I know this question had been asked for many times but i'm just curious since i've been doing some research. Do you guys use regular instead or smith machine? Need some recommendation.

both are equally good. if you have injury or abnormality, smith would be better option. otherwise, go with regular. smith is also a good option if you want to go heavy but with no spotter.

say if there's two of them at ur gym which one you would prefer or go first?

This post has been edited by degraw1993: Jul 26 2013, 05:33 PM

should I repeat, really?

i prefer regular bench press

no i mean for your usual workout or you would go for.

for some reason smith machine hurt my shoulder, it is like i cant move it as i like compare to barbel bench press, but i prefer dumbell most cause i can go to failure and just throw that b1tch on the floor anytime.

regular ... if no spotter, dumbell bench press

This post has been edited by kurtkob78: Jul 27 2013, 05:12 AM

I think what you said it's the total opposite for me. If you have a snapped up shoulder, benching on the smith would be almost impossible.

I Concur!

yeah ikr sometimes i would feel those shoulder or some snap in action. lol.

Its better to use a regular bench as this will help with more muscle groups as you are actually trying to keep the bar up. It also allows for more freedom when pushing your weights up.
When using a smith machine it really limits your movements and can be painful to some. It doesn't help with any other muscle groups so your basically not getting stronger in all areas.
So when you move from working out at a smith machine to a normal bench your not going to be able to push the amounts you normally push.

So its better to start and stay on the regular bench press.
I personally like using dumbbells because then your really working your muscles to balance 2 weights. it feels more natural as well and I feel that I get a better workout that way.

Personally I don't like the Smith Machine because it restricts movement. The regular bench press allows a fuller range of motion. At least I like how it feels.

Just last week I saw a group of teenagers... probably 4 or 5 of them, trying to squat using the Smith Machine. It seemed very restrictive to me. I was just at the adjacent squat rack, doing my own.

imho its pretty alright. but then again its subjective. the way i do it since it doesnt really require stabilizing muscles i tuck in my elbows in slightly more to allow for the ease of movement. kinda prefer smith bench nowadays due to my gym the bench press bars is kinda funny. cant really place why but the bars kinda rolls around when lifted off the seatings. very unstable

So what if ur gym doesn't have that squat free weight? You still want to do with Smith Machine?

some research said that by benching with bench free u increase overall strength 7% > than benching with smith machine. Don't know is true or not, but benching with both is fine as long as u do it correctly and u feel ur muscle

Never faced this before... so I can't say for sure. I would probably not go to that gym. I'm a little picky. My gym has to have a squat rack.

[quote=decypher,Jul 27 2013, 07:03 PM]
Never faced this before... so I can't say for sure. I would probably not go to that gym. I'm a little picky. My gym has to have a squat rack.

[/quote

Hm it seems this gym i used to go doesn't have squat rack. It only has regular bench and smith machine. I guess it depends on people preferences.

Smith is my goto if i want to do Close Grip Benches , Flat Benches are freeweights

Tried decline press on smith. I have to adjust myself a few times before hitting the sweet spot of having a comfortable shoulder movement. Would say it being harder since shoulder is excluded mostly.

Though would still stick to dumbbells. Felt nicer and better range of motion for me.