When I first walked into the gym I was really excited because I thought they had bought a proper power rack but then I go look at it and it has me totally confused. It’s like a power rack with a smith machine built into it but the smith machine not only slides the bar vertically but also in the horizontal plain. The Star Trac website has this to say
[italic]The Star Trac Max Rack® is the perfect fusion of free weight Power Rack training with the safety of a Smith Machine. A smooth, natural option for those who prefer an Olympic bar feel but don’t want to sacrifice personal safety or perfect form.[/italic]
So my question is, what the hell is this for? I don’t use a Smith Machine much because I like free weights. Whilst I think they are wrong, I kind of get the idea that someone might feel safer in a smith machine because they can rack the weight at any height and can fix one plane of motion (as per the article on this site a few days ago) So. what I want to know is how is this in any way giving safety? All it does is slightly restrics the movement that you would have with a bar making lifts feel less natural and smooth.
Given that my gym doesn’t have enough clips for all the bars that we have it seems a really odd choice of how to spend money. It’s ok for me on one level because I can just rack the smith bar at the back and use it as a power cage however I wish they had used the money to buy a normal power cage and a couple of new bars and some more clips.
hahaha my olg gym had one of those too. i used it for chin-ups. every now and then i’d do a couple very creaky powercleans or something and roll my eyes at the gym employees…
I think it just largely depends on how you train. I use just a few pieces of equipment:
Rack
Bench
Barbell
Dumbbells
Pull-Up & Dip bars
Thats really it. I personally find little use for machines. To each their own of course. If I were a bodybuilder, I could see a HUGE benefit in the Smith machine.
[quote]Evolv wrote:
I think it just largely depends on how you train. I use just a few pieces of equipment:
Rack
Bench
Barbell
Dumbbells
Pull-Up & Dip bars
Thats really it. I personally find little use for machines. To each their own of course. If I were a bodybuilder, I could see a HUGE benefit in the Smith machine.[/quote]
i’m an oly lifter. oly lifting ain’t so fun (or safe) in a smith machine. even a fancy one like this that (apparently though actually no) allows you to get other than perfectly vertical bar path.
My gym invested in one of these units recently - a rope climbing machine.
I love chins, pull-ups and most bodyweight exercises in general, so I was excited to give it a try. Even on the hardest setting, it is still pretty easy.
For real. I used the smith machine for years for chest movements and for shoulders. Don’t see what’s so evil about one.[/quote]
I don’t so much think a smith machine is evil, I just don’t think they are optimal by any means. What really pisses me of about them, and this isn’t really the smith machines fault, is that many commercial gyms (I know, places we shouldn’t be if this is the case) would rather spend thousands on one and not even have a power rack.
I would rather use a power rack any day, and personally care nothing for the smith machine. The only machines I have ever used which I miss are the hammer strength ones in a gym I am no longer a member of.
We have a Star Trac as well and the only good purpose it serves is the fact it has a chin up bar along the top. Some of the things I see going on in that thing are the thing of nightmares…
