squats only for legs

[MFT81]

Yup, go to a gym, and get off the Smith. Its impossible to use proper form on squats when using a Smith. This post right here is the reason your legs are lagging. If you do squats on a smith you really arent hitting your hams much at all. And if your trying to put size on your legs, then you have to get into your hams.

I disagree, the smith is great for editing your stance to drop down in the hole without falling over if you lack the balance and flexability. I actually love to do front squats on a smith pretty reg with a forward stance so I go very low which is all hams and glutes.......

[AdamGH]

I disagree, the smith is great for editing your stance to drop down in the hole without falling over if you lack the balance and flexability. I actually love to do front squats on a smith pretty reg with a forward stance so I go very low which is all hams and glutes.......

Effective squats are never done on a smith machine. Free weights allow you to follow your body’s natural line of motion and require that you stabilize the weight, whereas machines stabilize the weight for you and restrict you to a fixed path of motion. Essentially, machines are doing a portion of the work for you making your workout less effective. In addition, an over-reliance on machines for your weight training can make you prone to injury in the long run due to neglecting your important stabilizer muscles. During the free weight barbell squat, your core musculature must provide significant stabilization of your body (especially in a front squat or overhead squat). Now contrast that with doing squats in the Smith machine where the weight is already stabilized for you taking away any core strengthening benefits and also putting you in a fixed up and down path which is not the natural path your body should take, thus placing your spine in a potentially dangerous position.