Like most gyms, the one
where I work out has only one squat rack. In most globo-gyms this
probably wouldn't be a problem as people overwhelmingly – and
mistakenly – prefer working out on machines rather than lifting
free weights. But the PCYC gym I use in Cairns is a bit of a
meat-head gym and there are a lot of dudes (almost universally they
are men) who use the squat rack. I try to work out between 7 am and
8 am, which, as far as I can tell, is around the “golden hour”
for the squat rack being free.
My gym also has a Smith
machine which the guys will occasionally use, but is much more
popular among women. I'm not a fan of any machine lifts. Unless you
are training for a body building competition, I think time in the gym
is better spent doing some of the big lifts (squats, deadlifts, rows,
etc.) and using your own stabiliser muscles to move the weight rather
than relying on a machine. Using a Smith machine instead of
squatting with a bar seems a bit like doing plank exercises to work
your “core.” When you actually have to move something around in
the real world, it is seldom, if ever, on a pulley and a track.
Similarly, when we need to stabilise our trunk to move weight we
virtually never do so in a static position.
Overhead squat with Roland's 20 kg ski pack
People do some really weird
things on a Smith machine they'd never get away with using an Olympic
bar and weights. They tilt way back on their heels, they pulse up
and down in ultra-quick tempo like some demented 70's aerobics tape,
or they wiggle their butts about like a pollinating bee. So, when
the squat rack was busy this morning, I approached the Smith machine
with some trepidation. From all my observations it seemed well nigh
impossible to do a proper squat on a Smith machine.
I did a few warm-up sets and
then plopped 50 kg onto the Olympic bar. This sounds frightfully
impressive as I don't weigh that much over 50 kg, but really it's
not. The cage has some kind of pulley mechanism and the bar moves up
and down on a track so you aren't really moving 50 kg. Luckily, I
was only one set into my work-out when the squat rack came free and I
quickly switched over – and dropped the weight a couple of
kilograms.
I did learn, however, that you can do a proper
full depth squat on a Smith machine. That doesn't mean you should, but
you can.
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