Smith Machine Squat

Start

Finish

How to do it

Set the bar across the upper back and walk the feet slightly forward of the bar path, then squat straight down the rails to depth and press back up through mid-foot.

Muscles worked

Primary: quads · Also works: glutes

Equipment

Machines, Full gym

Common mistakes

• Standing with the feet directly under the bar, which forces the knees far forward on a fixed path
• Forgetting to rotate the hooks to unrack and re-rack, leaving you stuck at the bottom
• Letting the hips shoot up first out of the bottom so the bar drives into the neck

Variations

• Feet further forward for a more quad-dominant sled-like feel
• Pause two seconds at the bottom

Can't do this one? Swap it for

• Barbell Back Squat
• Hack Squat
• Leg Press
• Belt Squat

Related exercises

• Barbell Back Squatquads
• Goblet Squatquads
• Bodyweight Squatquads
• Leg Pressquads
• Bulgarian Split Squatquads
• Walking Lungequads