Smith Machine vs Free Weight Squats When in a commercial gym you will often see someone performing smith machine squats or some kind of split squat variation. I wanted to investigate whether or not the smith machine actually offered any benefit. In a review by Schwanbeck et al (2009) we see that 43% more muscle on average was used during a free weight barbell back squat when compared to the smith machine equivalent. This further lead me to look into the barbell squat and I came across this excellent review by Clark et al (2012). Some interesting findings: (1) - Stance doesn’t seem to increase any particular muscle group activation. However you do slightly increase glute usage during a wider stance. It would be wrong to believe the old bodybuilding mantra of narrow stance outer quad, wider stance inner thigh. (2) - Quarter or half squats actually reduce muscle activation of the prime movers. This basically means you should squat to parallel or below if you want more muscle. (3) - Squatting is a great ‘core’ exercise with a high activation of your inner trunk stabilisers the heavier the load percentage. (4) - Squatting on a Bosu ball actually impairs force and power production so STOP using it, EVER. So in short stay away from the new school equipment (bosu’s and smith machines) and learn to barbell back squat to parallel or below safely. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19855308 ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22373894 This post was taken from Gordon Greenhorn Personal Training and the research links provided ... i thought you guys might find it interesting. enjoy and give his page a like!
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 06:45:00 +0000