Full-Body Smith Machine Workout: Top 10 Best Moves

There are two camps of people you’ll see in the gym: those who are pro-Smith machine and full-on Smith machine haters.

Does one side or the other have more merit?

Smith skeptics and supporters alike, read on.

We’ll give you a brief on what this machine does, where it comes from (who is Smith anyway?) and whether it can enhance your weightlifting program.

What is a Smith Machine?

Famous fitness coach Jack LaLanne invented the Smith machine. With the help of Rudy Smith, the namesake machine was commissioned to help lift weight along a pre-set up-and-down movement axis.

How Does a Smith Machine Work?

A Smith machine is a controlled motion machine that offers an alternative to working out using free weights.

On a Smith machine, a pre-set barbell can only move in an up-down vertical direction. This makes for a straight path of movement that can help you out if you struggle with stability.

Smith Machine Advantages

Safety

Firstly, Smith machines have built-in catches or hooks on the sides that can take the place of a spotter. If you’re performing heavier reps of certain types of lifts, safety can be a benefit.

To unlock your barbell from the safety catch, you can twist your wrists to unhook it.

Disclaimer: claiming that Smith machines are safer overall than using free weights is a little bit deceptive.

An American Journal of Sports Medicine study found that weight training with free weights did indeed lead to more injuries than using a Smith machine

But it's important to know that this accounted for weights falling on people not just improper training technique.

As we'll see a little bit later in this article, if you're not using correct technique the Smith machine, you can put strain on your knees, leading to injury.

So calling a Smith machine “safer” than lifting free weights is not an overall truth, but it does have built-in safety mechanisms that are something a squat rack lacks.

Lifting Heavier

Secondly, because of its additional stability features compared to free weights, Smith machines often let you increase your weight more easily. You’ll likely be able to lift more on a Smith machine than you could with just a barbell.

Posture

Furthermore, because of their ultra-straight movement pattern compared to how your body might naturally lift, Smith machines help promote good posture and proper spinal alignment.

Isolation

Because of their limited motion, Smith machines can be more isolating than other types of exercise equipment. If you’re focused on targeted muscle work that spotlights a particular muscle rather than more compound movement, a Smith machine can help.

Newbie Friendly

For newer lifters who feel intimidated or unmotivated to work out with a power rack or squat rack, the Smith machine can be a great option to get you lifting big weights.

Having no support feels overwhelming. A Smith machine’s built-in stabilizers and safety hooks may help put novices at ease.

Deeper Squat

Since your bar is attached to a machine and supported, you don't have to balance the barbell on your back when you squat.

This gives you more room to squat deeper. It's kind of like doing a plate-elevated squat where you lift your heels onto a weight plate to be able to get deeper.

This variation takes some of the work out of your feet and ankles and puts more work into your quads.

For newer lifters, or even for people who are amateur or experienced bodybuilders looking for hypertrophy or quad growth, this can be a beneficial technique.

Getting deeper into your squats using a plate does require a higher level of balance than using a Smith machine, where your weight barbell is already supported.

Smith Machine Disadvantages

Fixed Barbell Position

The barbell is strictly set up in a vertical up-down position. If your form varies at all from this movement pattern, you may feel off balance, or it can force you to work your muscles in a way that you ordinarily wouldn’t.

If the machine doesn't correspond to your height, range of motion, foot placement, exercise depth, or other factors, there's a good chance that a Smith machine could put you in a position where you're arching your back excessively or not keeping your spine straight even though technically the machine follows a straight line and gives you “perfect” alignment.

Not Transferrable

For beginners, the technique that you use on a Smith machine to squat doesn't transfer if you want to later switch to a traditional barbell.

Think about it: every time you squat on a Smith machine you're following the same path of movement. But once you decide to make the move to a squat rack and are squatting with an unsupported barbell, this can be a very jarring change.

A Smith machine does some of the work for you by forcing you to keep a neutral spine, but you're not feeling it and engaging with what that sensation is like to your body in the same way.

If you've only trained on a Smith machine, you may not be able to conjure up the same feeling of spinal engagement and proper alignment once you decide to step into a squat cage to perform what you think is the same movement.

Unnatural Motion

Most of us don’t have perfectly straight spines. Criticism around the Smith machine circles the fact that no one naturally moves the way that this machine would force you to.

If you’re squatting or shoulder pressing, this can put a strain on your muscles.

Safety

Hey! it's that safety point again. this is a bit of a strange one, but Smith machines actually can be safer in some ways and less safe in others than using free weights.

As we looked at in the above advantages section, the Smith machine does have built-in safety locks that free weights don't to keep your weight in place.

The danger with machines lies in how people use them. Because of the unnatural body position that you get with a machine that has a fixed path of motion, the Smith machine does not mimic the way that most people's bodies naturally move.

Think of Smith machine technique as being aspirational for most people but not realistic. Our bodies have all sorts of little idiosyncrasies and differences that might make “perfect” technique different for you than for the next guy.

What a Smith machine does is assume everyone has the same body and lifts with the same correct technique.

It doesn't account for the fact that a perfectly straight path of motion might not be the safest or most natural variation for most people's knees.

Forcing people to stand completely upright and distribute their weight in ways they might not ordinarily can lead to injury risk of what are called knee shear injuries.

Shear force is the total force exerted on your tibia (one of the lower leg bones) when your muscles contract, either to flex or extend the knees. Because a Smith machine puts you into deeper knee flexion than you may be used to, this can be risky.

