Table of Contents
- Introduction to 3D Smith Machine
- What is a 3D Smith Machine?
- What Sets a 3D Smith Machine Apart?
- Key Features of the RitFit M2
- The 5 Best 3D Smith Machine Exercises
Introduction to 3D Smith Machine
The Smith Machine can be a very polarizing piece of gym equipment.
There aren’t many machines that allow trainees to perform squats, bench presses, or shoulder presses as safely or with as much weight as the Smith Machine. However, despite being one of the most beginner-friendly pieces of gym equipment available, the trusty Smith Machine receives a lot of criticism.
The most frequently cited criticism? Smith Machines do not allow lifters to execute movements with nearly as much range of motion as their counterpart free-weight exercises. Also, horizontal plane movement is almost completely absent.
To put things more simply, with most Smith Machines, you’re pretty limited to perfectly vertical movement patterns…unless you happen to have access to a 3D Smith Machine.
What is a 3D Smith Machine?
Combining all the safety and user-friendly qualities of traditional Smith Machines, a 3D Smith Machine like the RitFit M2 opens up exponentially greater freedom of movement, with the horizontal plane being completely open.
If you’ve always wanted to perform full range of motion squats, barbell curls, and even hang clean and jerks in your Smith Machine, we’re about to break down exactly how you can get started.
What Sets a 3D Smith Machine Apart?
We just gave a brief rundown on the key qualities of 3D Smith Machines, but we want to explain things a little bit more thoroughly. Looking more closely at the M2, there are many commonalities between it and other Smith Machines.
- The Smith Bar’s vertical path remains fixed, remaining perfectly balanced as it moves up and down on its track
- There are 11 different racking positions, providing several different bar height starting options and places to quickly re-rack the weight if/when approaching failure
- Each upright contains 60x60mm holes for J-cups and other attachments to easily be inserted for free weight and accessory work
Key Features of the RitFit M2
Where the M2 and other Smith Machines differ from their traditional counterparts is in how they allow for the Smith Bar to move along the horizontal plane as well as the vertical plane. This creates an almost free weight-like lifting experience, requiring lifters to better control the weight and balance themselves throughout each rep, ultimately deriving exponentially greater benefits.
Despite the additional control required by lifters during each 3D Smith Machine rep, the ability to quickly and easily rerack the weight ensures that safety is prioritized throughout each set. The Smith track and racking positions “float” horizontally alongside the Smith Bar in an extremely smooth and quiet manner.
Ultimately, the 3D Smith Machine can be summed up as providing entirely new ranges of movement and exercises while still providing lifters with a safe lifting experience.
The 5 Best 3D Smith Machine Exercises
To those who have performed “Smith Curls”, “Smith Incline Presses”, or any other exercise where, in the equivalent free-weight version of the movement, the bar, at some point, moves horizontally, you know that there is something fundamentally different about these movements.
You feel more constricted in your movement.
You can’t quite hit full extension.
In some cases, the movement feels harder since it is more difficult to recruit additional muscles that you otherwise might if you had a greater range of motion.
Additionally, several exercises are much more difficult, if not impossible, to perform in the traditional Smith Machines. Olympic lifts like the clean and jerk and the snatch require significant horizontal bar movement, making them all but impossible to perform in these machines.
Rather than spending any more time focusing on what you can’t do in traditional Smith Machines, let’s take a look at the most popular movements you can execute in a 3D Smith Machine:
Clean:
We already alluded to clean a few times already, but this is truly a move that is only possible with free weights or with a 3D Smith Machine. Although too much horizontal movement is inefficient, a slight “S-curve” bar path is required to properly execute the lift.
Overhead Squat:
It’s technically possible to perform overhead squats in a traditional Smith Machine, but balance, shoulder position or both will inevitably be compromised. The 3D Smith Machine allows for slight, horizontal adjustments to prevent these issues.
Good Morning:
Like the overhead squat, it’s possible to perform Good Mornings in other Smith Machines, but 3D Smith Machines are much better at promoting proper form, ensuring the lower back doesn’t become rounded and in a compromised position.
Preacher Curls:
Dragging a preacher bench into a Smith Machine is not a bad idea, but opting for a 3D Smith Machine drastically improves movement setup, allowing lifters to easily clear the bar while maintaining a locked elbow position.
Hip Thrusts:
The “queen” of Smith Machine exercises is our last entry in the “better in a 3D Smith Machine” club. 3D machines are most helpful during setup, which can be difficult for less flexible lifters while potentially compromising the shins and knees.
Ironically, the best part about these five options is that they represent only a very small sample of the sheer number of exercises that can be more effectively executed in a 3D Smith Machine. The horizontal plane truly does open up a multitude of exercise options.
Conclusion
We know that we’ve provided a lot of information parroting the merits and general advantages that 3D Smith Machines enjoy over other Smith Machine options. However, we would be lying if we said that we’re not really high on traditional Smith Machines as well.
Like many products that share many similar attributes, there is certainly a time and place for both types of Machines.
Lifters who prefer a truly fixed range of motion that allows for perfect and near-flawless form on core exercises like barbell back squats would greatly benefit from a Smith Machine like the M1. On the other hand, those who desire greater freedom of movement and are excited to experiment with a multitude of new and novel exercises should give the M2 a long look.
In either case, you've got an extremely functional piece of equipment that allows for Smith Machine, free-weight, and accessory movements to be performed with a sub-23-foot footprint to boot. Ain’t nobody complaining about that!
