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squat bar path

While we are on the subject of squat bar path. I was reading on a facebook post about smith machine squats, now ive never done them and my gym doesn't have one so i can't really comment on the matter...

However this guy was talking about how the smith machine will not let you move forwards/backwards as it is locked into just up and down which i understand he is correct. However he goes onto say, and i might add a lot of people agreed with him. 'Squatting in a smitch machine will cause injury and it should never be done because the bar can only move up and down and the squat movement you need to be able to move backward/forwards' or something along those lines, but that is the general gist of it.

Now if what i have always been taught and what what we are discussing now is correct, with a 'wizard level of squat' where the bar follows a direct up and down movement, wouldnt squatting in the smith rack, as stupid as it looks be ideal?

Just thinking out loud here.
 
While we are on the subject of squat bar path. I was reading on a facebook post about smith machine squats, now ive never done them and my gym doesn't have one so i can't really comment on the matter...

However this guy was talking about how the smith machine will not let you move forwards/backwards as it is locked into just up and down which i understand he is correct. However he goes onto say, and i might add a lot of people agreed with him. 'Squatting in a smitch machine will cause injury and it should never be done because the bar can only move up and down and the squat movement you need to be able to move backward/forwards' or something along those lines, but that is the general gist of it.

Now if what i have always been taught and what what we are discussing now is correct, with a 'wizard level of squat' where the bar follows a direct up and down movement, wouldnt squatting in the smith rack, as stupid as it looks be ideal?

Just thinking out loud here.

My advice to you is to put away your ruler, protractor and pencil.

A simple, single joint movement is quite easy to master, for example the barbell curl, the resistance is directly vertical, while the movement is rotary.

A complex movement like the squat the resistance is vertical as the curl while the movement is around 3 joints as opposed to one, the straighter the line the stronger you'll be able to push.

The smith is not a squat, it is a leg press, the feet should be well forward of the bar, eliminating excessive movement at the hip, done properly you should not be able to handle heavy weight.
If someone squats in a smith, they are foolish, an accident waiting to happen.
 
I cringe every time I see cranky old bloke at my gym, possibly @Silverback ;'s evil twin doppeldanger, 'squatting' in the smith machine with a shrimp like posture and knees swaying to and fro like toothpicks.
 
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