Smith machine rows

[Hendawg75]

I've tried doing the smith machine rows at my gym on a life fitness brand smith machine. I can not for the life of me keep the hooks from turning over doing this with wrist straps. I've never had a problem with the old bodymaster an Icarian smith machines. Do you have any suggestions or is just a waste of time on this brand of smith machine?

 

[EFShadow]

I've tried doing the smith machine rows at my gym on a life fitness brand smith machine. I can not for the life of me keep the hooks from turning over doing this with wrist straps. I've never had a problem with the old bodymaster an Icarian smith machines. Do you have any suggestions or is just a waste of time on this brand of smith machine?

face the opposite way, they should turn away from the hooks - that usually means facing out of the machine

 

[Hendawg75]

I've tried that but when I use straps it turns the hooks the wrong way....... I saw a mountain dog video and he was facing the way that I was trying to do them and the hooks stayed in the correct place with the smith machine he was using. I'm starting to think its just a bad designed smith machine

 

[Hendawg75]

Also the angle of the life fitness smith machine changes when facing from the outside in and just seems totally wrong hot the movement

 

[Flex2019]

I know exactly what you are talking about. You need to account for the turning of the bar when you wrap your straps. Wrap them a little more loosely than usual, so when you pick up the bar you can turn turn the bar a little more toward you to tighten them completely. If you wrap them tight from the get-go, you will have this problem all the time.

Hopefully this helps, it's difficult to explain without demonstrating.

 

[Hendawg75]

[ame]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pBd_LB5MJPc&feature=plpp[/ame]

I'm trying to do them just like JM in the video

 

[maldorf]

I know exactly what you are talking about. You need to account for the turning of the bar when you wrap your straps. Wrap them a little more loosely than usual, so when you pick up the bar you can turn turn the bar a little more toward you to tighten them completely. If you wrap them tight from the get-go, you will have this problem all the time.

Hopefully this helps, it's difficult to explain without demonstrating.

Yeah, I had to do that on vacation once because its all they had for me to use and it works. You have to put them on loose at first and they pick the bar up, rotate it the right way, and then tighten them up.

I too tried going from the other direction but the angle was all wrong. dang things don't go straight up and down.

Free weight is the way to go but if you have no choice then smith is better than nothing IMO.

 

[EFShadow]

Also the angle of the life fitness smith machine changes when facing from the outside in and just seems totally wrong hot the movement

The one in my gym is on a 1% slant....cant notice it

 

[EFShadow]

Smith Machine Rest Pause Bent Over Rows - YouTube

I'm trying to do them just like JM in the video

that is what I am talking about - facing out of the rack.

I use the wraps so that the strap points towards the thumbs on the respective hands. with an over-hand grip tighten down until you get the grip you want.

It also helps me if I use the safety bumpers to begin the movement. the bar rests on the bumpers so that that hooks are already out of the way, so there is no need to make an adjustment for the hooks to clear.

 

[Flex2019]

Yeah, I had to do that on vacation once because its all they had for me to use and it works. You have to put them on loose at first and they pick the bar up, rotate it the right way, and then tighten them up.

I too tried going from the other direction but the angle was all wrong. dang things don't go straight up and down.

Free weight is the way to go but if you have no choice then smith is better than nothing IMO.

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Freeweight rows let you move more weight, but in MountainDog training we never use freeweight barbell rows, only smith machine rows. When you get the hang of them properly they offer a completely different feel/contraction than you can get with a bar.

 

[BigDM]

I personally like using dumbbells for rows. I get better results compared to using the smith machine or barbell. I feel the contraction more and get a fuller range of motion.

 

[heavyhitter]

you have to wrap the wraps the opposite way you normally would. IE, wraps going over the top of the bar away from your body

 

[maldorf]

It depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Freeweight rows let you move more weight, but in MountainDog training we never use freeweight barbell rows, only smith machine rows. When you get the hang of them properly they offer a completely different feel/contraction than you can get with a bar.

Got to admit that the feeling is different, but it never felt right to me and I ended up straining my middle back so bad that I was in bad pain for 4 days of our vacation. Next time Ill just use the weight stack machine.

 

[sammy555]

I've never found an exercise that I can preform comfortably on a Smith machine, I fucking hate them. T bar and dumbbell rows are my favourites by far

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[myosaurus]

its all about finding right groove and stance. bar should be directly above middle of feet and you rock your hip back on the eccentric then forward on concentric. bar should end up on your lower/mid abs.

 

[tonyk]

I guess ill do them the same way john did them since I train at the same gym as him, be jealous lol.

 

[rAJJIN]

I Like the smith machine on Rows since its set to move up and down the same motion each time. I notice when going heavy on Barbell that I am concentrating as much on the motion as the lift. The smith its going up and down (No in an out), just a matter if you can pull it.

Ill do a mixture of both myself. Been trying to get better at these.

 

[rAJJIN]

If the hooks are clanking.. then like flex said wrap it up to where it rolls back into you more.

 

[rAJJIN]

I Just watched the MtDog Video above.
I see he is bent nearly to 90^
I know the results obviously speak for themselves and it must work.

I'm a bit more upright, almost an entire different Row.
I've been doing them based off a video I seen here some time back.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWdrxuP3JY]Kai Greene and Dorian Yates Train Back [Full Video] - YouTube[/ame]

If you jump to 12:00 13:00 they start to do some Rows.

 

[heavyhitter]

Banded smith machine rows is one of my favorite back excercises. the contraction is nuts