However is the barbell flat bench press the king of benching and chest movements.
Bench press free weights vs smith machine.
However in the smith machine the weight is often lighter.
The smith machine offers several advantages.
This includes machines like the leg press leg extension chest press lat pulldown and machine curls just to name a few.
The smith machine is a tricky one and could potentially fall into this category but for the purposes of this article i ll be considering that on the free weight side.
Benefits of smith machines.
Free weights are proven to have more benefits.
They require more effort recruit stabilisers and help you build more muscle.
Equipped with guide rods you don t have to worry about balancing the barbell.
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.
No weight lifted on any machine is the same as using free weights.
A standard bench press barbell weighs 45 pounds.
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.
Machines and free weights.
Machines refer to fixed standalone pieces of equipment that use pins pulleys cables and weight stacks.
Provides stabilized weight many smith machines include a self balancing barbell.
However the intention with smith machines was never to overtake free weights.
Each side greatly praises the benefits of each and conveniently downplays the cons.
No weight lifted on any machine is the same as using free weights.
Really the bench press has a lot of versatility to it.
For those who are unfamiliar barbell bench presses involve olympic flat benches and free weights whereas the smith machine bench press used a bar that is attached to the machine.
Many smith machines reduce the bar s weight by 10 15 or 20 pounds.
In all cases less effort is required to stabilize the weight making the lift easier.
Different weights can be used.
The smith machine can be used for several types of exercises but is mainly used for doing squats and presses.
The path of the bar is different for each bench press.
The two pillars of weight training.