Less Activation of Stabilizer Muscles

Because of the hyper-stable design of the Smith machine’s movement pattern, your core, arm, and leg muscles that turn on to keep your body stable don’t activate to the same extent when you perform exercises with a Smith machine.

Core stabilizer muscles, especially, are important to help minimize the force on your joints and to improve overall force generation in athletic performance. Although getting core activation through balance exercises is important, it’s still crucial to work out your abs, no matter what stage of fitness you are in.

Smith Machine vs. Squat Rack

Compared to the Smith machine, the squat rack has no motion or directional restrictions.

This gives you room in your lifts to achieve a more natural type of movement.

Some people see squat racks as more “authentic” ways to lift weights since they’re unassisted. More often than not, more experienced lifters tend to gravitate towards using free weights or barbells.

Squat racks are a little more versatile when it comes to doing variations on your favorite exercises.

If you don’t love the standard hand grip or bar position, a squat rack may help. For example, it can be easier to account for these factors and switch it up when you squat with a barbell instead of a Smith machine.

Squat racks or free weights are great for a range of compound exercises, including squats, bench presses, overhead presses, or other work. They accommodates a broader range of movements and exercises.

That being said, if you’re using more traditional grip techniques and movements, you can certainly achieve goals like building your dream booty, getting the physique of a Greek god or bulking up using a Smith machine.

Ultimately, whether you pick a Smith machine or a squat rack depends on your personal preference. Keep in mind your fitness goals, your level of experience, and what physical limitations or skills you have.

Depending on how many times per week you’re aiming to do a specific lift, you may find value in both approaches depending on your routine.

Upper Body Smith Machine Exercises

Bench Press

• Grab a weight bench and position it under a Smith machine with a barbell at an adequate height.
• To start, hold your barbell with an overhand grip wider than shoulder-width apart. Twist your wrists to unlock the safety mechanism on the machine.
• Bend your elbows to lower your barbell toward the middle of your chest.
• Then, exhale and press down into your feet while engaging your back and core muscles to drive the barbell upwards above your chest.
• Keep pushing up until your arms are straight.
• Hold this position for a moment, then bend into your elbows to lower the bar.
• Continue this movement for as many reps as you need or bring the bar back into the lock mechanism and lock it back up for safety.

Smith Overhead Shoulder Press

• Sit on a weight bench and hold your barbell with an overhand grip that's just slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Twist your wrists to unlock the safety latch on the Smith machine and unhook the moving bar.
• Press the bar above your head to fully extend your arms.
• Keep your elbows pulled down and in on the descent, then bend the elbows to bring your bar back to the starting position.
• Repeat for as many reps as you need. Once you're done make sure to lock your bar back in place.

Smith Machine Leg Workouts

Machine-Assisted Squats

• Set up your barbell with a comfortable weight, depending on your training goals.
• Step under your bar, bringing the barbell to rest across the tops of your triceps.
• Lift and rotate your hands to unhook the bar from the safety clasp.
• Stand with your feet planted on the floor so your knees are tracking in line with your toes.
• Breathe in and drop into your squat. Send your hips backward, keeping your chest proud.
• Squat down to at least a position where your thighs are parallel to the floor or slightly lower.
• Drive up through your heels to bring yourself back up to a standing position.
• Engage your glutes at the top of the movement.
• Lift at 3-5 heavy reps for strength, 8-10 reps for hypertrophy and 12+ reps for endurance.

Smith Machine Glute Workouts

Smith Machine Lunge

• Set up a barbell on the Smith machine.
• Step under your bar to let the barbell rest across your shoulders. Place your feet in a split stance. Keep your weight distributed evenly between both legs.
• Next, bend into your knees until the back knee taps the floor.
• Push through your front foot, straightening your knees to come back to a standing position.

Big Picture

The Smith machine is a great way to add stability to heavy lifting exercises, and if you’re not using poor technique that hurts your knees, there’s no reason it can’t give you the body of a hero.

If you’re new to weightlifting, it can make getting under some heavy barbells feel less intimidating. You’ll likely even be able to lift heavier weights than you would with a free barbell.

That being said, Smith machines come with negatives as well. The most significant is that the straight pattern of movement doesn’t mimic the natural motion of the human body.

For more information on machine-assisted workouts, check out Hack Squat vs. Leg Press.

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References:

Bennett, D. R., Blackburn, J. T., Boling, M. C., McGrath, M., Walusz, H., & Padua, D. A. (2008). The relationship between anterior tibial shear force during a jump landing task and quadriceps and hamstring strength. Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon), 23(9), 1165–1171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2008.05.005

Haugen, M. E., Vårvik, F. T., Larsen, S., Haugen, A. S., van den Tillaar, R., & Bjørnsen, T. (2023). Effect of free-weight vs. machine-based strength training on maximal strength, hypertrophy and jump performance - a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation, 15(1), 103. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-023-00713-4

Kerr, Z. Y., Collins, C. L., & Comstock, R. D. (2010). Epidemiology of weight training-related injuries presenting to United States emergency departments, 1990 to 2007. The American journal of sports medicine, 38(4), 765–771. https://doi.org/10.1177/0363546509351560

Kibler, W. B., Press, J., & Sciascia, A. (2006). The role of core stability in athletic function. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 36(3), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.2165/00007256-200636030-00001

Sangwan, S., Green, R. A., & Taylor, N. F. (2014). Characteristics of stabilizer muscles: a systematic review. Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada, 66(4), 348–358. https://doi.org/10.3138/ptc.2013-51