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Smith machine squat

Also called smith machine squats, Smith squat, Smith back squat.

What is a smith machine squat?

The Smith machine squat is a squat performed with a bar that travels on fixed rails. Set the bar across the upper back, place the feet where you can keep them planted through the guided path, then bend and extend the knees and hips under control.

Anatomical illustration of a low-bar Smith machine squat shown standing and below parallel, with the thighs and glutes highlighted.

How do you perform a smith machine squat?

Set up

  1. Set the bar around upper-chest height and the safety stops just below the lowest position you plan to use.
  2. Step under, place the bar securely across the upper-back musculature, take an even grip and rotate it free of the hooks.
  3. Place your feet around shoulder width and adjust them slightly forward or back until the guided bar path lets the whole foot stay planted.

Execution

  1. Brace, then bend the knees and hips together as you lower along the rails.
  2. Keep each knee following its toes and descend only as far as you can while the feet stay planted and the bar remains secure.
  3. Push through the whole foot to straighten the knees and hips, then finish balanced before the next repetition.

Common mistakes

  • Copying a foot position from another machine

    Smith rails can be vertical or angled and body proportions differ. Adjust the stance to the machine in front of you.

  • Skipping the safety-stop setup

    The fixed rails make the stops easy to use. Set them before loading so a failed rep has a defined endpoint.

  • Forcing depth after the heels lift

    Once the whole foot loses contact, the stance no longer fits that range. Change foot position or stop higher.

Where it fits in a session

Use it as the main squat pattern in a machine-focused session or as additional leg work after a free-weight squat.

Log the rail angle, foot position and safety-stop height with the load so later sessions reproduce the same movement.

Muscles worked

Front
Front — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.
Back
Back — Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

Primary

Secondary

Select a muscle name to locate it.

Schematic surface view. Some muscles are partly visible or not shown.

The knees and hips extend against the guided bar. Foot placement changes joint angles, so the guide avoids promising a fixed muscle-emphasis split.

Variations

  • Two-frame anatomical illustration of a barbell back squat on a white background. On the left a muscular male figure stands upright, seen square from the front, with a loaded barbell across his upper back and both hands gripping it wide; from the front the bar's height on the back cannot be read. The fronts of both thighs are shaded red, as is a strip down the front of each shin. On the right the same figure is at the bottom of the rep, seen from the side and a little behind, hips at or below the knees in a deep squat with the feet flat and the toes turned out slightly; from this angle the red shading covers the fronts of the thighs and the inner thigh running up toward the groin. The buttock is in view in that frame and is not shaded, and nothing on the back of the thigh is shaded in either.
    Barbell back squatUses a free bar and requires the lifter to control the bar path.
  • Anatomical illustration of a man lowering and pressing a hack squat sled, with the front thighs and glutes highlighted.
    Hack squatSupports the torso against a pad while a sled follows its rails.
  • Anatomical illustration of a woman holding one dumbbell at her chest while performing a goblet squat, with the thighs and glutes highlighted.
    Goblet squatHolds one dumbbell at the chest and does not use a guided rack.

Related tools

Frequently asked questions

What muscles do Smith machine squats work?

They train the quadriceps, gluteus maximus and adductor group as the knees and hips extend. The hamstrings also assist and stabilize.

Where should your feet go for a Smith machine squat?

Start around shoulder width, then move them slightly forward or back until your whole feet remain planted and your knees can follow your toes through the rails' path.

How deep should you Smith machine squat?

Use the deepest range you can control while your feet stay planted, the knees follow the toes and the bar remains secure on the upper back.

Is a Smith machine squat the same as a barbell squat?

No. Both use a bar across the upper back, but the Smith machine guides the bar on rails while a free bar requires you to control its path.

Sources

  1. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb: Thigh Quadriceps Muscle. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK513334/
  2. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb, Gluteus Maximus Muscle. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK538193/
  3. Anatomy, Bony Pelvis and Lower Limb: Thigh Adductor Magnus Muscle. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534842/

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