Smith Machine Squat Vs Barbell Squat

You may be thinking, what’s the difference between barbell squats and Smith Machine Squats? Why would I choose one over another? What advantages and disadvantages come with doing them? Well, we are going to talk you through those differences, why one may be better suited than the other and the advantages and disadvantages of both.

The two main differences between the smith machine squat and the barbell squat are (1) the equipment used for each type of squat and (2) the stabilisation and balance required to perform the squat.

In a smith machine squat, you have the assistance of the smith machine so you are in a fixed position and don’t need to focus on stabilising and balancing the weight. In a barbell squat, you use a barbell with the option of additional weights, with the bar resting on your shoulders, which relies on muscles to stabilise the moment and balance the weight.

Both smith machine squats and barbell squats are lower body exercises that work your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings as well as some other muscles! Each are different variations of the common movement – the squat.

Joints worked and ranges of motion

Joint	Smith Machine Squat ROM	Barbell Squat ROM
Hip	Large	Large
Knee	Large	Large
Ankle	Moderate to Large	Moderate to Large

Muscles worked during smith machine squats

The primary muscles worked during a Smith Machine squat are:

Quadriceps: Primary movers during the lowering (eccentric) and upwards portion (concentric) of the squat.

Hamstrings: assist with the movement to some extent.

Glutes: assist with the movement to some extent.

Calves and Adductors: Help with stabilisation (more prominent in barbell squats).

Muscles worked during barbell squat…

The primary muscles used during a barbell squat are:

Quadriceps: Primary movers during the lowering (eccentric) and upwards portion (concentric) of the squat.

Hamstring: assists with the movement to a small extent.

Glutes: assists with the movement to a moderate extent.

Calves and adductors: Helps stabilise the movement.

The barbell squat relies more on additional muscles to help stabilise the movement. These muscles include:

Upper back: assists with the bar being locked in when placed on the shoulders/traps.

Lats: assist with the upper back to lock the bar in place so it doesn’t roll off your back.

Barbell squat technique

Safely load the barbell onto your upper back and shoulders (for a barbell back squat) by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, hands gripping the bar, toes slightly out, core squeezed and chest up.

Unrack the barbell from the rack and take 2-3 small steps backwards.

Initiate the squat movement- hips back, knee bend outwards and not letting them cave inwards (think about pushing your knees out).

Pause when your thighs reach just below parallel with the floor.

Push upwards through your entire foot (not just your heels) and return to starting upright.

Smith machine technique

Set the unloaded bar to shoulder height.

Safely load the bar onto your upper back and shoulders by standing with your feet slightly in front of the bar and shoulder-width apart, hands gripping the bar, toes slightly out, core squeezed and chest up.

Unrack the bar by standing up straight so that the bar unclips from the rack – you don’t need to take any steps back or balance the weight.

Initiate the squat movement- hips back, knee bend outwards and not letting them cave inwards (think about pushing your knees out).

Pause when your thighs reach just below parallel with the floor.

Push upwards through your entire foot (not just your heels) and return to starting upright.

The pros and cons of smith machine squat

Advantages:

Large stimulus and hormonal response (compound lifts work a greater amount of muscles, thus causing more hormones to be released during exercise).

Can target specific muscles depending on foot position (wider foot placement = more glutes/ narrower foot placement = more quadricep).

Can be more useful for single-leg exercises due to the assistance.

Disadvantages:

Less muscle activation compared to barbell squats due to the smith machine supporting the bar, so less activation is required on the stabiliser muscles.

Less transfer athletic performance.

Requires less balance and stability due to the bar being supported on the smith machine.

The pros and cons of barbell squat

Advantages:

Large stimulus and hormonal response (compound lifts work a greater amount of muscles, thus causing more hormones to be released during exercise).

Greater transfer to athletic performance – barbell squats been shown to improve vertical & horizontal single leg and double leg jumping performance, and improve acceleration as well as sprint speed.

