I know these are popular machines in the gyms but I have seen many posts (not necessarily on MMA.TV) that tell you to stay away from them, yet no one has really bothered to explain why.
It may be a stupid question and I apologize to anyone in advance, but why the hatred for the Smith Machines?
Just curious.
Hatred may be an overly strong word, but a lot of people don't like them for two main reason:
They "help" you perform the lifts, by providing stabilization that would ordinarily have to be performed by other muscles, besides the "prime movers" of the specific lift. A lot of people believe that this reduces the effectiveness of the lifts, in terms of developing "functional strength." But the thing is, the meaning of functional strength, and the entire idea of cross-over between lifting and sporting activities, is an area of much debate anyway. So how much (if any) less effective are Smith Machine lifts? Nobody can really say.
They force a lift to proceed through a plane of motion that may not be entirely natural. Eg, on a Smith Machine bench, the bar moves straight up and down along the path of the guide rods, where a normal bench will have the bar following a slightly 'S' shaped path. Some people argue that this unnatural motion can contribute to causing injuries. Again, this is an area of debate, not something I would say is considered gospel.
My personal opinion is that both of the aforementioned theories have some merit, but I don't know that either can be quantified. And since the Smith Machine doesn't really seem to offer much in the way of advantages, at least vis-a-vis lifting to assist in athletic competition (bodybuilding excluded), I tend to shy away from using it. OTOH, if someone likes using it, I wouldn't consider it to be a big deal. <shrug> Just my $00.02 worth... take it FWIW.
Thanks for the imput sprhodes. I agree that "hatred" may not be the best choice of words but I have seen posts that simply say "stay away from the Smith Machines" with no explanation as to why.
When I put together my workout at the gym, I could never really get on the Smith Machines because they were always taken so I never really used them. The gym I belong to has them and was wondering if using them would be beneficial or a detriment.
I recommend staying away from it because I don't believe there are any advantages to its use, and thus only possible (likely, imo) disadvantages.
Yet again today I heard a bodybuilder type encourage someone to squat in the smith machine instead of with freeweights, cuz "Freeweight squats put so much strain on your lower back."
Ugh.
Don't you have back problems jon? ;)
sprhodes made a great post.
-doug-
YES but it has nothing to do with squatting (and a lot to do with deadlifting :))