Smith Machines are great!

Smith machines have their place.. like for squats it takes the weight off certain muscles and targets glutes instead. Perhaps if you have no spotter and need to push that 1 max rep I guess. I prefer free weights, but my terrible gym doesn't have a proper bench.. it's a hybrid squat rack/bench and the only other option is a smith machine -_-

i loveee it for squats and lunges. i feel it so much more in my glutes than when i use a free bar

I love smith machines personally...I like to keep one to two weights sessions a week for my lower body, and I find it really hard to get my squatting posture right so smith machine makes this easy for me to get done...I know you might say I should invest time in getting the technique right but for me running is my main exercise (marathon soon..eek!) so I dont have the time at the moment to start messing round getting my technique spot on \i just need to get some lifting done and get out on the road ;-)

\also as someone who has only recently started lifting in a very male dominated gym, the machines do have their uses for feeling more comfortable getting started :-)

thats my smith machine sales pitch over!!

lol I watched that video and now all the ads on my computer are urging me to purchase a power rack

everything in the gym has a place and purpose from the power racks to the benches to the smith machines. just because you dont use a certain piece of equipment or dont know how to use it dont knock it.

smith machine is handy for me... i work my calves on leg days and i work my traps and shoulders on those days using the smith machine. It is also good when i am in a rush and somebody else is using the power rack i can get my squats in

They're great if you're trying to work around injuries. I've been rehabing a rotator cuff and not having to use as many stabilizers has allowed me to do some modified shoulder presses without pain. Also, front squats are sooo much better on the smith machine; I can even do higher reps and go really deep without my elbows dropping. If used in the proper context the smith machine can be awesome.

Smith Machines are great for drawing the attention of idiots away from the power racks so the rest of us can actually work.

Smith Machines are great for drawing the attention of idiots away from the power racks so the rest of us can actually work.

This.

However I will also add that the only other time Smith Machines serve a purpose is for rehab (think stabilization). I have a friend who just had double knee replacements and is using the Smith Machine until she can work back up to using free weights.

Smith Machines are great for drawing the attention of idiots away from the power racks so the rest of us can actually work.

This.

However I will also add that the only other time Smith Machines serve a purpose is for rehab (think stabilization). I have a friend who just had double knee replacements and is using the Smith Machine until she can work back up to using free weights.

Perhaps, just seems like she would be just as open to injury on a Smith though. Seems like just using a lighter load with a free squat or dare I say it, "Leg Press" would be better. Who knows, somebody gets paid way more than I do to help your friend re-hab.

dumb question, what's a power rack?

They are saying it wrong. It is either a power cage, or a squat rack.

RACK: note how it doesn't look like the cage, and more like a rack, many lifts are accepted in here, except curls.

MAX RACK: Who knows why it got the rack label since its a cage, but its a dual plane smith machine. I won't touch one of these so do what ever lift you want in here.

I am really bummed that my new gym only has a Smith machine. (No racks at all for free weights.) I'm used to squatting with a cage.

This particular model seems to allow for some vertical movement, but still, awkward. Also with the hooks there's a lot more potential for embarrassing clanging if you don't angle the bar back just right so the hooks don't hit the rack. Also, with the bar hooked on when it's at rest it's more difficult to reset the height (always a necessity for us hobbits.)

On the bottom, there is a set of clamps which I was informed I should set below the bar's lowest point to prevent myself from "being crushed." (Er, crushed under the 45 pounds of weight I loaded on there, on my first day back?) Anyway, it's irksome. I guess I'll just have to get used to it because it's less than half the price of the Y.