Smith & no barbell; tips?

[jago25_98]

Staying focused on the subject rather than saying get a new gym (of the 4 gyms I've been to only one had a barbell; maybe somebody sued here in the UK)....

Any tips for work that can be done with a smith machine rather than a barbell and rack?

For example, hack squats are possible and sumo deadlifts are more possible.

Any tips in general?

[Bob Smith]

Build a home gym.

I have a small gym at my house with a cage and bench. Very basic stuff for now. AnimalMass has a cage, glute/ham bench, pulldown and some other goodies at his house (now the garage since they had to clean out the room for the new baby).

Does the gym have dumbells? You could do mostly DB work rather than with a BB.

[Madcow2]

The smith sucks - it might look semi-close to the same thing but it is magnitudes worse. Like a turd in disguise. You might as well use Hammer Strength (sucks too). I wish I could tell you something different but you could work like a beast with that stuff and I could take a lazy bastard and he'd get more out of it than you. Use it for now and try figureing out something else for the future. Even if you don't have space for a full rack, you could get a basic bench and two of those squat stands - they take up very little room.

[J DUB]

If that is indeed your only option, then it is better than nothing.

[Primo Max]

Personally I would hate to work out at home. I like going out and being around other people, even if they are idiots at the gym. But I definitely agree with Bob in the sense that if you are going to be serious about weight training, bodybuilding, whatever, you need to have the right tools. And the only way to do this in your case, so it seems, would be to have a home gym. If your gym does have dumbbells then you could probably have some sort of mix where you work out at home and at the gym. That way you'd really only a need a squat rack and maybe an adjustable bench that goes from decline or flat to completely upright. What can't you do with those two pieces of equipment? Maybe this is entirely out of the question for you for a number of reasons, in which case I would say that I am very happy to not live in the UK. Hopefully you're open to this, it probably would set you back under a grand. I don't know though i've never looked into buying equipment.

[kenneth]

only having access to a smith machine.. ouch that truly bites. Well I have a powerrack that I don't have space for at the time because I moved, maybe we can work out a deal and i'll ship it out to ya

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by kenneth

only having access to a smith machine.. ouch that truly bites. Well I have a powerrack that I don't have space for at the time because I moved, maybe we can work out a deal and i'll ship it out to ya

His location is the UK, so shipping costs might be a little pricey.

[bigslick]

I perfer the smith for super heavy sets for extra control and when training alone for the safety. is there a general setting for what the weight of the bar is with the pully? it feels like the bar weighs nothing, but the gym rep says the pully is set at 25 lbs leaving the bar weight at 20? any sugs? i still think my rack of dumbells and adj bench in the garage gives me the best workouts

[kenneth]

ya know what I know this isn't the point of the thread, but I don't get it.. what kind of gym would have a smith machine and no barbell ? I mean seriously, what the F*CK??. maybe I'm crazy but there's no gym around here like that.

[Ronin_]

Dumbells or home gym as was said. smith machines will wreck your shoulders