I know free weight squats are better then squatting on the smith machine, but will i see any different results on doing my squats on the smith machine then free weights?
Why do you ask?
Squatting in the smith machine would be better than not squatting, but not by much. Just learn to squat with free weights.
Not to be rude or anything but why do you think people say they’re better with freeweights? It’s certainly not because of all the chicks you pick up grunting and groaning with heavy things on your back. . .
It depends on your goals but in general you’ll get much better hypertrophy, strength and transferable strength gains squatting with free weights over squatting on a smith machine.
However, if your goal is to get better at squatting on smith machine . . .
STU
Sturat already covered most.
Also, if you do smith machine squats instead of free weight squats, you lose all of the “athletic quality” that free weight squats give you (namely, more core strength and better balance).
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve never felt a smith machine squat work my abs like a free weight squat…
and its on a set path chosen bya machine rather than by your body.
Supr,
What the group is trying to say is this: In virtually every case free weights are better than machines. Supporting muscles and balance are used with free weights.
[qote]and its on a set path chosen bya machine rather than by your body. [/quote}
Bingo. And due to this fact, you’re ROM is limited on the smith machine. If you ever observe others performing Smith Machine Squats, you’ll notice that they very rarely hit parallel.
It’s clear to me that I can handle MUCH more weight on machines than otherwise. Once I noticed that doing a DB shoulder press free standing was more difficult than simply sitting with back support, I had to really think about how much was ME using MUSCLE and how much was a MACHINE using LEVERAGE. I decided I’d be embarrassed to stay part of T-Nation if I counted leveraged poundages as real weight moved.
And there are simply many more parts of the body that are recruited when you have to balance that weight on your shoulders. I’ve seen trainers at my gym show Smith Machine squatters how to do it “the better way” with your feet well forward of the bar. You are essentially leaning backwards during your squat, which is not the angle you want, and I don’t believe my legs are getting the workout they SHOULD be.
It’s a point-of-personal-pride thing now.
Not squatting is better than smith machine squatting.
“I know free weight squats are better then squatting on the smith machine, but will i see any different results on doing my squats on the smith machine then free weights?”
You say you know they are better, then proceed to ask if you’ll see different results. Don’t you think you’d get better results if they are better? You know the answer to this. Are you afraid of hard work or something? What a question…
All of the points made here are true… in short free squatting is always better than machine squatting. One point that I have to make though that people often don?t realize and Charles Poliquin and Paul Chek have often pointed out is that smith machine squats are THE BEST WAY OF DESTROYING your knees!! Think about it… in regular squats you have your stabilizers helping you out, you need more balance hence less weight than if supported by a machine. With machines you can handle more weight since you don?t need to balance the weights. In short, this means more load on your joints(in this case the knees). I have personally seen many people ruin their knees with just one smith machine squatting session… be smart, don?t be one of them.
i know free weights are better but it just that my gym doesnt have a squat rack so the only safe way for me of dong squats is on the smith machine.
To belabor Reggie’s points, smith machine squatting puts undue shear forces on the knee…draw a free body diagram a la physics 101. There is NEVER, EVER a reason to do them…EVER, no exceptions.
My advice would be to find a gym with a squat rack…there probably exists one somewhere close by. If money is tight and you cannot, deadlift instead.
Personally, I wouldn’t join, nor even workout at gym without a squat rack, for the gym and its clientele are clearly not geared toward people with strength training ambition. Bad atmosphere for those who wish to progress, IMO
I too lifted at a gym without a squat rack and the only available alternative was to use a smith machine. For me, it was a lot better than not sqatting at all. (I could get well below parallel by the way) Foot placement is a real bastard- not getting your feet in the right place can really mess things up. Being locked into a straight line of motion by the machine is really tough on the knees and lower back.
Look carefully at someone lifting a free weight- very rarely does the weight travel in a competely straight line. I’ve since purchased my own power rack and there’s no comparison. No knee pain, no back trouble, and it feels a hell of a lot better to be able to move in a more natural way. I wouldn’t recommend anyone squat in a machine unless it’s a last resort.
PS: Anyone know the record distance for a smith machine hammer toss?
Not even as a last resort.
Just say no.
“And due to this fact, you’re ROM is limited on the smith machine. If you ever observe others performing Smith Machine Squats, you’ll notice that they very rarely hit parallel.”
I would say that this is in correct statement. True that most indviduals that do Smith machine squats are not going to parallel or below parallel but thats not because of the machine. It’s the indvidual. I have done smith machine squats and have gone below parallel. I do agree however W/ Check and Poqulin that the Smith Machine is damaging to the knees under extreme loads.
If thats the only equipment that you gym has that allowes you to do squats. I don’t think there’s a problem unless you are squating w/ heavy loads.
In health,
Silas C.
The goofballs in my gym rarely ever hit parelell even with a free bar.
I watched this gomez warm up with an empty bar, squatted deep. Then he immediately throws two plates each on.
Can anyone guess what he did next?
1/4 squat!! This ego schmuck was across town from parelell!!
I asked him what the bar looked like when he went ass to calves.
(Two points to the person who can guess what he and his buddy told me.)
" Squatting past 90 degrees is bad for your knees"!!!
Then he puts on another 50lbs and squats even higher!! THEN goes over to the leg curl machine!!!
I want a power rack for Christmas. I’m so tired of idiots in smith machines, curling in the rack, telling me I’ll shoot my eye out.
Sorry for the hijack Supr@, I needed to vent.
Billy
Smith machines make good towel racks.
BillyBoy,
I feel your pain. I work at a corporate gym and I am trying my dammdest to get people to start squatting more. And as you alluded to already, what is their main reason for not squatting…(bad for the knees). And even if I do see someone squatting, it is usually in the Smith Machine cause they fear the power rack. Its a viscious cycle!
Supr@, you could do hack squats without a squat rack. This is where you squat while holding the bar with your arms hanging down, holding the bar behind you.