bench press using smith machine any good?

[john]

Ive used the smith machine to bench press and noticed it was easier to lift more weight.The following week i did a regular bench press and couldnt lift the increased weight i used the previous week using the smith. my question is should i stick with the smith or the regular bench press? Also can i use the smith for incline bench press or other excercises? or just not use the smith machine at all? what is the best solution?

[ebon00]

I'm not a big fan of the Smith machine. If you have an injury and can't bench or incline without it then it has its use but other than that I think there's too much risk of pattern overload. You'll neglect the stabilizing part of the lift which won't help you in the long run. That's why you're having a harder time with regular bench presses, you need to stabilize the weight. And every time you use the Smith machine you rob your body of that added dimension of stress. I'd stay away from it as much as possible.

[sandman64]

I had a trainer show me an exercise where I use a medicine ball as a bench (on my upper back, under where the bar is). I think it's called a medicine ball, one of those huge plastic balls in the gyms. Anyway, I used it as a bench and used the smith machine to bench press. I gained 40 lbs on my bench press in 3 months

[Waterboy]

The smith machine is good for saftey reasons and rehibilitation alone. Use a power rack if you do not have a spotter.

[Alex(AJ)]

regular- so what you can lift more on smith. you arn't working your stabilizers and whatnot, and in the long run you'll suffer in terms of size/strength if you stick with it

[Todd]

I would not stick to using the Smith Machine with every chest workout, mix it up, but it is OK to use it once in a while...it will allow you to really concentrate on FEELING the chest do the work while not having to focus so much on balancing the bar....just do it on occasion, but use regular bench presses as the staple of your chest routine.

Personally, I often switch to incline Smith Machine presses every once in a while for variety...and it works pretty damn good!

[addict]

I prefer free weight myself

Though i used the smith machine at the moment for incline as i have an injury and its the only why i can do it