Equipment Issues

morningmud

I’m only starting week 2 so for now I’m ok with the equipment my gym has. However, when I get to heavier weight, I am not sure how to best work with it.

The closest they have to a squat rack is this:

http://www.startracusa.com/pc-14-2-max-rack.aspx


I know it’s really more a smith machine and not so much what I should be using. In case you can’t see very well in the pic, it has a bar that is fixed to bars on each side; it moves horizontally and vertically but still provides side-to-side balance that I wouldn’t get from a detached bar. I’m using it for now but would like to switch to a detached bar. However, I would feel much safer if I had the safety rail that this rack has. Also, when I try using it for OHP, it doesn’t allow me to lift as high as I should.

I thought maybe I could take another bar off the bench they have and take it into the rack to use the little things the rack bar rests on to assist with OHP, and to be able to use that safety rail. No luck there, that bar has thicker sections on it that interfere with placing it on the rack.

Sorry I’m not explaining myself very well; I'm an awful writer. :laugh:

Any suggestions as to how I can work around these issues?

morningmud

Is my question that dumb? :noway:

chubby_checkers

Sometimes it takes awhile before ypu get a response.

My personal experience is the Smith isn't that great. I had both knee and back problems with it from bad form. Medhi has an article about it: http://stronglifts.com/why-you-should-always-squat-with-free-weights/

I think using dumbbells would probably be better than the Smith, for now. As your weights increase, you may want to find a gym that has a squat (or power) rack.

DaniH826

I looked at that rack, and can't you use a free-standing bar to just use the front part of it as a proper squat rack and leave the back part be?

morningmud

I looked at that rack, and can't you use a free-standing bar to just use the front part of it as a proper squat rack and leave the back part be?

That's what I had planned to do but the bar has 2" wide section that is thicker than the rest of the bar and is spaced so that it doesn't sit level on the rest things (such technical language, haha). I'm thinking maybe I could still do it that way as it does fit, just with one side higher than the other due to that thicker section. But I guess that may not be very safe once I get a good bit of weight on the bar... Or would that be ok as long as I use the collars?

DaniH826

So the bar is going to sit slanted rather than horizontal?

The 2" sections are always on the ends, so both ends should still sit even with each other, or no? Looks to me like they have the bar sitting on the racks with the thinner part, so can't you duplicate that on the front end of the rack with a free bar?

Either way, you will have to balance the bar yourself if you lift it out, even from a perfectly horizontal squat rack. One of the points of free weights training is to strengthen your stabilization muscles such as your abs, etc. That's where the Smith machine is a big fail because it "balances" things for you and forces your body to follow the machine movement path, rather than a naturally designed path that engages those core muscles and whatnot.

For safety reasons, I'd practice with the empty bar first befor you add any weights. The collars *should* hold the weights in, but not all weights, bars, and collars are created equal, and mechanical failure can and will happen. So just keep that in the back of your head, always, when working around gym equipment just like you would working around other stuffs out there that can potentially hurt you badly.

Maybe the gym owners can return that useless fancy piece of $3000 equipment and buy at least a half dozen proper lifting cages instead for what that thing cost them. Just saying. :laugh:

Amazing1985RSD

Can you change gyms?

morningmud

It's the free bar that has the thicker sections that will not rest on the rack levelly due to the spacing of them v/s the spacing of the rack's holder thingy. So it would only be unlevel while it's resting and not while in use. I am used to using free bars as they have some pre-weighted bars that I've used a good bit but they only have those up to 50 lb.

It's a women only gym that I feel really comfortable in. I may be moving to another town soon though so I don't want to change gyms until I know where I stand with that.

DaniH826

Ok so I spent some time reading up on that thing and people's opinions on it and they seem to be very divided.

Free weights are of course ideal, but that rack is probably better than not squatting at all. Supposedly it gives you 360 degree mobility if you so desire? Maybe you just have to find out the bells and whistles and how to adjust it to give you a free weight approximation, and make sure you control the form of your own movements and that your core gets engaged when squatting.

In other words, the closer you can get to free bar movements using that rack, the better off you'll be, for the sake of your knees and overall form. If you don't let it become a crutch and let it do movements and balancing for you, it may actually do you for a while, barring better alternatives.

If you're going to use a regular bar on it, then I would think you should check with the gym owner first due to liability issues since you'll be using the rack outside its intended purpose. Or not. Maybe they have a bar that'll fit but nobody's using because free weight barbell training isn't exactly all the rage in a lot of women-only gyms. It certainly won't hurt to ask.

My 2 cents are gleaned from reading up on forum debates and product reviews, not first-hand knowledge, so whatever that's worth to you.

morningmud

Yea, I don't think the staff would appreciate my using the free bar in it. I think I will just do what I can with the free bar and the rest in the rack. For now anyway as I will likely move once I find a job.

Thanks so much for you help. :happy:

faeriewings1

It wont hurt to ask the gym if you can use a free bar in it, it looks like it would work.