Is this machine http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com/content.cfm/iso-lateralbenchpress a reasonable equivalent to the flat bench? I do my weight training on my own and a couple of weeks ago I was benching without a spotter, failed on my last rep of the set and almost dropped the bar on myself. The fear of a repeat incident has inhibited me from pushing myself at all with this lift, and I haven't made any gains since.

I know the obvious advice will be to always make sure I have a spotter (got it), but what do people think of this machine?

Why not bench in a power rack?

I have never used the machine you cited, so i dont really know. It looks like it would give a similar effect though. Do you use it, or are you just looking into other options. I dont do alot of weights but i often see others use this without a spotter:

http://www.gleseners.com/FT-weights.JPG

Except with a flat bench, rather than a chair, I've seen them with stops on them you can set so the bar cant fall to far if you do manage to drop it, I've never used it for a bench press though.

Or maybe something like this?


http://www.norsefitness.com.au/Uploads/Images/mid_kf-ft-6.jpg (http://www.norsefitness.com.au/Uploads/Images/kf-ft-6.jpg)

This is gay:


http://us.commercial.lifefitness.com...eralbenchpress

and this is gay:


http://www.gleseners.com/FT-weights.JPG



Get a friend to spot you.

Safer yes. Equivelent no. It has a set range of motion like other machines, so you will probably get better at using the machine rather than developing practical strength. If you can't get a spotter just bench with dumbells.

I became very comfortable with the smith machine after using it for several years in the NAVY. (No flat bench because the ship rocking would be dangerous) If you do decide to go this route, don't fool yourself into thinking that lifting on the smith is the same as lifting on the flat bench (I can bench considerably more on the Smith). I don't think the smith machine stimulates your muscles in the same way, and the flat bench lift is harder (at least I find it harder to stabilize the bar). Also, I like the hammer strength machine(s) for isolation (the ballys down the street from me has a shitload of these things) but I don't think that it stimulates your muscles in the same way as a flat bench or dumbell presses would.

with the smith machine you don't have to balance and stabilize so your support muscle groups do not develop as well. so when you go back to benching you will put up less weight.

ask someone to spot you or go to dumbell presses if you don't have a spotter

Get a power rack with the bar thingies that can stop the weight:

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/sportsunlimited_2018_2145866723

The smith machine will injure you, as it forces your body to travel in an unnatural set path.

The hammerstrength machine is not a flat bench equivalent, as it is a machine. The flat bench is a flat bench equivalent.

Do not train to failure, and you will not encounter these issues. Only bodybuilders should be training to failure in the first place. You as a strength athlete want to stop before failure. Leave a rep or 2 in the tank. As has also been mentioned, bench in the power rack with the pins set below your arch. When you drop your arch, you should be able to escape just fine.

I dig on the Power racks.
They make me feel alot more comfortable when doing very heavy squats and such.

I have used both the Smith machine and also this Hammer machine and while the Hammer machine works well , it won't take the place of a flat bench. As a poster said, it is safer but will not work your stabilizer muscles. Definitely use a spotter if you want to bench heavy.

I don't really feel the smith machine is safer than the flat bench in any sense of the word. Ultimately, the only thing that happens if you miss a bench (assuming you aren't a world class bencher, but at that point you'll have your own posse of spotters so it's a moot point) is that you'll drop the weight on your chest, roll it down to your crotch, sit up, roll it off your legs, escape from under it, and just look and feel extremely sheepish. The only thing that really gets hurt is your pride, and some bruising around your abs. If you don't have weight clamps on the bar, you can tilt it to the side and just let the weight fall off, which requires less pain and more concentration.

The smith machine on the other hand saves you from minor embarassment at the expense of your shoulders and stablizers muscles underveloping, creating imbalances, and leading to injuries. I don't really see how that is safer.

Depends on the failure mode - I had a pec pull on the way down once, and wound up aggravating it by setting the bar down gently on my chest rather than saving my pec but cracking my ribs by dropping the bar from a height. Took two months before I could bench again. It sucked.

Moral of the story: Make sure your spotter(s) know what they are doing and are paying attention.

That said, agreed 100% on the dangers of Smith machine bench press. The machine is overriding your natural alignments and applying external forces to the bar, and that's bad news. An attentive and competent spotter is better in all respects, and so is a decent power rack.

If anyone here still isn't convinced that they can safely do barbell bench press, then grab a pair of dumbbells and do some dumbbell bench press instead. Machines are a last resort.

Get a pair of heavy duty saw horses. I got a pair of Crawford saw horses that can take up to 2,400lbs (1,200lbs each).

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100003259

Or build yourself a pair of pillars of poverty: http://www.geocities.com/fightraining/safety.html

But what Emevas suggested: don't bench to failure. That will save you a lot of headaches, plus it's not really necessary. If you want to go to failure, then stop the bench presses before reaching failure, and immediately reach for a pair of dumbbells and then hit it to failure.

But to answer your question: no, that machine is not an equivalent to a bench press. It's better than the smith as it gets you to adjust the height of the seat, but it still limits the trajectory of your pushing. If I use that machine, I prefer to use it one arm at a time, standing (not seated.)

Moral of the story: Make sure your spotter(s) know what they are doing and are paying attention.

Word. Either they let you tear a muscle/crack a rib, or come and help you before you get a chance to press, doing a barbell row in the process :eusa_doh:

ok, thanks guys.

I work out at a university gym so there are usually people to spot. I don't ever plan to go to failure, I just still have a bit of an ego about finishing sets. Trying to fix that. Today while squatting I was having a lot of trouble finishing the last rep of a set, instead of dropping the bar on the safety pins I let go of the bar with my hands and used my arms to help me up using the pins. It was just an automatic reaction and I felt like such an idiot. Usually I just split the sets if I feel like I'm going to fail but sometimes my ego gets the better of me.