Just the sight of the title of this post is going to make the majority of you roll your eyes, but Im asking anyway so fuck off. My gym is small but has everything needed to work out…except a squat rack, there is only a smith machine. I have been working out there for a year becuase its cheap and NO Im not going somewhere else more expensive just for a squat rack lol. Anyway when I first started working out I used the squat as a major weapon to add strength and size and it was the lift I was naturally good at when I started (this was when i was at a big gym with a barbell.
This gym Im at only has the machine, and Ive been relying on leg presses and single leg squats to build up my leg strength since (though being Im a kicker in college big lifts havent helped as much as speed work and plyos). I want to start squatting, my kickoffs need more consistency getting into the endzone so I guess adding some raw power wouldnt hurt plus it helps my other lifts. Is smith machine squatting better tan not squatting at all??? Recommendations? (No I cant use the school weight room Im not in school this semester and its on the other side of the city). Replies would help, thanks…
I can’t really help you much with the smith machine question but you could always clean the weight up to your shoulders and do front squats with it. You could also use two boxes to get the bar high enough and do zerker squats. There are a lot of options if you want to get creative and don’t want to use the smith machine.
snatch grip deadlift on 4" platform
power cleans with more emphasis on getting under the bar and squating the rest of the way up
split squats
zercher squats
front squats
[quote]masterofrhythm wrote:
snatch grip deadlift on 4" platform
power cleans with more emphasis on getting under the bar and squating the rest of the way up
split squats
zercher squats
front squats[/quote]
Agree 100% 10th all of it. The SG DL is an awesome reccomendation
Try doing a power clean followed by a full front squat. Do 4 reps/set (4 cleans/4 front squats). It should smoke you
[quote]squattin600 wrote:
Try doing a power clean followed by a full front squat. Do 4 reps/set (4 cleans/4 front squats). It should smoke you
[/quote]
I totally agree, focus on the full clean to front squat to jerk. Its brutal, effective and efficient. Plus for football players and athletes in general its a great triple extension power movement. Just focus on speed and explosivness and keep the reps in the 2-6 range and the sets in the 8-4 range respectively.
[quote]squattin600 wrote:
Try doing a power clean followed by a full front squat. Do 4 reps/set (4 cleans/4 front squats). It should smoke you
[/quote]
I totally agree, focus on the full clean to front squat to jerk. Its brutal, effective and efficient. Plus for football players and athletes in general its a great triple extension power movement. Just focus on speed and explosivness and keep the reps in the 2-6 range and the sets in the 8-4 range respectively.
Hack squats aren’t a bad exercise either, so long as your Deadlift is higher than your squat for gripping reasons.
Load up a bar with your squat weight like you’re going to deadlift it. Stand with the bar behind you, squat down, grab bar, and start squatting. Depending on your limb length you might have a different RoM, but I’ve used Hack Squats when people were doing stupid shit in the racks and didn’t seem to be leaving anytime soon.
I like the powerclean to front squat idea, but honestly, I can’t for the life of me clean enought weight to really squat heavy.
How about sumo deadlifts? Those will hit your inner thighs, the muscles around your knees, and glutes pretty evenly. Or trap bar deadlifts with a low butt and an upright torso. That’s almost a squat. A
lso, IMO smith machine squats hit the legs harder because your body doesn’t have to waste energy or CNS bracing the core and balancing, so you could use more weight. For the same reason, though, smith machine squats do not hit the core and lower back as well as regular squats.
yes smith machine squats are better than nothing at all, im no expert but if you want to add power to your kickoffs then i think you should put some emphasis your adductors, pectineus, sartorius, and the rest of the hip flexors and for making your kicking leg stronger i think there is a certain emphasis on concentric ROM of the leg or something like that, but i think the best thing is just practice kick offs all the time, just my 2 cents
All smith machines have the adjustable piece for setting the bottom end of the range of motion. I’ve seen a few that have a hooks on them, that can be used to hold a bar. If yours has them, there is a work around.
I dont know how much they can hold, you’d have to look at them, and you wouldn’t have the safety bars on a regular squat rack, but it might be an option. Other option is talking the gym into buying a squat rack. I was working with my gym to get an elephant bar and some other equipment before he went went out of business (but thats another story)
Smith machine is better than nothing at all…you could always buy the bigger bother to the yoke bring that in and squat with it…most gyms don’t allow outside equipment tho
I had the same situation in my gym. However, when I worked up to higher weights above 315lb the Smith Machine became unstable - wobbly, very uncomfortable feeling and probably downright dangerous. So you may find that your will reach a certain point where you cannot progress with the Smith.