People who have used the Smith even for squats:-
Dorian Yates
Wong Hong
Bob Cicherrillo

Some forummers are against the Smith because of the wannabe hardcore mentality that the Smith is for pansies. Try incline benching close to 300lbs on the Smith, it doesn't make it any easier despite the anticipated arguments of counter weight.

285lbs x 9 reps. =) You can calculate my 1RM max from there.

I don't do 1RM's. I'm not a powerlifter. All my poundages, I've got to this level just going high volume, never low reps. Strength gains will come gradually, cause and effect.

That's because they try to lift too heavy too fast. And they don't use correct form even if they're using sufficient volume. They do half assed reps or cheat too much. Then the accessory muscles get more worked more than the target muscles. You know how much was my starting incline bench? The bar alone. My starting dumbell press, 20pounds. When you do proper form, you may feel like a pu$$y with such baby weights but the target muscle gets hit and your strength gains come MUCH faster compared to half assed rep strength progression. Hypertrophy first always, that's our target, BUT the strength will come. Which is why people like Ronnie Coleman and Dexter Jackson can hold their own among powerlifters. Which is why i can hold my own among the powerlifters at my gym. And the public gym i work out at have a lot of hardcore people.

Heavy weights yes, but done with proper form.

This post has been edited by darklight79: May 19 2009, 01:43 AM

Terry couldn't stress this enough to me during my first visit. He saw the way I was lifting and he told me you want size, you want to get big. Lift like a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter. He changed all my exercises.
I was doing military presses, he told me to switch to seated presses. I was doing pull ups, he told me to switch to pull downs for better mind muscle connection.
I was experimenting with some Oly lifts for fun, he told me drop it, they do absolutely nothing for mass as the negative phase in not emphasized. I just listened, humbled myself and I grew.

Under his tutelage, from a measly bodyweight of 70 kilos after a bout of life threatening pneumonia where i was hospitalized for 2 weeks coughing out blood continuously, I exploded in growth to hit 85 kilos. And now I'm 87kg. Can you imagine, meeting a pro bodybuilder can transform your physique. His gym, there's definitely a lil' magic in there. Lol.

No. Worst mistake you can ever do. You'll kill your back. It's common sense, i don't think i need to explain.

If you can complete 10 on the last set, why not? Or as long as you can do 12 reps with that weight on your first 2 sets, and reduce slightly on the third set why not? Nothing's set in stone.

You would be surprised how stupid and pathetic some PT's are. I screwed up 2 PT's at commercial gyms for teaching their clients wrong shit. Normally I adopt the "mind my own damn business" attitude but IF i see something potentially hazardous or lift threatening, I'll damn well step in.

Bro, it doesn't matter. Just because it's on the internet, it doesn't mean it's correct. That is a potential for injury, the movement is not in a natural arc and one is not supposed to go light on deadlifts.

The Smith machine is an excellent tool mate. There are even several threads on bodybuilding.com dedicated to it. There are some probodybuilders who use just the Smith for their squats. They allow you to target the quads even more while not contributing to oversized hips. I use them for squats, shoulder presses, incline presses, rows (rarely), CGBP, many more.