From all accounts Ohio's response has been exemplary

Wish I had that.

I personally wouldn't squat in it. You could do Jefferson lifts, or perhaps get a trap bar (which can be pretty cheap for a basic one) and do trap bar DLs. Or, if you could set the bar up a little higher (or could do a Zercher lift to get it to that position), perhaps Zercher squats.

Update from upsidedownland:

Border closed to non-citizens yesterday. Schools still open, about 40 national cases (pop ~4.2mil), all associated with recent overseas travel and as yet no documented social transmission. ****wits panic shopping all over the place, but supply chain in good shape. If we just keep the borders shut and practice social distancing, we might be able to ride out the worst. We're pretty economically insulated with decent paying govt jobs, but going to be some stressful times for those in different positions. Overall our Govt's response has been pretty solid as far as financial bailouts and overall leadership, so finger's crossed.

Squatting in a smith machine is fine to great, and at times a better option than free weights...*gasp*

Not to mention it's a marvelous way to build some big legs. I've squatted exclusively on a smith machine for the past year + now.

The hate for machines itt is totally unfounded.

Gyms are closed in the county next to ours. I'm sure my gym will close very soon. I went there yesterday. They had everyone wash their hands upon entering and made sure people were wiping equipment before and after. The employees were also wiping down equipment. There were maybe 10 people in the gym and, other than a couple working out together, nobody got close to anyone else. Again, though, I expect them to be closed in the near future.

On a bright note, my wife got some PPE yesterday. Yay!

We have 12 confirmed cases up in AK as of last night. All 12 are supposedly due to travel out of state and not from in state social transmission. Good news is that the station has decided that if anyone pops positive here that they will stop people from entering the station and military from leaving but that the civilians will be able to leave. Will be interesting to see how people in civilization are handling things as I have not been home since all of the "quarantine" type rules have been implemented up here. I know we have enough food the keep us fed and I have a gym setup to keep me sane.

Day 7 of family isolation. Spent all day with grandparents who are also isolating.

Last night 4 year old came down with a fever. Good times, good times. Strep throat one time please!

GL Yugo.

Our strict isolation lasted about 2 days. Last night we ordered in Chinese food from UberEats and this morning I went to 7-11 to get a coffee and protein bar.

Also, yesterday we went to Sprouts and took our 8 year old son with us so he could get out, and he was a walking biohazard. The whole time he was just inadvertently touching stuff, picking his nose, touching his face, etc. I am sure everyone in the store really appreciated that.

Seems like some easy to plug leaks.

Coffee and protein bars should be stuff to have around the house. Legit surprised that you're not stocked up on this stuff.

Take kid on a hike or something with no people around.

I'll give you the uber eats. Can probably be done with minimal risk with reheating the food and depending on how particular you are about handling the packaging. .

Sprouts trip seems fine. Just don't take the kid.

Out of curiosity how was the situation at Sprouts. Super crowded? Shelves bare? Pretty close to normal?

Crowded, but not as crowded as last weekend where it was lines out the door and the store completely stripped. Shelves about half bare with most items having limits of 1-2 per customer (completely bare of high demand stuff like baby formula, bottled water, TP, etc.).

The biggest audibles we had to call as far as not getting what we wanted because it was out was getting Flax Milk for cereal (as opposed to real milk) and getting ground turkey instead of ground beef. (obviously we would have liked some TP and bottled water too, but we knew that wasn't happening going in)

I found TP, eggs, and rice at the supermercado in the ethnic section of town. Still looking for a reliable Steamfresh frozen veggie spot

Ordering food for curbside pickup or delivery seems extremely low risk, especially if you dispose of the containers and then wash your hands. Is that really considered non-isolating behavior?

The other stuff seems stupid to me. If you are going to isolate you should just do so, not randomly un-isolate.

Well, remember that only the middle-upper class with white collar jobs and wealthy can completely isolate. For the rest of us unwashed masses it is a bit of a magic show to begin with.

Well, that's a debate that will never end.

