Quote Originally Posted by striker93
He asked if what he benches on the Smith Machine is what he will be able to bench on the free weight bench press. When factoring in SMLY_GR8's comments and the fact that the bar only weighs 15lbs., there will be a large difference between the two exercises.
Personally, I remember a time when my flat bench hit a plateau and I didn't know what to do, so I switched to Smith flat and watched the weights go on over 6 weeks. I was so psyched. Then after 6 weeks, I swtiched back to regular flat and did the same as I had 6 weeks prior b/c the stabilizers had not strengthened. I think this is more of a factor than the "frictional assistance" of the Smith.