What's the Difference Between a Smith Machine and a Regular Squat Rack?
You walk into your gym and you might notice 2 different squat racks...
One holds a completely free barbell. The other has a bar locked between two steel rails.
Which one do you use? Let's break it down so you never have to guess again.
What Is a Smith Machine?
⬅️⬅️ A Smith machine is a barbell fixed to two vertical rails. The bar only moves in a straight line, up and down along those vertical rails
There are hooks every few inches let you rack it at any height so you can set up the bar so that it matches your height and also whatever exercise you're doing on it. If you're deadlifting, you will put it on the bottom. If you're bench pressing or rowing, it will be somewhere around belly button height, and for squats it should be around your upper chest height.
What Is a Regular Squat Rack (often called a Power Rack)?
A squat rack (also called a power rack) holds a totally free barbell. Nothing is attached to it but you. The bar moves wherever your body naturally takes it.
That one difference, fixed path versus free path, changes everything else about the lift.
Why I Push My Clients Toward the Squat Rack
Here's my honest opinion. I prefer the squat rack. Hard.
A free barbell moves with you. For a squat, your hips shift back. Your torso leans forward a little. Your bar path curves slightly, because that's how a real human squat works.
A Smith machine doesn't care about any of that. The bar stays locked on its rail no matter what your body is doing, so your body has to change to match the machine instead of the other way around. That often means your knees track differently, your torso needs to adjust to accommodate the fixed bar path, and sometimes it can just feel awkward.
Groceries, laundry baskets, and toddlers don't move on a fixed rail. We should train the movement you'll actually use in real life, is my belief.
But I See You, Smith Machine Ladies
If your gym only has a Smith machine, or the squat rack still feels intimidating, I'm not here to make you feel bad about that. A Smith machine squat is still a squat. It still builds strength. It's still better than skipping the movement altogether.
🚨 But if you do have access to a regular squat rack and you've just been avoiding it out of nerves, this is your sign. Be brave. Walk over there. Set the safety rails at the right height. Start light. You're allowed to take up that space while you learn. You pay the same gym membership fee as anyone else.
Tips for the Squat Rack (barbell back squat)
👉🏻 Set your safety rails correctly. Put the empty bar on your back and perform a squat. When you're at your lowest point, look at where the bar is in relation to the rack (there are usually holes or numbers along the side of the rack). You want to set the safeties so that they're just below the bar at your lowest squat depth, so you always have a backup catch in case you fail the lift for any reason.
👉🏻 Learn where to put the J-hooks for the bar for your height before you load any weight on the bar. You should be able to get under the bar and unrack it and re-rack it without going onto your toes.
👉🏻 Practice walking the empty bar out (backwards) and back in (forward) before you add weight.
👉🏻 Brace your core (pretend you're about to take a punch) and stand tall (ribs stacked over your pelvis) before you start the squat.
Tips for the Smith Machine (smith machine back squat)
👉🏻 Set your feet slightly in front of the bar, not directly under it, since the fixed path changes where your natural squat wants to sit.
👉🏻 Most machines unlock with a quarter turn, so twist backwards to unrack and then forward to re-rack.
👉🏻 If your gym ever adds a power rack, get yourself in there and give it a try! A power rack and a barbell lends itself to more natural squat movement patterns.
👉🏻 Use it as a tool. Even if you move to a power rack, don't neglect the other uses for a Smith Machine such as split squats, calf raises, floor presses, hip thrusts, and more!
How to Log Your Weight for Each
This trips up almost every new lifter.
On a squat rack, count the barbell itself. A standard bar is 45 pounds, though some gyms also have 35 or 55 pound bars, so check yours. Add the plates on both sides, then add the bar weight. That total is what you log.
On a Smith machine, skip the bar weight. Every machine is different, and some are even counterbalanced, so the true bar weight is nearly impossible to know. Just add up the weight you loaded onto the machine and log that number.
Let the App Do the Math
Standing at the rack doing plate math in your head can get confusing and feel kind of stressful.
I built a FREE barbell plate calculator for exactly this. Enter the weight you want to lift and choose the weight of your bar, and it tells you exactly which plates to load.
Use it here: https://krispfit.com/platemath
Save it to your phone's home screen so it's one tap away every time you're at the rack.
👉🏻 iPhone: open the link in Safari, tap the share icon, then tap "Add to Home Screen"
👉🏻 Android: open the link in Chrome, tap the three dots in the corner, then tap "Add to Home Screen"
Squat rack or Smith machine, free bar or fixed rail, you're still doing the work. Keep showing up... because you will never regret being strong, but the day might come when you wish you were!
Coach Kristin 💪🏼
Want to read more about how to get up the nerve to workout in the free weight section of your gym? Check out this blog post.
📩 Reach out to me and let’s get you started on your strong girl journey. You can email me at [email protected] or hit me up on Instagram here.
Learn more about the wide variety of coaching services that I offer by clicking HERE. From a low cost monthly strength workout subscription all the way up to 1-on-1 coaching, I've got you covered!
You will never regret being strong.