Unfounded might be a bit strong. It has its problems for squats, mainly in that the Smith machine bar path doesn't align with the bar path of a back squat at all. Many users start a full step forward from where they'd be at the start of a barbell back squat and essentially do a standing inverse leg press. And, I say that as someone who has used the Smith for some things.

For example, I briefly had bursitis in a shoulder a couple of years ago. Free weight benching was painful, but the way a Smith machine removes all involvement of supporting and stabilizing muscles meant pain-free lifts. I've deadlifted and Pendlay rowed in them at hotel fitness centers without Olympic bars as well. And, I sometimes superset deadlifts with Smith machine wide grip upright rows, but that's mainly if the platform is taken and I need an excuse to deadlift in front of the Smith.

In my earlier response, I was being specific to the equipment OP has at hand. He actually has an Olympic bar and plates, so he can do multiple lifts with the bar, and he has plates to use for a trap bar. With all that, I personally can't see doing back squats in a Smith machine. It might work for some, but there are simply other options most would find better.

OP could probably find a lot to do with the Smith, though. If he's lacking a pull-up bar, he could use the Smith bar (or frame) for pull-ups, hanging leg raises, etc. He could lower the bar and use it for horizontal pull-ups. It could be good for seated shoulder presses if OP doesn't wish to clean the Olympic bar for standing presses. If he doesn't have a bench press, OP could do okay bench presses in the Smith (it's just for a couple of weeks) or close grip bench presses (where the Smith isn't as bad). Shrugs and calf training would be fine too. And, wide grip upright rows would work if OP doesn't wish to start them from the floor.

As someone who did horizontal pull-ups by putting a PVC pipe across two wrought iron chairs with my feet up on a plastic step last night and who is currently trying to figure out what I can put my feel and ankles under for glute-ham raises, I assure you that I'd find a ton of use for a Smith machine at the present time.

I have to say I have no clue how to set up properly for smith machine squats. Any advice would be really welcome now that I'm pretty sure they are closing the gyms here. Even if it some sort of variation that I can do with super light weight just to get some sort of squatting motion.

I'll probably alternate smith machine bench with dumbbell bench. I've done that before and it works for me.

I always found G4S's revelation on Smith machine squats to be interesting (he's posted about it before and I was aware before his most recent post, so I'm glad he chimed in).

I'd have blown if off coming from most anyone else, but tree trunk legs buy you a ton of credibility.

I'm not sure I'll ever have to find out. Not sure I've ever been in the same room as a Smith machine in my life, and I doubt I ever will be. #homegymforlyfe

Meh. Don't overthink it. Just find a natural feeling position where you feel a burn in your leg muscles without pain in your knees or lower back when you do it.

(grunch)

K100,

did you manage to get banned from new politardia or what?

No, the current mod there doesn't ban people for just disagreeing with #woke narratives. Since I have never actually broken any forum rules (at least not in the last 7+ years) I am fine. Just forgot the email address and password associated with the other kelhus, no biggie.

This. For many, the starting point seems to be a half-step forward from where one would start a barbell back squat, such that the bottom position is somewhat natural. Start light and see.

If you don't find it to your liking, you may be able to do a Jefferson lift from the bottom position of the Smith machine (some Smith machines allow the plates to reach the floor, while others are relative high off the floor at the bottom-most range). Hack squats and front squats are options as well.

^^^

I'm not saying one "should" start from a stance like that. I'm suggesting that one may find a need to adjust based on the design of the particular machine being used.

The only time I've hurt myself squatting was using a Smith Machine ... good chance that I was doing it like a dotard so ymmv.

Disappointingly boring

Wait, is "new politardia" the unstuckpolitics forum where all the old regs went and started up a new site, or the new politics forum of 2+2. I always used it as the former, but it's hard to tell sometimes.

jdock is right on the not overthinking the set up. My smith machine squats are really similar to my free weight squats, including a 'walk out'. Back tight, set bar in the groove, step, step, squat.

I was going to type up some more stuff, but Paul Carter has harped on it before as well, so I'll just put his thoughts here:

https://www.t-nation.com/training/th...ine-in-the-gym
https://www.t-nation.com/training/ti...achine-is-dumb

etc, etc...