Thread: benching on a slanted smith machine

Originally Posted by brollickby06

Hi everyone. Right now i bench with a regular barbell, but over the summer my workout partner is going to be gone for 2 months. We life very early, so i cant find someone to go with me.

Anyway, my question was, can i bench using a smith mahchine that is slightly slanted? Basically, its line of motion isnt completely horizontal to the ground. There is about a 10 degree or so bend. I dontkno if this is normal or not, but thats how my smith machine is. Its great for squats, but will i be able to properly do bench on it? It doesnt really tilt that much, but its probably gonna feel wierd that it goes up and back a bit when im pushing up.

Youre damn right it will feel weird. Id say use the free weighted barbell and do lighter weights if you absolutely need a spot with heavier weight. BUT. If you cant swallow your pride and continue to do heavy weight (and I kinda dont blame you) then use the smith machine where the angle of the lifting is going away from your head rather than the angle going above and behind your head. Hopefully the bench can fit underneath the smith machine, otherwise you might have to turn it around and if you do and the angle is what I said not to do, then fuck it.

Stick to the free weights. The weight is way different on a Smith machine, so is the feel. Just learn to trust yourself and grab someone to be a spotter when you need one.

stick to free weights and don't go to failure. (you probably shouldn't be anyway). Or switch to DBs.

Fuck a smitch machine. Don't force yourself to try and adapt to a movement you don't find comfortable with a plane of motion which can't be changed. Go with freeweights and use natural arcs to produce motion.

aight im just gona use dumbells...which i already do, but i guess i wont be able to have barbell in my routine for that time frame.

are there any other chest exercises i can throw in there since i wont be doing barbell bench?

right now i do barbell flat bench, barbell incline bench, flat dumbell bench, dumbell fly's
(i save dips for tricep)

so for the summer ill be doing barbell incline bench,flat dumbell bench, dumbell fly's...
do i need another exercise?

why can you do BB incline bench but not BB flat bench without a spotter.

real simple...DON'T TRAIN TO FUCKING FAILURE!! jesus christ. sometimes I wonder if I speak fucking english anymore.

Originally Posted by P-funk

sometimes I wonder if I speak fucking english anymore.

I think your english is very good.

Originally Posted by topolo

I think your english is very good.

I have to return some videotapes.

Originally Posted by P-funk

why can you do BB incline bench but not BB flat bench without a spotter.

real simple...DON'T TRAIN TO FUCKING FAILURE!! jesus christ. sometimes I wonder if I speak fucking english anymore.

I agree, unless you are using 300+lbs with collars , I have benched alone 1,000,000x and if I got stuck I would just twist the bar and all the weights would fall off one side. But once you get up to really heavy weight that might get a bit dangerous.

Originally Posted by ForemanRules

I agree, unless you are using 300+lbs with collars , I have benched alone 1,000,000x and if I got stuck I would just twist the bar and all the weights would fall off one side. But once you get up to really heavy weight that might get a bit dangerous.

Thanks for your input.

Originally Posted by P-funk

why can you do BB incline bench but not BB flat bench without a spotter.

real simple...DON'T TRAIN TO FUCKING FAILURE!! jesus christ. sometimes I wonder if I speak fucking english anymore.

Wow Pat i can kind of answer that. You can always drop the DB's. Try dropping a oly bar. bet it don't land off to the side of you like Db's would.

I know that it's better to use a reg bench then to use a smith machine. But for me I always train to failure. So because I work out at home and have no spotter, I use the smith exclusively.

Hey that what happens when your a senior citizen.

Originally Posted by P-funk

why can you do BB incline bench but not BB flat bench without a spotter.

real simple...DON'T TRAIN TO FUCKING FAILURE!! jesus christ. sometimes I wonder if I speak fucking english anymore.

I just read your post and all I got out of it was: Me love you long time.

Jokes aside, it comes down to somthing I posted in another thead: People don't want to spend the time to learn or have to think about it. It's the McQuick mentality, if you can get it into a sound bite then it's a waste of time.

I bet a good number of people get into bodybuilding because of some "You can be like Arnold is three easy months" product and then figure out that it takes a Herculean effort and dedication and decide it's not worth it. So they move on to the Ab Roller.

I've stood up before off an incline and off a decline, haven't had to on a flat bench in ages and it wouldn't be pleasant with a weight I was doing for say, 10 reps or less (315).

If I'm close to failure I can get another rep if I RP, or at least get it half way off and rack it (multiple pins). If I'm going to push, I get a spotter.

I recently picked up a set of "spotter stands" for about $85 since I too workout at home, and these are invaluable for squats and heavy benching. If you fail on the bench, you just set the bar down on the stands and wiggle out from under it...same idea as a power rack without needing the rack.