by ol’ Charles Poliquin several years ago when he wrote that if someone was bugging him for training advice while he was training he would tell them to go do 10 sets of squats on the smith machine just to spite them. Funny stuff…
Calf raises are really the only legit exercise I can think of for a smith machine.
I have used for:
- Inverted pull ups
- Push ups with hand placements I use for bench press
- I use the top of the rack to choke a band around for face pulls. That way I can allow the squat rack to be used the way it is supposed to be used.
- That bend the hottie over exercise sounds great.
- Other than that it keeps the pansies out of the squat rack.
I’ve used one for…
- Warming up for pull-ups/chin-ups using the frame (the bar is too low).
- Inverted bodyweight rows.
- Calf raises off a box.
Other possible uses:
4) Gymnastics, set up kinda like the uneven bars.
5) Smith-machine dragging in the parking lot, used as GPP.
6) Hook toes over bar and perform handstand push-ups.
7) …
That’s all I got.
I have a nice dynamic loaded stretch for the hammies that lends itsef to PNF-like patterns as well.
Put a bench under the smith, put some weight on the bar (I use 20% of my max squat). Lie on the bench with ips under the bar, lift one leg and put it on the bar… and press. Keep the other leg lowered (and perhaps anchored) to keep the pelvis from tilting. The bottom stretches the glute maxiumus and medius, the top end stretches the hamstring. The nice thing is that the contraction of the quads at the top causes neural inhibition of the hamstring for a deper stretch. As you progress, either shift your hips lower than the bar, or incline the bench.
I hereby dub this excersise the “Tracer Press”
Inverted body rows = inverted pushups, I’ll be the third guy to say this. That’s all I’ve ever done on a smith machine. I will also second whoever said it keeps other people out of my way. Very useful machine, just not in the way you might think. I wish we had more of them at my gym.
[quote]bikejames wrote:
That’s what I thought…My favorite use for the smith machine was voiced by ol’ Charles Poliquin several years ago when he wrote that if someone was bugging him for training advice while he was training he would tell them to go do 10 sets of squats on the smith machine just to spite them. Funny stuff…[/quote]
Ah, the old functional exercise debate.
Funnier stuff:
The Poliquin Principles, page 20, Poliquin’s Advanced Bodybuilding Workout
Day 3, AM: Thighs, Abs
A. Smith Machine Back Squat, 5 Sets, 12,10,6,4,25 - 301 tempo, 180 secs rest.
Ian King has a great rant (I think on this site) about this issue.
[quote]RickJames wrote:
Top Ten Uses for a Smith Machine
- "You must be taller than this: " prop in front of a roller coaster.
[/quote]
That’s just too funny!
i like to hit drop-set shoulder front presses…i throw like 6 - 8 dimes on each side, go to failure and have my buddy strip a dime off each side…then (no rest) hit it again to failure until all the plates are gone…then again, go to failure with the bar.
\m/