Hopping on the Smith Machine – Hands-free!

Before I go into why working at a Smith machine is so important to me, do you know what a Smith z machine is?  A quick summary from Wikipedia is:

The Smith machine is a weight machine used for weight training. It consists of a barbell that is fixed within steel rails allowing only vertical or near-vertical movement. Some Smith machines have the barbell counterbalanced. The machine can be used for a wide variety of exercises though it is most commonly used to perform “Smith machine squats”.

So, you would go on the Smith machine to safely be spotted on squats as there is a catch that will hold the bar when you need to rest it rather than is just fall to the ground.

Even more, if you brought a bench from the free weight area, you could also lower the bar and do bench press or lying hip extensions, a veriatty of exercises where you might be concerned about safety.

So this with machine was designed with this bar they can slide up and down with safety in mind for the user When I was at the Smith machine yesterday, balancing myself by leaning slightly against the bar while I did Lateral raises and front raises for my shoulders, I felt safe. I didn’t feel like I wasn’t in anybody’s way, I didn’t feel like I was unsafe. I will just look longingly at the Smith machine from a distance, while it is occupied by another gym member , Or because I just don’t feel up to it. It was a dream come true to be able to get on this machine during this empty Christmas holiday week.