SMITH MACHINE VS FREE WEIGHT SQUATS ANALOGY⭕️ ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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Squats and Smith Machine squats are interchangeable lower body exercises, in a way. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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But even if that can be the case, both exercises display various differences starting with the bar path & foot placement, different kinematics, muscle activations and consequential adaptations.⁣
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Today I want to show you a cool analogy that allows you to understand the role of muscle stabilizers on these two different, yet not-so-different exercises. ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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The squat on the smith machine is like drawing a straight line with the support of a ruler. Basically, since the bar (pencil) is fixed on a vertical axis, as long as you keep the "pencil" against the ruler and draw, you'll draw a straight line.⁣⁣⁣
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This means that you won't need to stabilize your body as much as you would need to do in a free weight squat.⁣⁣⁣⁣
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In fact, when you instead squat using a free bar, you'll have to keep the center of gravity over your mid feet, in order to maintain balance & express force vertically. This requires greater activation of muscle stabilizers:⁣⁣⁣
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Just like when you try and draw a "straight" line without the use of a ruler: you'll have to rely on your stabilizer skills to transfer all the force vertically and not screw it up! ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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"..activity of the soleus (SOL), vastus lateralis (VL), biceps femoris (BF), abdominal stabilizers (AS), upper lumbar erector spinae (ULES), and lumbo-sacral erector spinae (LSES) muscles were highest during the unstable squat and lowest with the Smith machine protocol (p < 0.05). Increased EMG activity of these muscles may be attributed to their postural and stabilization role." ⁣⁣⁣⁣
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15855681/