Smith Machine Squat

intermediate · squat

Setup

Set the safety stops on the rails one notch below your lowest squat position. Rotate the bar a quarter turn to release it from the hooks at shoulder height, load plates on both ends and lock them with collars. Step in and rest the bar on the shelf of muscle behind your neck — just below the bump at the base of the neck, sitting on the ridge of the shoulder blades — and set your feet slightly forward of the bar, since it travels a fixed vertical path rather than a natural arc.

Execution

Rotate the bar to unlock it, stand with feet shoulder-width apart and slightly forward of the bar, and brace your core before you descend.
Inhale and bend your knees and hips to lower along the bar's straight vertical path, keeping your back neutral.
Go down until your hip crease is level with or a little below your knee.
Exhale and drive through the middle of your feet to stand back up, without locking the knees out at the top.
Track the knees over the toes through both directions, without letting them cave in.
If you run out of strength mid-set, lower all the way onto the safety stops on the rails, let the bar rest there, then step out.
At the end of the set, guide the bar back to hook height and rotate it to re-lock before releasing your grip.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower, exhale as you drive up. Do not hold your breath to move a heavier weight; if you have high blood pressure, heart disease, a hernia or you are pregnant, never hold it at all, lighten the load and exhale on the way up.

Quick cues

Feet slightly forward of the bar.
Track the knees over the toes.
Out of strength means lower onto the safety stops.
Rotate to re-lock before letting go.

Common faults

Fault: Standing with the feet directly under the bar like a free-weight squat
Fix: Step the feet slightly forward, since the bar travels a straight vertical line rather than the natural squat arc.
Fault: Forgetting to set the safety stops before a heavy set
Fix: Always set the stops just below your lowest position before loading plates; this is the safety net if you run out of strength.
Fault: The knees caving inward on the way up
Fix: Actively drive the knees out toward the little toes, dropping the load if that is what it takes to hold the line.
Fault: Forgetting to rotate the bar back onto the hooks before releasing
Fix: Bring the bar back to hook height, rotate to lock and feel it stop solidly before letting go.

Equipment

smith_machine

Muscle groups

legs, glutes, back