squats with the smith machine?

[chadochofive23]

ARe squats with the smith machine effective? do they work and are they a good exercise?

[Skuzz]

The require work, but the are NOT a replacement for Regular squats. You are locked in to a certian plane of travel, you dont get to use your stabilizer muscles, and generally a sub-par excercise.

[tino124]

[IntraVol]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ari Gold is the man! Consistently holding 6% body fat!

I wonder if there is an exercise to exercise the 'Cu*t Muscle' ... LoL.

Enjoy.

[Tommy W.]

Smith squats have their place. generally used for feet farther forward squats. These really target and isolate the quads well

[Ironlife]

ARe squats with the smith machine effective? do they work and are they a good exercise?

lol

[DJSTARER]

Smith squats have their place. generally used for feet farther forward squats. These really target and isolate the quads well

otherwise known as hacksquats. front squatting would cover that

[That70sShowDude]

You HAVE to do free weighted squats. Period.

[Karaim]

You HAVE to do free weighted squats. Period.

You don't HAVE to do anything.

[Karaim]

ARe squats with the smith machine effective? do they work and are they a good exercise?

They can be effective depending on your goals.

[Tommy W.]

You don't HAVE to do anything.

haha true!

[Freakzila]

You HAVE to do free weighted squats. Period.

Jay Cutler did NOT do free weighted squats in his training for the 2009 Olympia.
He did... (Drum Roll)... smith machine squats. source: Flex Magazine.

Smith Machine Squats, personaly I love em. and you will see results.

[optimus1]

I like to mix them in especially when I'm not feeling the energy for free-weight ones. They hit the legs differently but like a lot of smith exercises, they're worth trying depending on your body type.

[DJSTARER]

Jay Cutler did NOT do free weighted squats in his training for the 2009 Olympia.
He did... (Drum Roll)... smith machine squats. source: Flex Magazine.

Smith Machine Squats, personaly I love em. and you will see results.

poor example. Don't always do what the pro's do. There is no doubt in my mind that Jay Cutler did a TON of free squatting back when he was as small as the rest of the guys on this forum. I'm not even going to address the difference pharmaceuticals make.

[Iain2008]

to answer this thread, leave smith machine squats well alone. You can't beat real squats, or front squats. Lunges or the leg press would probably be the next best thing.

[DJSTARER]

to answer this thread, leave smith machine squats well alone. You can't beat real squats, or front squats. Lunges or the leg press would probably be the next best thing.

IMO, front squats rule over the other variations, but most people cannot properly perform a front squat to do wrist, shoulder, ankle, hip and hamstring flexibility

[Iain2008]

IMO, front squats rule over the other variations, but most people cannot properly perform a front squat to do wrist, shoulder, ankle, hip and hamstring flexibility

Yea I meant both front and back squats are the best leg exercises you can do. The only problem I have with front squats is keeping my elbows up when it gets heavy. First load of reps is ok but after that just gets awkward and im afraid im gonna drop it.

[SmithMachineGuy]

Squats with the smith machine are effective and they are a good excercise.

[pballguy86]

Effective, but not a direct replacement for free weighted squats.

[Memorial93]

Dorian said this so take a look at your structure and see if you fit:

Narrow hip structure / longish legs. Yates always said that he DID do squats for a time but they also almost made him quit because of how he started to respond later to them. He instead did smith squats and hack squats and his legs were amazing.

Do each exercise for about 2-4 weeks and see where it gets you. And there is nothing wrong with mixing them up every now and then.

[DaveBriggs]

i imagine a smith machine would make front squats a hell of alot easier. i find after doing 2-3 sets i am far more breathless than i get with normal squats and they send my quads to sleep.

takes a while to learn to take the weight all the way down, the weight pulls you forward when you first start doing them but with time you learn to sit down with the weight centred. definatly an exercise worth sticking with.

smith machine squats are awkward. i do not like them very much but i am sure with time to adapt to them it can become a very productive exercise. will be a bit of a shock for those who only squat in a smith machine..if your squatting a 100kgs for 5 reps in the smith you can bet you won't be able to that with freeweights without alot of practise

[Memorial93]

Front squats on the smith machine were a bitch for me. With just a barbell, it's much more simple because it is a self correcting exercise.

Here is something I found I do now:
I did smith squats for about 3 weeks and then just stopped to focus on regular squats and front squats and now that I have my form down, smith squats just aren't right for me.

[brighamw]

Squats with the smith machine are effective and they are a good excercise.

Says the SmithMachineGuy

[NICKPA]

Effective, but not a direct replacement for free weighted squats.

this.

[IntraVol]

Yea I meant both front and back squats are the best leg exercises you can do. The only problem I have with front squats is keeping my elbows up when it gets heavy. First load of reps is ok but after that just gets awkward and im afraid im gonna drop it.

This is when the 'Sting Ray' squat device comes in handy.

Enjoy.

[Tommy W.]

With any exercise on the Smith you must realize that the weight is in a fixed plane of 90 degrees. You need to examine what your movement will be and if it is not a 90 degree movement then it is not the correct equipment for the exercise

tw

[jurassic5]

I know I've heard some opposition (and some in favor) of the smith machine for squats, but for someone like me whose gym doesn't have a squat rack, what should my leg workouts be if the smith is out of the question? I've been doing smith squats for about a month and they've done real well (no knee issues so far) but I definitely don't want to get any long term injuries.

The other stuff my gym has is a hack squat machine, leg press, leg extension and the leg raises (mainly just machines).

[ironwill2008]

ARe squats with the smith machine effective? do they work and are they a good exercise?

Leave squatting on a Smith to more-experienced trainees who have already built a good pair of quads and are in the process of refining them. Noobs should stick with free-weight versions of everything. More muscle and CNS recruitment and the quicker progress that comes with them are the benefit.

[.Zaher.]

Smith squats have their place. generally used for feet farther forward squats. These really target and isolate the quads well

^this

[DL23]

I don't see anything wrong with using smith machines for doing squats although I feel that free weight squats are much more productive and will encourage proper form more than a smith machine will. Ultimately, load is load so you will see results using either method, however free weight squats will yeild these results faster.