The Smith Machine Is Evil!!

Why the Smith Machine Is Evil!!

Recently one of my friends injured himself very badly doing squats on the smith machine which many people will do things such as squats and bench press on. I also knew a large bodybuilder who completely tore his bicep doing curls on a Smith Machine They feel that this is safe because

it has latches and is fixed so in a sense you can self spot yourself. Makes sense doesn't it?? Don't fall for it. This machine is actually in my opinion very hard on your joints and your spine. It forces your body to stay in a limited range of motion not allowing your body to make adjustments through a free range of motion to reposition your center of gravity and the stress on your joints and body. This can lead to an overload in one area causing an injury.

You are better off doing squats and upper body movements with a free bar. On squats squatting with a free bar allows you to move your hips back supporting your spine versus doing them on a smith machine which does not allow the hips to fully work compressing your your discs like an accordion! Use dumbbells or a bar for bench press versus a fixed bar because a smith machine will literally force your shoulder into a position it might not be ready to go causing an injury to the glenohumeral joint or ball and socket shoulder joint at the top of your arm.

The bottom line your body is challenged more with free weights than fixed machines, your joints have to stabilize more, your muscles are worked in more of a 3 dimensional versus one dimensional. They are also safer and allow your body to make adjustments to avoid over stressing an area and properly distributing the load so your body can lift it safely.