Smith Machine Bench Press

[Kaytime]

After many many years in the gym we all tend to get injured in something we do and my problem is my shoulder only when it comes to 2 exercises FLAT BENCH/LATERAL RAISE/FRONT RAISE i already work around my shoulder workouts and i make good gains there tho i have not done flat bench press in about 4 months. I want to start using smith machine bench press ONLY IF I CAN DO IT.

Will i still make good chest gains from the smith?

i know the stabilizer muscles dont get worked with smith tho i do them with incline bench or flat/incline db press. also dips are no problem with me as i do them weighted

[BG]

I get pain from those exercises also. I CAN NOT do dips though. I also use a smith for incline, I can go heavier and push a few more reps out. I recommend trying a routine for a month, check out your pumps and see how you feel. If you dont like what you see change it up next month and see if your changes to the routine made it better. I just did this from Jan until last month, trying to find a good pain free workout....getting old sucks.

My routine....

30 pull ups (warmup)
Incline smith
Flat dumbells
Incline fly's
Decline dumbells
Incline dumbells
High/mid cables

If i feel good Ill throw something light in afterwards, not usually because the cables strain my shoulders some, thats why I do them last, Im stretched and pumped.

Really pay attention to your workouts, change them up until you find what works for you with the least pain.

[Str8Jakked]

Will i still make good chest gains from the smith?

Of course you will.

[spywizard]

why would you do flat if your chest is the part you are attempting to improve?? I haven't done flat in 8 yrs now, and my shoulders are fine now... unless you are training for power event, use at least 30 degree incline, that will keep the front of the body engaged and protect the shoulder, and don't lower below 90 degree..

just doing these 2 things will keep your shoulders in correct position and safe..

the other thing is you can do free weight for the 1st 1/2 of your routine.. ie.. if you are doing chest, 5 exercises, (or 3) do 3 of them with free weight, then switch to the machine, what happens is your core is still improved, but switching to a lighter weight with more reps in a controlled position will keep you building the muscle tensile strength but protecting you at the same time.

[Braveone]

I'm 53 and after all the years of abuse my shoulders suck too. I compete in bench meets so not benching is not an option. What I do is use either a 2 by 6 board or two phonebooks taped together to take some of the shoulder rotation out of the movement. Try that with a proper warmup and you should be gtg.

[Kaytime]

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Spywizard i gained a tonne of mass with my heavy ass weight on flat bench but my ego got the best of me stacking the weights more and more. i use to do 15 reps 130kg then 12reps 160kg then 5 reps 190kg.

Even tho my chest got massive my tendons didnt grow so quick so KAPOOT my right shoulder screwd up