A place to talk about fitness and health on Farcaster.

Fitness

I enjoy smith machine squats a lot more than barbell (mainly bc easier to have good form and hit ass to grass). 

Any downsides to not doing barbell?

As long as I’m lifting heavy and pushing, shouldn’t matter too much right?

/toc Writing at terminallyonchain.xyz | co-host /latenightcrew

You might ask yourself, "why is it easier", and the answer probably is that the machine is doing work that you're depriving your body from doing.

Basically what everyone else is saying about missing stabilization muscle and core activation but phrased a little differently.

Head of Engineering @ Bitwise | Arsenal fan, cyclist, poker enthusiast | @purple #143 🟪 

Can you name a "stabilization muscle" that needs to be worked that isn't worked by machines? I'm not folding in half on Hack Squat machine, so I assume my core is doing something...

this study on Smith Machine vs Free Weight bench precess found "Activation [of medial deltoid] was significantly greater on the free weight bench press compared to the Smith machine bench press... " -

"There was no difference in anterior delt and pec across modes and experience levels"

Not sure about you, but I do not bench for side delt growth.  Absolutely nobody benches for side delt growth. I do upright rows and lat raises to directly target that muscle group.

this study on Smith Machine vs Free Weight bench precess found "Activation [of medial deltoid] was significantly greater on the free weight bench press compared to the Smith machine bench press... " - https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/abstract/2010/01001/a_comparison_of_muscle_activation_between_a_smith.143.aspx