smith machine.. yes
It has that, but I want it because it has a pullup bar and a dip bar
why do you people not like the smith machine anyway.. cheating or something
Originally posted by norther practitioner
why do you people not like the smith machine anyway.. cheating or something
I’ve never liked them. I think it’s 'cuz of the way it takes the load off of all the muscles that steady the weight for me. Kinda like using a weight belt during normal workouts, leaves out all the muscles I’d be using to keep my body in proper form. So I guess it would be sorta kinda like cheating…
Well, cheating plus they increase likelihood of injury. Don’t ask me why or how, that’s just what I’ve heard - Iron or Ford will chip in with the reason. I’ve never liked or really used them.
Well, here is the thing…
- It was free
- It has a lat pull down
- It has a chin/pull up bar
- It has dip bars
so, even if I don’t really use the smith machine part of it, it has a couple other things I was looking for.
I’m at the point where my upper body is catching up to my lower body. I want to keep progress going with squats, but I have no problem squatting what my upper body has some issues with holding. I was planning on splitting up my routine, doing my warmup with the regular bar, then going to the smith to do a few more at a higher wieght to get stronger. I was scared of hurting my back or something because of the strength I currently have there in comparison to my legs. I’m not sure the Smith machine will help that, or cause a greater chance of that. I’m working to catch myself up (but it is a pain finding good back excersises). Currently I am doing an upward row type thing with dumbbells, curls, this extension thing when I’m on my bench (one knee and hand supporting), bench press and thats about it upper body wise.
Smith Machine - bad, bad, bad.
Aside from the cheating thing, they force you into a bad position so that you lift with poor form and put too much stress onto the lower back. Among other things!
Serp beat me to it. Anyway, the bit that the heavy lifts are hard on is your mid-section, front and back. So I’d rather do some heavy stomach and lower back work for that than try to lift more than you feel you can on the smith. Of course, if you asked me about lower back work I’d say squat and deadlift anyway, so that doesn’t really help :D. Ford’ll say reverse hypers I guess - you could do those. Stomach? Again, personal preference towards Jandas but there are plenty of other options.
couldn’t find a good link to pics of Jandas at google…some sort of ab exercise…can anyone point me to some?
NP,
It can cause MAJOR damage to your knees. This is cut&pasted from another one of my posts because I’m lazy:
"See, if you lean against something while squatting, you’re hamstrings are all but removed from the movement. At and past parallel, in order you keep your back against whatever you’re leaning on, your femur must be pushed directly back. Good ol’ Newton’s Laws of Motion dictate that the femur will push right back… on your knee. Since your hamstring is not contracting, the knee is not held as tightly as it’s supposed to be (the hamstring would pull back on your lower leg and tighten the joint) and it shears at the knee. Significant knee damage can result with prolonged use.
This is the same thing that gives Smith Machine’s a bad name and why most people call them “knee shredders”."
What about other excersises with it other than squats? It’s looking like I’ll just set it up enough to do pullups and dips with it then.
Originally posted by Ford Prefect
[B]NP,
It can cause MAJOR damage to your knees. This is cut&pasted from another one of my posts because I’m lazy:
"See, if you lean against something while squatting, you’re hamstrings are all but removed from the movement. At and past parallel, in order you keep your back against whatever you’re leaning on, your femur must be pushed directly back. Good ol’ Newton’s Laws of Motion dictate that the femur will push right back… on your knee. Since your hamstring is not contracting, the knee is not held as tightly as it’s supposed to be (the hamstring would pull back on your lower leg and tighten the joint) and it shears at the knee. Significant knee damage can result with prolonged use.
This is the same thing that gives Smith Machine’s a bad name and why most people call them “knee shredders”."
[/B]
Yes.
NP,
It’s mostly the squats. For anything else you need to be careful of any machine that jams you into one range of motion. For some, it might be a 100% natural ROM, but for others it could cause joint damage. If the ROM feels “forced” at all while you are trying the exercise, I’d recommend not doing it.
Originally posted by Ford Prefect
[B]NP,
It can cause MAJOR damage to your knees. This is cut&pasted from another one of my posts because I’m lazy:
"See, if you lean against something while squatting, you’re hamstrings are all but removed from the movement. At and past parallel, in order you keep your back against whatever you’re leaning on, your femur must be pushed directly back. Good ol’ Newton’s Laws of Motion dictate that the femur will push right back… on your knee. Since your hamstring is not contracting, the knee is not held as tightly as it’s supposed to be (the hamstring would pull back on your lower leg and tighten the joint) and it shears at the knee. Significant knee damage can result with prolonged use.
This is the same thing that gives Smith Machine’s a bad name and why most people call them “knee shredders”."
[/B]
Good stuff! Thanks Ford.
Originally posted by Serpent
[every time I enter and leave the room, I bust out a few pullups or chinups.
I always thought they were the same thing. What’s the difference?
One has your palms facing you, the other has your palms facing out.
Yep. Pullups is wide pronated grip (palms face away from you). Chinups is a narrow supinated grip (palms towards you).
Then, of course, there are numerous variations of those, plus side to sides with a neutral grip, rope/towel overwrap pullups, etc., etc.
Originally posted by Oso
couldn’t find a good link to pics of Jandas at google…some sort of ab exercise…can anyone point me to some?
Serp’s link is a good’un. But you don’t need an Ab Pavelizer ™ to do them. Those cost a fortune. I made one up out of some scrap pine, dowel and 3/8" bolts. I find a training partner “easiest” to do the action right, but I like the machine too and that’s what I use most of the time.
Yeah, I should have mentioned that. I had no intention of giving Pavel a free plug. You can often find stuff around the home and garden to use anyway and still do decent Jandas.
Thanks for all the replies guys..
I am going to put it together next weekend or so when I have some time. I might just leave the smith machine off and figure out how to do so I just have the pullup and dip bars.