why does the smith machine hurt my back

With support and guidance not all the muscle fibers that could be engaged are because the range of motion is limited. Since this movement is unnatural for your body it will end up stressing your joints and back especially if you are doing heavy weights which is what you were doing when you hurt your neck.

View 2 This Is Called Smith Machine Hip Thrusts My Lower Abs Need Work So I Was Told These May Do The Trick This Is A D Abs And Cardio Workout

Using a machine is good for bodybuilders who want isolation or any other lifter if the machine function matches their goal for eradicating imbalances.

. Bench max 250lbs. However being a novice doesnt mean you should perform squats in the way Im about to describe with the Smith machine. Thats one way you know the legs are out too far.

This will of course take away from an overall assault on the muscles. Ever since many recreational bodybuilders have been trying to do the same. You can also do drop sets with the Smith machine or my infamous 15 squats.

Here are four reasons why the machine should be avoided. The reason why lifters place the barbell too high is that they feel like if the barbell is any lower it might fall off their back. The smith machine in my book is the worst place to do squats due to the weird and unnatural angle and way the bar moves up and down.

Legs being out too far de-emphasizes quad and buttocks recruitment. It prevents the stabilizer muscles from doing any role as all the needed stability is already in place with restriction of bar movement. Weak abdominal muscles can cause rowers to overcompensate in the lower spine which can lead to lower-back pain Totton explains.

General Fitness 2 years ago. The smith machine can be bad for many reasons the first one being that its not nearly as effective as free weight training in order for a muscle group to be fully developed it needs to be under the greatest amount of stress and tension weight possible. For both exercises your knees should be slightly bent and your back should be flat when you hinge from the hip.

On the plus side though like other machines the Smith. During a free weight squat youre forced to stay in a path according to the laws of gravity your center of gravity stays over your feet or else you would fall over. Didnt have time to run through everyones responses but smith machine squats are sensitive to your foot positioning.

Similarly one poor girl from England became paralysed from the waist down while doing squats. Author has 247 answers and 33M answer views 2 y. If I dont do this then I have the same issues as you with the back pain.

According to the source this was because the machine he was using didnt have a high enough dead stop 2. Squating on a smith machine is different than free squating. When you perform a back squat on a smith machine the slant is pushing your body slightly forward which is not the natural bar path you need to correctly keep good form.

The smith machine is not the best place to do squats. Working out since 2011. Smith machine forces your body into an unnatural straight vertical movement.

Tryin to be an all-around stud. People let the machine do the work for them. The original smith machine only allowed vertical movement of the barbell.

This is not natural. For example one fella from America become a quadriplegic when the Smith machine crushed his spine. This is fairly common for lifters who place the barbell too high on their back.

My feet will be a couple of inches in front of the bar. Later editions however now allow it to go forward and backward as. How Are Smith Machines Bad for You.

Even though the bar does not look as though it moves but up and down all the joints are revolving and this simple movement is not simple. Start doing regular squats and. When you perform squats using a barbell on the Smith machine your entire body moves in only the vertical plane.

As a result people tend to not grip the bar on their back properly because it takes away the need to independently maintain balance and stability. A squatting movement is rather complex especially considering the variations that are available. Taking the cue from the lower-body exercises use a weight that you can effectively move without strain.

The legs are way too far out in front of the bar. A study compared muscle force produced during squats. In the smith machine I find I have to lean back slightly into the bar ie.

Smith machine like all other machines balances the weight for you and thus takes your stabilizer muscles out. Using the Smith machine can potentially make both exercises high risk when poor posture and heavy resistance are involved. The smith machine is no worse than a bicep curl machine and both have the same general function - specificity.

The bar on a Smith machine slides up and down on two rails stabilizing you in both the side-to-side plane and in the front-to-back planes of motion. This is going down deep. And the vertical movements provided by the Smith machine are not natural.

You are placing too much stress on your lower back which can lead to potential injuries. Otherwise try a different leg core exercise. Ive seen many lifters deadlift and shrug in the Smith machine but Im going to agree with the naysayers on these two exercises.

There are different variations of the smith machine but all of them function in much the same way. This is obviously not new to machine training but with the Smith Machine this becomes even more complicated. Improper Barbell Position.

Too far back is definitely gonna put alot more stress on the back. While I agree with Joes answer to a large degree the problem with the Smith machine is the bar runs on a fixed track. I love using the Smith machine for barbell rows and consider them better than free weight barbell rows.

One of the main downsides of the smith machine is that it forces you to perform all exercises in a super straight line. A lot of places like that could never get away with an actual squat rack and barbells but a smith machine is a much safer bet and still gives people the option of doing barbell-esque workouts instead of being stuck with just dumbbells. Smith Machines are extremely guided and offer a lot of support like a regular exercise machine does at them gym.

While this provides the illusion of safety there are numerous drawbacks to this. In the Smith machine the equipment could allow you to put your body in a position or take the bar through a path that some trainers call unnatural. Placing the barbell incorrectly on your traps will cause neck pain.

There is a barbell that is fixed between a steel rail which confines it to a limited range of movement. This isnt much of a problem when a smith machine is used sparingly and you primarily use barbells to do compound lifts. Mariza Villarreal On Instagram View 2 This Is Called Smith Machine Hip Thrusts My Lower Abs Need Work So I Was Told Th Abs And Cardio Workout Abs Lower Abs The smith machine is not the best place to do squats.

When the legs are out too far under the bar or in front of it this prevents the lower back arch. A more natural form would be to use free weights which move the body horizontally and vertically. Thats why people often experience back neck and knee pain when training on the smith.

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