smith machine - please explain the actual problems

[sfischer]

Hi Everybody,

I am a SS novice, and have been making good progress, with a lot of excellent input from people on this forum. I love it, and am committed.

I have a friend who wants to join me, but has significant family financial constraints, so can't join a standard gym. Thus, he is considering Planet Fitness. Please withhold sarcastic comments, they won't be helpful.

I need to explain to my friend the limitations of a Smith machine for squats.

I have read about 15 threads on this forum about Smith machines, and can't find any that actually explains the problem with the machine. Almost all the comments are uninformative jokes.

I of course understand that it removes the benefit of using stabilizing muscles.

But can you please help me understand the other issues, such as the bar path, joint injury, muscles not used, etc, so I can in turn explain to my friend.

Thanks,
S

[melody]

There are lots of gym chains that cost $10-15 that have squat racks. Anytime fitness usually does.

[Les Hahn]

Usually YMCA's have discounts for people that have lower incomes. I actually know some people that get free memberships because of that. Most YMCA's have all the normal equipment you need for running SS.

[Cody]

Be sure to read through Rip's articles posted as a sticky in his forum. You can fall down when squatting with a barbell, while the Smith requires no balance. This is a major theme of the Starting Strength method, and is also part of why we do standing press instead of seated press. There are more reasons (for both exercises), but this is the obvious one.

[Adam Skillin]

Back squatting in the smith machine will mess up your knees. Front squats in the smith machine are probably okay from a safety point of view, but they're very, very inferior for getting strong, according to our exercise selection criteria.

[Tiburon]

I can't find any threads about why it is a bad idea to masturbate with my Scrub Daddy.

[sfischer]

Adam,

My interpretation of what you said is:
- back squats on smith will mess up knees
- front squats are ok, but front squats are inferior to back squats.

Is that right?

Can you take a moment to elaborate on the knee issue in the smith machine? Is that the only problem with it?

Thanks a lot,
s

[scwot]

I can't find any threads about why it is a bad idea to masturbate with my Scrub Daddy.

You're on the wrong forum if you want an answer for that.

[Brian Jones]

I can't find any threads about why it is a bad idea to masturbate with my Scrub Daddy.

Y U Want Scrub Daddy? Make You Walk Funny . .

[Adam Skillin]

Adam,

My interpretation of what you said is:
- back squats on smith will mess up knees
- front squats are ok, but front squats are inferior to back squats.

Is that right?

Can you take a moment to elaborate on the knee issue in the smith machine? Is that the only problem with it?

Thanks a lot,
s

I think you missed a lot of what I said, actually. I'm saying that back squats on a Smith machine are both unsafe and ineffective. Front squats on a smith machine are mostly just ineffective.

The mechanics enforced by having to not fall over with a loaded barbell are normal (in the proper sense of the word) and safe, and the ability to do all kinds of weird shit (technical jargon, I know) with your own position in relation to the load and still go up and down without falling over in the Smith machine results in injuries. The knee is probably the most susceptible joint in the kinetic chain to this kind of tomfoolery, which is why it's so commonly injured by people trying to "squat" in a smith machine.