any alternatives ?

[Goddess78]

Ok the gym that i go to doesn't have a Smith's Machine (the guided bar) and that's a big part of my leg routine that i have been lacking in - i kinda miss it - are there any other ways to work the same muscle groups with out the smith's?

I already do press

walking lunges

reverse leg curls

not having the smith's is causing a lag in my squats - i'd lean back slightly on the bar and do slow squats :cry: i miss them they really hurt but really worked! - any thoughts?

[Mrbig]

dumbell squats very safe and effective and when you fail just drop the dumbells easy az

if you want you can do a mean drop set and after you fail with the dumbells drop them and then do az many reps as possible with your bodyweight:)

[Goddess78]

hmmm i'll try it

If it aggrivates my knee is it ok to do with a swiss ball against the wall? just for the added support?

[Pseudonym]

Yeah, the swiss-ball-on-the-wall is the closest I can think of to the smith machine. :nod:

[Goddess78]

:grin: :grin: \:D/ Thank you very much - i'm gonna try that today - i'll let ya know how it goes

[Optimass]

Yeha

Speed bump :pfft:

[Pseudonym]

Typo? What typo? I don't do typos.

[ExpensiveUrine]

free weight barbel front/back squat?

[Dragon]

Could be the smith machine that is causing your knee problems ... give the free weight squats a go!

[biggurl27]

I agree with Dragon, I don't do the Smith machine as I have dodgy knees and every now and then I'll give it a goe and it hurts like hell. Whereas standard BB/DB Squats no problems.

[orange]

The Smith Machine locks you into a very unnatural movement pattern which has the potential to stress inappropriate structures and not train the body in various planes. For example, when you squat with a free weight bar, the bar goes up and down but also forward and back slightly.

[Goddess78]

hmm never thought of it like that - my injury is from hockey - harshly stretched the ligamints twice - my own fault for not stretching though - i've never had problems with my knee on the smith's - but the swiss ball worked well - just weird to get used to.

Thank you guys for the input - any other thoughts for working my lower body - it's my weak point - I build muscle well - hard time burning the fat though :oops: . any thoughts?

[Mrbig]

dont wanna burst your bubble but fat will fall off wea it wants to you cant spot reduce fat

wea it goes on first it comes off last

[Goddess78]

Well see that's just sucky

ah well guess i just have to get rid of it all over then LOL Like that's bad thing LOL

[BANNER]

Hack Squats, just make sure your feet are a bit further up the plate.ie, towards the top end of the angled foot plate, feet shoulder width apart seems to work for me