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How Much Does The Bar On The Smith Machine Weigh

Article care of midwestsupplements.com

I haven't been asked one of these types of questions lately, but the other night in the gym an old stand by came up. A guy who appeared that he had been training consistently for approximately 6 months to 2 years approached me along with the staff member of the gym to get some "expert" advice. :-) As the two approached I heard the facility instructor mumble quietly to the member, "Let's ask Kidwell. He'll know."

"Hey Steve! How much does the bar on the Smith Machine weigh?" Of course I knew right away why they wanted to know. It had to be one of two reasons. A. The guy was wanting to know what number to put down in this training journal or B. He wanted to see how strong he had become.

My reply might surprise you. The Smith Machine they were using was counter balanced to give it a "weightless" feel. However, there still is some friction and it isn't completely weightless because it will fall slowly to the bottom of the rack if left alone. I told them it's supposed to weigh as close to zero as possible, but in reality it probably comes closer to 15-20lbs. It's really hard to tell.

The bottom line is this. Every gym has a slightly different Smith Machine, Leg Press, Hack Squat, Calf Raise, etc., etc. You can't judge your strength on free weight exercises, by anything you do on a machine. You can't compare your lift to anyone else's either because of the nature of machines so why worry about how much that number totals to? Just right down what the plates added up to and then put "+ machine" in your journal. As long as that figure keeps going up on a regular basis, that's all you need to worry about.

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