The smith machine is always bastardized as being sub-par or below free weight variations of exercises performed on it. Does it deserve this bad rap, or is there research to show it can have its place? We review a study from 2010 on the ability of the smith machine to activate the pressing muscles compared to a barbell bench press. John always reviews the full-text of every article, but you may view the free abstract by clicking here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20093960 .