Hits the majority of lower body muscles including the stabiliser muscles.

Disadvantages:

Takes more time to learn due to the lack of support that the smith machine provides.

Stabiliser muscles may be limiting factors more than primary/assistant muscles.

Requires more balance than a smith machine squat as more support is needed as the bar is now placed on upper back/shoulders and not supported by the smith machine.

Common Questions

What’s the difference between the barbell squat and smith machine squat?

The two main differences between the smith machine squat and the barbell squat are (1) the equipment used for each type of squat and (2) the stabilisation and balance required to perform the squat.

In a smith machine squat, you have the assistance of the smith machine so you are in a fixed position and don’t need to focus on stabilising and balancing the weight. In a barbell squat, you will use a barbell with the option of additional weights, with the bar resting on the front or back of your shoulders, which relies on muscles to stabilise the moment and balance the weight.

Are smith squats effective?

This all depends on what we define as effective! Science has shown that smith machine squats have lower levels of activation in comparison to barbell squats (see further reading at the end!). Barbell squats have been shown to have a 34% higher muscle activation of the calf muscles, 26% higher activation from the outer hamstring, and 49% greater activation from the inner quadricep when compared to smith machine squats!

Simply, this suggests that barbell squats may be more effective for muscle growth and muscle strength.

However, exercises that require more balance such as split squats or bulgarian split squats can be more effective on a smith machine as this would allow you to overload the exercise more easily as balance would not be the limiting factor. This may be more beneficial for people looking to put on more muscle mass.

Why are smith machine squats better?

Personally, I prefer barbell squats in comparison to Smith machine squats. This is due to the carry-over on my athletic performance – improved jumping and speed performance.

With that said, in the past, I have used Smith pursuit Smith machine squats to focus on more single leg exercises in order to improve my muscle mass and muscular strength of my quads and glutes. I use smith machines over a typical barbell to perform those exercises as it gives me more support and allows me to focus on the perfect technique for each rep.

As an athlete, I believe barbell squats are one of the fundamental compound exercises needed for competent athletic performance – improve jumping and speed performance. If I was a beginner/novice I would focus on progressing from bodyweight squats to goblet squats and then building up to focusing more on barbell squats.

Why do I squat less on the Smith Machine?

Smith machine squats elicit less muscle activation in a predominantly lower body exercise, meaning that less work is being done by the supposed working muscles when compared to a barbell back squat.

As a coach and athlete, I want to maximise my performance so choosing an exercise that elicits less activation is counterintuitive! However, if I was a bodybuilder, i’d utilise both exercises as foot position can be changed resulting in a greater activation in certain muscles!

Why is the barbell squat harder than the smith machine squat?

The barbell squat requires more balance and stability in comparison to the Smith machine squat as there is no added assistance. This means that the individual must be in full control of the bar path and weight making it slightly harder than the Smith machine squat.

Both squat variations will require good mobility in the key joints as well as a good understanding of how to perform a basic squat movement. It could be argued that the barbell squat may be more difficult to perform as the Smith machine allows for a straighter bar path meaning that less mobility issues are apparent when performing in comparison to the barbell squat.

Coach’s summary – which exercise should I use?

Overall, I think it’s important to work out what you want to achieve and your goals in the gym. Improving your overall lower body strength has been shown to improve muscle mass so I would focus more on using a barbell squat as your strength-based lower body exercise. This goes for both novice/beginners who are just starting in the gym as well as more advanced lifters and athletes.

I would then use the Smith machine squat to focus more on single leg exercises such as split squats or Bulgarian split squats and use this exercise to focus more on increasing muscle mass and targeting certain muscles of the lower body.

Depending on your current split of training, I would barbell squat at the start of the week when your body is more fresh and able to perform exercise when better recovered, and then towards the end of the week use a Smith machine squat to accumulate more fatigue in the lower leg muscles.

Smith Machine Squat Vs Barbell Squat – Your Questions Answered