[lovevixen]

I came up as a combo old school body builder/weightlifter and even after a few years of using Machines Nautilus I ended up coming full circle back to free weights. II have never ever found anything that was better when done on the Smith Machine. With out fail when ever I used a one for a lot of work due to a partner liking it I would develop mystery pains in my shoulders,elbow, low back and knee's. On top of that I could never lift free what I could on the smith machine. Since I am a big believer in training the body to do more then just look pretty the smith machine was not my favorite. In fact when ever I would go back to free weights my joints would stop hurting with no change in routine other then not using the Smith Machine. It is simply not natural to be locked into a single plane of movement. If you like them and it does not cause you pain go for it! If you are only training to look good then I do not think it makes a difference if you use mostly machines or free weights. If you training to be a true athlete that must perform in real life in a dynamic manner moving your body through space then I think the use of machines could actually hurt your performance!

I was actually trained by the same guys that worked on the West Point Experiment with Arthur Jones and Dr. Elliot Darden. So I have a lot of early machine experience and never seemed to have a problem with anything Nautalis made ever causing me any joint pain at all Just the Smith Machine!

What would rock is if they could make a multi-planar smith machine that allowed free movement about all axis of rotation and still have the same saftey feature if you failed to complete the lift!