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Exercise library · Quads

Smith squat

Squat pattern for the quads on a Smith machine.

How to do it

1 of 3

Feet slightly in front of the bar

  1. Starting position

    Place the bar across your upper back, grip outside your shoulders, set your feet shoulder-width apart slightly in front of the bar, then unlock it.

  2. The movement

    Bend your knees and hips and lower along the rails, then press through your whole feet until you stand again.

Most common mistake

Don't lift your heels off the floor, keep your whole feet down and let your knees track in line with your toes.

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Muscle group
Quads
Equipment
Smith machine
Where
Gym
Logged as
Weight × reps

Muscles worked

The Smith squat trains your quads and glutes, which straighten your knees and hips, with help from your inner thighs. Your hamstrings work less. Because the bar runs on rails, you do not have to balance it as in a free squat, but your abs and back still have to keep your upper body steady. Foot position changes the emphasis. With your feet further forward, your hips and glutes usually do more, and with them closer to directly under the bar, your knees travel further forward and your quads do more. Squatting deeper also gives your glutes more work.

Common mistakes

  • Only going halfway down. The rails make it feel safe to load up and bend only a little. Go as deep as you can with good form, at the same depth on every rep, and lower the weight if you cannot.
  • Letting your core relax. Because the machine handles the balance, many people forget to brace, and their upper body sags at the bottom. Take a deep breath and brace your abs before every rep.
  • Safety stops in the wrong place. Without set stops you have no way out if a rep will not go up. Set them just below your lowest point, and practise twisting the bar back onto the hooks before you go heavy.

Variations and alternatives

  • The back squat with a free barbell demands more balance and lets you find your own path.
  • The hack squat is a machine where your back rests against a pad and your quads do most of the work.
  • The goblet squat, with a dumbbell held in front of your chest, is a simple way to learn the squat.
  • The Smith lunge trains one leg at a time in the same machine.

Sets and reps

The Smith squat suits several goals. To build muscle, 6 to 12 reps over 3 to 4 sets works well. Strength sets of 3 to 6 reps also work, with the stops set correctly. For endurance, 12 to 20 reps with a weight that leaves a margin works. The guide to sets and reps explains how to choose.

Smith machine bars vary in weight, and some are counterbalanced to feel lighter. Only compare numbers from the same machine. Warm up with a few lighter sets, as in the guide to warming up, then add weight in small steps, for example 2.5 kg, once every set is done with good form. That is progressive overload in practice.

Swap for

Taken, or missing the equipment? The same movement with something else.

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