Carrera said:Actually, Smith Machines are fine. Used excessively, you'll lose your coordination with regular barbells but Smith machines are fine for variety (or possibly injuries). Some say they're bad for the knees due to the fixed groove but I think there's plenty of scope for adjusting body-alignment so the knees can bend at various angles.
Wrong. For deadlifts, squats, bench press and even BB shrugs, the SM forces you into an unnatural ROM. In none of these exercises does the BB normally go straight up and down.
SM squats ARE definitely bad for the knees (and back) when used for squatting becuase the correct squat technique is to squat down and back simultaneously. Can't do this when forced into a straight up and down motion.