Bench Press Free Weight Vs Smith Machine

The main exercises people use the smith machine for are squats and shoulder bench press.

Bench press free weight vs smith machine.

The smith machine offers several advantages. Many smith machines reduce the bar s weight by 10 15 or 20 pounds. Not free weights vs. The machine has been made to glide the bar easily up and down so is sometimes considered easier to move.

It s somewhere in the middle. Different weights can be used. Machines free weight machines. A standard bench press barbell weighs 45 pounds.

You can also do lunges and bent over rows too. In some cases the smith machine itself has a counterweight that reduces the weight of the bar and often there is no way to know by how much. Difference in barbell weight. In the machine bench press the weight stack is located on a pulley system attached to two handles that the user grips while performing the exercise.

Since the bar is in a completely straight path it means you don t have to focus on stabilising the weight. You can use free weights or a smith machine. Provides stabilized weight many smith machines include a self balancing barbell. No weight lifted on any machine is the same as using free weights.

In all cases less effort is required to stabilize the weight making the lift easier. This is due to the design of the machine that makes the bar glide up and down the vertical posts or runners. Let s look into the top five benefits of using a smith machine for a total body workout. In addition a 2005 study in the journal of strength and conditioning research found that the average one rep maximum on a free weight bench was 16 percent higher than that on a smith machine.

Other machines are also counterbalanced which provide added stability but also reduce the weight of the bar. Benefits of smith machines. Equipped with guide rods you don t have to worry about balancing the barbell. The bar used in a smith machine bench press is often lighter.

The smith machine can be used for several types of exercises but is mainly used for doing squats and presses. The weight of the bar in a smith machine is lighter as compared to lifting with free weights. However is the barbell flat bench press the king of benching and chest movements. The only motion that can occur with these.

The smith machine is designed to make the bar glide up and down and the apparatus on the sides of the machine that allows it to slide also can make the bar lighter. Really the bench press has a lot of versatility to it. When you use free weights it takes more energy to keep them stable. No weight lifted on any machine is the same as using free weights.