# Shoulder press on smith machine?



## murphy2010 (Dec 17, 2010)

well my old gym is shutting down so i moved to a heavy weights gym. THe only issue is my old gym didnt have alot of equipment, so to do my shoulder presses/military press id have to load a 5ft barbell and clean it up.

However my new gym only has olympic bars and not too much free room, so im stuck on a smith machine doing my presses. Are there any drawbacks to using the smith machine? i still felt a real burn doin seated presses with it, and could go a fair bit heavier than normal.

thanks


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## murphy2010 (Dec 17, 2010)

Vin said:


> Think you'll be ok...


DAMN if only i could throw that weight above me head 

I also found i was able to lower the bar really deep to like lower chest whereas i normally only get to middle/upper chest with a barbell, great stretch and burn from smith


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## G-man99 (Jul 15, 2008)

They actually help with any shoulder injuries but on the flip side you use less muscles on the smith machine as the stabilizing muscles are not used as with dumbells or barbell


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## BigBarnBoy (May 7, 2011)

Personally i find smith machines very bad for my shoulders..your locked in an unatural range of motion straight up and down. Your shoulders can be injured if you dont have it and the seat lined up perfectly.

Saying that if your getting a good burn from doing them then stick with it..just be wary of the slightest pain mate. You only really need to bring your arms to 90degress but you can go lower..the emphasis just changes slightly more to your triceps.

Just a thought mate if its a heavy weights gym then doesnt it have a power rack or a squat rack. you can place your barbell across either of these then simply step under it and its already on your shoulders ready to press..no need to clean it up off the floor like at your old place.


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## huge monguss (Apr 5, 2011)

Well if they have olympic bars it must be for a reason. and after all it is a gym.


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## murphy2010 (Dec 17, 2010)

huge monguss said:


> Well if they have olympic bars it must be for a reason. and after all it is a gym.


Im just used to doing shoulder presses with a 5ft barbell, feels wierd with oly bar, kinda off balance


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## IrishRaver (Feb 4, 2010)

Dumbells all the way. Build up those balance muscles!


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## ekko (Dec 3, 2008)

sounds to me you core strength was limiting how you could press free standing.


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

i use smith and DB`s. just alternate


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## quinn85 (Jul 30, 2010)

my shoulder routine is smith machine (behind the neck) then dumbells as heavy as i can manage. seems to work so far


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## fletch_belfast (Oct 27, 2007)

Why not use the E-Z curl bar..? I started doing mine that way years ago and haven't gone back. If you place your hands on the outer bit of the 'Z' if you know what I mean, so your palms are facing slightly outward, locks your hands into place nicely, so you don't have to worry about slippage.

E-Z bar is maybe only 4ft or so..? So it's nice and compact, again, if you know what I mean, with the plates at each end of the bar being closer to your body than on a standard bar, I find it easier to balance.


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## DHumphreys (Jul 6, 2011)

Its all about Olym bar press!


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