Leverage vs Smith Machine

I’ve been working out and lifting weights regularly for about 25 years. Recently I decided to move away from free weights to either a leverage machine or a Smith Machine.  At 55, injuries can take a lot longer to heal so I wanted the stability of a weight machine to add some relative safety to my workouts. Before making a purchase, I decided to do some Google searches to see what people had to say about the pros and cons of a Smith versus leverage machine. I did not find much useful which is why I decided to share this post.

I ended up buying a leverage gym by Body Solid from Fitness Factory where I’ve bought all my weight equipment over the years. It’s been about 4 months now and I am definitely enjoying it. I’ve also been working out of town for the past 6 months for my job and using a gym that has a Smith Machine. That’s given me a great opportunity to compare the two experiences and capture what I think are the main differences between them.  There are 3 and in order of significance in my opinion they are:

  1. Range of Motion. On the Smith Machine, once you lift the bar and release the hooks, you have an infinite range of motion up and down the guide rails. With the leverage machine, you insert a post into a range of preset holes to set the starting position for the exercise (the “arms” rest on this post). You need to pick the position that best fits the exercise you’re doing e.g. flat, incline, or shoulder press. The challenge can be getting caught between two positions where one feels too high and you can’t get a good stretch at the bottom of the rep (as you hit the post) or is too low and you struggle mightily to lift the first rep off the post (which leads to lifting less weight). By playing with the bench height, I’ve been able to work around this issue for the most part but it’s not ideal.
  2. Path of Motion. Another major difference is the “path” of motion. As you probably know, the bar of a Smith Machine travels in a perfectly linear path up and down on the guide rails. That feels a bit unnatural to me especially for a flat bench press but not bad for a shoulder press. The leverage machine acts essentially like a fulcrum so the bar swings in an arc. That feels very good to me on an incline press, a little less so for flat, and not great for a shoulder press where it feels like I’m pushing out versus up. Not a bad exercise in and of itself but you’re recruiting more chest muscle than shoulder muscle with that move.
  3. Ease of Set Up. The bar of a Smith Machine is essentially weightless – you pull it to move it up and you actually need to apply a bit of pressure to push it down when setting the starting position for your exercise (at least on the version I’m using). The “arms” of the leverage machine are actually quite heavy and it’s awkward to hold them and try to insert the post through the holes to set the starting position. And If it’s not the right hole for the exercise, you need to do the drill all over again (it’s a good idea to number and remember the best holes for each exercise). So switching between exercises is actually much faster with the Smith Machine. I’m getting faster with the leverage machine so the time difference isn’t as great as what it was early on – more hassle than anything.

Having said all of that, if I had to do over again and could only pick one or the other, I would probably still go with the leverage machine as overall I like the arcing motion better than the linear motion of the Smith Machine. And while not comparing apples to apples, the leverage machine also has a low and high cable pull which adds quite a few additional exercises to the mix. Also for what it’s worth, I plan to keep free weights (especially dumbbells) in my routine but doing more reps with less weight.

UPDATE: October 2021

I have found the best of both worlds. This machine combines the stability of a Smith Machine with the arcing motion of a leverage machine. It’s what’s called a “3-D” Smith Machine which combines vertical rails for the up and down motion of the bar and a set of horizontal rails that allow the vertical rails to move in and out – effectively allowing you to do a complete circle with the bar and giving you maximum range of motion. The machine I purchased is made by Fettle Fitness and I ordered it through a company called Revalue Fitness. You can see a video of the machine here. It is a game changer and even though it costs a bit more than a regular Smith Machine, I think it is well worth it.