hammer strength - isolateral bp

[jj77]

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.

[Emevas]

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.

[TheRuss]

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.

[Teh El Macho]

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/...ctId=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.)

[Teh El Macho]

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:

[Angry-Monkey]

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.