Smitch Machine Lunges

Muscles worked

Glutes

Primary muscle

Gluteus maximus

Equipment

Smith machine

Movement pattern

Lower body

Difficulty

Intermediate

What it is for

StrengthHypertrophyStability

Watch the full tutorial

• Placing the front foot right under the bar. With the path fixed, the knee travels too far forward and the heel lifts. Move it forward until, at the bottom, the bar sits over the middle of the foot with the shin vertical.
• Hanging off the bar with the torso leaning back. The machine holds your balance, and many use that to lean on it and arch the lower back. Tilt the torso slightly forward from the hips, with the ribs down.
• Dropping down until the knee hits. Letting yourself fall wastes the lowering and ends in a knee strike on the floor. Lower over two seconds and stop a couple of centimeters above the floor before rising.
• Splitting the weight between both legs. In the Smith machine the back leg easily pushes without you noticing, and then the front leg does half the work. Load the whole front foot and keep the back one resting on the toes only.

Which muscles does the Smith machine lunge work?

The gluteus maximus and quads of the front leg produce almost all the force to stand up, with the hamstrings helping to extend the hip. The gluteus medius keeps the pelvis level, although less than in a free lunge, because the guided bar removes the sway. The back leg adds a small push from the calf and quad, and gets a hip flexor stretch. The torso does little: the machine takes care of stability.

Smith machine lunge or free barbell and dumbbell lunges: which one should you choose?

In the Smith machine the bar only moves vertically: there is no balancing, you can lean into the bar and load more weight. With a free barbell or dumbbells, every rep demands stabilizing the hips and torso, which works more muscles and transfers better to sport, but limits the load. Choose the Smith machine for glute and quad hypertrophy, for sets to failure or when balance holds you back; the free version, for general strength and athletes.

How many sets and reps of the Smith machine lunge should you do?

A common starting point is 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps per leg, leaving 1 to 3 reps in reserve, with a two-second descent. Since the stance is static, do all the reps on one leg and then switch, starting with the weaker one. It usually comes after the squat or the leg press as the second leg exercise, and because the bar is guided it is a good place to get close to failure without losing balance.

Where should the feet go in the Smith machine lunge to work the glutes more?

Move the front foot forward until, at the bottom, the shin is vertical and the bar falls over the middle of the foot: with the foot further forward and a slight forward lean, the hip flexes more and the glute takes more load. If the foot sits right under the bar, the knee travels forward and the work shifts to the quads. The back foot rests on the toes, and you lower until the rear knee almost touches the floor.